There have been a lot of delicious things happening here at P2 as I chip away at my plant projects... The priorities for April (other than celebrating Mark's Birthday!) in the garden were:
- Get cherry tomatoes growing so that there are PLENTY of tomatoes coming out of the garden
- Plant fruit trees in the new "food forest"
- Get the Okinawa Spinach started in multiple pots so that there's LOTS for salads every day
Success in all three areas! It was very exciting yesterday to get a shipment from Fast Growing Trees of some fruit trees that aren't available locally: loquat, june plum, guava, jaboticaba, and a couple new avocados (Haas and a Cold Tolerant pollinator). There's a picture at the end of the post. But now, let's see how things are going...
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| These two cherry tomatoes look like amazing full size tomatoes, but they're only 1" in diameter. The goal is to have 20 cherry tomatoes ripen every day... I'm on it! |
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| We got Mark two orange trees last year, and they're growing in pots and making oranges! The largest is about 2" in diameter, and the blooms were so fragrant last month. We're feeding them lots and hoping for delicious oranges. |
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| Six months ago I didn't know what a Canna was. Now, I'm enthralled with their amazing leaves. Oh yeah, they flower too. But more importantly, these leaves love Florida's hot humid climate, and will grow in sun, shade, pots, ground, or even in the pond. The "Tropicanna" variety has stunning pink/red/green/orange leaves. You're going to see a lot of these around.... |
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| And now, the tomatoes. This is a cherry tomato plant from Home Depot, so he got an early start. Wow, he's doing great. Mark rigged up the most impressive pond watering system using PVC, Rain Birds, brains, and love. The plants are SO happy. Right? |
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| I have a bunch of banana pups that I harvested from their mother mats in December that BARELY made it through the January freeze, but they're in pots and thriving now. I only lost one out of about 12, so I'm happy about that. Water, worm castings (aka poo), and more water makes them happy. |
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| This cherry tomato is a beauty! So happy in his pot with a firmly fastened tomato cage ready to climb on. |
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| And now, the tomato seedlings. I found a source online that claimed that these are THE tomatoes that grow well in Central Florida. We'll see! I bought a 30% shade cloth for mid summer to keep the ball rolling even when it gets too tropical here. Mark and I are designing the structure to cover the heirloom tomatoes with the shade cloth. I have a bit of time to decide on the final design while I wait for these little guys to grow up a bit. But for now, seedlings in blue Solo cups! |
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| There's always one seedling that towers above the others... |
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| My biggest seedling is a Ukranian Purple, and he's very anxious to start producing amazing purple heirloom tomatoes. |
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| Another happy tomato is Cherokee Purple... also excelling a week after transplanting. |
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| I have a bunch of smaller plants in the nursery... crotons, split leaf philodendrons, and this lovely mottled banana pup. |
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| I'm hoping this Fuyu Persimmon is a big producer of delicious fruit. Right now, I'm happy to have flowers. |
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| My goal is to have plenty of tropical perennial greens growing for food. The Cranberry Hibiscus is edible and tastes good, but I'm really trying to get the plant HUGE before I graze on it! Right now, it's good enough to see a pot full of the leaves with some gorgeous hibiscus flowers. The dining will come soon enough... |
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| The story of the central Florida Lychee.... the leaves did poorly in the freeze of January, but they didn't fall off. The new leaves are there, but not robust. I've read that the Lychee is picky... not sure I'll put up with a picky plant, but for now I'll feed it, mulch it, and hope it does amazing in it's pot. |
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| On to the food forest. I started this patch last fall with lots of cardboard, wood sticks, top soil, mulch, and water to create a perfect bed for fruit trees. Mark added the amazing pond water distribution system, and yesterday I planted the fruit trees: Valencia Mango, Tommy Atkins Mango, and Brogdon Avocado. There are 3 more holes for the 2 newest avocado trees plus the Loquat. The lovely flowers are black oil sunflowers. |
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| Big bird, spraying delicious pond water on the food forest. |
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| I've extended the food forest south by several feet, adding cardboard, top soil, and a hold for the loquat. Mulch coming soon (probably tomorrow, today is a rest day LOL). |
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| The Food Forest plus part of the southern extension. |
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| A bamboo update! Sixish (a Seabreeze bamboo planted near 6 of the original 1-10 field clumps of Emerald bamboo) shot up her first cane of the season. A nice big thick happy cane, already about 6 inches tall. |
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| The bamboo plantation is looking full, leafy, and green now in April. Remember how the leaves all got melted in the January freeze? No worries, all of the mats are alive and happy with new leaves and bananas aplenty. |
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| We have a 5' tall fig tree near the front of the house. Sadly he doesn't get irrigation except when it rains. Still, he's starting to produce figs for 2018. He's happy and healthy. Looks like the 4 bags of composted manure and 4 bags of mulch last fall made him happy. |
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| Close up of the new figs forming. |
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And now, the seven new fruit trees from Fast Growing Trees. Starting in the front, clockwise:
- Haas Avocado (2-3' size)
- Cold Hardy Avocado (pollinator) (3-4' size)
- Guava (2-3' size)
- Loquat (4-5' size)
- Jacaranda (3 gallon pot)
- Jaboticaba (1 gallon pot)
- June Plum (3-4' size)
In case there's any question, the June Plum is the bare stick. Apparently he lost his leaves in the South Carolina winter.
The trees all look amazing! I'll let them sit for a day or so and then plant them.
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