Second season

The good thing about living in Florida – even northern Florida – is being able to squeeze two growing seasons into the prime spring/summer months. Because our winters don’t generally arrive until late November, sometimes December, we get a couple of extra months of growing time, usually. What this means for yours truly is an attempt to get another round of growing in: currently, I have a flat of tomato seedlings and two flats of cauliflower and broccoli under the lights in the barn. Today, I’ll be direct seeding more cucumbers, as we’re completely out of relish, and I’m hoping to turn into a regular pickle factory here before the end of the season. In addition, I think another round of green beans may be in order as well if we can stand harvesting and processing them for the freezer.

The garlic: a total loss, from what I’ve dug up so far. Most of it rotted from the two feet of rain dumped on us courtesy of a tropical storm, the small amount that hasn’t rotted is stunted because of the constant high temperatures we’ve endured here. Next time: less garlic. Instead, I’ll put in more beans and peas at the beginning of the season and replace those with heat tolerant herbs as those give out to join the tomatoes and peppers as they go in at the same tie. It’s a plan, anyway.

For the winter: a continuation of frame replacements, and getting another truckload of soil/manure mix from the old dairy farm to top them all off for next year. Since we’re looking into getting a whole house generator that will run on gas, I’ll likely be giving up a portion of the back garden so we can bury a huge tank in that area.

Always something to look forward to on the ranch. Like most of life, it’s a work in progress.

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