Possible dates for the plant swap
 

I think it should be in October this year, or the first Saturday in Nov. I can't do it Oct.26, 27, or anything but the first Sat in November. Anyone is invited, if you have plants great, if not come anyway, just bring food.
I will be growing over 100 varieties.
Free.
WHAT DATES DO MY FELLOW FLORIDIANS WANT?
Marsha

Marsha - I have no druthers as far as date so no input from me. Please do keep us posted on when and where it'll be and I'll put it on my calendar. However, it's a long trip for me and the probability of my being there, whatever the date, is slim to none.

Hi Jerry, yes I know your circumstances and understand. I will be Avignon the swap at my home in Plantation, because there is so much interest from the Plantation Garden Club, the Hollywood Garden Club, and also the Plantation Women's Club. We got a very well attended plant swap last November, over 50 came, but most were Garden club members with a few TVers also. Cheryl and a few of her friends will be there. And I don't know what happened to Ann, I hope she is OK.
Marsha

[QUOTE=ginger2778;355309]And I don't know what happened to Ann, I hope she is OK.
Marsha[/QUOTE]

Hi, Marsha! I'm fine. Just haven't been 'here' on T-ville as much. Today I cut some dead brown stems from what were until last month very busy cherry tomato plants. The last month has been less productive (except for a second and nice crop of Big Ray's, and the rest of the Jaune Flammes) due to the heat, and a wetter than typical month. The last remaining fruit either went straight from unripe to rotten on the vine, or was eaten by something, it seems. Except the peppers, which have been nice.

Also have been busy with work plus cats. Both my pets were sick with a tummy bug, and one of the feral cats had a mouth infection like Pixie did last year. Then I took a little one to be spayed, and they said if I hadn't brought her in right then she would have died. Little Tudor, about 8 months old, apparently had a reproductive problem that was either a burst cyst or maybe an infection from mating, and I had no idea because she was always so happy and pleasant. She's still recuperating indoors, on antibiotics, and has immediately turned house cat. The other two hate her because she's an affection-seeking little "puppy" and they are not ready for that. :) She really is a doll, hope I can find her a home.

I feel like I've learned a lot of lessons in the past eight months or so that I've been attempting to grow things. Had some nice luck, and some bad luck with frost and weather issues, and then was contending for a while with having very little time. Glad I got out of it what I did, and sort of sorting through my options for the fall attempt. Just received some seeds in the mail as a kind return gift for some samples of the pastes I had. One is Cherokee Purple, so I am definitely looking forward to the fall. Never did get the watermelons in the ground. Maybe next year. (I did just buy some.)

Late October is definitely a possibility. Even more so if I finally get serious about replacing my 13-year-old car. :)

Best,

Ann

Ann, I'm absolutely delighted to hear from you. Your poor cats though. What an ordeal.
We just adopted 2 from the shelter, one is charcoal grey with a white chest and boots, and her name is Carbon due to her color. She has a lot of Russian Blue in her.The Broward county shelter spayed her, and I think it was while she was carrying a litter because her mammaries were enlarged. She also came with an upper respiratory infection that is resistant to 2 antibiotics so far, and it is definitely bacterial because the sneeze is cloudy, not clear liquid. It's been 6 weeks so far. We took her in for a culture and sensitivity to find out what this bug is and what will kill it. Oh, and just for good measure she had a previously broken leg that never got treated so its a little crooked. The vet said she never would have made it at the shelter, so it was good that we got her home. She is a darling, climbs in my lap and falls asleep there, and eats like a little piggus!
We also got a male, also very young but not kitten, he's much larger, orange and white short hair, very rambunctious, and likes to play rough with Carbon, but she beats up on him pretty well too. The shelter named him OJ which was a stupid name, so Wayne played around with it and said" orange Julius" and I said Julius suits him because he rules the house,so that's his name , Julius. He's out of control sometimes, racing around the house like a maniac, and attacking my toes when I get under the covers.
They said the shelters kill 65% of all the cats they take in so I am glad we took both. I didn't want another animal, but Wayne wore me down, and I am glad.

Ann, if you can make it down it'll be great. I'll send you a PM if you want to go, I bet you know what about!

