In Central Florida, I can grow everything in the fall/winter and have abundant of vegetables (including tomatoes) from November through May. By June, my flowers and sweet potatoes cover all the beds. And I just sit back and relax until the fall comes. :)
Over in west central Florida dunnellon area. Only on my second year still working out the kinks. Had gardens growing up but never paid attention to what my dad really did. I was the weed puller and waterer as a kid. We've got a bunch of fruit trees that are doing great it's the veggies I'm having trouble with. Except okra they seem to grow in whatever setting.
@@richardadd8131 if you're in a sugar sand hill. I'd suggest adding biomass like biochar, then a ton of raw wood chips. Just broadfork or pitch fork the beds between crops. Something I've implemented and can say it's having a impact.
@@ajcsonsforge6370 thanks for the advice, we have started raised beds by first digging 2 feet down adding logs and leaves, then covering it with compost woodchips, biochar and rabbit manure 18in above ground level it's worked well just a lot of work with 5 acres to amend.
I live in Florida and when my husband and I started growing our own fruits and vegetables it was a learning process. You will have to learn what grows well in your area. It's trial and error all the way. We are learning every year during every season what works for us in this hot climate. My advice don't give up trying to garden if you have a lot of failures. It's ok. It's part of the learning process. Thank you so much for your videos. 😀
Wow! How genius is this advice?!? I've lived in Florida 30 years trying to grow various things with minimal results. Never even HEARD of a Seminole pumpkin or these Florida cherry tomatoes. Truly an "Ah-ha" moment. Going to try again. Thanks!
I might of had the Everglades tomatoes in my back yard, I bought a packet of seeds, threw them in the sand and threw the waste and bad tomatoes on the ground, and I fed the neighborhood off that packet for the good part of a decade!
@@mericasshepherd2550 have you found any solutions to keep the bugs off your tomatoes and other plants? I'm new to Florida gardening; originally from up north Canada; most of my plants are currently in containers and I've never seen sooo many bugs!! been here 8months now and I'm starting to dread summer; last year I planted a lot of Asian greens and most of them didn't survive because of the bugs; I've tried neem oil, spraying it with fresh hot chilli peppers and garlic, vinegar, and used a little bit of dish washing soap and water; so far, nothing works.
I have a small suburban veggie garden in Cape Town, South Africa. I started in August 2021 by digging out the tough kikuju grass and making barriers with cement slabs and large cement bricks I had. I am a pensioner so with a lack of funds I covered the area I dug out with cardboard. A couple of years ago we almost ran out of water here so I wanted to make a water smart veggie garden so I cut holes in the cardboard and inserted "grow tubes" (made from soda bottles cut into short tubes) in the holes. I planted my seeds inside the grow tubes and using a 5 liter bottle with a hole in the lid only watered inside the grow tubes thus using very little water. I had a good harvest. One area i dug out has no growing in it, instead I lift the cardboard and dig in my kitchen scraps to fertilize the soil. Earth worms have started coming to this patch. Lots of mistakes have happened along the way, but it's been worth the effort.
I grow Everglades in pots around our property. That way, when you walk by you can just grab a few! My sister is now grows them in Texas and my brother is in So. Carolina!
@The Revenge of Samuel Adams for the most, I have them in about 3 gallon pots. Any size or even in the ground will do nicely. Hope you grow some. They are so small but have a huge flavor! It froze here in Florida early Sunday morning (for only a few hours of course) and didn’t even touch my Everglades. So hardy.
I just bought those for north carolina! Hope they do well. We have issues with humidity causing disease too and cracking and splitting from summer rains.
@@spiritranger9202 same here In Florida but these little things are so hardy to Florida humidity and rainy seasons that I am sure they’ll do great for you!!
I loved the butterfly that was hanging out with you! :) I live in SW Florida and I grow my large tomatoes during fall/winter, usually with no problem. Once March rolls around they start suffering. My Everglades tomatoes grow whenever and wherever they want. :)
Everglades tomatoes are the best here in central Florida, also I grow a ton of lemongrass and Moringa trees are amazing, great video David, thanks for sharing 🌱🌱
I loved the video cause it really applies everywhere. I live in the mediterranean coast of Spain, but most of the written common wisdom -paper or internet - is done with the castilian mindset (temperate, continental). So people asks me "are you planting this and that in this month?". Well, plant like your grandad! Plant what fits, when fits, 90%, and leave yourself 10% for play
Everglades tomatoes are addicting, soooo goood. And they come up every season by themselves when you plant them once. At least that’s been my experience. Also the south Florida/Florida growing season is amazing! If you know what to grow, you can grow all year long. I wouldn’t trade it for any other place!
Came to Florida from Maine! Found David the Good's book, "Crazy, Easy Florida Gardening". That was how I started. My only problem is the wildlife who love everything I grow! Those Everglades tomato are indestructible! I started with one six inch plant. I saved three seeds from the first fruit. The plant died from the defoliant in my well water. Power line is thirty feet from well head. That's another story. I've learned how to compost my enemies, (and most everything else) so, even though my land floods frequently, I'm still growing stuff to eat! Thanks, David!😁🙏💞
Defoliant in your well water ??? Could you please elaborate on that? Is the ground water contaminated in your area ? Asking because my wife wants us to move there.
@@Brennor21 I have a powerline tower on my property too. The utility uses a defoliant from time to time to maintain clearances. I am not sure what type it is, but if it was in my well, I would be on the legal warpath. It has never affected our water.
@@Brennor21 I'm in a little community near Horse Creek, in Arcadia. We have a small electric company, co-op. My house is at the end of the road, on stilts and has a natural slough of native jungle along one side. When the creek gets to a certain height above flood stage, many of the properties are flooded. (My house has been dry but we recently went canoeing in the back yard to see the fish spawning.) Power supply is across the street from the house. Periodically, the jungle control subcontractors spray defoliant to keep the lines clear. They didn't pay attention to the fact that my well head and pump are right across the street, (about thirty feet, max.) When I started to itch after a shower, I put it together, with the dead vegetation across the street and called the power company. They did email me a partial I list of chemicals their subcontractors use, but never replied to my request for further discussion. Four of those chemicals are aminopyralid-types. Any thing I try to grow dies if I don't use rainwater to water with. My conclusion may be wrong, but maybe not. I chose not to make a big thing out of it, you do have to pick your battles. A power company mostly does what they please, and I had the option to not participate with them. My husband built us a rain water catchment system. Hope this shed some light on your questions.😊
@@TeeCeeBee I believe that the "recommended" use on the chemicals says, one hundred feet from spray zone to water supply. That was obviously ignored along with some other parameters. I haven't persued the legal route. Power companies have very deep pockets for attorneys and will never admit harm. You will get old and broke fighting in the courts and still, depending on the politics, get no satisfaction.
@@sueyoung2115 Did you and your husband built your stilt house or had someone build it? My husband and I are looking for affordable land to build such a house; I'm not taking any chances with all the flooding stories I've heard and we're more introverts and like our privacy; I haven't tried Everglades tomatoes yet, but my other tomato plants are growing well; the true test will be surviving the summer months when the bugs come out!! I've never seen sooo many bugs in my life!! I'm new to Central Florida gardening; moved here from up north Canada 8months ago; if it wasn't for David's books and videos such as this, I'd give up on gardening by now!! Thank goodness I didn't!
grew up in south fla until i was 30. plant in sept. and you're done with many of the northern crops by march at the latest. sweet potatoes and okra could keep growing. tomatoes planted in september yielded well. choose the right strains. i wish i had known about the strains that do well there before i left in '77.
