Tom

I am in zone 9b, and I did get a few frosts last year. To help you in a better way, you have to let us know what you like to grow and eat.

As for me I will be starting cool season crops that my family likes, some greens, radish, onions, beets, carrots, brassicas family, different lettuces for salads, peas and some other crops that don't get bother by the cold.

Here are some of the crops I will be planting again, Swiss Chard and different lettuce.

Mini cabbage Gonzales that I am growing now

This morning harvest, radishes that I cook them like greens for a minute or so and add a little butter, salt and pepper.

Silvia

Steve, thanks for the kind words. I'm moving toward variations of the SWC this year. My humidity here close to the water has been problematic for mildews and blight so I'm actually trialing a reverse SWC this season, using the wicking cup to wick water out of the soil mix instead of into it. Since the plants won't get as hot transpiration should be reduced, thus less need for moisture in the soil mix. Only time will tell if this theory is correct....

Tom

Steve, I think you have a lot of veggies covered. Writing everything down helps for next season, then you see where you made good and were you did not.

Warm season crops like tomatoes , peppers, beans, need a long warm season. If we still have warm days, then you will be fine. In the meantime, you are doing the right thing doing succession planting. I do the same thing, this way I have veggies for a long time and not all at once.

It is coming a great time to plant, there are not too many bugs and I usually do not spray when it gets colder.

Sorry about the beets, plant more in a different location, and not next to Swiss chard.

And what happened to the brassica family? You don't like them? They are very nutritious, I am sure you know that.:o)

Try to grow some Oriental greens, like Tatsoi, they are easy and tasty, I think I like them better than spinach...

For your next season, do you like to try your hand at growing tomatoes from seed? This way you will have more varieties and you can save your own seeds. Send me an email, if interested, I have some tomato seeds saved that I can share it with you.

Happy gardening season!

Silvia

You are probably talking about the Painted Metki melons that are eating as cukes.

On the left are the asian cucumbers and the light colored is the metki, I will send you some of those seeds to try in the spring.

When you are going to make an order of veggies look if they have a section of Oriental veggies, then you can order tatsoi, a lot of places have it one of them is Evergreen. But with the shipping costs that the seed companies have , we have to be savvy and wait for a big order.

Here is the tatsoi I grew this past winter, it is the one bottom left.

Silvia

I live fairly close to you in New Tampa (Bruce B. Downs/I75), probably no more than 5 miles south of your location.

You can get some good advice reading the threads here. Tom and Sylvia were of great help to me when I started, although I don't post much I do read the forum on a daily basis.

We are definitely in a much different climate than Tom, my tomato blooms were setting while his nights were just too warm. I also believe that St. Pete is much more nematode infested than North Tampa but the jury is still out on that.

I have about 250sq/ft of raised beds that I used for my garden. Some of the overflow is put into containers. My garden is set up on an irrigation timer which makes it much easier to maintain.

The University of Florida has a gardening guide that you may have read (see below link)

Florida Gardening Guide

I usually use the "central Florida" dates they list as my transplant dates. Most of my plants are started from seed and I do this 30-60 days earlier than the dates quoted. My seeds are started indoor under grow lights.

I’ve attached a picture of my garden. My house is only on a ¼ acre but I manage to have a good yield by devoting a 15x30 space in my backyard. The picture attached is from last year. Currently I have growing 11 varieties of tomatoes, 15 varieties of peppers, asparagus beans, Chinese cucumbers, 5 varieties of eggplant and just about every herb imaginable.

Best of luck and let me know if you would like to get together and share notes.

David.

David, you should be proud of yourself, what a beautiful and neat garden!

You and Steve are going to get along really well.

We love to see beautiful pictures and success stories just like yours.

Silvia

That's an amazing setup and results, Id say you've learned Florida gardening well ;-) GW is a great place to pick up tips on what works locally but it's clear you've done this a day or two somewhere along the line. Very nice!

Tom

Thank you. The above picture has different color carrots. Root crops need a good soil, but if you don't have that , I also grew them in pots that I grow my tomatoes in. I also rotate the crops.

