Nov 04 2009
Florida – The Sandbar State
If you love to garden, Florida is probably not the location for you. I have dubbed it “the sandbar state.” If you scrape away the top layer of growth what you find is . . . sand. Six inches down: sand. Six feet down: sand. Even in locations dozens of miles from the coast.
Our household has been seriously trying to grow vegetables for the first time since moving here. Not easy. Despite adding compost and other “soil” enhancers. Poor soil puts us at a disadvantage. And the insects seem to love the mild weather as much as we do.
But we aren’t giving up. Not yet. A hunger for the freshest, most local, vegetable flesh provides strong motivation.
Two words: raised beds. If you build raised garden beds (about one foot tall) and fill them with potting soil, your garden will flourish. I lived in Florida for two years next to a neighbour who had done just that. She had two thirds of her yard covered in these things. It took some time (and money) to build it all, but the end result was amazing. She arranged the beds in such a manner that they formed a meandering path around her 1/4 acre yard, much like you would see in a conservatory (the one in Cincy, OH comes to mind). Some of her beds had wood benches sticking out of them and she even installed a small water fountain in the center. It was quite a sight, and, at the same time, she had an impressive yield of tomatoes, cukes, peppers, beans, sunflowers, corn, potatoes, and a few other things I don’t recall at the moment.
P.S. I remember her saying that she kept insects in check by purchasing ladybugs by the pound and releasing them into her garden a few times a year.
Marina -
Thanks for the tips!
I quite like the hopeful thought of “impressive yields.”