Summer Crops

Several people have asked what could be planted for summer.  Although it is getting a bit late to plant some crops, others can survive the summer heat.  The most useful list of crops comes from the Univ. of Florida, IFAS (Institute of Food and Agricultural Science), and I highly recommend checking their recommendations. (It might take a minute for the link to open the page)
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/vh021


Note that the Northern Region is north of Rt. 40 (Granada Blvd., Ormond)  and the Central Region is south of Rt. 40 to Rt. 70 (Ft. Pierce).  We are at the very, very northern end of the Central Region and I think you should check the Northern Region planting guide also.  You'll have to make some judgement calls, but since we are so far north, there is a bit of overlap in crops from the North and Central Regions.


You can download (PDF format) this entire page from IFAS (download button at the top).  That way you will be able to print it out and refer to the planting guide.


There are several other links on the EDIS website (Electronic Data Info. Source) that are useful for Florida gardening and landscaping.

Tomato Leaf Yellowing

Most all of the tomato plants have started to show brown spots and yellowing lower leaves.  This has been a problem before in the garden around this time of spring.  After copious researching of various tomato diseases, it is my thought that this problem is Early Tomato Blight, a fungus, and airborne.  It seemed to spread overnight throughout the garden area, and the windy conditions we had on Friday and Saturday would support the thought of an airborne disease.   
Here are a couple of links that may help you decide for yourself and determine the method of treatment.  Last year, I just removed the infected leaves, and continued to get tomatoes. 
This photo is from http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pp121 , which is for IFAS at the University of Florida, one of my most used reference bases.  If IFAS does not have an answer, then your probably have the rarest plant problem in Central Florida!
Another link, http://www.megagro.com/greencure-tomato.htm?gclid=COLU6tW9oqgCFYjt7QodW0YgIA is really for an organic cure.  I have never used their products, but the description of the Early Blight really seems to fit the problem in our gardens.  The lower leaves are infected first.  There is a store in our area that might sell a similar product.  I will get the name from one of our gardeners and post it.
If anyone has additional information on this problem, PLEASE add it to the Blog.

Everything is Growing

If you planted tomatoes, you should start seeing little green tomatoes on your vines.  My cucumbers are about 2 1/2 - 3 inches long on one plant.  Almost gerkin-sized. 

Romaine and spinach leaves can be picked.  If the very premature hot weather continues, it might get too hot for some of the lettuce plants.

Some people have a healthy crop of weeds and they need to get to their garden and weed it before the weeds start intruding on other gardens.  Don't forget to pluck any weeds growing in the pathway around your garden.

Missing Gardeners

If you are at the POCG and find a member that has not heard of the Blog, please send their name, email and plot #, and I'll get an invite out to them.

I mentioned long handled tools...here are a couple that might be of interest or check in our local Lowe's.  Just a long handle hoe would do the job!  And I am sure they can be found locally. 

Tool Hints

I had forgotten about my "long handled" garden tools. They are perfect for reaching to the center of the garden area for weeding around the vegetable plants.

Another good idea is from plot#13, where they laid 2x6's across the garden to use as a catwalk to access the center of their plot!

The Good Stuff

Many of the gardens have tomatoes and cucumbers!! They are very, very tiny, but they popped out after the rain. So, in a few weeks you'll be harvesting tomatoes. The cherry tomatoes most definately.

Cucumbers are vining nicely and need some help to find the bamboo poles. Carefully wrap the curling tendrils around the poles to give the plant a boost. You really want them to grow up the pole and not on the ground. Keeps the worms out:))

Don't forget to pick the outer leaves on your romaine...they are great in your salad. Spinach outer leaves are also delicious, and ready to be picked.

Weeding after the rain

If you have not been over to weed your garden, this is the time to do it. After the heavy rains this past week, ALL of the gardens have plenty of weeds! Several members where here this morning weeding.

