Notes From a Small Town

Summer Harvesting in North Florida

It is hot here. Very, very hot. I didn't think anything would grow due to the extreme heat. And, we didn't want to have to do an excessive amount of watering. But, thankfully, I have a smart cookie for a husband who does his Florida gardening research.

And, so let me say this here in this space: he was right about the calabaza vines and the eggplant. :)

(a baby calabaza over a month ago)

We have gotten at least ten of these head-sized pumpkins. They are a fleshy peach color and taste similar to butternut squash or fresh pumpkin. I cut them open and roast them in the oven and store the flesh to make pumpkin pie or pumpkin muffins. We've also been making a cubed squash recipe with white beans and fresh herbs. Yum.

And, on those days when we brave the grill outside?

The eggplant is ours. Grown in our front yard (where we get sun). We use this recipe - delicious. (And spread some on the accompanying zucchini and onions too). And, finally, since this seems to be an "I eat my words" kind of post (with regards to the garden)...I bring you the watermelon.

We planted these back in March...everyone else harvested watermelons in early July. So, we did too. Only the first two we picked were light pink and still kind of white...and not very tasty. I assumed they were grown in poor soil (we just stuck the two plants in a patch where we had taken down 4 trees). So, we left the remaining ones on the vine. I was ready to abandon the remaining four watermelon...give them up to the compost bin without even cutting them. But, my lovely husband gave them a final chance - and we are so happy he did. This watermelon had been sitting in the fridge for a couple of weeks and he cut it one night...and it was soooo good. I'm looking forward to eating the other ones as well. And, so are the kids.

the garden post

While I do not consider us prolific gardeners (yet), I would say that this year we have proven that we are getting a little bit better at growing our own food. It could be the change of climate. Since we are in north Florida now, we have a little bit more wiggle room with regards to plants. We are no longer limited to those plants that thrive in the tropics. Now, we have tomatoes and squash and cucumbers. Then, there's the beans and the okra and the calabaza pumpkins (a heat-loving variety that is ripening as we speak). We also bought most of our starter plants at the local farmer's market - a prefect place to know what is in season and what we should avoid in the Florida heat. Did I mention that we also have grown watermelons? Successfully? The kids couldn't have been more excited...and neither could we.

And, just for record keeping for next year -- the cherry tomatoes have done well, though they've stayed small. We've still harvested at least a pint between the two plants. The zuccinin did not like the 10 hours of direct sunlight in this Florida heat. They should be planted in partial shade. The yellow-orange lemon boys have produced at least 45 tomatoes, not to mention the six or seven that Calum has pulled off and were too little or green to ripen. And, there are still another 45 on the plants. (It's hard to squash that harvesting excitement, though, we are trying to redirect it just a bit).

Our two watermelon plants (one seedless, one seeded) have both actually grown to a the size of a small basketball. This is much more than we thought due to the fact that we had planted them in the space where we took down three of our trees (and we worried the soil was a bit lax, but a little fish emulsion seemed to help with that).

I realize that people have been growing their own food for thousands of years. I know this. But, man, it is really cool when we do it ourselves. We already have a plan to increase our food production space (thank you, Backyard Homestead). We will amend our soil with compost in the next few months and get ready to start again in October. We may even try our hand at growing some of our plants from seed. Who knows. Either way, we know we've been bitten by this bug. A self-sufficiency bug? A save-the-planet kind of bug? A clean-food bug? The nice thing is...we think our kids have been bitten too.

 

Spring!

It's a bit late for a post about Spring, but because "Spring" is such a beautiful time in Florida, we usually spend all of our time outside. Thus, very little computer or TV time. We have to soak up all of the nice weather before it gets too hot. (Like the last couple of days...in the 90s!)

Painting. A very nice activity that was recently introduced to Calum. Outside. And, smoothie pops. Also, an outside activity. I do have a few cleanliness rules.

Ronan was very excited to be able to paint since he usually only has a chance to do so while Calum is taking a nap. But, this time, they both shared the watercolor set and Calum "helped" Ronan with his picture. They both really enjoyed it and I enjoyed the time spent sitting in the chair nearby. This will definitely be a repeat activity - assuming Calum has sinced learned that we do not drink the cup of water near the paints.

We've also been spending a lot of time watching our garden grow. In February, our plants bloomed and we have been eating salads daily.

(late February)

(early April)

The gorgeous bluish-purple bushes are red cabbage.(In the top of the above picture). They needed more light than they were getting with a winter sun, but they are really taking off now. But, our lettuce is bolting. However, we have just planted a few other "plots" with summer veggies. Bring on the tomatoes, okra and eggplant. (Hopefully).

WIth the nicer weather, the kids are on the back porch much more often. One afternoon while Calum was napping and I was hanging out on the porch with Ronan, he drew this picture. He started with the ant hill and the ants going below. Then, he decided he needed to draw the ground (so we would know the ants were below the ground) and he added the grass for effect. Finally, there needed to be more ants (I think to symbolize the large amounts in our backyard) and those are the dots everywhere. I was thoroughly impressed.

 

Outdoor Transformations

 

 

 

 

There's something about trying to be "green" that makes me cringe when I make this confession : we just had a large number of very, very tall trees cut down in our yard. In my defesnse, our yard is full of cherry laurels and water oaks, many of which are over 80 feet tall...and close to the house. These aren't the kind of trees to you want lingering in your yard. Perhaps, a live oak or two...

