Sad Day for the Garden

Some critter got into my greenhouse and munched my tomato and eggplant seedlings down to nubs.  time to start over.  I may have to resort to buying sets this spring.  Can't figure out what type of thing did this.

Blooming Vanda Brought Into The Kitchen To Enjoy

Gulf Fritillary Butterfly

The Gulf Fritillary Butterflies really love our Passion Vine and have made quite a home here

Planted Tomato and Eggplant seeds today

I usually start the seeds a little earlier, but the holidays and family took over this year.  This is a good thing. seeds can wait. I love my family.
I started Big Beef and Black Cherry tomatoes from Johnny's Seeds and Dancer eggplant also from Johnnys.  I use the starter cells with starter mix every year. I think the tray cost about $3 years ago. This system has worked well for me.  See the pics:

Anyone want any Canna Lily Rhizomes ...I'm in Lake Helen...leave me a comment if you want some

Someone gave me 6 a few years back. I decided to thin them earlier this week - Late December.  I must have over 50.  Glad to share.   They are the red ones.  The red ones almost took over my orange ones, and I do not have have those for sharing, only the red.

Slow Roasted Tomatoes

Slow-Roasted Heirloom Tomato Gratin This recipe is from Susie Middleton’s Fast, Fresh & Green, Chronicle Books. Susie appeared at the market on July 23, signed her book, and talked about her dedication to using fresh local ingredients, much of which she grows herself. If you want to follow her excellent blog, go to sixburnersue.
Ingredients:
3 tbsp plus ½ tsp extra-virgin olive oil 2 ½ lb large, ripe heirloom beefsteak tomatoes ¾ tsp kosher salt 1 tsp sugar 3 to 4 garlic cloves, sliced very thinly crosswise 2 tbsp loosely packed fresh thyme leaves ½ tsp balsamic vinegar
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Rub a 2-qt shallow baking dish with ½ tsp of the olive oil. 2. On a cutting board, preferably a channeled one to catch wandering juices, core the tomatoes. If they’re very large (3/4 to 1lb), quarter them. If they’re on the smaller side, just cut them in half. Turn the quarters and halves cut side down and slice them across into ¼-inch thick slices, keeping each group of slices (from the same half or quarter) together as much as possible. 3. Starting at one end of the baking dish, arrange one row of overlapping tomato slices across the pan from one side to the other, propping up the slices slightly against the end of the pan. (It’s easiest to pick up the slices from a tomato quarter or half and fan them out to make a row.) Season the tomatoes with a tiny bit of the salt and sugar and sprinkle the row with a few slices of the garlic and some of the thyme leaves. Arrange the next row of tomatoes so that they overlap the first quite a bit, and then repeat the seasoning. Continue with rows of overlapping, seasoned tomatoes until you get to the end of the pan. Every so often, you can stop and push the rows back a bit toward the end you started with to compact them somewhat. But don’t bunch them up too tightly. Sprinkle any remaining thyme leaves and the balsamic vinegar over all the tomatoes. Drizzle the remaining 3 Tbsp olive oil over all. 4. Bake until the tomatoes are very shrunken and the juices in the pan have greatly reduced (they should be barely visible below the edges of the tomatoes), about 1 hour and 45 minutes. The edges of the tomatoes near the center will be slightly browned and those around the sides of the baking dish will be a deep brown. The baking dish itself will be very browned from the spattering and reducing juices. Let cool and eat warm or at room temperature.
(Serves 4)

Sweet Potato Coins Recipe

Sweet Potato Coins - great for medium to small Sweet potatoes - I harvested a bunch that size this year
1 pound of sweet potatoes
2 tbs. of olive oil
2 tbs. brown  sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper - 12 turns of an average pepper mill
1/4 tsp - dried cumin
Cut potatoes into 1/4 inch thick circles (coins)
Place in bowl - sprinkle with olive oil
add other ingredients - mix by hand until potatoes are covered
Place on cookie sheet covered with parchment paper (spray a little PAM junk to prevent sticking)
Roast at 425 for 25 to 30 min. 
Super yummy snack, side dish or hors d'oeuvre

1st cauliflower of the winter

1st day of winter, 1st cauliflower of the year

I grew several varieties of cauliflower this fall. Started from seed and they got leggy.  Planted sometime early to mid October. Harvested my first one yesterday.  All look great and are doing well. Broccoli is huge but no flower. Hmm. Turnips are  doing super as usual. Still hooked on those small white Haikuri Turnips....the best ever. Trying some Swiss Chard.  Never had it before. Carrots and lettuce are in.  Thinking about planting some strawberries.

Zone 9 Garden in December

Pics below are of the garden gate I built plus Bibb Lettuce, Turnips. Cauliflower,  Cabbage, Broccoli, Malibar Spinach, and Swiss Chard in various stages.

Sweet potato harvesting

Ground Orchid

Just playing with photo editor. I love funky colors!

Spring Bounty

This Spring is the best harvest I have ever had.  The Fortex Pole beans and the Black Cherry Tomatoes have been exceptional in taste and production.

Purple yard long Asparagus Beans

Purple yard long Asparagus Bean measured and compared to a banana for size

Fortex green Beans, Black Cherry Tomatoes, Better Bush Tomatoes

Fortex green Beans, Purple Yard Long Beans, Black Cherry Tomatoes, Better Bush Tomatoes

Terrestrial Orchid

Camelia in January

Camelia Bloomed in Early January 2012

A perfect and warm fall had many plants blooming early, incliding my Camelia

Cauliflower Heaven

Cauliflower crop this fall was perfect

Jeremy Harvesting Cauliflower

Diane is making Cauliflower Soup.  Yum yum.

Lemon Tree is Loaded

Don't know why, but our lemon tree has more lemons this year than ever.  I wonder if other folks are having the same experience.  Our tree has Meyer lemons, but also some branches grew out below the graft a long time ago and half of the tree is lemons from the root stock.  They are good, but the skin is thicker than the Meyer Lemons.

Fall 2011

Tarragon is taking over the world.  Lemon Grass in the background

Cabbage is beautiful.  Small Stonehead variety in the foreground, with a traditional hybrid in back

Left to Righ: Majesty Red Letuce, Butter Crunch Bibb lettuce and Imperator carrots

Cauliflower and Kale to the right

Carrots on the left and Haikuri Turnips on the right...All desperately in need of weeding...to many mosquitoes this year to keep up with it.

Overgrown tomato plants in need of care.  Not pretty.