MARCH IN THE SANDPIT

Around here at the Sandpit March is a pivotal month. The Winter is long gone and the heat and Sun's intensity is getting stronger as each day passes. This is the time that a lot of the plants here get moved to the precious semi shade spots. Shade or even partial shade here is very limited and in high demand at the sandpit for the survival of a lot of the plants growing in the garden.

This little Zinnia seems to like it in the direct sun. I read an article not to long ago that you can't grow Zinnia's in South Florida. It is really difficult to grow them here as they seem to be a target for every fungal disease that comes around as well as irresistible to the bugs. Maybe it is the humidity here that comes with summer. Don't know for sure but I keep trying different hybrids hoping to find one that can handle this climate . This guy is a hybrid Zinnia called Highlights. I had two seeds in an old pack of seeds from several years ago and planted both seeds on January 15Th of this year into small pots made from old newspaper. One sprouted, this guy, and was transferred to this small plastic pot collected from someone's garbage. It's blooms are supposed to be exceptionally bright hence the name Highlights like the marker pen highlighter. Comes pretty close it turns out. Since this was my last seed I might just have to break down and get some more of these Zinnia seeds. I believe they came from Parks Seed best as I can recall.

Another new favorite that I discovered just last year has reseeded itself and is producing some exceptional blooms. This is a heirloom Morning glory called Granpa Ott. It has it's origins as a heirloom seed given to Diane Whealy in 1972 by her grandfather from his farm in Iowa. One of the original variety that started Seed Savers Exchange.

This Morning Glory bloom produces some of the deepest rich purple colors I have ever seen on a plant. In the sun this bloom is hypnotic as it seems to change luminance. With it's rich colors it is hard to look away. The Granpa Ott will stand out in any garden and will positively draw attention to itself. Also reseeds itself so you get lots of free plants or next season which can be good or bad depending on how you look at it.

I am also using this month to plant out some of the brick planters with the plants that were sprouted back in January and February from seed. The brick planters are heavy and will not be blown around by the winds we get here as well as get the plants up off of the ground so they get good airflow.

I put one of the Four O'clock sprouts that were germinated from seed in the left side and an wild Tomato plant that had volunteered itself in the right.

I have a lot more seed sprouts that will need to be planted out in the hear future. But that's ok because I have a lot of the brick planters with empty holes to stick the new sprouts in.

But March is not all replanting work in the garden. This month we also get to reap some rewards for the work on the planting beds last fall. The Southern Collard Greens are ready to start harvesting before it gets to hot.

This batch is fresh from the garden and is on the menu for dinner. If I can find where I put the cornbread mix we are going to have us a feast -Southern Style.

And you just can't beat that.

---SANDDUNE--

MY ORGANIC SANDPIT

Seems like a fine day to update the news from my backyard garden adventure commonly referred to as my organic sandpit. It is typical April weather for South Florida with the wind gusting to 25 knots. It is a sure sigh that Summer is fast approaching here.

Another sure sign is the return of the bugs to the garden. As the weather gets hotter the bugs show up in greater numbers ready to chow down on the plants.

Some newly arrived bug has been chowing down on my Bougainvillea.

Whatever it is it comes out at night to eat. I am going to spray the plants with Neem oil as a natural bug control. It doesn't kill the bugs right away but makes them stop eating over time.

This week my Momma Yellow Shrimp plant was put out to pasture. It was growing to large for the pot that I had grown it in. It is a Justicia Lutea for those so inclined.

It was given it's own spot in the sandpit where it can grow to it's hearts content. Of course it was given a wire cage to protect it from my dogs.

These are pretty common tropical plants here and will grow into a large shrub if the conditions are right.

This baby Shrimp is getting it's first flowers. It was propagated from a cutting taken from the above Momma Shrimp back in November of 09.

Best of all the price was right for my organic sandpit garden. Free!

And there is breaking news from the shade tree ring of death. Apparently the stick Swamp Mimosa tree is making a comeback. Best I can figure is it saw me giving it the evil eye and figured it had better do something before it became a folk art rustic Tomato stake.

