"I'm late, I'm late, for a very important date!
No time to say "Hello", goodbye!
I'm late, I'm late, I'm late! " ~ the White Rabbit
And so am I. Last year I started the tomatoes at the beginning of January. This year it was the 9th of February and I have finally made time to start my seeds.
I started the Sleeping Lady tomato with enough to share with friends. I am also planting Black Vernissage. I really like the taste and production of these. I was reminded of that when I planted two in the greenhouse this winter. Unfortunately they met their demise when we had an extended freeze. With the power connection down to the greenhouse, I couldn't use heat or lights. I covered everything with frost cloth. The rest of the plants endured but the tomatoes did not.
I also started a few yellow banana peppers, pimento peppers (which I love to pickle) and black jalapeno peppers shared by a gardening friend here.
In one raised bed, I have a nice crop of potatoes. As pretty as the tops are, I'm hoping it won't be all show and no go. I also have a couple rows of lettuce in succession planting. Another bed has a good stand of garlic and multiplier onions. I planted a third bed today. It will be half Dwarf Sugar Peas (Terrior), a few rows of French Breakfast radishes shared by a friend. They were in tape which I had never used before. They certainly made planting easier. I also direct sowed Little Gem (Pinetree) and Parris Island Cos (SESE) lettuce with Hakurei turnip (Johnnys). Everything is well watered in and then the beds were pet proofed. Last was to set up a trellis for the peas to climb.
In one of the raised beds, I found the basil has began to sprout. I may dig and relocate it.
I had picked up a containered Methley Plum tree last weekend. I noticed it was beginning to bud so got it in the ground as well. I have had terrible luck with bare root fruit trees so have opted to bite the bullet and buy established potted trees. The Anna apple and the Brown Turkey fig are doing well.
Gardening season is officially underway. Now we shall see what it brings.
Over the years when I have planted vegetables I was always looking for plants that endured this heat and humidity, plants that produced well and vegetables that I truly liked to eat.
A favorite tomato that has proven itself over the years is Sleeping Lady. I absolutely love the mellow, sweet taste. It produces generously which allows enough to feast on, share with others and can for the winter days when I yearn for a taste of summer. They did well last summer in the Earth Boxes so this year I planted six which should be more than adequate.
Another that I had grown a few times and again, loved the taste as an eating tomato is Hillbilly. This year there are two containers of Hillbilly. Neither of these tomatoes has disappointed me. They are growing, blooming and producing tomatoes.
I grew Black Cherry in the greenhouse over winter and although I liked the taste, I was not impressed with production. I decided to trial a couple of plants in a raised bed to see if it just didn't like greenhouse living. Well as of right now, the plants are over four feet tall without the first bloom. I am prepared to be disappointed again.
A friend lamented about not liking Bonnie Plants. I had to agree. He also bemoaned the fact that there were no old fashioned Cayenne peppers available. Well I found three types of Cayenne seed. Two are heirloom and one a hybrid. I have never been wildly successful with pepper seed germination so I planted extra. You might guess every last seed germinated, far more than he or I could say grace over. I kept three, one of each type and what he didn't want was spread among many other friends and customers.
I planted all three in an earth box. They germinated at the same time, receive the same moisture, fertilizer and sunlight. All three are equal in size and only one is already loaded with peppers. Of course it is the hybrid, Red Ember. The other two are full of blooms. I see Ristras in my future.
I planted a yellow summer squash and a winter butternut squash in each earth box. The Bugle butternut has three good sized squash already. The yellow squash in the same container has been overwhelming in production. Today alone I picked eight and only ate three so they are gaining on me. I have shared many already. In the years past, I had canned yellow squash. I can't say I was crazy about it. I have also dehydrated it to be thrown into soups. As I live in a rural area with occasional extended power outages, I hate to depend on the freezer so think I will dehydrate more this year.
I have always liked green beans and tried a few different types over the years. Again, I like to steam them fresh or can them for cold winter days.
This bed is split with two new types I am trying.
The low growing plants are Affirmed and the taller ones are Provider. I have always grown Jade and have another bed planted with Jade beans. I like the Provider plant and production so planted another bed of them. I intended to lay in a stash of canned green beans.
A favorite cucumber I have grown over the years is Early Cluster. It is slow getting started in a raised bed but I have had a few to add to salads already. I also planted two bush cucumbers in a raised bed and am trialing two of each type in earth boxes.
In the following photos, the healthy green vines are earth box grown winter squash vines that are trailing through the raised beds. The anemic looking plants are planted in the beds and struggling to compete with tree roots for nutrients. Normally they would compete for water but the past month has delivered excessive moisture and that may be part of the anemic look as well.
Well it looks like my garden helper has given up.
It was a cool night at the end of May and I thought I would enjoy the evening too.
I've been using raised beds for vegetables for the past 15 years. I had untreated wood beds but as they rotted, I replaced them with 3x6 galvanized beds. They were cheap (about half of what they sell for today) and fun to assemble. Changing from wood eliminated slug problems. The reflective metal beds kept the beds cooler in the summer heat.
The raised beds generally pose some problems though.
I fight tree roots and twice a year I would till the beds and remove roots that were leaching nutrients and moisture.
In this climate, the demand for moisture has been a challenge. I placed raised barrels at the head of each bed so I could water on site as needed.
I live with pets and find that loose soil attracts cats. My Sugar dog likes to bed down in them so when planting, I use all manner of wire baskets, cattle panels, etc., to deter the pets.
The beds seem to attract fire ants. When there is excess rainfall, they move to higher ground in the raised beds. As I don't want to use chemicals around foods and pets, I use boiling water to discourage them. Unfortunately, it does damage some of the plantings as well.
This year I noticed that some of the beds have rusted through and look like Swiss cheese.
While prepping one of the beds for spring planting, I found a coral snake had taken up residence by entering through the ground level hole. That was the final straw.
The past two seasons I had dabbled with Earth Boxes keeping a pair in the greenhouse for winter tomatoes. Last summer I trialed some for the tomato crop and was successful beyond my gardening dreams. 
Production was so much better than those in the raised beds. Logic convinced me that using these planters should eliminate many of the raised bed headaches. Easier to hydrate, pets can't use them, fire ants can't move into them, no slug or snail headaches, no tree roots and hopefully no reptiles.
I removed the first rotting bed and set the planters in place. This year I am growing more tomatoes, two winter squash and two summer squash in the planters. As I replace the galvanized beds, I will try to add more planters.
Oh yes... the anticipation.
I moved plants out of the greenhouse and to my shock I already have flower buds on some of the Epiphyllum. I have never had buds this early. I hope they don't blast. I am anxious to see the blooms as these two have not bloomed for me before. Cannot wait!
Also I was gifted an amaryllis bulb over a year ago that was coated in wax. After asking questions among those with knowledge, I chose to peel the wax off. I found it was enclosed in a balloon type skin under the wax coating which I also removed. I let it remain dormant in the cool greenhouse with virtually no moisture this winter. When I moved plants out, I set it outdoors and ignored it. Now I find the slowest developing flower stem and bud. I can hardly wait to see the color and the bloom.
Roselle is a favorite summer bloomer and St. Kitts has been my chosen cultivar.
" The greatest pleasure of a dog is that you may make a fool of yourself with him, and not only will he not scold you, but he will make a fool of himself, too." -Samuel Butler
In this case it is a her... she is most fun.