I hope things go more smoothly now for you.
My car is a 97 Lexus ES 300. Darned thing just won't die.:lol:

Marsha

Save the date
 

I am thinking the best date for the plant swap would be Saturday, October 19,2013.
The only rule is bring plants or bring food.;)
Thoughts?
Marsha

I enjoyed the last swap, but health issues might prevent this year for me.

[QUOTE=Garf;358944]I enjoyed the last swap, but health issues might prevent this year for me.[/QUOTE]
I certainly understand about health issues. I hope your health is great and stays that way! We will have almost everybody coming from last years swap, and several more as I have joined the Plantation Garden Club this year. And we had over 50 attend last year!
We would love to see you, and will miss you if you can't, but understand about health issues.:no:
Marsha

Plant Swap
 

Hi Everyone,
After a long bout of bad health AGAIN! I'm getting back to fit as a fiddle!
Well almost!:D All the plants at the community garden have done wonderful .I will bring a bunch of pictures to the plant swap !!
The 3 praying hands banana trees are growing like weeds!
I have stepped down from running the community garden and am just helping with it after 1 and a half years. Health issues come to a head in May and I needed to deal with those for a few months.
The stevia plants are bushes and growing like weeds! Pictures of those to come also.
All the tomato's just thrived!!! We had them up to 9ft. on pallet stakes!:)AND HAD TO CUT THEM OFF AT THAT POINT.
The community was stopping in asking how on earth we we're growing our garden !
Our homemade fish emulsion worked great along with 1 time a month a side dressing of Epsom Salt and we were picking thousands of tomato's every 3 days!!!

GARDEN HAPPY'S IMPROVED HOMEMADE FISH EMULSION RECIPE

1 FIVE GALLON BUCKET WITH A LID
DRILL AT LEAST 9 HOLES INTO LID

Now put into the 5 gallon pail 1/4 dried clippings , grass, dried leaves....
then chop up mullet (10 to 15)or what ever fish into 1' pieces and throw into pail
OR 1/3 of a pail of fish tails, guts, heads

Add 1 cup Epsom Salt
1 cup of black strap molasses
then a bunch rotten bananas ,melons, any fruit not citrus(this cut's smell and )
Now fill the bucket with water to within 3'' of the top and stir mixture really well.

Put top on well to keep critters out , if fly eggs get into this ,well more protein:lol:
Now every day for 2 weeks stir 1 time a day keeping this in the shade, NOT right by your house or the next door house:surprised:
After 2 weeks "cooking" strain and keep in a clean bucket with a lid with holes in it.
1 tablespoon of mixture to 1 gallon of water. YOUR PLANTS ARE GOING TO LOVE THIS!

Have a wonderful day in the garden! See ya all soon in Plantation Florida!

Cheryl, thanks so much for this homemade fish emulsion recipe, which I am going to try for sure! Hmm... Which neighbor don't I like all that much?
My plants did super well this past season too, most in the 6-9 foot range. It's so much easier in earthboxes than it used to be in soil.
I'm delighted to hear that you are coming to the swap. This year I am doing some things differently, all my seedlings will be in 4 inch pots because I joined a garden club and we are having a plant sale the next weekend, so I am getting seedlings together that are high enough quality for market. They will be in direct sun to grow so there should not be any leggyness. Last year the date got changed so they stayed 3 weeks too long in expandable peat pellets under grow lights.
Still, once planted they thickened and straightened nicely.
Looking forward to seeing you and any other Tvillers there. Several local people are going again so I think we will be getting a large group for the swap again.
I'm getting excited!
Marsha

Plants I'm Bring to plant swap-
 

Tomato's 2013-14 growing season
Belarus Start gf
San Marzano Reddorta
Pantano
Brown Berry
Yellow Pear
Window Box-very compact
Black Mystery
Tag-A-Log
Black Cherry
Millefleur Yellow Cheese
Black Aisburg
Glory of Moldoua
Chadwick Cherry
Purple Cherokee
Pink Og Purple
Sugar Honey-Poland
Gulliver
Salvic Masterpiece
Burpee's Giant Supersteak
Pole Brandywine
Red Brandywine
Yellow Brandywine
Black Brandywine
Olena Ukrainian
New Hampshire Red Pickling-cherry
Abraham Lincoln
Tres Contos-three songs
Goose Creek
Pineapple Beefsteak
Coustralee -Sand hill
Orange Strawberry
Czech's Bush
Giant Leader Monster tomato
Seeding more this is just a start.

