I never liked the notion of nature as something to be conquered. I'm much more of the learn from and work with nature school of thought, but alas one has battle tactics not cooperation tactics. I was set on using the word tactics so yeah. Here is what I am thinking after a fairly successful but less than stellar production level spring 2014.
Planting Tactics 2015
#1 Plant Early
I started my solanums this past weekend, in seed flats that are staying in the hoophouse until we pass the last frost date. I also have some water chestnut, okinawan spinach, an avocado, some citrus seedlings, and some other perennial tropical greens overwintering in the hoophouse. All of those things will be ready to hit the ground running. I want all of these guys to get a big head start going into the warm season. The perennial tropical greens will be ready to bridge the cool season to warm season gap and provide a little something coming from the garden at an otherwise slow time.
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| A view in the hoophouse right now. This thing will be packed with planted seed flats and rooted cutting by the time March rolls around. The hoophouse is my weapon of choice for early planting this year. |
#2 Plant Often
For all of the other non frost tolerant plants that are warm season crops my plan is to succession plant my way past any frost issues. Starting the 1st week of February I will start planting watermelon, cucumbers, and melons once a week until the frost has passed. It has been my experience that the latter half of February is equally likely to have 1 freezing night as it is to have 5. It's the luck of the draw from year to year. So if I start planting early February and keep doing that until the chance of frost is gone I could end up with a whole month worth of succession planted crops already cooking by the time mid March rolls around or I could end up planting everything for a final time in mid-March. I'm not a commercial grower so I can gamble a few dozen seeds, especially when the reward is so tasty and the risk so cheap.
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| Just keep planting. |
#3 Turn to the Tropics
Almost all of the tradition temperate crops(think anything your grandparents grew up north, except maybe rhubarb and asparagus) do well in Florida in the spring and fall if you time it right, but most things go belly up by July. This is where we look to the tropics for help. Think cowpeas and okra from Africa, longbeans and tropical greans from southeast Asia, gourds from India, and Calabaza from the Caribbean. And let us not forget yams. Wonderful yams. All of these kinds of "outside the box" crops are built to thrive in the summers and take the worst heat and humidity Florida can throw at them. They also thrive in the torrential rainfall but most are just fine with mild to moderate drought as well. The depths of summer is where you need to have these tropical crops chugging along and providing massive yields while everyone else in the neighborhood is lamenting their sad looking tomato twigs.
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| Okra anyone? Still tender at that size too! |
#4 Don't Forget to Look at Home
Also never forget things that grow right in your backyard, whether you planted them or not, that is to say look at native plants. One of the best examples for Florida is the Seminole Pumpkin. These badboys have been cultivated by the native Seminole Indians for generations and they are about as well suited to the environment as a plant can be. I have mentioned before but the seminole pumpkin was my runaway success for 2014 with one plant producing 36 pumpkins. That is a lot of food.
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| That is one half of the seminole pumpkin plant I grew in 2014. Yes there is a equal or greater amount of plant behind me in this picture! |
#5 Shoot For Density!
The number one thing that has held my gardens back in productivity is not planting densely enough. I don't mean crowding plants, but using all the space available. Chives and cowpeas can be happily tucked in all over the place. Pole beans and malabar spinach are happy to climb any portion of fence next to which they are placed. I need to work on using all of the space that I have available. I have been in regret of unused space far more often than I was in regret of having to thin plants out. Florida rain and sun will support an amazing level of plant density, all I need to do is be there to referee and add some nutrients as necessary, if necessary. Using vertical space will be key as I try to maximize production going forward.
#6 Relax and Enjoy
Despite the heat and humidity and bugs and daily thunderstorms, summer in Florida really is great. There are few things I enjoy more than walking outside on a summer morning, feeling the humidity heavy in the air and the heat of yesterday still lingering reminding you that it will be back again today, and walking through the garden to see the wealth of productivity. These are the times in the morning before work that I will harvest longbeans and okra for my breakfast and I just think, "What an amazing life I have been blessed with." It's funny don't you think that of all the things in life that you think might bring you happiness you find a bean, yes a bean, trumps so many of them. This year I will try to enjoy the successes and failures more, for I truly am blessed.
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| My greatest blessing is my wonderful wife who humors me when I come running in at 7 before work saying "Look at this bean! Will you take a picture for me?" I love you beautiful wife o mine. |
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