So glad I stumbled on your channel. I am a Florida born native, and although my grandfather owned a landscaping/nursery company in Miami, and I grew up in rural north Florida with a 3/4 acre of crop garden around my townie house, AND my other grandparents owned/managed a 120 acre farm, I didn’t do much vegetable gardening until I retired in coastal zone 10a. I am learning as I go about how to grow things in our sandy soil, salty air. So much of what you say in your videos makes a whole lot of sense……subscribed!

I am new in Florida. My beef steak tomato does great in the sun. My bell pepper doesn't like the sun. Once I transfer them in the shade with on 2 hours of sun. They are producing well. Florida gardening is tricky. Too HOT!

@sandrad682

18 күн бұрын

I am trying shade cloth this year.

@GrowingFoodMadeEasy

18 күн бұрын

yes it is. perennials tend to do better in Florida I find. I have a few vids showing a more food forest style approach I took in my urban backyard

@GrowingFoodMadeEasy

18 күн бұрын

@@sandrad682 I tried this as the summer picked up, and it did seem to extend things a little longer, but in my case, not as long as I would have expected

@Anne--Marie

18 күн бұрын

It it June 7th and Fred's tie dye (dwarf) is finished until fall. Numbat (dwarf) is still covered with tomatoes. Purple boy and purple heart are still producing, but are limping along in the heat. Brandy Fred did better in the fall garden. The okra is coming in now, but not as much as I would like. My parent's health issues have taken me away from home for much of the past few weeks, but I'm going to plant Malabar spinach as the Egyptian spinach isn't doing as well as last year. Has anyone tried eating purslane? Something has been eating my pepper leaves, so the war is on.

@nickbodenschatz1018

16 күн бұрын

​@@Anne--MarieMy kids and I had a large purslane we loved to snack on in the garden, on the way to run errands, etc. Not sure how to describe it... Lovely? Lol. The trick was not to take too much. Up and died out of nowhere. Still haven't managed to replace it. It was a tiny bit of refreshment, similar to how watermelon makes you feel...or hydrating like iceberg lettuce. We are Jax, 9b now.

Some varieties that did really well for me: Godzilla Broccoli - Large heads! Piracicaba Broccoli (A sprouting heat tolerant variety that does not form large heads. I thought it had a little bit of an asparagus taste combined with broccoli.) Fioretto 70 cauliflower (Also a sprouting heat tolerant variety. Taste was amazing) Yaqui tomatoes. (Super prolific determinate roma tomatoes. Great for sauce and canning) Chablis bell pepper - (beautiful yellow/orange/red. Small compact plant but highly productive.) Aehobak squash - A korean zucchini that is in the same species as Seminole pumpkin (Curcubita moschata). Does better in our Florida climate that regular zucchini. I think it tastes better too.

Yard long beans do great this time of year.

@danjenkinsdesign

16 күн бұрын

In full sun? Or do you find a partial shade spot?

@rhondasevick4257

16 күн бұрын

@@danjenkinsdesign Full sun

@baneverything5580

13 күн бұрын

They`re a Cow Pea variety and love the heat. They remind me of Purple Hull Peas. I like to eat the young pods of those and Black Eyed Peas too. I planted the yard long, those and Crowders this year. Gonna have okra soon. I planted the branching thick pod Texas Red Hill Country, Longhorn that stays tender at 10 inches, seeds from a mystery pod from my green okra collection, and the reddish/purple variety. Can`t remember the name. Lots of pests in Louisiana on EVERY vegetable I`ve planted.

@honeybee52000

13 күн бұрын

​@danjenkinsdesign my happy Yradlong Beans are in 75% shade with full morning sun.

I don’t like raw carrots. Never have. But when I tried my first ever grown fresh carrots from my garden this year omg they were so good. They were sweet and excellent. You realize what you have missing eating store bought veggies. Can’t wait to try new things each year to see what other veg I might like 😊

@baneverything5580

13 күн бұрын

Try the easy and quick Paris Market variety. I loved how easy and fast they were and they taste great. I ordered 20,000 seeds for fall/winter/spring.