This bed had sweet potatoes in October, this morning lettuces and oriental greens are ready for harvest.

Here are carrots, beets and cosmos in containers last year

Silvia

In the "this morning bed", there are 4 squares. On the upper left is leaf lettuce, the upper right is tatsoi, the bottom left is an oriental brassica choy sum, and the bottom right is italian lettuce lollo rosa.

All the leafy greens are good to be planted now and later, you can sow every week to have fresh supply.

Wait for the mail that I sent you...

Silvia

I am glad that you got your seeds already. I started the Metki (used as a cucumber) in spring and also the papaya sweet (pumpkin) can also be used when young as a squash.

The squash need a longer season to ripen, and the metki is planted the same time as a cucumber.

The red lime is a citrus that I have right now producing wonderful juice. I used for everything in my cooking. I heard that the seeds have to be fresh to germinate, that is the reason that I open one red lime and sent you the seeds, I hope you get lucky and they do well for you, you can start them now.

My red lime, this was taken in October, now is has more color, I love it!

Check with David about when he plant his crops, he is already a pro...

Silvia

All my plantings are 2 years old or less, the red lime is going to be 1 year old this winter, I bought it in a 5 gallon nursery pot. I can not tell you how good it is, I made the best salsa this year for friends.

Also I forgot, David, if you see this I don't remember sending you any tomato seeds that I saved, if you want to try them for next season, I will be glad to send you.

Steve, when you talk to him, let him know...

Good luck with your plantings!

Silvia

Steve, I am very close to you as well, right off 1-75 and Fletcher(USF exit), next exit down from David.

I live on a cattle farm, and am only a 3rd year gardener, so I have much to learn as well. I am currently limiting myself to tomatoes and peppers, I love salsa and hot foods. I tried lettuce/broccoli/carrots/radishes, but the lettuce and broccoli didnt do too good.

I have some pepper plants that are a couple years old now, I just cover them durring frost. This winter I am going to try using water jugs durring frost. The big Zepherhills water jugs, just cut off the bottom and put it over the plant. Its like a mini greenhouse. I start pepper seeds in November for a March 1st plant out. I currently have 3 bhut jolokia(ghost chili/current world record holder) seedlings going. And should have some more cool varieties from the tomato/pepper exchange.

For tomatoes I try to follow the 2-season approach. I start seeds January 1st, plant out March 1st. Then I start seeds July 1st, plant out Sept 1st. I might try to get some shade cloth and try to get them through the summer next year.

-Corey

Hi Corey, and welcome to the Florida forum!

When I was a young girl, I lived for a while in Nepal and got to sample the bhut jolokia peppers, whoa. They were so hot, that I got sick for a few days, maybe it was the combination with the new food I sampled. :o)

Now I am growing Padron peppers, and they said the way they eat in Spain is to fry one and eat it, so I did that, I thought dragons were flying. Now I put them in the salsa together with other hot peppers like hot Portugal that is milder. I made the salsa medium for girls and hot for men :o)

Corey, I brought from Jamaica seeds for Scotch peppers, if you want those and if you don't already have it, I can send them to you.

Silvia

Steve, I plant my tomatoes in raised beds and my peppers are in the ground. I am also building an Earthtainer SWC this year as well. Also, I'm growing the Bhut Jolokia as a novelty. If I use it, it will have to be diluted or a small piece in some chili. Even though its supposed to have an awesome apricot flavor, its also supposed to be like drinking battery acid with shards of glass. LOL

Silvia, Thank you very much for the seed offer. I have not grown the Scotch Bonnet yet, but its on my list and the seeds should be here anyday. I am interested in your Padron pepper if you have any seeds left over.

Corey

I have a few Padron pepper seeds that I can send you and will also include some tomatoes. Send me your address to my email.

Silvia

As to the exact dates for different locations, I tend to wing it a bit. I can get away with season extension a bit as much of my planting happens in an Aquaponics system. Aquaponics is a great way to avoid nematode problems and I get to harvest catfish and tilapia from my garden as well as veggies.