What to do with all those tomatoes?  Watch this video – instructions are clear and simple.

Saturday the 16th is the 2011 Bee-a-thon  An online event.

Read about it and register by clicking here.

In the meantime, enjoy this video about the bee dance — Loooooove this video

A brief video on solarizing the soil to kill off nematodes and other pathogens.

Central Florida Gardening – SOIL SOLARIZATION

Link to the information spoken of at the end of the video

http://solutionsforyourlife.ufl.edu/lawn_and_garden/problems/nematodes.html

July is still a slooooow month as far as what can be planted in the garden – same as the last 2 months.

BUT, it’s starting to get really busy as we prepare for the fall garden – aka second spring garden.

This month you should be starting plants such as tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, broccoli, celery, and collards for transplanting in a month or so. You can also give watermelon, winter squash and pumpkins a head start by starting their seeds in pots now too.

It’s a good time to inventory your seeds and order anything you need.

And it’s a good idea to get your garden beds refurbished and ready to plant.

Here’s the list of what can be directly planted in the garden this month

Cool Weather Plants

• None

Warm Weather Plants

• Okra
• Southern peas
• Sweet potatoes

Now go get busy… there’s not as much time as you think!

Your tomatoes might be looking a little scraggly about now.  One of the reasons might be late blight.  These videos, from Johnny’s Selected Seeds, explain what it is, how to recognize it, and what to do about it.

I think Summer IS here, regardless what the calendar says.

This year we’ve been going through a little bit of a droughty spell so though it’s been hot – in the 90’s most every day – it’s not been unpleasant outside, most of the time.  If you can get out there early it’s even cool, 70ish.

Bugs are different this year.  Last year was wet and there was a problem in many gardens with moisture loving bugs like aphids.  This year it’s been dry so there is a problem with dry loving bugs like spider mites.

If you have a spider mite problem in your garden – devastating my tomatoes – here are a couple of helpful sites.

http://www.getridofthings.com/get-rid-of-spider-mites.htm

http://www.bonnieplants.com/LearnGrowLibrary/PestID/tabid/95/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/40/Spider-Mites.aspx

I’m experimenting with a neem spray and insecticidal soap spray.  Let us know if you have a solution that’s working.

June in the garden (and July too) are the same as May… can’t plant much.

Cool weather plants

• None

Warm weather plants

• Okra
• Sweet potatoes
• Southern peas (yardlong, crowder, black-eyed…)

Want to know more about okra, sweet potatoes, and southern peas?  How about how your water affects your garden soil pH?

This is stuff you need to know and we’ll be talking about these things in the CFG Newsletter.

Fill out the subscription form with your name and e-mail over there to the right at the top of the sidebar and start receiving  your Central Florida zone 9 gardening newsletter right away!

Here are the photos showing the DIY drip irrigation system we’ve installed in our raised bed garden as promised in the Central Florida Gardening newsletter (see why you need to subscribe to the newsletter?)  Want to get the whole story?  Then sign up over there to the right of this page — just put your name and email in there.

In this photo you can see the black plastic lining if you look around the edges.  The drip hose is from Wal-Mart, $13.??, 75 feet long.  The beds are 4×8 and there are 4 of them touching end to end in each row of beds.  We can plant 4 rows – a row on either side of the hose.

Since the beds total 64 feet there is some of the 75 foot hose left over after going up, across, and back.  We’ve used the extra bit to water some veggies and herbs we are growing in containers along one side of a bed.

We have the hose in each bed fitted with a quick connect… makes it super easy to connect and water the beds and move to the next.

Hose in an unlined bed.

Happy veggies growing.  In this photo the extra hose is run up the middle of the end bed.

May, June, and July in the garden as far as planting new things is sparse.
BUT, there is a lot of harvesting going on, weeding, time for experiments…

Might consider learning how to can and dehydrate, make jams and jellies. Ever had tomato jelly? Amazing, not at all what I’d expected. And pepper jelly, mint…

You can pickle just about anything. My favorite is pickled squash (yellow crooknecked) that one of my BFF’s makes for me now and then. I literally can eat a whole jar in one sitting. One of my dad’s favorites is pickled watermelon rinds. And when I can get my hands on a jar of pickled peaches (not spiced peaches, pickled peaches) I’m just about in heaven.

Or maybe learn to make wine, compotes, herbal remedies.

Good time for some of those experiments we’ve been talking about in the newsletter (Signed up yet? Put your name and email in form up there in the right hand corner so you won’t miss anything) Hydroponics, aquaponics, wall gardens, container gardening, inside gardening…

In June and July you can start some plants from seed to transplant into the garden in August and September.  More about that in the newsletter.

So for May, here is the recommended planting

Cool weather plants

• none – but do try experimenting with some in shade, containers, inside…

Warm weather plants

• Okra
• Southern peas (yardlong, black-eyed, crowder…)
• Sweet potatoes

We’ll be talking about Okra, Southern peas, and Sweet potatoes more in the newsletter… so hurry and sign up!!!

So get out there and EXPERIMENT! It’s really lots of fun.

Two Minute Pest – Citrus Problems

Nature got started a little early on “April showers bring May flowers” (we recorded 6.5 inches in 30 hours at Mango Cottage)

Give your vegetable garden a few days to dry out and recover and then here is what you can plant in April.

Cool Weather Plants

• None.  We’re past the time for cool weather plants to thrive.  BUT, you can experiment with a few of them, particularly the greens like lettuce or chard or mustard in the shade.

Warm Weather Plants

• Beans – bush, pole, lima
• Cantaloupe
• Okra
• Southern peas (including yardlong beans)
• Sweet potatoes

Don’t be afraid to experiment.  Even though the “official” charts say you can’t plant some things like tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, and squash, it doesn’t mean you can’t in your yard in your microclimates.  The charts aren’t carved in stone.

With the rain and higher humidity and temperatures, expect to see more bugs and disease.