@honeybee52000

13 күн бұрын

Wait til you try fresh okra from your garden! .GAME. .CHANGER. (and I didn't even like okra before)

@nkyer321

13 күн бұрын

@@honeybee52000 😳 There are probably so many veg I never liked and could have been eating all along 😭

I stumbled upon your channel just this week and love it! I'm in Volusia County and you've been so helpful!

@WildFloridian

17 күн бұрын

Awesome! Thank you!

I have discovered wonderful varieties this past fall and winter too😃. But I also discovered I can harvest my giant kohlrabi later than I thought! I harvested my last one at the end of May, and it still tasted good😄. I am in Florida Zone 10 as well, so I thought that was amazing! I will be trying a Spring crop of Kohlrabi next year😁. Thank you for your videos!

Texas Early Grano onions did amazing for me. I'm just south of Lake Okeechobee. I planted seeds in a huge planter in October, and when they were about 4-5 inches tall I planted them out. Fertilized weekly with Fish Emulsion until they started bulbing. The ones that received full sun all day grew bigger than those that got patches of shade through the day.

Yes, we are very crispy and hot with drought. Everything is so dry, and I am having trouble keeping young fruit trees alive. But, in another week or so, we’ll be in deluge season.

I just ordered one of your shirts! Girl, wear your shirts! What a good Italian cook you are!!! Your family is sooo blessed!! Fresh food AND good cooking!!

I planted Everglades tomatoes from starts my neighbor gave me 4 years ago. They now reseed themselves every year and I just let them do their thing. My chickens love them (ripe ones only for chickens).

So I heard the ice cream truck coming in the video, and I noticed the edit as it got closer. Did you wait for the noise to alleviate or did you get yourself an ice cream bar? Great video by the way.

@stgrsa

7 күн бұрын

My big back heard that too 😂

LOL, the weeds did really well! I did really good with tomatoes both everglade and beefsteak. We are in zone 9 North of you. leaf type Lettuce, carrots, onion, cucumbers, zucchini, garlic, sugar snap pea's, some green beans did good. Now I'm continuing with peppers, cantaloupe, watermelons and the corn. It's too hot! I'm planting more stuff at the end of July now. It's time to treat this place like a resort now. Oh waiter, "hubby" can you make me another one of those frosty drinks please.....

My tomatoes failed this year! Even my Everglades! I got hit early with spider mites and despite ripping out the obviously infected ones and heavily treating all the rest, they succumbed. I'm just regrouping and hoping for a better fall 😢

@PinkDahlia7

15 күн бұрын

Next year order some green lacewing (beneficial insects) larva. They will wipe out the spider mites quickly!

I have grown throughout the years green beans and have been pretty successful. I like the bush variety slenderetts. I get my seeds from “seeds from Italy” and their seeds have been great. Past years I have grown peas that were tremendously successful. I get a dwarf snap pea variety from seeds from Italy. That was my winter crop among many other winter crops. Right now I have new beds and I need to add a lot more compost. I put purple sweet potatoes in the beds and they are really growing well. My peppers are doing well too. I planted marigolds in the beds to keep the nematodes down the marigolds have exploded time to thin them. I love gardening in Florida because we can do this year round. Thank you so much for all the tips they really help.

Just a tip to help with growing cultivars in Florida: take advantage of the bug pressure but in the opposite direction. Plant many native wildflowers or let them volunteer all around your other plants. Free shade and when the predator insects attack they attack just as ferociously as the pest insects. I especially recommend partridge pea: nitrogen fixer, birds love the seeds, insects (especially wasps) love the extra floral nectaries, pheobus butterflies host. They are thriving in drought and heat of FL West Coast 9b

@LaRa-youknowit

16 күн бұрын

Hi, this is exactly what I’m looking for. I’m in land o lakes, my veggies are dieing off. Want to plant some flowers in my raised beds during the summer. I’m going to look into the partridge pea.

@honeybee52000

13 күн бұрын

Who did you buy the partridge peas from?

@LaRa-youknowit

13 күн бұрын

@@honeybee52000 I decided not too, they reseed, and I have small raised beds. Dont want them to continue regrow. But they’re online, just google it.

I actually got some onion sets from HD and they did great. I planted elephant garlic and now that is the only one I will grow as it did fantastic. We planted Aconcagua peppers(sweet) which look like Cubanelle but bigger and I'm still waiting for it to be ready but if it tastes as good as it looks it will be a keeper.