In the last two weeks it has exploded with new growth. Maybe all it needed after all was an attitude adjustment.

Here is a picture of the new growth emerging from the top of the main stick.

I have no idea if the Swamp Mimosa goes through a dormant period but it is now highly motivated and coming back strong.

This is a prime example of one of my South Florida gardening rules in action.

The rule is, if it looks completely dead give it 30 days. It doesn't always work but sometimes it does.

And some new arrivals into my organic sandpit garden.

This guy is a bloom from the Grampa Ott Morning Glory.

The rich color of the bloom is outstanding . This plant is starting to cover the stump now and has had several blooms already.

It is a heirloom plant grown from seed. Hopefully the stump will be filled with the royal blue and purple flowers from this plant.

And an update on the Neem tree seeds that were started on April 2nd. Out of four seeds started I have one seed that has germinated so far.

These seeds are hard to germinate as they must be fresh. I am going to start five more seeds of the Neem and hope for another plant out of the group. I may have waited to long for the planting of the other seed.

Hopefully I will be able to keep this plant going and it will mature into a great tree. But experimenting with the exotic is part of the fun of gardening.

---Sanddune--

DAY 100 ALREADY

That's right today is the 100th day of 2010 and the 100th day of the 2010 challenge. The year is going pretty fast but the transformation of the garden to organic and permaculture methods is shaping up one small step at a time.

Really it makes me feel good not to have to rely on chemical fertilizer and pesticides to grow the garden. There are plenty of natural solutions to many of the plant issues and it is kind of fun to learn and experiment to see if they work. It has certainly made me think before I plant something .

Anyway I am not out to change the world just my little piece of it.

Here is some parts of my backyard garden garden and how it is coming along.

This is the bird corner. It has plenty of cover for the birds to hide in and is a great place just to sit and watch the birds from my back porch. The wildlife put on a free show all day long and add a lot to the gestalt of a garden.

The bulbs in bloom are Amaryllis's. They are over 60 years old handed down from several generations. They bloom every spring right on schedule each year and kind of signal the approach of the rain season and hotter weather.

The Doves like to hang out on the power lines over the bird area and chew the fat.

To my Northern friends, " chew the fat" is Southern for hanging around talking about nothing in particular.

Every once in awhile the Doves will get into a savage fight over the pecking order for who gets to get on the feeder in what order. After being witness to some of their brawls makes me wonder how they became the bird of peace symbol.

Over to the old Mango stump I figured to dress it up some.

I planted this Nasturtium from seed in one of the cricks of the stump figuring it will add some color. I'm hoping that it will get big before the summer heat cooks it. And even if the sun does cook it the leaves and flowers are edible. How's that for a permaculture plant. If it starts looking bad you just eat it!

At the base of the stump I put the Grampa Ott Morning Glory of course started from seed. It is a heirloom type of Morning Glory dating back generations. It is starting to cover parts of the stump and I am anticipating some spectacular blooms from this plant.

Speaking of salad here is the update on some of the Cucumber seeds that I started a while back.

They are flowering and the baby Cucs are visible right behind the flower.

Won't be long for the Cucs will be Cucin'.

Add some of the Nasturtium leaves and Everglades Tomato's and a fresh garden salad is in the makin'.

Back on the permaculture front this here is my latest planting bed. It is a custom job that I made from 4x4x8 posts . It got a coat of concrete stain that was sitting in the shed for color. The fence is a dog barrier to keep my mutts from trampling the plants in the bed.

This bed is for Comfrey plants. They will be used for making Comfrey Tea to feed the vegetables. The Comfrey is also medicinal for use as a poultice on sprains and cuts.

I was able to get six root cuttings of Blocking 14 cultivar of Russian Comfrey.

This type can be harvested like four times a year for the leaves. It grows quickly and produces a lot of biomass.

This Comfrey is growing already three days after planting a bare root slice.

These Comfrey plants will serve as to make a bio dynamic tea for the garden plants. Also the leaves are for the compost pile as a starter.