And, so we have begun the long process of eventually removing many of these trees (because we still have plenty left). But, we learned a lot about our space and we got some "free" mulch out of it, which has already been put to good use, of course. Plus, the boys had a blast and now, instead of a farmer or an astronaut, Ronan would like to be the owner of the tree cutting service. (Yes, he specified that he would like to be the guy who sometimes gets to be in the bucket truck, but not always...rather the guy who gets to give the orders). Observation is a powerful tool.

Waiting for Spring

It can be difficult celebrating the "seasons" in Florida. As a native, I like to say we have two main seasons: hot and hotter. (Though, you wouldn't know it this "winter", the temperatures have been downright chilly).

During those years where it only stays cold for a matter of weeks, I've found myself resorting to other ways of recognizing the seasons. Tree pollen arrives in abundance during January and February. There are no more gourds (pumpkin, acorn and butternet squash) at my local grocery store. My husband starts talking excitedly about the planting season.

(Lettuce sprouts waiting patiently inside)

After much reading about plants and seeds and, food in general, Ronan and Joe planted some seedlings. A carefully devised plan to maximize the small yard (and even smaller amount of sun). It looks like lettuce, basil, rosemary and early girl tomatoes will be part of this year's experiment.

Our indoor seedlings are thriving, thanks to a homemade grow light and some daily "checking in" by an excited pair of boys. "Spring" in Florida is a short season, but it will mean nice temperatures until May, and then it will just be hot. Which means, I will soak up the cool weather now, and look forward to a bountiful harvest.

Harvest

While our gardening has taken, uh, a sabbatical, we checked out our local options and were happily surprised at what we found. This year we decided to join our local CSA, an urban phenomenon. The Tampa Bay area has plenty of protected wildlife areas, but urban farms? Not likely. We were thrilled when we found a little one trying to bring fresh organic veggies to the city-dwellers. Our first share:

 

Lots of lettuce and "summer" veggies. (The pumpkin, alas, was not grown here, that is store-bought). We've been eating lots of salads and making some food for Calum, based on this book, with those fresh veggies. I'm determined this time to try and retain my little veggie lover (thankfully, now that Ronan is four, he is a little more open to all those great veggies he used to devour). In the meantime, mealtimes are a source of laughter, warm feelings and lots of after-dinner clean-up.

 

Happy Monday!

Harvest

There is something so rewarding about watching, planting, and truly knowing the food we eat. Now, granted, our experience has been a slow, but steady one: from plant foe to successful herb gardener and now, something that could truly sustain us (well, eventually).

With our experimental lima bean seed, we have experienced the "energy cycle," as the very eloquent Mr. Berry would say. And, you can bet that we are hooked - for life. Even though we are city-suburban dwellers, growing our own food has already become a priority. It can be done, although growing up in the country seems pretty nice too.

Alas, our waiting continues - definitely the hardest part about growing your own food.

we've been experimenting

This week has seemed full of experiments for our clan. Some of them have been intentional and others, well, not so much. (Apparently, we are trying to see how long we can avoid mopping our tile floors. Let me tell you - it ain't pretty). Regardless, we've all had our own curious ventures this week.

Ronan: "What happens when an ice cube melts?"

This book did not get put away with the rest of the winter books and has been a bedtime favorite for the last month. And, seeing as how Ronan’s favorite phrase is currently, “why?” he was wondering what happened to the snowball in Peter’s pocket. (Spoiler: it melted when he came inside his house).  Well, first you have to describe snow in terms that your three-year-old Florida native can understand. It seemed like a bit of an abstract concept. So, I related it to an ice cube. And, then it began…

He's repeated this experiment almost daily for a week. But, most of the time, once the ice melts he comes back and drinks the water (he's quite eco-conscious, you know). I'm not sure which he likes better - drinking the water or getting an ice cube out of the freezer.

Me: I've been trying to discover which foods Calum can (and can't) handle. So far, it seems that broccoli, onions and ice cream are out. Thankfully, chocolate is still okay - although, I may be ignoring the signs because  - it's chocolate. When I do come across a food on the no-list, we do a lot of dancing in the Moby wrap.

Calum: He's been working on trying to determine why a tiny hand keeps trying to get in his mouth - and how he can make it stay there permanently. Either that, or he's in a contest to try and see how many times I can change my shirt on daily basis due to spit up.

And, finally, we have Joe, whose gardening experiments have taken over the tiny patch of dirt we call a backyard.

Behold, the great lima/bush/pole bean experiment. This plant started it all, ironically, a home experiment with some grocery store lima beans and a wet paper towel. Ronan was curious how plants grew and remembering my kindergarten lima bean experiment, we soaked a paper towel and voila - three days later - we had sprouts. Finally, something we could actually grow! So, of course, Joe had to try some more space-saving techniques.

The plastic mesh is patiently waiting for a vine to sprout and begin making its way to the top. (These were planted just a few days ago). The ingenious-ness of this device is that Joe designed it to move with the sun. Our backyard gets very little sun, but this way he figured he could move the plants during the day and they would have enough sun to grow. An experiment, indeed.

(Bean pods)

I think that one of the nicest things about being able to stay home with your kids is being a constant observer in the learning process. And, while I can’t wait to use some petri dishes in our experiments, for now, I am just impressed with the desire to find out what happens - something which I am thankful we all seem to posses.

Happy weekend experimenting!