It's a perfect time!! I threw away an Aldi's cherry tomatoes variety pack to my chickens. I have this an amazing variety for just a couple dollars. Plus, we ate some, chickens ate some and we have a crop now.

Highly recommend yard long beans, had great success with them in my North Tampa suburb (zone 9b/10a). They are heavy producers, tender and delicious (I personally find them to be tastier than the Thai soldier bean and just as productive), and can grow straight through summer as they love heat/humidity. They are vining/pole peans and not at all compact, so definitely grow them on a nice big trellis. I grow them on cattle panel arch trellis between raised beds and they provide sort of a living shade cloth for my more sensitive bush beans.

@marywardwell9787

18 күн бұрын

This is my 1st year growing yard long beans. Do you really wait until they are a yard long? Also can you let them grow and use them for seed next summer? Thank you!

@docgrowsfood

18 күн бұрын

@@marywardwell9787 You can harvest them when they are a bit smaller and not all of the pods will reach a full 3 feet long (although some of them certainly will). But even once the pod reaches its full length they will still be tender and have great flavor for a many days before they start to harden off. You absolutely can save them for seed if you leave some pods on the plant and let them dry out completely. My recommendation is to let the pods nice and big and if they're still soft/pliable, harvest and eat. That way you don't lose out on yield by harvesting too early. And whatever pods you don't get to in time and start to firm up, leave them be and then collect the seeds in the fall once they've dried up and the plants stop producing.

@heika5589

18 күн бұрын

@@marywardwell9787 I had yard long beans last summer and they never got to be deep green in color like regular green beans, they seemed best at a little over a foot long. If they go too far, they dry out, get papery and go into dry beans, so those I saved to plant this year.

I’m in Florida, just north of Tampa. My Sweet 100 cherry tomatoes are the best. I started them in Sept and they’re still producing, and so sweet.

@baneverything5580

13 күн бұрын

Get a black light flashlight to find the horn worms. It works! They got on my plants early and also my ground cherry varieties.

@honeybee52000

13 күн бұрын

Did you start seeds in Sept, or transplants?

My moringa, Chaya and katuk are doing great.

I’m in NE Florida zone 9b. Many things have gone well so far! Green beans - provider bush and Aunt Bea (pole) - more than we can eat! Lima beans Tomatoes - Sugar cherry, Paul Robeson (slicer), and Roma. Peppers - poblano and habanero Potatoes - still working on digging them all up, but they went in the ground in Feb and have produced a ton! Onions - first time starting from seed, yellow onions (hopefully?) - tops look great Carrots - doing ok, not fully grown yet Herbs - sage, rosemary, mint, dill, basil all doing great Sweet potatoes - vines look great- we’ll see! Watermelons - sugar baby - one so far! Should be ready in July. Cucumbers - just starting to flower but plants look great Flowers - zinnias, cosmos, nasturtium, marigolds, variegated roses Seminole pumpkins - got their first true leaves and doing well so far Not going so well: Jalapeño peppers, Charleston Belle, broccoli (Calabrese, got started late, need to try in fall- beautiful leaves but no heads), squash (destroyed with a crazy wind storm in May, replanted), collards (slow growing), corn (wrong yard placement not enough sun, replanted), snap peas (may need to try in fall, got fried in the heat) I learn new lessons every year! Love your channel. Thanks for looking out for your fellow Floridians. ☀️

Ferry Morse Jelly Bean Hybrid tomato from last year, survived winter great and keeps producing tons of delicious cherry tomatoes. Highly recommend....Orlando FL area.

that Cherokee purple is delicious. I grow in Pinellas County

Can you share your pickled beets recipe in the community page? I don't like radishes either. Lol

Newbie FL gardener with so many questions. So if we start our fall garden in July, when do we plan our winter garden? Also, I have a large galvanized steel tube that I thought would be good for a bed, but will it be too hot for the soil?

Deer Tongue Lettuce and Outrageous Lettuce did really well for me last winter and early spring. I harvested the Deer Tongue through April. I'm in N.E. Florida, zone 9B. I agree the Cubanelle peppers as well as banana peppers do well here too. Sweet 100 tomatoes are doing well and Everglades. Seminole pumpkin growing like weeds. Only one pumpkin so far but they have just started blooming here. They were volunteers so I don't know when they germinated.

