I wanted to share a few ideas from trying to garden during our ridiculously hot Florida summers. This year I tried out shade cloth for the first time. You can buy shade cloth in different strengths; the one I chose was 40% sun protection (like sunscreen).
I purchased some small hoops and placed the shade cloth over a raised garden and over a regular garden row. It did extend the season by a month for pak choi and bok choi. The down side is that the cloth kept out pollinators, but the slugs loved the shady environment.
My Seminole pumpkins did well. I’ve been planting them along fences, shrubs and wherever I can find a bit of space. Then we do our best to encourage the vines to stay out of high traffic areas, but where there is adequate sun. When they are ripe they are a buff color and the flavor is strong and sweet. They are a really good choice for areas that are too hot and humid for regular pumpkins.
Before you move into your down season (summer for me) mulch like your life depends on it. The mulch protects the garden soil and the beneficial organisms within it. I prefer straw type mulches, but anything you can obtain can be used. My area does provide free mulch piles in our county parks, but I won’t use it in my vegetable gardens because I don’t know if they are contaminated with insecticide or, even worse, weed killer.
Hurricane Ian came through south of me. I only lost a few plants, but some people lost their entire gardens (or worse their homes). Don’t allow setbacks and losses in the garden discourage you. Every year every gardener faces failure. Think of failure as a learning experience and an opportunity to try new things in your garden. The most successful gardeners look hopefully to the future.
God bless,
Pam
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