Black Thumbs
Feb. 19th, 2023 01:56 pmI let my garden patches be fallow the past couple of seasons. I haven't really tried to grow much because it feels like nothing I try grows all that well. I was thinking about this for the past couple of weeks and decided to get a couple of the beds going again and growing what I know I can do well. Herbs and peppers.
I can grow basil and other cooking herbs really well. There's a parsley out there that simply doesn't want to die. I've also had a lot of luck with hot peppers, and have had good harvests of cayenne and datil peppers, though not so much luck with bell peppers. I also ordered more seeds for Seminole pumpkins, a Florida native plant and one I highly recommend if you're in zones 9 and 10. I planted a couple one summer and for a while they didn't do much, but then a week later they were growing over the fence, out into the yard, and just ... everywhere. So. Many. Pumpkins. At one point, vine borers got to them, but when the bugs attacked one part of the plant, it had already rooted somewhere else. I lost a few pumpkins outside the fence to deer and squirrels but I already had more than enough. This year I'm going to try to find or build something to use as a trellis for them. What I've been reading says you can prune them pretty aggressively.
They're great pie pumpkins. I made scones, pumpkin bread, muffins ... it was great. I also found a packet of oat straw grass that I grow as cat grass for the little fuzz monsters.
I also picked out a selection of greens from southeast Asian climates, assuming that the hot and humid here isn't too much different from the hot and humid there. Russian kale also grows well here for some reason. I can't imagine a climate more different from Russia. Next time I'm out I think I'll pick up some flowers to put into pots, especially if I can find pollinator-friendly plants. The cold nipped my lantanas almost to the ground, but I see they're starting to come back. The white one is already blooming.
I can grow basil and other cooking herbs really well. There's a parsley out there that simply doesn't want to die. I've also had a lot of luck with hot peppers, and have had good harvests of cayenne and datil peppers, though not so much luck with bell peppers. I also ordered more seeds for Seminole pumpkins, a Florida native plant and one I highly recommend if you're in zones 9 and 10. I planted a couple one summer and for a while they didn't do much, but then a week later they were growing over the fence, out into the yard, and just ... everywhere. So. Many. Pumpkins. At one point, vine borers got to them, but when the bugs attacked one part of the plant, it had already rooted somewhere else. I lost a few pumpkins outside the fence to deer and squirrels but I already had more than enough. This year I'm going to try to find or build something to use as a trellis for them. What I've been reading says you can prune them pretty aggressively.
They're great pie pumpkins. I made scones, pumpkin bread, muffins ... it was great. I also found a packet of oat straw grass that I grow as cat grass for the little fuzz monsters.
I also picked out a selection of greens from southeast Asian climates, assuming that the hot and humid here isn't too much different from the hot and humid there. Russian kale also grows well here for some reason. I can't imagine a climate more different from Russia. Next time I'm out I think I'll pick up some flowers to put into pots, especially if I can find pollinator-friendly plants. The cold nipped my lantanas almost to the ground, but I see they're starting to come back. The white one is already blooming.