How did your vegetable garden do this year?

It's mid-July now and most Florida gardener's spring vegetable gardens are winding down except for the real heat loving stuff. How did yours do this year? What grew well? What grew poorly? What won't you plant again? What will you for sure plant more of?

My garden was definitely not typical for me this year. I went off my nut and planted the largest vegetable garden that I've grown since I was in high school. Mostly that's because I was trialling a bunch of new varieties but also partly because I received a lot of free jalapeno plants and could not bring myself to not plant them.

What worked well for me that I'll for sure replant more of:

Pink Eye Purplehull and Zipper Cream peas. Excellent growth, very good yield. Only minimal insect damage which they over came.

Dixie Butterpeas. Good growth here as well. They're actually a variety of lima bean so they like the heat and the copious rain we've had this year hasn't much affected them.

Florida Speckled butterbean. A pole lima. So long as it's got water and something to climb on it doesn't care how hot it gets. They'll produce until I get tired of picking them or first frost, which ever comes first. They are vigorous climbers though so be prepared.

Roma tomatoes. Determinate paste type. Best performers out of the lot this year. Wish I'd have trellised them, but didn't get to it before it was too late. A lot of tomatoes coming in without too much splitting even with all the rain.

Sweet 100 grape tomatoes. Very prolific. Haven't shown any disease sign as of yet. Have picked several quarts of the little maters off the four plants I put in. DEFINITELY trellis these things and stay on top of keeping them tied up. I haven't and now they're a mess out there.

Early Prolific Straightneck summer squash. Eventually they all developed mosaic, and the pickleworms get into about half the fruit, but they are still out there producing. They are just now beginning to show signs of the powdery mildew that usually kills my squash every year but we have picked quite a lot of squash already. Given how much rain we've had this summer I'm surprised they have lasted this long. I'm attributing this to the mulch they're laying on which helps to keep soil from splashing onto their leaves.

Mitla jalapeno peppers. These were my freebie plants. They were so pale when I got them I wasn't sure if they'd make it or not, but they really came around and have produced copious amounts of pods in spite of the hornworms and grasshoppers. I haven't ever seen this variety in the bedding plant trade, I believe they're mostly produced for the truck farmers which is how I came by mine. I have a big batch of ripe ones in the smoker now.

Long, straight Cayenne peppers. Excellent growth, excellent fruit set, very little insect damage, no apparent diseases. Plants are brittle though so be careful picking the fruit.

Ichiban eggplants (hybrid). The hornworms found them delicious, as did the fireants, and the excessive rain we've had this last month and a half or so have left them looking awful. Still they have managed to mature enough usable fruit that even with just four plants I find myself giving half of them away. Even when I let them go to full maturity the seeds and the texture are such that they're still good to eat.

A little early to tell:

Jerusalem artichokes. Not a common Florida vegetable, In fact, I've never seen them growing here at all before and what little info I could find on them in Florida suggests they don't like our summers. Still, the plants are tall and vigorous with no signs of disease. We'll see if I get any tubers this fall.

Jewell sweet potatoes. Excellent growth so far. Much healthier looking than the Centennials in the next row over. Also have some slips that I took off some market spuds that I don't know the variety name of for certain, but I think they're Beauregards.

Seminole Pumpkins. They are just now beginning to show slight signs of mildew on their oldest leaves, but the younger growth still looks healthy and they're setting fruit well. This variety originated here in Florida way back when so I expect them to do at least OK here though with having such a wet year and all I think any cucurbit is going to have a hard time of it.


Not doing so well:

Early Girl, Better Boy, and Sanibel tomatoes. I don't know why but none of the big slicing tomatoes have done well for me this year. The Sanibels are a truck farming variety that I've never found in the bedding plant trade. They came free along with the jalapenos. They've made a few nice maters, but not many. The Better Boys have been the best of a poor show while the Early Girls have been about the worst. Of course we had a late, cool spring then went right into a wet summer. The grape and Roma tomatoes coped with it, but these three haven't.

Red Kuri and Green Striped Cushaw squash. I am not going to hold this year against them with it having been so wet and all. Both came on strong and put out a lot of vines and started setting fruit pretty well, but both are now in decline from powdery mildew. I'll get fruit from both and will save the seed to try again next year. I was hoping for better though as from the research I did they sounded like they'd handle out conditions better. It's been a tough year for cucurbits though.

Clemson Spineless okra. I had terrible germination this year even with having planted it twice, less than 50% both times. I've come to the conclusion that it was the specific lot of seed rather than the variety as I've grown Clemson Spineless pretty much most of my gardening career and it's usually about idiot proof.

