harvest exchange
 

As we eagerly await finalization of trivial things, like house closings, we can't help but daydream about what we want to do with our hopefully new home. Dan wants to plant a few fruit trees and give a try at Florida vegetable gardening, understands that we hopefully will get an abundance of fruit and veggies. Anyone interested in a harvest exchange? Could be a fun way of getting to know your gardening buddies!

very appealing to me, Scrapple. We have a CYV so won't have much room for citrus trees, except for maybe a lemon tree in a container, but expect to plant an herb garden and probably a tomato/pepper patch. A harvest exchange might be just the ticket for me as we will be snowbirds for awhile and I was wondering what to do with my crops in the summer! My tomatoes, etc. would be available for the taking while we're gone, or as long as they live without me there to oversee supplemental watering, although I expect I'll make an extra trip down for a couple of weeks every summer.

I still have a lot to learn about Florida gardening and what grows when. I have a great book with monthly gardening tasks in various Florida zones (can't remember the name - it's already in Florida). There is also a monthly master gardener meeting, I think at Truman Rec Center, listed in the Recreation News.

We will be arriving the 1st weekend in November. Might do some container gardening for herbs this winter, plan an herb garden for early spring and really get started planting in the spring.

When do you plan to move to TV and which village? We're in Sabal Chase.

We have an accepted bid on a place in Poinciena and hope to have everything all closed, moving in, by the beginning of Nov. What is the name of the Florida gardening book you have?
Thanks!

We live in Poinciana and I hope to get fruit from my blueberry and fig trees.

PS........my Rosemary, mint and basil plants do great here.

I think the name of the book was something like Florida Gardening - Month by Month. I went to Barnes & Noble in The Villages and looked thru all their Florida gardening books. I thought it was the best general book they had.

Can't be sure on the name because I'm in Ohio and already moved the book to Florida, which was not smart - could have been sitting here getting educated while I'm waiting to move in 3 weeks, since we already moved our stuff down and just have to waltz in with a small carload.

I'm very interesting in participating! We will be growning veggies in the spring. Please let's keep in touch and make this great idea a reality.

You can grow many veggies in the Florida during the winter months. These include beets, Brussels sprouts, carrots and onions. Growing vegetables in Florida is very different than growing them in the north or cold climates.

Here's a couple of interesting links to give you some info...happy harvests!!


http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/vh020


About halfway down this page is a guide for the dates for planting vegetables in Florida. Look at Central Florida for TV.


http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/vh021

Thanks, BK, for the links. I saved them under my favorites. By the way, we all missed you -- glad you are back!

I think once we get settled and planting and harvesting we'll advertise our hopeful overstock and see who wants to do what! Could become an interesting barterring system. Doesn't have to be just a veggie exchange. I like a good chocolate chip cookie now and then!

Sounds good to me. I just added "form/join gardening bartering group" to my "Get a Life tree" worksheet (idea from the book I'm reading called "How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free," by Ernie Zelinski.

When I have a crop large enough to share, I'll be in touch! I'm also planning on checking out the Harvest Garden (not sure if that's the name of it - near the Woodshop off Rolling Acres Blvd) which I think provides fresh produce to food pantries.

Hate to rain on your parades, but TV doesn't allow vegetable gardens -- check your deed restrictions. Just had a friend spend $500 to have a small garden area created in Poinciana, they had to dig it up. You can get away with them in your CYVs, but if TV hears about it, they'll let you keep the plants until the season is over and then you'll have to dig them up. You can do container plants but they cannot be outside -- they have to be in your lanai (although many do have some outside and get away with it).

I did check the deed restrictions for my CYV neighborhood, and didn't see any restrictions - but you may be right about other than walled CYV backyards, Redwitch.

Well, I hate spraying for bugs . . . all those nasty pesticides! So I was planning to grow my veggies in pots inside my birdcage!

I must be dreaming
 

This is just too good to be true! That's exactly what I want to plant!
Please send me a PM and let me know all about your experience with Figs. I'm only beginning the research about what variety to plant, where to buy the tree, etc.

I just learned this summer that blueberries grow here, just another factor to convince me we're gonna love it here.

Dan