I live in zone 9b sw Florida and I have had wonderful success growing purple heirloom tomatoes bigger then my hand. Planted in October and began harvesting January. I have harvestedover 80 tomatoes from just 3 plants. Its the end of May 2023 and my heirloom tomato plants are still producing. All my cherry tomatoes are done.
@@boydchapman5660 I think they might be referring to roselle hibiscus. The kind you use for hibiscus tea. Pretty much any hibiscus loves Florida weather.
As a fourth generation Florida native I'm really appreciative of your contributions. Especially here on the sandy Lake Wales ridge. As a teacher I don't get to watch as regularly as I'd like to. I'm a little late to the party but thought I would add a couple of my discoveries from my Caribbean and Latin American neighbors. I have found green papaya makes a great slaw. We use nopales as a good substitute for green beans or asparagus sautéed with a little pork and multiplying onions. I'm experimenting with chaya and moringa in my greenhouse. I'm rooting the prunings from my moringa for use as greens in my greenhouse during winter. Mustard is great as a salad green during winter and is less work than lettuce mixed with moringa and sweet potato leaves. During summer, I have better luck with tomatoes and sweet peppers outside the greenhouse if I plant them in the shade of the house where they get morning sun and afternoon shade if I can keep the rats from the pasture behind me. Under the eaves is good too to keep them from getting too much water. Just remember to water them. The ripe papayas in summer are good to dice and freeze to use in smoothies instead of ice. It adds lots of fiber. My grandparents worked so hard to garden from the seed catalogs. My Dad still does at 72. I still can't convince him not to burn those leaves. I'm just looking for a better way. My friends think I'm a mad scientist. Guess I've rambled enough. Thanks again. Oh yeah, those yardlong beans are great. My kindergartener only eats them raw. Guess I might need to grow a few in the greenhouse too!
I bought your book and ordered everglades tomato seeds from your daughter's seed store. I started 10 seeds and all 10 germinated and are doing great, so I started 10 more and they are going to be gifts for friendsI I live in the panhandle in NW FL. thanks for all the knowledge!
I'm a Jacksonville native. I travel for work now, so my garden gets zero attention now. Sweet potato and collard greens and a few other things from a few seasons back keep on thriving. I'll go and harvest a bit when I'm home, but they get absolutely no upkeep. Fantastic. His advice goes for pretty much anywhere...plant what wants to grow where you are!
I'm in Tampa Florida. Tomatoes started to get beat up by the elements in early June. Was feeling a bit discouraged but now I'm going to work with the weather better now.
I'm so happy to see your daughter still has her Etsy going! I just bought some everglades tomato seeds! (I'm hopeful she'll get some other local seeds posted soon.)
Commented a few videos ago about my Seminole pumpkins taking over my side yard. Turns out sitting in 3 inches of water will kill them as I found out over the last couple of weeks. 😣😣 Just east of you, so enjoyed the recent monsoons. Gardening is an emotional roller coaster! Your books have changed alot of my approaches to gardening. Thanks a bunch.
My boyfriend bought one of your books last year and I am enjoying it so much. We moved to the panhandle and loving the weather and all the growth opportunities. Thanks man
South Florida Gardner here. I grow the Everglades tomato’s, snake beans really well here. I grow all varieties of micro dwarf tomatoes which give different tastes of small salad tomatoes. They grow all year round. Can’t grow squash or cucumbers because of powdery mildew. Even the Seminole pumpkin succumbed to it. What grows best for me are greens. Collards, turnips, mustard greens and even spinach mustards and tatsoi grow beautifully here for most of the year. Also the Provider bush green bean grows great here.
David the Good's 12 step program for gardening addiction. Do you put seeds in the refrigerator and forget them? Is your gardening budget larger than your grocery budget? Is your family embarrassed when you go into the garden center and water the plants for the employees? David can help you! Only 60 easy payments of $999.99 and you can kick your garden habit.
Funny how Florida is such a challenge for the home gardener (myself included) yet agriculture is like our second biggest industry. Citrus, SUGAR, and winter crops when the rest of the country is frozen. If you ever drive down to the Keys, do yourself a favor and take a side trip through Redland (Homestead, FL) or if you're going to St Augustine take a trip through Hastings, FL. TONS of farms cranking out produce. Just don't expect to yield any huge heads of broccoli LOL
@Joe Williams...and stretching from Lake City west into the Panhandle also. Florida's a different kind of challenge. Coming from an agricultural ancestry stretching over 300 years from Florida to the far north I feel we are blessed here with extended growing seasons and challenges with climate differences than found in most the US. I still wouldn't live anywhere else.
@@TheAdminjack same! Even though I get discouraged now and then I feel like Florida gardening is a constant chess game that always keeps you on your toes. Always a new enemy or obstacle to defeat or outsmart from intense summer heat to bugs to excess moisture causing blight the battle rolls on
YES! Hastings has some great potatoes... who knew? Here I am in Jacksonville and found I can grow Peppers year round and my tomatoes thrive twice a year.
I just moved to Ft Meyers. I’m trying to learn what grows best here. I’m on a golf course and can only grow in containers on my lanai. Thanks for sharing.
Your book is awesome! Always experiment with everything else. My asparagus does good. U just don't know until u try. Anything is possible. Grow what u know works and play with the others. U might get surprised.
"like back in my Yankee hellhole" 😂🤣 that one got me good. We deal with similar Yankee transplant mentalities here in SC. Its more than just gardening..
I just ordered the book. BUT!! I had a potted Roma tomato last summer that gave me over 70 tomatoes through July. I was amazed. I had it in morning sun only. I am in 9b/10a. I am not gong to be as lucky this year. Started it too late.
Makes me thankful to live in Australia, in the sunshine state and actually this town is called the garden city, rich red clay, very easy to grow most things I've found, good work
I have grown grape tomatoes successfully many times here in NW Florida! In fact, it's the only crop I have had success with 😅. I'm moving my garden to a new location in the yard to help with that!
Barely even finished your video and already purchased your book. Trying to build a homestead but Iv been disheartened by gardening a lot. It’s so sandy on our property.
Hi Haley - I feel your pain. But you can do a lot with sand. It's wonderfully easy to dig and weed, and there are some excellent Florida-adapted plants that will love your yard.