Kentucky Wonder (rust proof) pole beans. I think between having to wait because of the late cold weather then having so much rain over the summer the odds were just against any pole beans this year. Initial germination was good, but the plants have just struggled and two thirds expired. I'm curious to see what the few survivors are going to do so I'll save their seed to experiment with next year.

Valencia peanuts. Nothing wrong with the nuts, it's my garden that's the problem. I live in peanut country and they grow the stuff by the square mile here, but for some reason every blasted squirrel and rabbit in my end of the county decided my peanuts tasted the best. Come the first hard freeze this winter they're going to find that I'll have them on the menu if I can't have peanuts.

Pimento and Ancho peppers (chiles). These have grown and produced well so I can't fault them for that, but the storms we've had this year have wreaked havoc on them. Twice now we've had high winds from a down burst or something that have busted the plants up something awful. Still, those pimentos have been very interesting to use fresh in the kitchen so I think I'll try them again. I'll put them inside of tomato cages to support their branches. When they get a big load of fruit on them they break if you look at them straight.

That about does it for me. How about the rest of you Florida gardeners?

.....Alan.

J Artichoke does well for me. esp after naturalizing for a few years.

This is the first year for us to grow anything down here, as we just moved here Jan 2004. "But" I tried some "Sweet 100's", a compact Patio, and a "Hybrid Roma" all in containers. I thought they were all done after about a month of the heat, but I moved them into an area of about 50% shade and they have all seem to be making a comeback. One advantage of container gardening.
Also came across some Scarlet Runner Beans I had saved from our plants in Michigan. I put them in awfully late(22 of June) and they seem to be doing great. We're growing them for their flowers as much as the beans. Other than that we're still getting a feel for this climate.

Being from the "Great White North" it's never occured to me that I could grow my own peanuts. "Duh" What are some of the variety's and where would be the best place to find seed, and growing information. I'm sure you don't just buy raw peanuts in the shell and plant them,do you?
Thanks Tim.

So long as they're mature raw peanuts you could plant them that way though usually they're shelled first. I bought seed from a local farm supply for mine this year - Valencias. Made a good stand too until the squirrels discovered them. Never had so much trouble with the furry tailed rodents as I've had this year.

Picked two dishpans of ripe jalapenos last night. When they are still wet from the rain don't pick that many bare handed. Don't ask me how I know this!

.....Alan.

Grew a great batch of tomatos this season. The most enjoyable but surprising was my Sudduth Brandywine. The flavor and production, 40 tomatos from one gigantic plant, were outstanding and definetly a charter member in my garden. Never had much luck with the brandy family but because of a late start due to our hurricanes they grew well in our cooler months so I will late start them again this year.

Another great one was Burpee Delicious a hybrid also known as "Delicious" in most catalogs. Perfect orange-red tomatos and truly delicious.

Enchantment an egg shaped tomato that just kept on producing solid red sweet salad tomatos that were firm and juicy and just great to eat right there in the garden. Another mainstay that will always have a home with me.

Mr Stripey a giant tomato that also needs room and continues to produce as long as you water it. Beautiful colors of orange with red stripes and it tastes as good as it looks.

Polish a beefsteak variety that was also prolific in growth but not so much in production but one slice covers two sandwiches if you know what I mean.

Green Zebra is a delicious tomato once you get used to it's color. A very juicy salad tomato.

Copia is a relative of Green Zebra, a little larger with light red stripes. Great in salads with the Zebra family.

Sugar Snack a grape tomato that was rather disappointing as it wasn't as sweet as I thought and I won't grow them again.

Yellow Pear a pear shaped grape tomato that is a bright yellow color and very tasty when picked riped but needs a lot of room.

There were others but these are some that come to mind. Can't wait till next month to start my new seeds for my Winter garden.

I planted my tomatoes in full sun this year, thinking they would do better than last year when they were in partial shade, but I got fewer tomatoes this year and the vines went scraggly and yellow soon after the harvest of the first few tomatoes. I was disappointed in the "Better Boy," but maybe I didn't give it a fair chance by having it in too much sun.

I got a few Ichiban eggplants before the plants gave up. I got one of the best tasting zuchini squash I've ever had, but I don't recall which variety it was. I bought some seeds on sale at Big Lots and didn't pay too much attention to the names.

My best vegetable this year was a bush green bean, also from seeds from Big Lots. I had enough beans to share with friends before the plants gave up.

An experiment this year was planting rhubarb. I love it and didn't know it would grow here, but I found it for $2.49 in a 1/2 pint cup at Home Depot and decided I'd give it a try. It is growing well and has retained all its original leaves and stalks and made a few new ones. It will be interesting to see what happens next Spring and how the taste compares to grocery store rhubarb, if it grows for me.

