My Summer Garden is Growing

Do you remember those cute little seedlings that I had grown from saved seeds in a flat that I took a picture of a couple months ago?  Well, they are growing up very well, and are promising to produce some fruit and such.

Here are some pictures:

On the left is the Heirloom Red Beefsteak Tomato.  When it first started flowering, the flowers would just fall off and not develop into the tomatoes, so I just left it alone and it corrected itself.  I think it was just too humid in those first two weeks of flowering (we had an early heat/humidity wave here in Florida).  Then we had a cool front push through, and the humidity level dropped and voila!  8 tomatoes.  I am happy. They are about half grown now, and will be very large tomatoes.  There are also more blossoms, and the plant is indeterminate, so maybe we will have even more on this plant.  On the right is one of the German Pink Heirloom Tomato, and I had a blossom-end rot issue with them early on, which is caused by a calcium deficiency (I found that out by online research--thanks Bonnie's website!). I didn't have the product that thei recommended, but I do have human calcium supplement pills, so I crushed them up, dissolved them in water, and used them as a drench.  It seems to have worked (and Bonnie's site was a bit pessimistic about anything helping once the plants set fruit). I have 6 tomatoes on that bush so far.  We will see if any survive.

 I don't know if you can see the little sweet peppers on the bush---->  but there are many flowers, and 6 have already begun to form into the bell peppers; the biggest is the one close to the top of the picture, and one just right of center.

And here is one of the three personal mini-watermelons that have set so far on the watermelon vines.  I have a couple more that are just starting to develop, but certainly aren't noteworthy yet.  :-)

The basil is growing at a really fast pace.  I have been cutting it almost everyday, and using basil in almost everything I cook.  All my herbs are producing so well that I am providing fresh herbs to one of my clients, who gives me her free-range chicken and duck eggs in return!  I love bartering with food!  LOL



My Florida Summer Garden

 I have planted a garden, which is not a monumental act, but it is more exciting to me than a normal garden, because these are all seeds that I have saved from vegetables my husband and I ate last year.  Now, I am sure there are lots of people out there who have done this for years, but  I am one of those who (when I plant a garden) buys fresh packeaged seeds from the store or catalogue.  So I am so excited that ALL of my seeds sprouted!!  Yay!
The other thing I am proud of, and a little nervous about, as well, is that I am trying to make this an organic garden, drawing on the horse manure compost pile that is a result of my business, teaching and training Dressage.
I have transplanted them out into bigger pots now, so the second step is success, as well.  I will take pictures of milestones as we go along, and below are the first two milestones that I captured:
In the first picture are my herbs-- Rosemary, Chives, Marjoram, Greek Oregano, Lemon Balm, and Sage.

These are the herbs that I first planted last spring, that have survived past winter, and have started to grow again.  The Basil, which is an annual, died back of course, but I saved some of the seeds, and it is part of the seed flat, below......

Here is the flat of vegetables that I planted.  The Mini-Watermelons, Cantaloupes, Bell Peppers, Heirloom Red Beefsteak Tomatoes, Heirloom German Pink Tomatoes, and Basil sprouted quickly and easily, and are growing like gangbusters even after transplanting into their permanent plots.  I planted the watermelon and cantaloupes in the ground, and everything else in 7 gallon pots filled with organic compost.

The only thing that didn't sprout was the Eggplant, which makes me a bit sad, since Eggplant grows so well in my area and I love eggplant, but I can certainly trade for Eggplants with my Heirloom Tomatoes, Bell Peppers, Basil, and other herbs and vegetables.  What are you growing this season?