Don't forget to pull any weeds in the pathway around your plot. The leaves were put down as mulch to help control the weeds, but there are still weeds that will pop-up through the mulch.

Another reminder: Please, please do not adjust the hole size in the watering tubes. The holes are about the size of a hypodermic needle point, and are designed specifically to "soak" the ground where the plant roots are growing.
Spraying the plant with water does nothing to water the roots, and a good percentage of the water is wasted by evaporation.
All the tubes were tested before the planting, and were functioning correctly. You will not see water flowing out of the tube, only the ground will look darker once watered by the soaking.

To turn off your water, use the red spigot handle at one end of the main water pipe. Just don't forget to turn it back on if there is no rain!

Trouble Logging into the Blog

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Getting Everyone on the Blog

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Pinching off tomato plant suckers



Small suckers on the tomato plant, as seen on Plot #36, should be removed to give the main stem more strength.  These suckers become very long and weedy, sapping energy from the main stem of tomatoes.

 The small branches that grow between the main stem and the leaf branch on a tomato are called suckers.  These can easily be pinched off, giving the main stem more growth energy.  The suckers can be planted in the soil and will develop into a new tomato plant!


Sucker is removed and can be planted to grow into a new plant.

Thanks to Eileen on #36 for being a very helpful gardening model!

Making Sure Everyone Can Blog!

If you have not received an invitation to the blog, I think I am going to leave a sign-up sheet at the garden tool area in the glass box. By Saturday, I should have it up, and people can sign-in there.

Gardening Ideas

A couple of us were talking about keeping gardening tool necessities in a bucket, basket or bag handy in the car trunk, so it is more convenient to just stop by and dig into your garden. Here are a couple of nice garden "caddies" I saw. While these are pretty spiffy, you can certainly make your own quite simply! I use a basket, and as harvest time approaches, I put a couple of plastic "Publix" bags to use for carrying crops...a bunch of tomatoes can get pretty unwieldy to carry!



Happy
Digging!

Active Saturday Gardeners

The rain this week really gave every one's garden a boost in growth!  A good group of gardeners were out today working their plots.  Pat brought some new plants over, and was busy adding bamboo, turning soil, and doing general maintenance on the last available plots.  A couple of the ladies helped spread the bags of leaves in the pathways that Pat brought over.  As the leaves settle, they should help keep the weeds down as Spring progresses into Summer.  If you notice weeds popping up in the pathway around your garden, please pull them or dig them out, as they WILL encroach on the all the gardens before you can say "Summer is here"!
So, start pulling little weeds now, before they cover your plot.

In a week or so, those that planted romain or other lettuce leaf plants can start taking the outer leaves for your salad!  Be sure to leave the center clump of leaves so the plant can continue to have surface area for photosynthesis!  Outer spinach leaves can also be pinched off for eating.  The plants will continue to grow.




Windchimes on Plot 27 will be
enjoyed by everyone!

 


Hoping her blessings will
find their way to my garden, also!

 Plots 26 and 27 added some nice touches to their trellises and plot 19 has a delightful Guardian Angel for their plot.

Gardens are Planted

Pat Gill helps one of the gardeners.

Yesterday the Port Orange Community Gardens were planted!  There was a great turn-out, and most people got their gardens underway thanks to all the hard work Pat and Pearl contributed by readying the plots and plants over the last few months.  This was the 3rd Annual Planting Day, and with a blessing from Pastor Gary, everyone went to work digging and hoeing.  For some, this was their first year, others were seasoned gardeners with plenty of information and hints on how to get bumper crops from the garden plots.  Pat had hundreds of plants he started in his greenhouses in January, which were free to those that signed up.  Thanks to his superb effort, there were plenty of plants to go around.  There are a couple of plots left, so if you live in the area and would like to plant a garden please email Pat.

Today, everyone's garden looks pretty good.  All the little seedings seem to be beckoning the possible rain today, standing tall and sturdy.