The Impossible Garden

Fiishergurl · October 23, 2015

I'm posting some pictures of my fall garden from my phone that i took this morning. I was gone all summer and had to start my garden over from scratch. I'm hoping to transform it from the mess it is now to a beautiful flower and vegetable garden with eye appeal by spring. This thread will document my progress and see if I can meet my goals... :-)

Just a note... My seedlings that I started died while i was away and had someone baby sitting them. But Barb_FL shared about 25 or so seedlings she had with me. So most of the tomato plants are courtesy of Barb.... :-) Thank you again Barb!

Ginny

This pot has petunias in front and sugar ann snap peas in back. I put some bamboo sticks in hopes the snap peas will find their way to the trellis. Last spring this pink pot had a humongous, healthy, loaded with flowers petuina plant in it. Hoping to repeat that.

These are mandeville vines which i will repot this weekend and try to train up the trellis. I have one for each side of the pink pot pentunias and these flowers are pink as well.

This is one of two inground plants. The soil here is actually crushed shells as this land we are on was made when the intracoastal waterway was dredged 100 years ago (the intracoastal waterway channel is pictured in the background). I started last year by digging holes 2 feet deep and putting in soil, fish that we caught , crab shells from crabs we caught and ate and lots of other good stuff. Successfully grew tomato plants last year in the two holes (and no critters dug up anything). So when hubby and i got back we went speck fishing and i saved the carcases and dug my two holes up and started the process again. So far so good. We will see if the nematodes or other diseases affect these in ground plants. The folding table is only tempory. I used it in desperation as a wind break because we have had 10-15 mph winds gusting up to 30 mph all week. Those are our kayaks pictured in the background and a crab trap... :-)

Buttercrunch lettuce, red romaine lettuce and radishes in a shallow container.

Cherokee purple plant. .. has about 40 blossoms on it at the moment. I buzz them several times a day... :-) Also for now there is a buttercrunch, a red romaine, and some radishes sharing the pot but soon the CP will probably be shading them out.

Big Beef with som lettuce friends. It isnt as full leaved as the CP, GGWT, or PBTD plants. Maybe it will catch up with time.

More Sugar Ann snap peas to hopefully grow up the trellis.

Close up of pea plants.

Pink Berkley Tie Dye on the right and Girl Girls Weird Thing on the Left with lettuce and Radish friends. Very happy.

Rainbow Swiss Chard blocking out sun for the two tomato plants behind them. I have to remember to turn the SWC around tonight so the Captain Lucky and Rebel Yell will be in front getting more sun.

This SWC is breaking all the rules... lol. Way too much going on. Back row is - you guessed it, more pea plants to climb the trellis.

Middle row is cilantro on left, then lettuce and raddish. Front row are shi-shi-to pepper plants. I have to try to relocate the 2 lettuce plants as they are getting shaded out.

Curly Kale.

There are a lot more tomato plants growing but they all look about the same as the ones I posted.

So why did I call it the impossible garden? Because a couple of years ago when I first decided to have a garden here, all my neighbors said growing a garden here is impossible because of the salt spray, the wind, the humidity, and the soil issues. Oh and I forgot to mention the rain, rain, rain, and more rain. So i found great places like here and found all of you knowledgable people here and elsewhere that shared info and I grew the impossible garden. Those same neighbors cant wait until the tomatoes ripen again. Not only are we able to grow them right here in the impossible garden, but we grow plenty to share... :-)

Ginny

October 23, 2015	#1
Fiishergurl Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Oak Hill, Florida Posts: 1,781	The Impossible Garden I'm posting some pictures of my fall garden from my phone that i took this morning. I was gone all summer and had to start my garden over from scratch. I'm hoping to transform it from the mess it is now to a beautiful flower and vegetable garden with eye appeal by spring. This thread will document my progress and see if I can meet my goals... :-) Just a note... My seedlings that I started died while i was away and had someone baby sitting them. But Barb_FL shared about 25 or so seedlings she had with me. So most of the tomato plants are courtesy of Barb.... :-) Thank you again Barb! Ginny This pot has petunias in front and sugar ann snap peas in back. I put some bamboo sticks in hopes the snap peas will find their way to the trellis. Last spring this pink pot had a humongous, healthy, loaded with flowers petuina plant in it. Hoping to repeat that. These are mandeville vines which i will repot this weekend and try to train up the trellis. I have one for each side of the pink pot pentunias and these flowers are pink as well. This is one of two inground plants. The soil here is actually crushed shells as this land we are on was made when the intracoastal waterway was dredged 100 years ago (the intracoastal waterway channel is pictured in the background). I started last year by digging holes 2 feet deep and putting in soil, fish that we caught , crab shells from crabs we caught and ate and lots of other good stuff. Successfully grew tomato plants last year in the two holes (and no critters dug up anything). So when hubby and i got back we went speck fishing and i saved the carcases and dug my two holes up and started the process again. So far so good. We will see if the nematodes or other diseases affect these in ground plants. The folding table is only tempory. I used it in desperation as a wind break because we have had 10-15 mph winds gusting up to 30 mph all week. Those are our kayaks pictured in the background and a crab trap... :-) Buttercrunch lettuce, red romaine lettuce and radishes in a shallow container. Cherokee purple plant. .. has about 40 blossoms on it at the moment. I buzz them several times a day... :-) Also for now there is a buttercrunch, a red romaine, and some radishes sharing the pot but soon the CP will probably be shading them out. Big Beef with som lettuce friends. It isnt as full leaved as the CP, GGWT, or PBTD plants. Maybe it will catch up with time. More Sugar Ann snap peas to hopefully grow up the trellis. Close up of pea plants. Pink Berkley Tie Dye on the right and Girl Girls Weird Thing on the Left with lettuce and Radish friends. Very happy. Rainbow Swiss Chard blocking out sun for the two tomato plants behind them. I have to remember to turn the SWC around tonight so the Captain Lucky and Rebel Yell will be in front getting more sun. This SWC is breaking all the rules... lol. Way too much going on. Back row is - you guessed it, more pea plants to climb the trellis. Middle row is cilantro on left, then lettuce and raddish. Front row are shi-shi-to pepper plants. I have to try to relocate the 2 lettuce plants as they are getting shaded out. Curly Kale. There are a lot more tomato plants growing but they all look about the same as the ones I posted. So why did I call it the impossible garden? Because a couple of years ago when I first decided to have a garden here, all my neighbors said growing a garden here is impossible because of the salt spray, the wind, the humidity, and the soil issues. Oh and I forgot to mention the rain, rain, rain, and more rain. So i found great places like here and found all of you knowledgable people here and elsewhere that shared info and I grew the impossible garden. Those same neighbors cant wait until the tomatoes ripen again. Not only are we able to grow them right here in the impossible garden, but we grow plenty to share... :-) Ginny Last edited by Fiishergurl; October 23, 2015 at 12:50 PM.