Wow Cheryl, what a nice list! Very comprehensive . I am finalizing my grow list and will post it soon. This is shaping up now. I also got Gulliver, and Sugar Honey , both from a trade with Jennifer 28. We had to do research on them, and so we managed to go to the Russian seed site Sedek where hers were from, and the Russian words on the package we received actually translated to sugar red. I tried to grow it last year but it didn't like South Florida conditions too well. It got a lot of disease early on. I was really looking forward to it too, but it never made it to fruiting.
You have some really interesting selections so far, thanks for posting.
Now that I am back from my hiking trip, it's time to buckle down.:twisted:
No more playing around, I need to get organized .:)

Marsha

More seeds seeded
 

Sweet Pea Raad Red VF
Gardeners Delight DayDream
Malinowy Olbrazym Wild Chiapas
Boney M. Kumato
Matt's Wild Cherry DAR
Dr. Carolyn Pink Orange King
Aunt Ruby's German Green Silver Fir Tree
Principle Borghese ATOL-Poland
Tim's Black ruffle Plummy -plum
Mortgage Lifter Chocolate Cherry
Druzuba Rhodes Heirloom-Bi color
Coastal Pride-Red Omar's Lenanese
Super Sioux Red Target Black Seaman New Big Dwarf
"Blue" Jagodka
Tommy Toe Dole Hodny
Salt Spring Sunrise Early Wonder
Golden Treasure 1884
Yellow Stuffer Bali
The Dutchman Zolotye Palchiki-yellow
Black Cherry Vetomold
Taos Trail Unger's Hungarian Cherry
Brandywine Sudduth Boxcar Willie
Calabacito Rojo Stupice
Brandwine Red Landis Valley Tomato Minibel
Soft Hybrid-Greenhouse Tomato Grand Slorum
Red Robin Salisaw Café-cherry red
Biely Naliv-red Rapid Forcing
Russian Love-Cylindrical John Baer
Viva Italia Bonnie Best
Willamete Bush Celebrity
Wins All Creole
Brianna Black from Tula
Pomidor Malinowy Oxheart-Poland Lemon-Lean
Coastal Pride-Orange Moskovich
Blaby R. Sharp Fargo
Bloody Butcher Sunset Red Horizon
Phenomenal Impur Prior Beta
]Golden Dwarf Rief Red Heart
New Jersey Giant Belgian Pounder
Thineman's Austrailian Heart African Beefsteak
Gribhoe Lukoshko-red Beam's Yellow Pear
Giant Italian Valentina
Deviz Prairie Fire
Prescott Heirloom Anna Russian
Smokey Mountain-1 seed from 2006 Coastal Dandy PL
Persey Big White-Pink Stripes-2 seeds
Legend-1 seed
Golden Grape Van Vert Ohio
Golden Queen Heirloom Healani

This is almost everything for now. Spring will come and I'll grow a larger variety. I'm growing out for 6 places right now 2 community gardens and 1 school garden and 1-learning garden for a group of 15 and then my own gardens and this plant exchange :yes:
I'm also growing out a large variety of herbs , sweet and hot peppers and egg plants for anyone interested in trading those P.M. me for a list.

I would love to come but, how far will it be from Ocala? I may or may not have any plants/tomatoes to bring everything here stopped blooming in mid May. I'm about to drop more seeds for mid September planting date. I can bring food though!

Elise

Hi Elise,
It's in Plantation. That's basically west Ft. Lauderdale. We have someone coming from Plant City, which is very near Tampa.
Bringing food will be fine. I am starting my seeds for this in last week August, if that helps you on timing.
You are very welcome to join us, as is anyone. Come even if you can't bring plants or food.:)
I am expecting a larger crowd than last year(~50), because 2 local gardening clubs will be joining in. The fun is being able to compare know how with other gardeners, and you get to take home different plant too.:yes:

Marsha

That would be awesome! I planted around 130 varieties and they lived through the summer heat, then came the darn hornworms! I picked and killed about 15 off one tomato plant! I killed approx 50 of them within 4 days! I have no idea where they came from!

