[Community_garden] Florida growers

[Powellharris at aol.com]

Yes, Tina, there are community gardens in the  Sarasota/Bradenton area.
 
While most of the gardeners across the country are thinking about putting  
their gardens to bed for the 
winter and preserving the harvest, we in this part of the country are  
beginning to think about what we are
going to plant.  Our prime planting season is just beginning.   Beans, 
squash, tomatoes, peppers, collards,
and other warm season veggies can go in the ground now (yes, now in the  
middle of September).  Most 
cool season crops can be planted during the month of October. We have  repeat 
plantings of the cool season
crops throughout the fall and winter months and plant warm season crops  
again in mid-February. We generally fight the weeds and bugs all summer and  take 
a rest for a couple of months (but not from the
weeds and bugs, because they won't rest!).
 
One thing that you will learn very quickly gardening "down here" is that  the 
days to maturity on the seed
packets and in the seed catalogs is misleading.  The shorter hours of  
daylight increase the number of days
that you will have to wait for that first tomato to ripen and it takes a  few 
days longer for that broccoli head
to form. We have been very lucky the past couple of years and  have not had a 
freeze, but we have had
some light frost on a couple of occasions.  We usually have fresh  veggies 
from the garden for Christmas
Dinner.  Fresh herbs to season our dishes are a year round  reality, although 
cilantro will not take the heat 
or the cold. 
 
Raised beds and lots of compost are essential to  successful 
Sarasota/Bradenton gardening.  The more
compost you add, the greater the potential that your sandy soil might  
actually hold enough of our very
scarce water to grow a few vegetables.  
 
We are fortunate to have four community gardens in Sarasota  County.  Our 
first and most popular community garden,  the Rosemary Community Garden, will 
soon be relocated and become  the Orange 
Blossom Community Garden.  We completed very successful  relocation 
negotiations with the Sarasota
City Commission in July and should break ground for the new garden in  the 
near future with an official
dedication and grand opening scheduled for March or April.  In the  meantime, 
it is gardening as usual
at the Rosemary Garden for the fall. Bayou Oaks Community Garden is  also 
located in the City of 
Sarasota.  The other two gardens are the Laurel Community Garden and  the 
Nokomis Community Garden
located in the county.  There is also a student community garden, the  Caples 
Garden, on the New College
campus.
.
Barbara Powell Harris
Florida Master Gardener Volunteer
Community Garden Coordinator
Rosemary Community Garden/Orange Blossom Community Garden
_Powellharris at aol.com_ (mailto:Powellharris at aol.com) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 



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