[CindyRoos]

Originally Posted by perry335654

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BWWTIy0ECA

Thanks Perry!! Interesting! I love it!! <3

[CindyRoos]

Originally Posted by Happiness-is-close

We had Swiss chard harvested from moms garden yesterday. It was delicious. Mom is a great gardener though. She has a green thumb and I have a brown thumb. I am not good with plants. Lol.

I'm pretty good with plants so I hope that continues when I get to Florida someday to live!

[Spring Hillian]

I would recommend using raised beds for gardens. You can control the soil quality and its easier to maintain.

[CindyRoos]

Originally Posted by Spring Hillian

I would recommend using raised beds for gardens. You can control the soil quality and its easier to maintain.

Agreed!

[TOMD]

I recently moved to Florida and my wife and I tried gardening here. ITs tough . We mended the soil provided nutrients and watered but it is still a challenge for us. We are getting some fruit and vegs now but nothing to brag about. We are not giving up but realize we need to take a different approach that we are use to.

We have a little over 2 acres down here so land is not an issue for us. We also have lots of trees on the property. Mostly small ones. I had about 40 removed and had them chipped up and have been using the chips as mulch which has helped keep thing moist but still the land is sand with chips... So I was surfing the internet and This will be our next attempt. Hugelkultur raised garden beds. Look it up I have the trees and other organics like leaves when they drop so I think its worth a shot.

If that doesn't work I am okay with getting everything we need from roadside markets or the Grocery store. Probably cheaper anyway.

Good luck to all trying to raise some good eats.

[imagardener]

I've gardened in Florida for 18+ years and it is much harder than northern gardening unless your home is on one of the few good soil areas. I have amended, amended and amended the soil and composted faithfully with very little improvement.

Recently we purchased a small investment property and of course I started planting there too, mainly hedges along the property line but also some extra veggie plants which I raise from seed. Well, what a difference! The plants at the new property are twice as big and much healthier than the ones at home. Why? The answer is that the house we live in had fill brought in 20 years ago and it's killer to plants because the roots cannot grow well. Same thing happened in the last FL home we lived in (Naples), crap fill dirt that I could barely get a shovel in.

If gardening is your passion I suggest raised beds or container gardening for veggies and for the rest of the yard use native plants which do much better than non-natives and the birds, bees and butterflies will be attracted to your yard for pollination.

If I hadn't seen the difference between the 2 locations using the very same plants I would not have believed the difference.
Older homes with good soil, whadayaknow.