Hey David, Thanks so much for this great video! After each crop of Yard Long Beans I replant one bean and a new crop comes up every 2 weeks. Makes tons of beans. I do notice they attract aphids!! So ladybugs are great and I check them daily. This year I am going to see if I can grow a some all year in the greenhouse. 🤔 Last year I had to clip the Sweet Potato Greens back after using the wrong batch of compost. 🙄 I harvested some and then just dropped the pieces on the ground. They took, and grew spuds better in the paths, than the beds..🤣 I have since "dropped" them in other areas of the property, under trees and on the hillside. They grow everywhere. 🤗 At $1 each in the store, that's a lot of free food. 😁 I also have had great succcess with Malabar Spinach. It loves mostly sun and tolerates lots of water. The leaves will grow the size of your hand. Great fresh or cooked. More nutrients than any spinach in the store! When the plants go to seed I eat the shoots, white flowers, and new black seeds.. They taste like asparagus. I use it for everything instead of lettuce. I also grow other spinaches; brazilian, longevity, okinawan... but they are not as prolific... and dont produce all the seeds to give tons of plants almost all year. I mostly eat wild edible plants such as spanish needles, young amaranth, lambs quarters, and skunk vine leaves for greens. (Dean Green EatTheWeeds.com) They make a tasty spanikopita with the malabar spinach. 😋 Thanks again for all the great knowledge! All the best to you All. Life, Love & Peace, 🌻
I threw out a bag of moth infested flax seeds in a patch of my garden area and they grew, fully matured and produced lots of flax seeds without any fertilizer, extra water or weeding. Apparently, flax does well in North Florida. I am around the Fort white area. It grew just like a weed.
I'm having great success with vegetables I've never even heard of because of this video. The yard long bean is my favorite it produces a lot even when I had a root knot nematode problem with them.
I love my Everglade tomatoes! They pop up on their own all over the yard. However, they always end up getting some kind of disease midway into their growth cycle, which turns leaves brown and the plant dies. I don't know what to do for it. I thought Everglades were HARDY in Florida! :(
This is so inspiring, thank you. It has been a struggle for my first real summer garden. I am growing tropucals and geat tolerant but still have issues with monsoon conditions and lack of pollination.
Great advice on growing veggies in the summertime down here in south Florida, You can always grow asian greens down here year round such as katuk, malabar spinach, okinawa spinach, longlivity, cassava ( root crop)etc. but you also forgot to mention that you can also grow Yankee veggies and tomatoes down here, But you can only grow it in the fall, winter and harvest in the spring. If you plan it right you can have two harvests. But down here growing tropical fruit trees such as mangos, mulberry bananas, papaya, and citrus is a given down here. Ok, I know, bananas isn't a tree. But you can grow it year round. I've watched your videos for years and have had great success, Your videos are very entertaining and you have a great knowledge of permaculture gardening in Florida.Thank You!
You had me at Yankee Hellhole, you just gained a ton of cool points. I’m a California transplant to Florida, so I don’t have a horse in that race, but funny as hell in either event . . . thats the funny thing about the military, you can live everywhere.
@@crpth1 He loved them and ate them. (-:. Actually though, I think that was a swallowtail, so either ate his umbelliferous herbs or had been eating tree leaves (laurels, Magnolia virginiana...)
Move to south gulf Florida, and got your book. I have sweet potatoes in the ground. Have to find yams yet. Have harvested one crop of yuca, another ready. Lots of green beans, carrots, papaya, one baby watermelon it was wonderful, and two crops of bananas!! My neighbor has a lovely mango tree and doesn’t like mangos so we pick them! Made 5 pints Everglades tomato salsa. Already have two moranga trees raised from seed, and tried the pods which taste like asparagus, eat similar to artichoke. I’m trying yard long beans and Seminole pumpkins next. All this after failing miserably with my first attempt at veggie gardening Minnesota style! Thank you a million DTG!
San Marzano tomato did good until April in a hydroponic setting South Florida Zone 10A , the only caveat they are sensitive to touch , they will easily fall off the vine if accidentally touched or a strong Breeze comes through , they are low on acidity and delicious , as I was going in and out the garden I was snacking on 3-in Long firm tomatoes .
Thanks David. I've struggled with growing anything but cucumbers here and have almost counted myself a complete failure. I'll get the book you mentioned!
Well I've grown tomatoes here in Florida very successfully for about 6 years now purple Cherokee beefsteak and other varieties like paste for my sauces but yes I got a lot of success here in Florida but you have to know not just what to grow but when to grow it thanks a lot I appreciate your videos very instructive
Another awesome video; moved to Florida 8months ago and was struggling with growing vegetables; I'm use to Canada's climate; I found your site by accident, or maybe it was synchronicity? watching your videos and reading your books have really helped; Thank you!.
I live in Vero beach florida and I grow loads of all different varieties of tomatoes almost all year! July thru September they usually die off but I just start new ones about that time and I have so many I preserve them and give many away! There are alot of micro climates in florida so always try bc you never know. I grow most my own veggies almost year round and every year can be different!
I've had luck with Moringa, Chaya, Longevity spinach, Kang Kong, Pac/boc choy, Yardlong beans, Tree kale/Tree collards/Sweet potatoes Herbs like oregano, sage, basil, rosemary lots of different fruit trees all S Florida I grow in half sun in the blazing summer seems to help. I'll have to order your Florida book David..Thanks
We have those everglades tomatoes in my yard. They crop up randomly from the previous crop's seeds, we just mow down the ones growing in the wrong places. More tomatoes than we can eat! Thanks for the knowledge about the yam vines- Ive been pulling them out of my trees for about a month now, just to save the trees from being choked out- had no idea the roots were edible. Yes, they are invasive! My neighbor gets these beetles from the University of Florida which eat the leaves and kill the vines.
I have this great book of yours (and all the others). I have had great success with all of the plants you suggest. With even a small yard, anyone can grow their own fruit in Fla. Glad you're back in the "neighborhood".
I'm curious of you walking us through from the beginning. Choosing a shady but dry spot in your yard for South Florida vegetable's. What do we add? How much of each soil and mulch? Any additional items to be mixed in? What should the watering timer be set for? 1 time a night for 25 minutes to spray?
Ah! I'm near Gainesville and grow so many tomato varieties, including grape, pear shaped and heirlooms. I found that the yellow varieties do not do as well for me but overall, I don't do much but amend the soil with my own compost (rabbit, horse, chicken, shavings, leaves, kitchen scraps). I'm a new subscriber! Thanks for the awesome Florida gardening content!
also have banana, mango, loquat, guava, mulberry, Barbados cherry, sernmum cherry, starfruit, lychee. lemon, lime, avocado elderberry, pomegranate, sapote. All are also inside the lani. The lemon and limes have fruit on them. The others have not bloomed yet. What about pollination? I also have dragon fruit and prickly pear. they are outside the pool area and have not been bothered by the critters. I have tried to propagate jambul plum. It has green leaves, but has not grown at all. Thanks!
Hi, I have your book Totally Easy Gardening and just got your book Florida Food Forrest. I was foraging all around Sanibel before the hurricane Ian and had notes on all kinds of fruit and sord beans etc. Ian took care of most of that! and I have to start over. One thing Ian brought is tons of everglade tomatoes. I harvested the tomatoes and saved the seeds. I have everglade tomato plants that have flowers but have not had any fruit set. Currently they are in my Lani. Is that the problem or is it the extreem heat? We have lots of iguanas so I have them inside the screen. I am a little late but putting in my sweet potato vines. It took me a while to get them to sprout.
