I am back again!

I was finally able to recover my user name and password for blogger, and now I am back! I am still uncertain if I will do a spring vegetable garden, as my two kids keep me busy enough, but I am pleased with myself that I actually planted quite a few flower and herbs this year (pics on that in following blog).

Some of the things I have been reading that cleaning solutions and beauty products have in them is alarming me! So I am setting out to make my own. Paraban is in many beauty products, and it is said to disrupt your hormonal balance. I am already on thyroid pills, and have never had what you would call a "normal" cycle, so anything I can do to avoid hormonal disruptions is great! I am going to make my own face soap, deodorant, and hair wash. So even though I may not always be posting about gardening, I will definitely post about all things natural and homemade  :)  wish me luck!

An ounce of prevention

Being fairly new to gardening, I set out to plant of own veggies and flowers with earnest, hoping to carve out my little piece of self reliance. Then Florida showed its' true colors. My pumpkins, squash and watermelon succumbed to powdery mildew, my tomatoes had bugs, and my apples got eaten by squirrels. I was so disappointed that I didn't even bother planting a winter garden. Instead I spent some free time these past few months researching safe, natural remedies for common garden pests. I uncovered some simple ones that i decided to put to the test today! Here is what I did:

*I learned that ants do not like cinnamon, so much so that they will not cross a line of cinnamon. So I set out to create a barrier around all my plant beds, around my windows, and in cracks in my pavement. I also read that cayenne peppers works as well, but I did not have enough of that. Here's to hoping it works!

The spices I used

A barrier we created right around my front walk way

Cinnamon where the ants like to enter my front door

My son helping out

 *Everything I read said that powdery mildew hates milk. Powdery mildew affected all my vining crops, plus my rose bushes. So I bought a few spray bottles, and filled one up with half milk and half water:

 * I also read that baking soda, among many many other awesome things, controls powdery mildew. I figured that I would preventatively kill any already present in the ground, so I sprinkled all my beds and rose bushes with it.

I will let you all know how it all turns out!

Waste not, want not!

We got our first "real" Christmas tree last year. It was wonderful and smelled so sweet! After the holidays, though, I had no idea what to do with it! Burning it just seemed wrong to me, as it is a creature of nature. I think we just set it out and the garbage people took it. This year I vowed to find ways to use my tree. My friend Brittany over at Gardening Adventures suggested using the needles and branches as mulch, and the trunk as fire wood. Brilliant! This way, my plants could keep using the tree, and it would be supplying my new plants with shade and nutrients.

I took my tree outside, and proceeded to cut each branch off. What a workout it was! I felt so accomplished afterward though. Then, I noticed a tree on the curb about 10 blocks away. I started thinking 'oh no, I don't want that tree to be burned!' and proceeded to drag both kids in a wagon down the block. It turns out this tree was 9 feet tall and weighed at least 30 pounds! It did not look that way from afar. Well, amidst more than a few crazy stares, I dragged this beast home. Covered in sap, I cut every twisted and jagged branch off. Victory! I was so happy! So, needless to say, the next day when two (closer) neighbors put their trees out, I totally took them too! I *think* I am all set on pine branches, to my husbands relief. But I cannot wait to chop the trunks up, light a fire, and put the mulch on my new garden beds.

The top is the giant pile of branches I cut off. My arms are so sore! The bottom is the four trunks. See that crazy jagged one? That was the 9 footer.

Waste not, want not! :)

Photos of my winter gardens

Unlike most areas of the country, Florida has temperatures that allow it's residents to enjoy nearly year round gardening (save a few months in the summer). Most of my hardy perennials are still going strong, though some lay dormant. We still have splashes of color amongst the sticks and twigs. Here is what is going on in my gardens today:

 This is my defunct pond that my hubby swears will be revamped this spring! I will plant herbs and flowers around it.

 My crepe myrtle. It is so funny, because it is pretty and full of flowers in the summer, but is basically sticks at the first sign of chilly weather.

 My two garden beds. I cleared the one closest. Here is where I will plant my veggies.

 My sweet magnolia tree, or as my son says "Mommy's tree". My favorite kind of tree, it has grown so much in three years. My daughter snuck in at the last minute lol

 My rose bush. It has such pretty red blooms that smell wonderful. It gets powdery mildew from time to time, but I now know ways to prevent that! If you look on the left, you can see that it has some new leaves coming up.

 After the squirrels got my apples last year, I am cautiously happy about these little guys. 3 little buds on my apples tree!

 The first lime on my key lime tree!

 My meyer's lemon tree. It has some blossoms on it, I cannot wait to smell them!

My lettuce, the unusually warm weather is causing it to wilt :(

That is all for now! What do you have in your garden?

Welcome 2013!

Hello everyone! I am back after an 8 month hiatus. The weather is absolutely perfect here in sunny Florida, and I am ready to get my hands dirty again :)

One of my promises to myself for this year was to get more connected with Mother Earth, and to try and live more in tune with her. This means once again gardening, growing some of my family's foods, and also trying to go a little more natural route with the things we use. I will try and make something twice a month (on my list this year I have laundry soap, deodorant, bug spray and more). Stay tuned, and many well wishes for everyone out there for 2013!

Powdery mildew

My gardens have been growing great. The pumpkins were flourishing, the zucchini and squash were getting huge, my peppers were producing like crazy! Everything was great until powdery mildew came into the picture. At first I did not realize what it was. It just looked like some powder. Then it started to turn my pumpkin black and make it wilt. Here is a picture:

By the time I found out what it was, I tried to stop it. I sprinkled baking soda all over every infected plant (by this time it was the pumpkins, zucchini, squash and watermelon). Alas, half the crops I planted in February are wiped out. This has been a sad gardening year for me :(  Here are some lessons I learned:

1. Don't plant all of one family of crop, otherwise one disease or insect will damage them all.
2. Circulation is key in Florida. My garden is bordered by fence on two sides, so the air is pretty stagnant. This created an environment powdery mildew loved.
3. Prevention is key to avoiding gardening blunders.
4. When I see something out of the ordinary for a plant, I need to actively look up what it is, instead of waiting until it is too late.

My pumpkin is completely gone. My watermelon is small, and might make it. My squash and zucchini has nice sized veggies on them, so some may survive.

In the meantime, my tomatoes are all sprouting. They are green and not ready to harvest yet, but soon. My green beans are growing like crazy! They have outgrown the 6 foot tall bamboo support trellis I made for them. And my peppers are still producing.

I am sad that half my crops are gone already. It's almost May, and not a good time to just start planting things. Oh well, I will tend to what I have and plan for October!

Happy Earth Day

Happy Earth Day friends! In honor of the day set aside to celebrate all things beautiful and natural, I dug up some great quotes about nature. Enjoy!

"A true conservationist is a man who knows that the world is not given by his fathers but borrowed from his children. "
-- John James Audubon

"Like music and art, love of nature is a common language that can transcend political or social boundaries."
-- Jimmy Carter

"And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair. "
-- Kahlil Gibran

"Nature's music is never over; her silences are pauses, not conclusions."
-- Mary Webb

"I believe in god, but I spell it NATURE"
-- Henry David Thoreau