I'm in North Central Florida and always grow those small sweet peppers you see in the grocery store. Might be called cubanelles? I saved seeds from a pack that i bought a few years ago and i grow them in pots in the winter months ( in my little greenhouse) Then i plant them in ground as soon as the soil is warm. They do well here. Also sun gold tomatoes do very well here. I also grow jack beans and noodle beans. The pests don't touch them. I mostly focus on fruit trees and berry bushes, though. Blueberries, blackberries, mulberries, peaches , loquats, lemon, etc. Love your channel.

Get a black light flashlight to find the tomato horn worms. It lights them up!

Thank you for your videos and FL gardening advice. I LOVE LOVE your new raised beds (new to me anyway). They are so pretty. I like the white versus the tin look.

My pepper seeds wouldn't germinate this year at all. The few that germinated died once my husband transplanted in the garden. They were good size plants too. Made no difference the seeds I saved or the new ones I bought. I do have 2 of the aji pineapple pepper plants that have come up. So maybe I'll get a couple of those. It was chilly up here in 9a during seed planting time.

I grew Pinocchio Orange dwarf tomatoes inside in a hydro garden and I`ve rooted a dozen cuttings to grow in 5 inch pots. They grow into an 8 inch bush with side branches. I`m hoping my two melon plants and winter squash survive the armadillos. I have Crowder & Purple Hull peas, three okra varieties and more cucumbers than I can eat and I`ll soon have a billion ground cherries. My romaine lettuce is still alive and I only have one kale plant. Worms got my collards. My green onions and leeks are still growing and I planted Chives and Garlic Chives but it may be too hot for them because I never saw sprouts. I have Purslane growing but the pillbugs love it and they keep nibbling my strawberry leaves. My Danvers Half Long carrots didn`t do well but my little round Parisian ones grew perfectly very fast so I ordered 20,000 seeds for this fall. My Dwarf Everbearing Mulberry trees I got from Florida are growing like crazy and I`m already rooting cuttings. I bent and tied over both branches of one with two rapidly growing ones and it started growing limbs straight up off those. I topped another with two branches when they were three feet to make a bush. Another one became a bush on its own. I`m considering stripping all the leaves from one the way you did to see if I can force fruiting but I`m scared I`ll be making a mistake. I have three stems rooting in a pot. I`m on the zones 8b/9a line in Louisiana.

New to gardening this year. Very sandy soil that I am working hard to amend. Everything from chip drops, puchasing top soil by the cubic yard, and I even found a company that provided me with their waterway cleanout. Planted tomatoes, watermelon, cucumbers, squash, lettuce, sweet peppers, mint, jalapeño, onion, green onion, and cantaloupe. I get massive amounts of sun where I set up my garden. Have to water a lot, especially with no rain here in central Florida. I sowed seed directly into the soil and everything germinated except the sweet pepper and onion. I think i was too late on sweet peppera and may have sowed too deep on the onion. Lettuce, cucumber, and squash did well. Until I got worms in the cucumbers and some grey leafing on my squash. Cantaloupe started strong but started maturing at golf ball size and the plant died. Tomatoes and watermellon took a long time to get going, but not much on them. Looks like they are still coming into their own. Sowed a round two of corn, cucumber, okra, zucchini, pumpkin, and some kind of bean. All have germinated...waiting to see how they do. I purchased some blood meal that I will be applying tomorrow. My corn plant has yellow foliage. Messing around figuring out stuff. Watching videos, reading books, facebook groups have all been beneficial. Oh, and a neighbor who is kind enough to share his experience and harvests with me.

Great video and advice. Sweet peppers - I gave up on them outside but found the mini-sweet peppers grow great inside! I just keep them about 18-24" tall and grow them hydroponically in my grow rack.

I live in the Florida Keys and okra, everglade tomatoes, kale, red beets, mammoth jalapeños, carrots, radishes, green beans and onions did well but bell peppers, cucumbers and cilantro didn’t. I have a new raised bed I want to use for sweet potatoes so I want to know what is the best soil to put in my bed for sweet potatoes in my hot zone?