Hi - So, my mom is in Punta Gorda. I've planted a couple varieties of prickly pear (that I smuggled there from CA in a pizza box) that are doing phenomenal. I planted the pads in December, and they've already tripled in number. I also started 2 LSU Purples, and those are thriving too. The RubyCrisp muscadine is beginning to work its way up the trellis I built. It is not of major concern and should also be OK since it is native to that area. I planted a 6" loquat in a pot (for now--and that I also smuggled from CA) that is in very poor condition. I'm not there and can only guide her from the pictures she sends. It was in a black pot, so I think the roots got cooked and now have root rot. My question is this: should the loquat not survive until I return in November, what other fruiting plants/tree(s) can be grown in her area that require minimal care, have high disease/insect/varmint resistance, and don't grow to be huge behemoths? I know cactus are "idiot proof" with figs being a close second. I really like California Date Palms, but don't think they will grow there, with the dampl climate and 2-3' water table. She is a senior, and I want to make this easy for her. She's never grown any food/fruit bearing plants, but we gotta take advantage of the real estate and the weather down there! Incidentally, you *_can_* grown some "non Florida" vegetables in Florida, but you just have to grown them from December to March: enter string beans and snap peas. Thanks Kindly and Very Best Regards, Tom Scott Author ● Speaker ● World's Leading Expert on the Corrupt U.S. Legal System
Hmmm. I'd like to read your book. I'm a Philly gal transplanted to Zephyrhills and haven't had a problem yet. Since we moved here in December 2020, I have been growing blackberries, olive trees, blueberries, a wide variety of peppers 🌶 and very spicy chilies, basil, oregano, thyme, eggplants 🍠 🍆 , bok choy, Swiss chard, asparagus, squash, green beans, big boy and cherry tomatoes, a fig 🌳, tomatillos, onions, scallions, sage, and corn 🌽 😋. Maybe it's my microclimate.
I hear you on the tomatoes front. I live in Hawaii and have been trying to grow good tomatoes like I used to in Utah. Utah, you plant, you water, hit it with some fertilizer and you have tomatoes coming out of your ears. In Hawaii, it took me a few years to get a tomato plant to survive long enough to set fruit. Then you have to fight the animals to get the fruit, so you have to pick it when its just starting to blush. However, last year I found out that University of Hawaii has made their own local variants. I planted those and had a much easier time growing tomatoes. Not getting big beef steaks, but getting some good, red tomatoes (that I put mesh bags over so I can let them ripen most of the way on the vine). Still have blight and nematode problems, but its much better than the plants that grow for 2 months and then just die. Also, year round growing has let me grow from cuttings. My first UH tomato plant I rooted 6 suckers and they've all done great. I'm thinking I'm going to try a tomato tunnel.
Here in the Miami area, I have found that large size tomatoes are largely a waste of time as so few fruits are produced. But cherry tomatoes do very well. Black hybrid cherry tomatoes are the tastiest.
Biggest lesson i've learned growing in Jacksonville is stay on top of the bugs. I have to use neem oil every couple of weeks or leaf miners, aphids, etc or they will explode on my crops.
@davidthegood - Did you have Japanese or Murasaki sweet potatoes? Just curious. They have white flesh and are quite sweet. However, the true white sweet potatoes are creamy and only mildly sweet.
Excellent information, good sir. I have a permaculture mullet on a golf course community in Foley, AL and have pretty much pushed the limit of the HOA as far as I can go, but maybe I can stuff in a few more of your recommendations. Thanks!
I live in the Miami area and plant cherry tomatoes in September. We have fruit by January and lots of them right thru April. Larger size tomatoes are not as productive so hardy worth the effort. In May I sow okra and it does well into the Falll months.
Hi, Dave. Transplanted northerner here and so glad I found your channel on TH-cam. Want to try growing sweet potatoes in containers but found these articles about "curing" them. As I live n Davie Florida, the warm conditions are easy but I'm having trepidations about the cool time. Of course, I ve no cellar. Any suggestions? Thanks for your informations. Common sense. Looking forward to my new adventures.
Hi Barbara. They'll grow ALL YEAR in Davie - that's gardening on the easy setting. You can just plant successive beds. Check out "The South Florida Gardening Survival Guide," it will help you learn the climate.
Growing tomatoes in winter months is easier for me here in Broward county. I’ve grown the Everglades tomatoes but they succumbed to summer. I have over 26 fruit trees on my property. I’m one of the Jamaicans you’re talking about 😂
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Listen to this man! He got me started and now I’m on track to grow 500 pounds of food this year! Thanks David! May your thumb always be green 👍
You are awesome!!!!
what did you plant?
Watch your channel and urban harvest and David the good ! All great info
In Central Florida, I can grow everything in the fall/winter and have abundant of vegetables (including tomatoes) from November through May. By June, my flowers and sweet potatoes cover all the beds. And I just sit back and relax until the fall comes. :)
Over in west central Florida dunnellon area. Only on my second year still working out the kinks. Had gardens growing up but never paid attention to what my dad really did. I was the weed puller and waterer as a kid. We've got a bunch of fruit trees that are doing great it's the veggies I'm having trouble with. Except okra they seem to grow in whatever setting.
@@ajcsonsforge6370 I'm in Dunnellon as well. Lol. been struggling with the sugar sand hill I'm on. I keep trucking in dirt...
@@richardadd8131 if you're in a sugar sand hill. I'd suggest adding biomass like biochar, then a ton of raw wood chips. Just broadfork or pitch fork the beds between crops. Something I've implemented and can say it's having a impact.
@@ajcsonsforge6370 thanks for the advice, we have started raised beds by first digging 2 feet down adding logs and leaves, then covering it with compost woodchips, biochar and rabbit manure 18in above ground level it's worked well just a lot of work with 5 acres to amend.
I'm glad to see these comments. I just moved to Dunnellon, and I am getting ready to set up my garden. Do you know of any garden clubs nearby?
Kudos to the huge butterfly supporting actor
I live in Florida and when my husband and I started growing our own fruits and vegetables it was a learning process. You will have to learn what grows well in your area. It's trial and error all the way. We are learning every year during every season what works for us in this hot climate. My advice don't give up trying to garden if you have a lot of failures. It's ok. It's part of the learning process. Thank you so much for your videos. 😀
Wow! How genius is this advice?!? I've lived in Florida 30 years trying to grow various things with minimal results. Never even HEARD of a Seminole pumpkin or these Florida cherry tomatoes. Truly an "Ah-ha" moment. Going to try again. Thanks!
Thank you!
I might of had the Everglades tomatoes in my back yard, I bought a packet of seeds, threw them in the sand and threw the waste and bad tomatoes on the ground, and I fed the neighborhood off that packet for the good part of a decade!
How did you keep the bugs off?
@@mericasshepherd2550 the bugs got to keep the ones they’ve already started eating, I’d consider those the waste tomatoes 🍅
I love swamp tomatoes! They taste like tomatoes are supposed to taste. Thought to slice for BLTs, though… 😂
@@mericasshepherd2550 have you found any solutions to keep the bugs off your tomatoes and other plants? I'm new to Florida gardening; originally from up north Canada; most of my plants are currently in containers and I've never seen sooo many bugs!! been here 8months now and I'm starting to dread summer; last year I planted a lot of Asian greens and most of them didn't survive because of the bugs; I've tried neem oil, spraying it with fresh hot chilli peppers and garlic, vinegar, and used a little bit of dish washing soap and water; so far, nothing works.
@@bnach2843 Check out food grade Diatomaceous Earth.