Jeremy

my DH is the vegi gardner in the family. being recently transplanted from the keys he didnt think about the cold here and started putting plants in late feb. we had some cold nights and he didnt cover them. we had tomatos before anyone else and tons of them. he already pulled them last week and didnt keep the tags but i know we had better boy, beefsteak, a couple romas, a pink one, a yellow one, cherry, grape and sweet olive tomato. the pink didnt produce much. the yellow had a good flavor but too much juice. we are still eating the last of the romas. the beefsteak was gorgeous eating. my favorite was the little olive. very tender skin and sweet as sugar. in the keys we always grew the little yellow pear, but couldnt find it here. our feedmill lady finally got us some seed. they are about 6" tall now. hopefully wont be too hot to put them in. they produced like mad all summer in the keys and well into fall and winter. we are getting quite a few green peppers now and sweet banana peppers. seems like they took forever to start producing. the okra is about 4' tall and is an impressive plant. i never realized! i think i will put it in the flower garden next year. we should be eating bananas in another 2 weeks. we live on a lake and there is a huge stand right at the waters edge. hopefully i can get them before the gators get me!!!

About all I have been able to grow this year are tomatoes. I would love to plant an old fashioned garden but unfortunately, nothing would survive the dogs in the back yard. Everything I grow in the yard has to be in containers.
Jan...

budgie, you could grow a whole garden in containers. start a thread on vegi container gardening and i bet you'll hear from lots of folks who have done it!

Yes you can but I grown most of them in my front and side yards because I'm afraid the dogs will run into them or knock them over. One is a 3 yr old dalmation/rottweiler mix and the other is a 5 yr old Groenendael (belgian sheepdog) who both "think" they're young pups and don't stop running and playing until you call them in. I have several deep ruts around different tree stumps and other obtacles that run around not to mention the "cannine sinkholes" they have created.LOL

ive never known anyone with a groenendael. i dont have my books handy, but is that the kind of brindley long haired one? of al the belgians, thats my fave.

Here is a link to a page with good pictures of the 4 types of Belgian Shepherds. Mine is the solid black long haired one.
Jan...

link didnt come thru, but i know the one. my dh's favorite. thanks, debi

Here is the link:
http://www.belgiandogs.org/fambsd.htm

Hello everyone. It is nice to hear from some Florida gardeners. We just moved here and didn't get the garden planted until the first of April. Hungarian Wax, Cayenne and Habanero Peppers disease free and still producing. Same with Ichiban Eggplant, though they like a gallon of water every morning if it doesn't rain. Cucumbers did great until the powdery mildew got them around the end of June. Powdery mildew also got all the crookneck and zuccini before it set any good fruit. It got the tomatoes but I sprayed them with Neem Oil which helped. They had lost a lot of foilage, but I babied them back and they fruited good. But then I got sick and the tomato worms defoilated them again. I pulled them. Bell Peppers are still producing but the fruit is a little small and the skin turns brownish in places. Bitter tasting. Guess its just too hot.
Herbs: Basil-Italian, Spicy Globe, Opal, Variegated, Lemon and Cinnamon; Mints, Catnip, Tarragon, Chives, Parsley, Sage, Lavender, Stevia, St. John's Wort, Thyme...all thriving. Dill, Cilantro, and Fennel all seeded too early. Borage flowered beautifully, but died soon after.

The early girl tomatoes were the best for me. But I plant a pretty early spring garden. I start early march. The best time for me in florida is the fall garden which I start in August. That is the drier time of year for us, (usually) This year has been a wet one later than usual. my seedlings of beets and spinach struggled, but now that it has dried up a little are doing great. I found the jerusalem atichokes great in that I loved the blooms. At the time I found too many beetles invading the roots. but I have moved from that location and this location does not seem to be invaded with them.

Anyone else have problems with spidermites on their tomatos? I can't keep them off! I have sprayed the entire yard, sprayed the plants, changed varieties, changed planting locations, etc....nothing helps, I get half a season of tomatoes, and then lose the rest every year to spider mites. Smallest but in the whole yard, and they cause the most damage!
MerryMary

I usually plant marigolds with my tomatoes. It's supposed to keep the nematodes away but I've never had spider mites so maybe they don't like them either.
Jan...

My tomato plant is loaded and I can hardly wait. I'm thinking about how to keep them pumping all winter long.
I planted an heirloom grape tomato on it's side about 6" deep seven weeks ago. It is now at least 3' in several directions and loaded with blooms. I do hope they set and give me fresh tomatoes.
Sidney

Sidney...I had a package of grape tomatos that I never got to, they started to dehydrate, so I took them outside and stuck them in the ground along side my fence. I now have a row of 1 ft tall tomato plants....maybe grape tomatos do very well in Florida?
MerryMary

Yes MM, I did the same thing and had lots of goodies in the spring and I think they can grow for sure where you are.
Sidney