If you might have bought a bagged container mix or a bagged amendment to your garden beds it could have traveled with the bag from the source the material came from.It happened to me this year when I got lazy and got some from a big box store and ended up growing myself a generation of brown hornworms I have never seen or had before.Back to the pro mix for me and my containers.

[QUOTE=kurt;366261]If you might have bought a bagged container mix or a bagged amendment to your garden beds it could have traveled with the bag from the source the material came from.It happened to me this year when I got lazy and got some from a big box store and ended up growing myself a generation of brown hornworms I have never seen or had before.Back to the pro mix for me and my containers.[/QUOTE]

I love Promix.:yes:

Marsha

Nope, I have my own compost for my garden ( horse, rabbit and chicken manure) so I didn't buy anything from the store this year. My father in law said that the hornworms attack his calla lily's every year, so I guess they chose my tomatoes instead!

[QUOTE=FaithHopeLove;366366]Nope, I have my own compost for my garden ( horse, rabbit and chicken manure) so I didn't buy anything from the store this year. My father in law said that the hornworms attack his calla lily's every year, so I guess they chose my tomatoes instead![/QUOTE]
Hornworms come from eggs laid by Sphinx Moths. Very common in much of the US, including Florida.
Marsha

So maybe they laid eggs in my compost?!

Maybe, but most times moth and butterfly eggs take only a few days to hatch, so I think one just flew in, laid eggs, and they hatched, at least that's more likely.

Marsha

Time will be 1 PM on October 19. Please send me a private message request for my address.
Marsha

My 72 varieties of seeds sown yesterday. Now its up to the germination gods.:lol:

Tomato's are looking wonderful ! Transplanted into 1 gallon pots and will be bringing them in those and then have a 2nd batch transplanting into 4' pot's to bring those.
I've been using only at fist true leaves Organic rooting stimulant to water them, then homemade fish emulsion and Epsom salt water for all of them and they all have wonderful roots and are beautiful plants.
Last years plant trade produced thousands of wonderful tomato's we harvested along with all our own plants at Antioch Organic Community Garden.

I have Stepped down from this community garden, took some time for my health and just Started 2 new groups ,a homeschool garden club and a new community garden.
We are just planting our fall/winter gardens in this area for both groups and plan to grow our tomato's through the winter here once again. We can do this by Frost covers, straw blankets, and or a hoop house or green house. We see temps of down to 17 lowest since I live here to about 27 at times. The tomato's make it fine as long as I straw them and frost blanket them through. I have now done this 3 years in a row with wonderful results. Coming from Michigan comes in handy at times!

My garden club thought it was a good idea for me to do a demo on putting an earthbox together, and along with your recipe for homemade fish emulsion, it should be a good experience for learning too.
Cheryl, could you be alked into a presentation on how to make your own soaps? We had a great deal of interest in that.:yes:

Marsha

Hay Marsha, good to see you are up for a gathering again this year.

Are you thinking of a tasting next year? We are moving up to Brooksville next week and don't think I'll be able to grow any tomatoes up there as they do get frost... so guess I'll be giving seed starting a go again next January....

Wish yall lots of fun at your exchange this October.

[QUOTE=meadowyck;375736]Hay Marsha, good to see you are up for a gathering again this year.

Are you thinking of a tasting next year? We are moving up to Brooksville next week and don't think I'll be able to grow any tomatoes up there as they do get frost... so guess I'll be giving seed starting a go again next January....

Wish yall lots of fun at your exchange this October.[/QUOTE]
Yes there will be a tasting, probably Lat Feb. or early March. It will be in South Fla. as there was much less attendance at the last tasting in central Fla. and we get many
here, much more interest , and I don't have to get a hotel room.:lol:
Good to hear from you Jan.:yes:

Marsha

plant trade
 

Getting close to trade time:D Plants are looking wonderful and can't wait to come and hang out with everyone:)
Last year was a wonderful time and all the plants grew into beautiful healthy tomato producing machines!
See everyone soon:D
Bringing a few mini red sweet peppers, hot peppers and basil plants to which are wonderful companion plants to tomato's.

so how did it go???? Marsha ya go any pictures to share..........