I have a small suburban veggie garden in Cape Town, South Africa. I started in August 2021 by digging out the tough kikuju grass and making barriers with cement slabs and large cement bricks I had. I am a pensioner so with a lack of funds I covered the area I dug out with cardboard. A couple of years ago we almost ran out of water here so I wanted to make a water smart veggie garden so I cut holes in the cardboard and inserted "grow tubes" (made from soda bottles cut into short tubes) in the holes. I planted my seeds inside the grow tubes and using a 5 liter bottle with a hole in the lid only watered inside the grow tubes thus using very little water. I had a good harvest. One area i dug out has no growing in it, instead I lift the cardboard and dig in my kitchen scraps to fertilize the soil. Earth worms have started coming to this patch. Lots of mistakes have happened along the way, but it's been worth the effort.
Very clever of you. I live in a dry area, too, and your grow tubes are a wonderful idea!!
I grow Everglades in pots around our property. That way, when you walk by you can just grab a few!
My sister is now grows them in Texas and my brother is in So. Carolina!
@The Revenge of Samuel Adams for the most, I have them in about 3 gallon pots. Any size or even in the ground will do nicely.
Hope you grow some. They are so small but have a huge flavor!
It froze here in Florida early Sunday morning (for only a few hours of course) and didn’t even touch my Everglades. So hardy.
I just bought those for north carolina! Hope they do well. We have issues with humidity causing disease too and cracking and splitting from summer rains.
@@spiritranger9202 same here In Florida but these little things are so hardy to Florida humidity and rainy seasons that I am sure they’ll do great for you!!
I loved the butterfly that was hanging out with you! :) I live in SW Florida and I grow my large tomatoes during fall/winter, usually with no problem. Once March rolls around they start suffering. My Everglades tomatoes grow whenever and wherever they want. :)
Everglades tomatoes are the best here in central Florida, also I grow a ton of lemongrass and Moringa trees are amazing, great video David, thanks for sharing 🌱🌱
I picked up my first everglades tomatoes plants a few weeks ago
Looking for seminole pumpkins now
Where do you get them from?
@@mylittlehouseofrescues8797 Buy the seeds online.
I loved the video cause it really applies everywhere. I live in the mediterranean coast of Spain, but most of the written common wisdom -paper or internet - is done with the castilian mindset (temperate, continental). So people asks me "are you planting this and that in this month?". Well, plant like your grandad! Plant what fits, when fits, 90%, and leave yourself 10% for play
Everglades tomatoes are addicting, soooo goood. And they come up every season by themselves when you plant them once. At least that’s been my experience.
Also the south Florida/Florida growing season is amazing! If you know what to grow, you can grow all year long. I wouldn’t trade it for any other place!
Came to Florida from Maine! Found David the Good's book, "Crazy, Easy Florida Gardening". That was how I started. My only problem is the wildlife who love everything I grow! Those Everglades tomato are indestructible! I started with one six inch plant. I saved three seeds from the first fruit. The plant died from the defoliant in my well water. Power line is thirty feet from well head. That's another story. I've learned how to compost my enemies, (and most everything else) so, even though my land floods frequently, I'm still growing stuff to eat! Thanks, David!😁🙏💞
Defoliant in your well water ??? Could you please elaborate on that? Is the ground water contaminated in your area ? Asking because my wife wants us to move there.
@@Brennor21 I have a powerline tower on my property too. The utility uses a defoliant from time to time to maintain clearances. I am not sure what type it is, but if it was in my well, I would be on the legal warpath. It has never affected our water.
@@Brennor21 I'm in a little community near Horse Creek, in Arcadia. We have a small electric company, co-op. My house is at the end of the road, on stilts and has a natural slough of native jungle along one side. When the creek gets to a certain height above flood stage, many of the properties are flooded. (My house has been dry but we recently went canoeing in the back yard to see the fish spawning.) Power supply is across the street from the house. Periodically, the jungle control subcontractors spray defoliant to keep the lines clear. They didn't pay attention to the fact that my well head and pump are right across the street, (about thirty feet, max.) When I started to itch after a shower, I put it together, with the dead vegetation across the street and called the power company. They did email me a partial I list of chemicals their subcontractors use, but never replied to my request for further discussion. Four of those chemicals are aminopyralid-types. Any thing I try to grow dies if I don't use rainwater to water with. My conclusion may be wrong, but maybe not. I chose not to make a big thing out of it, you do have to pick your battles. A power company mostly does what they please, and I had the option to not participate with them. My husband built us a rain water catchment system. Hope this shed some light on your questions.😊
@@TeeCeeBee I believe that the "recommended" use on the chemicals says, one hundred feet from spray zone to water supply. That was obviously ignored along with some other parameters. I haven't persued the legal route. Power companies have very deep pockets for attorneys and will never admit harm. You will get old and broke fighting in the courts and still, depending on the politics, get no satisfaction.
@@sueyoung2115 Did you and your husband built your stilt house or had someone build it? My husband and I are looking for affordable land to build such a house; I'm not taking any chances with all the flooding stories I've heard and we're more introverts and like our privacy; I haven't tried Everglades tomatoes yet, but my other tomato plants are growing well; the true test will be surviving the summer months when the bugs come out!!
I've never seen sooo many bugs in my life!! I'm new to Central Florida gardening; moved here from up north Canada 8months ago; if it wasn't for David's books and videos such as this, I'd give up on gardening by now!! Thank goodness I didn't!
grew seminole pumpkins last year, harvested in december, ate one last nite.
Curious about finding seeds.. where did you find yours?
@@jroberts1734 Southern exposure Seed exchange.
@@williammikell2210 Awesome! Thanks alot Mr. Mikell!!
"I can't grow the tomatoes that I grew in my Yankee hellhole" 😂
This killed me 😂🤣
You can, you just have to grow them at the right time.
Best line in the video. 😂🤣😂🤣
grew up in south fla until i was 30. plant in sept. and you're done with many of the northern crops by march at the latest. sweet potatoes and okra could keep growing. tomatoes planted in september yielded well. choose the right strains. i wish i had known about the strains that do well there before i left in '77.
I live in zone 9b sw Florida and I have had wonderful success growing purple heirloom tomatoes bigger then my hand. Planted in October and began harvesting January. I have harvestedover 80 tomatoes from just 3 plants. Its the end of May 2023 and my heirloom tomato plants are still producing. All my cherry tomatoes are done.
I just ordered some Everglades tomatoes from your daughter. I have some but I want to share some with family. Thank you David!
I’d be rockin the avocados, mango, papaya etc….also roselle!
True story my next door neighbor has all 3
Charity the best comments start with, "I'd be rocking....." Fruit trees are where it's at kids. :)
What is roselle? Please enlighten me.
@@boydchapman5660 I think they might be referring to roselle hibiscus. The kind you use for hibiscus tea. Pretty much any hibiscus loves Florida weather.
Thanks. I will have to look for one of those now.
As a fourth generation Florida native I'm really appreciative of your contributions. Especially here on the sandy Lake Wales ridge. As a teacher I don't get to watch as regularly as I'd like to. I'm a little late to the party but thought I would add a couple of my discoveries from my Caribbean and Latin American neighbors. I have found green papaya makes a great slaw. We use nopales as a good substitute for green beans or asparagus sautéed with a little pork and multiplying onions. I'm experimenting with chaya and moringa in my greenhouse. I'm rooting the prunings from my moringa for use as greens in my greenhouse during winter. Mustard is great as a salad green during winter and is less work than lettuce mixed with moringa and sweet potato leaves. During summer, I have better luck with tomatoes and sweet peppers outside the greenhouse if I plant them in the shade of the house where they get morning sun and afternoon shade if I can keep the rats from the pasture behind me. Under the eaves is good too to keep them from getting too much water. Just remember to water them. The ripe papayas in summer are good to dice and freeze to use in smoothies instead of ice. It adds lots of fiber. My grandparents worked so hard to garden from the seed catalogs. My Dad still does at 72. I still can't convince him not to burn those leaves. I'm just looking for a better way. My friends think I'm a mad scientist. Guess I've rambled enough. Thanks again. Oh yeah, those yardlong beans are great. My kindergartener only eats them raw. Guess I might need to grow a few in the greenhouse too!
