Took One Year to Grow a Pineapple

It took one year for a planted pineapple top to produce another pineapple. I planted a top in Aug 2009 and just harvested the new fruit last week. Infact, it took almost exactly a year. I could have harvested it a few weeks sooner, but I've been buys.

Lethal Frog in the Garden Today?

We found Tinsel playing with this frog earlier today. The IFAS website shows a frog similar to this frog. I don't know if this is Bufo marinus (the poisonous one) or the Bufo terresteris (non poisonous). Either way, he didn't last long in our yard this evening.

Visit IFASs website for more info on the difference between the poisonous and non poisonous frogs.

Home Farming Movement: Seeds from Triscuit

How cool are these little Triscuit appetizers? I made them with green onion from the garden, water chestnuts, bacon, and Triscuits. They are delicious and although a bit time-consuming, they can be made a few days ahead...which I love! The box of Triscuits even came with built-in herb seeds. I posted the recipe here.

Triscuit is apparently creating community-based home farms throughout the US. As part of the Home Farming Movement, they included plantable herb seed cards in their packaging to help encourage people to grow their own vegetables and herbs!

They sent me samples of their product and I was excited to see the seed cards right on the back of the box. The Original Triscuits came with basil seeds and the Reduced Fat Triscuits came with dill seeds. They even sent me a $20 gift card to buy potting soil and containers to get my seeds started!

Oranges in My Cocktails

I tried another cocktail recipe with that orange vodka that's distilled from Florida oranges...The vodka is called 4 Orange and it's distilled just up the road in Lake Alfred. The recipe for an "Orange Crush" is printed on a label that hangs from the bottle. This recipe is delicious and uses both mint and orange slices...two things I picked fresh from the garden 10n minutes before I made the cocktail. I think I'm going to search the Internet for a vodka dessert glaze/topping...what else can I make with vodka? I've cooked with cognac, wine, and Liquor before...next I will conquer a vodka recipe.

The cocktail was fun to make...and to tweak. You get to muddle...what's not fun about that?! Plus, since the recipe calls for mint, it gives me a chance to use my "Orange Mint" that I found in the Home Depot garden center a few years ago.



I highly recommend this cocktail...we tried a version with OJ instead of the fresh oranges, but it wasn't as good. We also tried adding some pomegranate juice.

Here's the best part about this cocktail...there's 20 oranges in every bottle...so this cocktail may actually improve your health :)

Next on the list is their cucumber-champagne cocktail. It is beautiful and sounds sooo refreshing. I just need to grow cucumbers now.

Danielles Mediterranean Bean Salad From the Garden

I made a delicious garbanzo bean salad today with herbs from the garden. Recipe below. The eureka lemons in the garden still have a month before they will be ripe...I wish they would have been ripe enough to use tonight.


Danielles Mediterranean Garbanzo Bean Salad Recipe

Ingredients
1 can garbanzo beans (drained, rinsed, drained)
.5 can diced tomatoes, drained (or use fresh tomatoes)
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
rosemary, finely chopped
thyme, finely chopped
oregano, finely chopped
salt and pepper
juice from half lemon
zest from half lemon
grated or shaved parm

Directions
mix all ingredients together and enjoy!

How to Propagate Rosemary

Here's a short article about how I propagate rosemary from a grocery store produce pack.

I stuck 6 springs of rosemary in a drinking glass for 3 weeks. The glass was placed on the kitchen counter and received lots of indirect sunlight. All but one of the sprigs died. The 6th sprig began growing roots from the bottom one inch of the stem. I have used this method of propagating rosemary before and had the same results. I don't know why, but only a few of the cuttings sprout roots.

To be honest, this sprig came from my veggie/herb garden, but you could also use grocery store springs to start your own plants. I'm also trying this same method with the bottom of green onions that I harvested from the garden. But again, you could easily use the bottom of grocery store scallions.

Other grocery store veggies/fruit that can be propagated:

potato (cut into 3-6 chunks and throw in a hole)
sweet potato (same)
onion (plant the bottom root section)
tomato (harvest the seeds)
pepper (harvest the seeds)
kiwi (harvest the seeds)
watermelon (harvest the seeds)
squash (harvest the seeds)
lemongrass (plant the bottom root section)
avocado (germinate and plant the seed/pit)
pineapple (plant the top section)

Impatiens not good for South Florida Summer

Last week the "feels like" temps were in the hundreds. Usually about this time of summer, we need to replace our impatiens with more heat tolerant plants. My plan for this week is to replace the impatiens with portulaca.


Not much gardening going on these days. It's just so hot and the boat is calling me every weekend. Why dig in the dirt when you can be on the boat?!!!

Vodka Distilled From Florida Oranges

I bought a new homegrown vodka tonight made right here in FLORIDA. It's called 4 Oranges and I found their website. It's pretty cool. I added mint and a lime from the garden and came up with a quazi Mojito.

What's cool about this vodka is that it's distilled from oranges...not potatoes. It's not flavored with oranges...it's distilled from oranges. The company advertises that each regular size bottle is made from 20 oranges of 4 different varieties: parson brown, temple, hamlin, valencia. I grow valencia oranges in my backyard.

Here's a video about the brand of vodka called "4 Oranges" that recently ran on our local news station:

4 Orange Premium Vodka on WPTV from 4 Orange Premium Vodka on Vimeo.

Passion Flower Vine at Danielle's Garden

I planted this passion flower vine two months ago. It's grown up the house and is now spreading across the roof line.