To learn more about organic gardening is one of my 2010 challenge goals. I have to thank African Aussie for the Comfrey idea. She mentioned the plant in her blog which led to me researching it and deciding to try it out.

That's the poop for day 100 of the challenge.

---Sanddune--

SIMPLER EACH DAY

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It occurred to me today that the 2010 challenge is really becoming second nature. Quite a bit of my garden is established and returns each year by itself with minimal care.

These Amaryllis plants have been in the garden for years. They return to bloom every spring. The bulbs are sending up their bloom shoots now and in several weeks the garden will be covered in their blooms.

The seeds that were started last year are growing fine without the use of chemical fertilizer or pesticides.

This one is a Gaillardia Aristata or Blanket flower grown from seed.

I stuck it in an old recycled pot ,added compost from the bin, and added some wire to make it into a hanging basket.

All it gets now is water and an occasional shot of compost tea. It appears happy and is also sending up flower shoots.

Matter of fact for my plant something each week goal I started four more of

the Blanketflower seeds today.

By starting seeds each week it gives a continual stream of new plants to put out in the garden.

Since these are perennial wildflowers they should come back for more than one year.

I can then collect and save the seeds and will not have to buy the seed pack again to start new plants.

That is the goal of frugal sustainable gardening.

This is a cutting that came from my Mandevilla vine.

It should give me a new plant for this summer.

It was also put in some compost from the bin and some newspaper mulch added to hold in the moisture.

This week some of my older sprouted seeds went out into the garden on so I could reuse the yogurt cups to replant more seeds.

One of the new plants from seed that went out is this Grampa Ott Morning Glory.

It is a Bavarian type Morning Glory that was brought over from Germany in 1883.

The seeds were given to Diane Wheatly [Ott] in 1972 by her grandfather. Thus the name Grampa Ott.

I planted this one by my old tree stump and hope that it will grow to cover some of the stump.

If it does well I will be able to collect seeds from it . See what I mean about the challenge becoming second nature.

--Sanddune----

ASSORTED MIDWEEK RAMBLINGS

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Some of the older plants that were stuck out in my garden are blooming.

These had been originally put out in the full Florida sun which immediately cooked them.

When they looked dead I stuck the pots in an secluded corner in the shade and forgot about them.

Seems that was the best thing for them as over several years they have flourished.

This one is some type of Begonia given to me by my brother in law. It was stuck away for at least five years.

These next two are both kalanchoes. I have no idea where they came from but figure that my wife must have bought them to stick out in the garden at some point in time.

They both were stuck away under a large fern until last December when I noticed them blooming and brought them back up front.

I put a picture of one of them on a blog post thinking they were some type of Begonia. Flowerlady responded to that post and identified them for me as Kalanchoe.

Since they are all well and blooming I deduced that these plants don't care for the full sun here to thrive. Also one of my hard learned South Florida Gardening rules has paid off . That is: If it looks dead give it 30 days before you chunk it. In their case they have been hidden for several years. But check out the result!

In other garden ramblings I found these Cuban Buttercups that have self seeded. I have since potted the small plants up to give to a friend.

They are Tunera Ulmifolia if you are so inclined. The grow well here in South Florida and bloom most all summer even in the worst heat.

They are supposed to be the official flower of Cienfuegos,Cuba.

I was given the original plant these came from so that makes my cost Free.

Need some motivation for an organic garden? In return for not spraying poison anymore in my garden Mother Nature has provided the promise of some natural
bug control.

These are Lizard eggs ready to hatch out in time for the rain and bug season as summer approaches.

And lastly some more progress on the 2010 challenge for this week . I put the challenge on the side of the margin to remind myself to do something toward it each week.

I started these seeds for the garden in the recycled yogurt cups with the homemade markers. Using some of my old seeds back to 2007.

They include two more hybrid Cucumbers Park's Pearl.
Two Grampa Ott Morning Glorys.
Four Dwarf Bolero Marigolds.
---sanddune----------------