Good tips. My kids like the beans better raw as well.
I bought your book and ordered everglades tomato seeds from your daughter's seed store. I started 10 seeds and all 10 germinated and are doing great, so I started 10 more and they are going to be gifts for friendsI I live in the panhandle in NW FL. thanks for all the knowledge!
I'm a Jacksonville native. I travel for work now, so my garden gets zero attention now. Sweet potato and collard greens and a few other things from a few seasons back keep on thriving. I'll go and harvest a bit when I'm home, but they get absolutely no upkeep. Fantastic. His advice goes for pretty much anywhere...plant what wants to grow where you are!
I'm in Tampa Florida. Tomatoes started to get beat up by the elements in early June. Was feeling a bit discouraged but now I'm going to work with the weather better now.
I'm so happy to see your daughter still has her Etsy going! I just bought some everglades tomato seeds! (I'm hopeful she'll get some other local seeds posted soon.)
Commented a few videos ago about my Seminole pumpkins taking over my side yard. Turns out sitting in 3 inches of water will kill them as I found out over the last couple of weeks. 😣😣 Just east of you, so enjoyed the recent monsoons. Gardening is an emotional roller coaster! Your books have changed alot of my approaches to gardening. Thanks a bunch.
My boyfriend bought one of your books last year and I am enjoying it so much. We moved to the panhandle and loving the weather and all the growth opportunities. Thanks man
Thank you - happy new year!
South Florida Gardner here. I grow the Everglades tomato’s, snake beans really well here. I grow all varieties of micro dwarf tomatoes which give different tastes of small salad tomatoes. They grow all year round. Can’t grow squash or cucumbers because of powdery mildew. Even the Seminole pumpkin succumbed to it. What grows best for me are greens. Collards, turnips, mustard greens and even spinach mustards and tatsoi grow beautifully here for most of the year. Also the Provider bush green bean grows great here.
I'm in south west FL, the best large tomato I've ever grown is the Big Rainbow. They produce like crazy and the flavor is amazing!
I have those seeds! I got to give them a try
David the Good's 12 step program for gardening addiction.
Do you put seeds in the refrigerator and forget them? Is your gardening budget larger than your grocery budget? Is your family embarrassed when you go into the garden center and water the plants for the employees?
David can help you! Only 60 easy payments of $999.99 and you can kick your garden habit.
LOL
Funny how Florida is such a challenge for the home gardener (myself included) yet agriculture is like our second biggest industry. Citrus, SUGAR, and winter crops when the rest of the country is frozen. If you ever drive down to the Keys, do yourself a favor and take a side trip through Redland (Homestead, FL) or if you're going to St Augustine take a trip through Hastings, FL. TONS of farms cranking out produce. Just don't expect to yield any huge heads of broccoli LOL
@Joe Williams...and stretching from Lake City west into the Panhandle also.
Florida's a different kind of challenge.
Coming from an agricultural ancestry stretching over 300 years from Florida to the far north I feel we are blessed here with extended growing seasons and challenges with climate differences than found in most the US. I still wouldn't live anywhere else.
@@TheAdminjack same! Even though I get discouraged now and then I feel like Florida gardening is a constant chess game that always keeps you on your toes. Always a new enemy or obstacle to defeat or outsmart from intense summer heat to bugs to excess moisture causing blight the battle rolls on
th-cam.com/video/Ilun1inwNgc/w-d-xo.html
Watch this. A women’n farm in Florida; she is originally from kerala (India)
YES! Hastings has some great potatoes... who knew? Here I am in Jacksonville and found I can grow Peppers year round and my tomatoes thrive twice a year.
I just moved to Ft Meyers. I’m trying to learn what grows best here. I’m on a golf course and can only grow in containers on my lanai. Thanks for sharing.
That is an awesome climate. So many delicious tropical plants. Go visit ECHO, right now! You'll learn tons!!! It's right near you.
You're the most straightforward gardener so far.. And especially in pointing our mistakes haha.. Love it.. Thank you David
Thank you, Adam.
Live near the St.John's river in N.Florida ,enjoyed your video.I find many types of ginger do great here too. Dropped a 👍
Uruguay seems a pretty good match for N. FL: jelly palms, Feijoa, Cereus "peruvianus."
Your book is awesome! Always experiment with everything else. My asparagus does good. U just don't know until u try. Anything is possible. Grow what u know works and play with the others. U might get surprised.
I'm growing a ton of asparagus in 9b Florida as well. And, my beefsteaks are doing just fine.
"like back in my Yankee hellhole" 😂🤣 that one got me good. We deal with similar Yankee transplant mentalities here in SC. Its more than just gardening..
Fellow South Carolinians here, whatcha growing?
Do y’all struggle clay soil?
@@SarahM-qn2gt
No where I'm at on the coast it's all loamy sand. The western side has clay but they still grow well.
I just ordered the book. BUT!! I had a potted Roma tomato last summer that gave me over 70 tomatoes through July. I was amazed. I had it in morning sun only. I am in 9b/10a. I am not gong to be as lucky this year. Started it too late.
Makes me thankful to live in Australia, in the sunshine state and actually this town is called the garden city, rich red clay, very easy to grow most things I've found, good work
I think that goes for every climate-just plant what grows there. Thank you for your great videos!
Very logical easy to follow. Thanks for sharing your knowledge!❤
I have grown grape tomatoes successfully many times here in NW Florida! In fact, it's the only crop I have had success with 😅. I'm moving my garden to a new location in the yard to help with that!
Barely even finished your video and already purchased your book. Trying to build a homestead but Iv been disheartened by gardening a lot. It’s so sandy on our property.
Hi Haley - I feel your pain. But you can do a lot with sand. It's wonderfully easy to dig and weed, and there are some excellent Florida-adapted plants that will love your yard.
Hey David,
Thanks so much for this great video!
After each crop of Yard Long Beans I replant one bean and a new crop comes up every 2 weeks. Makes tons of beans. I do notice they attract aphids!! So ladybugs are great and I check them daily. This year I am going to see if I can grow a some all year in the greenhouse. 🤔
Last year I had to clip the Sweet Potato Greens back after using the wrong batch of compost. 🙄
I harvested some and then just dropped the pieces on the ground. They took, and grew spuds better in the paths, than the beds..🤣 I have since "dropped" them in other areas of the property, under trees and on the hillside. They grow everywhere. 🤗 At $1 each in the store, that's a lot of free food. 😁
I also have had great succcess with Malabar Spinach. It loves mostly sun and tolerates lots of water. The leaves will grow the size of your hand. Great fresh or cooked. More nutrients than any spinach in the store! When the plants go to seed I eat the shoots, white flowers, and new black seeds.. They taste like asparagus. I use it for everything instead of lettuce.