I didn't think this plant would thrive, but it is. It faces due East, so it gets morning sun and is shaded by noon. Now that it's established, I'm giving it fertilizer so I can begin to see some amazing flowers.

Boating in Stuart, FL

We went to a local park last weekend called St. Lucie Inlet Preserve State Park. It’s accessible only by boat. The boardwalk is 3,000 ft long, and it took a good 15 minutes to walk past two structures, through thousands of mangroves, and over a bridge. I wouldn't do it again, but it was nice one time. :)

 

We tied up the boat and after leaving a donation in the box, we headed to the shore.

Below: much of the walk from the intercoastal to the ocean looks like this.

This sign got me excited...what was around the bend...is it something I would be tempted to take???

Good plants?…drift wood?…

See the ground cover below that looks like straight lines of rope? They are railroad vines and are native to this area. They have pretty purple flowers and help prevent beach erosion. They are all over the dunes here in South Florida.

Below: we finally reached the beach…looks just like all the other beaches in town, except there were no people.

After the park, we hit the local sandbar near Sailfish Point. John used his new boat grill and made a delicious chicken sandwich.

How to Use Coffee Grounds in the Garden

Starbucks gives away bags of used coffee grounds each day. It's part of a recycling program called Grounds for your Garden. This bag had a gallon and a half of fragrant grounds and today, my garden is buzzing with caffine. During the bewing process, most of the acidity is removed, leaving used grounds with an average pH of 6.9 and a carbon-nitrogen ratio of 20-to-1. This important to know because it determines how to use it in the garden.

I could have added it to my new compost tumbler, but I already had a lot of "green" in the tumbler, so I didn't need any more. I decided to use it as a side dressing to the brambles, specifically to the blueberries and blackberries.

The blackberries need a soil pH level of between 6.0 and 6.8, so this isn't the perfect side dressing, but it's better than the nothing that I've been using for the past few months.

Want to to know more about soil pH in the South Florida Garden? Here's one of my archived articles:

 

How to Control Soil pH Levels by Danielle Copeland

 

 

Lemon-Pepper-Rosemary Salt Recipe

A friend's birthday is coming up. I want to give her a culinary gift, so I walked through the garden for inspiration. I think a Lemon-Pepper-Rosemary Salt is in order! I grabbed two sprigs of rosemary, a lemon, pepper corns, and salt.....and Voila!

First, I googled rosemary salt. I found a recipe that I liked and slightly modified it. The original recipe is shown below.

All the ingredients get processed in the food processor. It couldn't be easier.

This recipe yields 1 cup of salt


Lemon-Pepper-Rosemary Salt Recipe

Grated zest of 2 lemons
Fresh rosemary leaves from 2 (5-inch) branches
1 Tbsp. freshly pepper corns
3/4 cup coarse sea salt

Directions: In a food processor fitted with a metal blade, process lemon zest, rosemary leaves, and pepper until finely chopped, about 1 minute. Add salt and pulse until salt forms smaller crystals and mixture is blended, about 30 seconds. Pack into glass jars with tight-fitting lids and store in a cool, dark place for up to 2 months. Attach a ribbon and gift tag with serving ideas, such as "Terrific sprinkled on roast chicken, grilled meats, fish, or steamed vegetables."

Drought Tolerant Summer Plants

I replanted the front planers a month ago...they have grown soooo much since then. Planters need more water than in-ground beds because they dry out faster. During the summer, the top 8 inches of my planters dry out daily by early afternoon. Here's a few tips for keeping those container plantings hydrated.


Tips for Summer Container Plantings
- Use succulents (shown here is sedum) because they tolerate the dryness
- Use a soil amendment such as Agri-Gel or Soil2O
- Mulch with no less than 3 inches of bark or chips

I love to use Sedum Rupestre (Florida Friendly Gold variety) during the summer months because it's a succulent. This variety is just what happens to be available at my local store. Succulents retain water in their leaves...that's why the leaves aren't flat like a maple leaf, rather they are bulbous...think aloe, cactus, jade.

Pruning the Desert Rose, an Ugly Duckling

My mother in law gave me a neglected desert rose a few months ago. I lobbed off the shrivled, rotten tips in hopes that new growth would sprout up in a few months. It worked!

Many times when you snip the top of a plant, two new growth limbs will spring up just below your cut. Here's my dracaena back in 2008 a few months after I pruned it.

Here's the avocado tree a few weeks after pruning. The new growth is red and later greened up.

Compost Tumbler Part 2: Assembly

I built the compost tumbler this morning before the heat set in. It took about a half hour and I'm really surprised the assembly was so easy. I used vegetable oil as lube (as recommended in the instructions) and all the parts fit into place perfectly. I'm kinda wimpy, so I used a rubber mallot to snap the pieces together when my brute strenghth failed me. :) I'm happy to say, this was a one-woman job and I did it!

I'm reviewing this tumbler for Organic Compost Tumbler and so far, I give this item a thumbs up!!!

I've never composted before, so I was reading through the instructions. It looks like I need to make a decision...will I use the hot or cold composting method??? More on this later.

Many gardeners say that compost is THE most important part of a garden.

Here's a 25 second clip of all the parts that make up the tumbler.

Here's my pre-assembly photo.