Thanks for sharing your fav varieties! I will try the Waltham broccoli in fall, Decicco was just so-so for me. Tomatoes I tried this season with great success : from southern exposure- Black cherry and sugar cherry. Also LOVE Heatmaster tomato. Purchased starts from local Master gardener sale (zone 9 AB) That plant still going strong (moved it into shade). Heatmaster toms weigh about 3 oz . It is a determinate variety. Very yummy!

Great review and appreciate the strategy. I’d be interested in perennials that serve as spinach substitutes. Okinawa spinach etc.

@Anne--Marie

18 күн бұрын

Try Malabar spinach

@susanbaker8088

18 күн бұрын

Sissoo spinach. Easy to grow in zone 11. No slime either 😊

This past year I planted broccoli no and they were amazing, more for the huge, dark green leaves that were tender than even the broccoli no buds when they finally arrived. I'll definitely be planting those again this fall. My snap peas did really well this year too. Of the varieties I tried, my absolute fave is definitely Sugar Daddy. @Jacqueline, thanks so much for sharing your failures along with your successes!.You had me giggling on some of your experiences. So happy to finally be cracking the FL gardening tricks (at least some of them) because of your help!

@GabrielleFontaine

13 күн бұрын

That was supposed to say broccolini!! Darn autocorrect!

Miami here. Collard greens went bazeerk this year. Easy peezy

@WildFloridian

3 күн бұрын

Nice!

We grow Sisoo spinach in zone 10A..It grows year round and loves semi shade

Another plus one for everglades, or course! I had similar results with my bell pepper and scotch bonnets (though I'm going to retry the latter). My san marzanos did very well at producing but not in size but that may be my lack of watering. Looking forward to next season!

thank you for your channel 🙏 it helps me very much ❤

@WildFloridian

18 күн бұрын

You're welcome 😊

Great video as usual ❤

@WildFloridian

12 күн бұрын

Thank you!!

I planted cape gooseberries, and they are producing well, but now that it's getting hot, they are slowing down. The fruit is getting smaller too. I'm also growing the bioengineered purple cherry tomato, and it's been giving me a ton of tomatoes. I started something called a dwarf tamarillo too, it's growing nicely and looking like it may start to flower. I hope I can try the fruits this year, I have never had it before. My pigeon peas did great, I ended up with almost 11lbs of dried pigeon peas and I didn't have to do anything except plant them.

Curious to know if you've had any luck with asparagus?

Puerto Rican Black Beans is a WINNER!!! Need a large space (5' x 5') and a strong trellis though. Easy crop to grow.

@WildFloridian

15 күн бұрын

Yes 🙌

@honeybee52000

13 күн бұрын

Be sure to get the POLE variety!

Good morning

@WildFloridian

18 күн бұрын

Good morning Patricia! ☀️

California Wonder don’t do well for me either here in Clearwater. Try Charleston Belle, a sweet pepper from Southern Exposure Seed. They are smaller but I’ve had good success with them. I started from seed in the fall, overwintered them this year, and pruned them back in early spring. I covered with shade cloth when the temps hit the 90’s. They are still putting on fruit and rocking it this year!

@WildFloridian

3 күн бұрын

Oh! I’m so going to try these this year! Thank you, Barbara for this awesome tip.

by the way i planted Cue Ball squash it took over my garden like a storm i think i added too much nitrogen oops 😁

Good Morning, very informative video, thank you! I am living in St. Petersburg, and would like to know where did you get those raised beds?🌻🌻🌻🌻🌹🌹🌹

@WildFloridian

18 күн бұрын

Thank you! I got my beds from here www.wildfloridian.net/gardenbed Looks like they are running some deals

@violetasanders1948

18 күн бұрын

Thanks! Have a wonderful day! Violeta. 😊😊

8:13 you mention mature soil vs less mature. In your experience how much time and attn does it take to get that rich healthy soil like your front gardens? And if I remember correctly, you buy composted soil.. do you add compost /or fertilizer during the growing seasons?

Spinach is real high in oxalates, so other greens are better anyway

SOUTHERN EXPOSURE SEED EXCHANGE. THANK YOU. Also ORGANIC. I will use them. You are giving me hope for veggies. I have almost given up. I am In 8B/9A depending on the Winter.