I also grow other spinaches; brazilian, longevity, okinawan... but they are not as prolific... and dont produce all the seeds to give tons of plants almost all year.
I mostly eat wild edible plants such as spanish needles, young amaranth, lambs quarters, and skunk vine leaves for greens. (Dean Green EatTheWeeds.com)
They make a tasty spanikopita with the malabar spinach. 😋
Thanks again for all the great knowledge!
All the best to you All.
Life, Love & Peace, 🌻
I can't hardly wait for my tomato seeds. Daisy Good's store needs some yam slips and seminal pumpkin seeds...!!
I threw out a bag of moth infested flax seeds in a patch of my garden area and they grew, fully matured and produced lots of flax seeds without any fertilizer, extra water or weeding.
Apparently, flax does well in North Florida. I am around the Fort white area. It grew just like a weed.
Great Idea to plant what is native to your land, that make great sense.
I don't have to do much to tomatoes except use BT and pick the big ones early so they don't split or get eaten. Just ripen in a bag.
You are awesome. True wisdom right here. Grow the plants suited to your home not what you want lol
Bought some seeds! Been hoping you'd have some, thank your lil lady for me. :)
I'm having great success with vegetables I've never even heard of because of this video. The yard long bean is my favorite it produces a lot even when I had a root knot nematode problem with them.
That is awesome.
I love my Everglade tomatoes! They pop up on their own all over the yard. However, they always end up getting some kind of disease midway into their growth cycle, which turns leaves brown and the plant dies. I don't know what to do for it. I thought Everglades were HARDY in Florida! :(
This is so inspiring, thank you. It has been a struggle for my first real summer garden. I am growing tropucals and geat tolerant but still have issues with monsoon conditions and lack of pollination.
Great advice on growing veggies in the summertime down here in south Florida, You can always grow asian greens down here year round such as katuk, malabar spinach, okinawa spinach, longlivity, cassava ( root crop)etc. but you also forgot to mention that you can also grow Yankee veggies and tomatoes down here, But you can only grow it in the fall, winter and harvest in the spring. If you plan it right you can have two harvests. But down here growing tropical fruit trees such as mangos, mulberry bananas, papaya, and citrus is a given down here. Ok, I know, bananas isn't a tree. But you can grow it year round. I've watched your videos for years and have had great success, Your videos are very entertaining and you have a great knowledge of permaculture gardening in Florida.Thank You!
I grow okra here in the Miami area starting in May thru to the Fall. It's a real Southern crop but does well here as well.
You had me at Yankee Hellhole, you just gained a ton of cool points. I’m a California transplant to Florida, so I don’t have a horse in that race, but funny as hell in either event . . . thats the funny thing about the military, you can live everywhere.
Yes - thank you
I love the little butterfly that came for a visit
That butterfly was a just a overgrown larva that hate all your veggies... Sorry to spoil the image! LOL 😂
@@crpth1 He loved them and ate them. (-:. Actually though, I think that was a swallowtail, so either ate his umbelliferous herbs or had been eating tree leaves (laurels, Magnolia virginiana...)
Move to south gulf Florida, and got your book. I have sweet potatoes in the ground. Have to find yams yet. Have harvested one crop of yuca, another ready. Lots of green beans, carrots, papaya, one baby watermelon it was wonderful, and two crops of bananas!! My neighbor has a lovely mango tree and doesn’t like mangos so we pick them! Made 5 pints Everglades tomato salsa. Already have two moranga trees raised from seed, and tried the pods which taste like asparagus, eat similar to artichoke. I’m trying yard long beans and Seminole pumpkins next. All this after failing miserably with my first attempt at veggie gardening Minnesota style! Thank you a million DTG!
Great work. Very glad I could help.
San Marzano tomato did good until April in a hydroponic setting South Florida Zone 10A , the only caveat they are sensitive to touch , they will easily fall off the vine if accidentally touched or a strong Breeze comes through , they are low on acidity and delicious , as I was going in and out the garden I was snacking on 3-in Long firm tomatoes .
Don't forget the pretty flowers! Sweet potatos are part of the morning glory family! Pink beauties with purple throats!
Thanks David. I've struggled with growing anything but cucumbers here and have almost counted myself a complete failure. I'll get the book you mentioned!
Thanks dude. From NW Fla, washington county.
You’re truly the GOAT! i bought all of your books and read them over and over, they never steer me wrong. Xx
Thank you very much!
I love how everything turns into food at your homestead!
Well I've grown tomatoes here in Florida very successfully for about 6 years now purple Cherokee beefsteak and other varieties like paste for my sauces but yes I got a lot of success here in Florida but you have to know not just what to grow but when to grow it thanks a lot I appreciate your videos very instructive
You bet. Good work. It takes some effort, but can be done.
With having success for tomatoes, could you please share with the rest of us how and when to grow those tomatoes as well? NW Florida
I just got your book! I am new to living in Sanibel full time. Most of my gardening has been an epic fail! I am excited to learn what I can grow when.
Thank you - it will help!
Another awesome video; moved to Florida 8months ago and was struggling with growing vegetables; I'm use to Canada's climate; I found your site by accident, or maybe it was synchronicity? watching your videos and reading your books have really helped; Thank you!.
Big tomatoes 🍅 grow in Central FL during winter. Bugs are to bad in summer.
I live in Vero beach florida and I grow loads of all different varieties of tomatoes almost all year! July thru September they usually die off but I just start new ones about that time and I have so many I preserve them and give many away! There are alot of micro climates in florida so always try bc you never know. I grow most my own veggies almost year round and every year can be different!
Lol, I’m harvesting ruined vegetables with you! I just eat whatever the bugs didn’t eat. We had purple viking potatoes tonight
I have my garbage disposers for all those ruined veggies. They don't mind. And they turn them to compost in the end :) Way too many eggs though.
I've had luck with Moringa, Chaya, Longevity spinach, Kang Kong, Pac/boc choy, Yardlong beans, Tree kale/Tree collards/Sweet potatoes Herbs like oregano, sage, basil, rosemary lots of different fruit trees all S Florida
I grow in half sun in the blazing summer seems to help. I'll have to order your Florida book David..Thanks
Update- Just ordered the book
Thank you, Rick.
We have those everglades tomatoes in my yard. They crop up randomly from the previous crop's seeds, we just mow down the ones growing in the wrong places. More tomatoes than we can eat!
Thanks for the knowledge about the yam vines- Ive been pulling them out of my trees for about a month now, just to save the trees from being choked out- had no idea the roots were edible. Yes, they are invasive! My neighbor gets these beetles from the University of Florida which eat the leaves and kill the vines.
I think you're talking about the invasive air potato vines that are not edible.
Most peppers do great here as well!
My pineapples, bananas, and papayas do just fine. Gonna see if i can add something else this year
I have this great book of yours (and all the others). I have had great success with all of the plants you suggest. With even a small yard, anyone can grow their own fruit in Fla. Glad you're back in the "neighborhood".
Thank you very much. Glad to be back.
I'm curious of you walking us through from the beginning. Choosing a shady but dry spot in your yard for South Florida vegetable's. What do we add? How much of each soil and mulch? Any additional items to be mixed in? What should the watering timer be set for? 1 time a night for 25 minutes to spray?