@WildFloridian

15 күн бұрын

I'm so happy to keep you hopeful! You'll like this Friday's video. It will be about helping you be set up for success this upcoming veggie season!

I’ve heard that carolina wonders do better than California wonders in Florida. I think I will tty them next season. Which peppers that you grow are sweet? Not a fan of spicy peppers

@howdyEB

18 күн бұрын

I am growing the Carolina wonder and Charleston belle. They are 2 years old now and producing okay. They are nematode resistant. I am also growing something called, Carolina cayenne. It is doing pretty well in the ground too. All my peppers do better in pots though. Carolina wonder does a lot better than California wonder for me. I actually get peppers from it! 😅

@heika5589

18 күн бұрын

I did Carolina Wonders and Charleston Belle this year, I didn't think the germination rate was great, but the plants that survived are doing ok even now, especially considering they're growing in cloth pots, in the heat and terrible pest pressure. The pepper are smaller than regular Bell Peppers and more thin walled. I'm in 10A or 10B, so they're about all that's surviving.

@Anne--Marie

18 күн бұрын

Corno di toro and lesya also do well on central Florida's west coast

@honeybee52000

13 күн бұрын

CUBANELLE love it here! They're bigger and more resilient than any 'wonders'!

Have you done smoothie videos? Seems like a big part of your system.

@WildFloridian

3 күн бұрын

L O L. No, I’ve never done a video on my smoothie. It’s just what we’ve eaten forever.

I am in zone 10b and I struggle with tomatoes. I cannot even grow the Everglade tomatoes. I heard you say plant in November. Does the cold in December and January not damage them?

Also, om average do you lean more towards direct sowing or starting seed trays? I am a novice and super intimidated by seed trays.

@WildFloridian

12 күн бұрын

It actually depends on which crop. If I think about it... warm weather crops in trays and cold weather crops direct sow seems to be the pattern. I added a note for us to discuss this Saturday. Hopefully you can make it Katie. :D

Central Florida question. Where do y'all get your compost? I'm in Orlando but cannot find a reliable source of quality compost. I'm tired of buying the bags from Lowes.

Why mess with burbee tomatoes when you have Everglades tomatoes?

What seed companies do you suggest?

@WildFloridian

17 күн бұрын

Overall Southern Exposure Seed Exchange is my favorite overall! There are many that are good but for most likely to have a good crop I would pick something from Southern Exposure

What nurseries do you recommend when it comes time for fall planting? I'm in N. Ft. Myers but will definitely drive for quality starts. 😂

@katiecation7313

17 күн бұрын

ECHO in N Ft Myers is great

@kvisa82

17 күн бұрын

​@@katiecation7313 we have been and got a Barbados Cherry tree and some purslane and some moringa seeds. I am looking more for fall starts like tomatoes, peppers, etc.

@WildFloridian

12 күн бұрын

For me, I've used Sweet Bay in Parrish and then Home Depot but that would be a drive for you.

@Nolli27

9 күн бұрын

@@WildFloridian is there a nursery you recommend in central Florida?

Such great info ! 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟👍 🌱🍅🌿🍅🌿🍅🌱 ✝️🇺🇲🚜

Has anyone of you tried to grow opalka paste tomatoes? I'm in zone 10a and thinking about it ... 🤔

@honeybee52000

13 күн бұрын

I don't know the name of my paste toms, but they grow in abundance in my central FL 75% shade, garden. They seed-saved and reproduced gorgeous plants!

@0Feuerlilie0

13 күн бұрын

@@honeybee52000 wow, sounds encouraging. I have an area with mainly daffled light (under a tree), too. I actually thought about growing tomatoes there in summer ...

How hot are Cubanelle Peppers?

@WildFloridian

15 күн бұрын

They are a sweet pepper. They aren't hot. Think belle pepper... they are just thin walled and bright green.

@honeybee52000

13 күн бұрын

No heat at all. Tastes just like bell peppers with a thinner wall. They grow SO WELL down here!

Thank you for your videos and FL gardening advice. I LOVE LOVE your new raised beds (new to me anyway). They are so pretty. I like the white versus the tin look.