Last summer was the most rain I’ve ever seen in Pensacola . We already get most rain in the country but last summer was terrible.
Ah! I'm near Gainesville and grow so many tomato varieties, including grape, pear shaped and heirlooms. I found that the yellow varieties do not do as well for me but overall, I don't do much but amend the soil with my own compost (rabbit, horse, chicken, shavings, leaves, kitchen scraps).
I'm a new subscriber! Thanks for the awesome Florida gardening content!
Thank you - welcome. I've had the best luck with smaller tomatoes in Florida.
also have banana, mango, loquat, guava, mulberry, Barbados cherry, sernmum cherry, starfruit, lychee. lemon, lime, avocado elderberry, pomegranate, sapote. All are also inside the lani. The lemon and limes have fruit on them. The others have not bloomed yet. What about pollination? I also have dragon fruit and prickly pear. they are outside the pool area and have not been bothered by the critters. I have tried to propagate jambul plum. It has green leaves, but has not grown at all. Thanks!
I'm reading the comments, Florida sounds wonderful for gardeners!
I could not agree more. This is exactly the approach I take also.
I found a wild cucumber or manroot once. Dug up the root and it was like 4 foot by 3 foot. Totally inedible. Tastes like soap.
you can buy everglades tomato seeds from victory seeds as well
Been growing yard long beans in north Florida for 4 years, at this point they come up themselves every spring.
Everglades tomatoes make DELICIOUS salsa. Toss a bunch in a blender and strain our seeds--makes the BEST TOMATO Sauce for any recipe-freezes great too
Great idea. Rachel has made sauce from them - it's amazing.
I think I can apply this to my south east Texas garden as well!
I live north of Houston and am going to try some of these!
Got your book this week in audible (blind). Thank you for the option. ❤
Hi, I have your book Totally Easy Gardening and just got your book Florida Food Forrest. I was foraging all around Sanibel before the hurricane Ian and had notes on all kinds of fruit and sord beans etc. Ian took care of most of that! and I have to start over. One thing Ian brought is tons of everglade tomatoes. I harvested the tomatoes and saved the seeds. I have everglade tomato plants that have flowers but have not had any fruit set. Currently they are in my Lani. Is that the problem or is it the extreem heat? We have lots of iguanas so I have them inside the screen. I am a little late but putting in my sweet potato vines. It took me a while to get them to sprout.
Hi -
So, my mom is in Punta Gorda. I've planted a couple varieties of prickly pear (that I smuggled there from CA in a pizza box) that are doing phenomenal. I planted the pads in December, and they've already tripled in number. I also started 2 LSU Purples, and those are thriving too. The RubyCrisp muscadine is beginning to work its way up the trellis I built. It is not of major concern and should also be OK since it is native to that area.
I planted a 6" loquat in a pot (for now--and that I also smuggled from CA) that is in very poor condition. I'm not there and can only guide her from the pictures she sends. It was in a black pot, so I think the roots got cooked and now have root rot.
My question is this: should the loquat not survive until I return in November, what other fruiting plants/tree(s) can be grown in her area that require minimal care, have high disease/insect/varmint resistance, and don't grow to be huge behemoths? I know cactus are "idiot proof" with figs being a close second. I really like California Date Palms, but don't think they will grow there, with the dampl climate and 2-3' water table.
She is a senior, and I want to make this easy for her. She's never grown any food/fruit bearing plants, but we gotta take advantage of the real estate and the weather down there! Incidentally, you *_can_* grown some "non Florida" vegetables in Florida, but you just have to grown them from December to March: enter string beans and snap peas.
Thanks Kindly and Very Best Regards,
Tom Scott
Author ● Speaker ● World's Leading Expert on the Corrupt U.S. Legal System
Hmmm. I'd like to read your book. I'm a Philly gal transplanted to Zephyrhills and haven't had a problem yet. Since we moved here in December 2020, I have been growing blackberries, olive trees, blueberries, a wide variety of peppers 🌶 and very spicy chilies, basil, oregano, thyme, eggplants 🍠 🍆 , bok choy, Swiss chard, asparagus, squash, green beans, big boy and cherry tomatoes, a fig 🌳, tomatillos, onions, scallions, sage, and corn 🌽 😋. Maybe it's my microclimate.
I hear you on the tomatoes front. I live in Hawaii and have been trying to grow good tomatoes like I used to in Utah. Utah, you plant, you water, hit it with some fertilizer and you have tomatoes coming out of your ears. In Hawaii, it took me a few years to get a tomato plant to survive long enough to set fruit. Then you have to fight the animals to get the fruit, so you have to pick it when its just starting to blush.
However, last year I found out that University of Hawaii has made their own local variants. I planted those and had a much easier time growing tomatoes. Not getting big beef steaks, but getting some good, red tomatoes (that I put mesh bags over so I can let them ripen most of the way on the vine). Still have blight and nematode problems, but its much better than the plants that grow for 2 months and then just die. Also, year round growing has let me grow from cuttings. My first UH tomato plant I rooted 6 suckers and they've all done great. I'm thinking I'm going to try a tomato tunnel.
Here in the Miami area, I have found that large size tomatoes are largely a waste of time as so few fruits are produced. But cherry tomatoes do very well. Black hybrid cherry tomatoes are the tastiest.
Biggest lesson i've learned growing in Jacksonville is stay on top of the bugs. I have to use neem oil every couple of weeks or leaf miners, aphids, etc or they will explode on my crops.
I bought some of your daughter's seeds. Please thank her for the seeds and fantastic 'package art' !
Thank you
White sweet potatoes are also a great substitute for white potatoes.
I find them way too sweet to work
@davidthegood - Did you have Japanese or Murasaki sweet potatoes? Just curious. They have white flesh and are quite sweet. However, the true white sweet potatoes are creamy and only mildly sweet.
I had no problem growing tomatoes and peppers nearly year-round in Florida. It's the pests that are the biggest problem IMO.
In Central Florida, I am attempting kraky hydroponic tomatoes this year. So far, they are producing like crazy but it is pretty early so far.
Good luck!
Excellent information, good sir. I have a permaculture mullet on a golf course community in Foley, AL and have pretty much pushed the limit of the HOA as far as I can go, but maybe I can stuff in a few more of your recommendations. Thanks!
I live in the Miami area and plant cherry tomatoes in September. We have fruit by January and lots of them right thru April. Larger size tomatoes are not as productive so hardy worth the effort. In May I sow okra and it does well into the Falll months.
Love my yard long beans
From push the zone to plant safe. Grow everything.
Hi, Dave. Transplanted northerner here and so glad I found your channel on TH-cam. Want to try growing sweet potatoes in containers but found these articles about "curing" them. As I live n Davie Florida, the warm conditions are easy but I'm having trepidations about the cool time. Of course, I ve no cellar. Any suggestions? Thanks for your informations. Common sense. Looking forward to my new adventures.
Hi Barbara. They'll grow ALL YEAR in Davie - that's gardening on the easy setting. You can just plant successive beds. Check out "The South Florida Gardening Survival Guide," it will help you learn the climate.
@@davidthegood thank you. I'm growing slips like crazy down here in December.
Growing tomatoes in winter months is easier for me here in Broward county. I’ve grown the Everglades tomatoes but they succumbed to summer.
I have over 26 fruit trees on my property. I’m one of the Jamaicans you’re talking about 😂