Talk of The Villages Florida

Talk of The Villages Florida (https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/)
-   The Villages, Florida, General Discussion (https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/villages-florida-general-discussion-73/)
-   -   Fresh Herb Plants (https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/villages-florida-general-discussion-73/fresh-herb-plants-325697/)

DAVES 10-31-2021 08:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaleDivine (Post 2022909)
I bought about $75 worth of wild sweet potato vines from Lowes. A purple and green mixture. Planted them around my front lawn.
The BUNNIES had a gourmet dinner on them. Chewed them right down to the nubs.
:ohdear::ohdear:

We have friends that have plants of different varieties growing in his bird cage off the ground and they do beautifully.

:bigbow::bigbow:

I am thankful I am a dilettante rather than a real farmer like many other posters, who grow whatever. I am growing blue berries. After the birds eat like 90% or them. they even eat green ones, they only cost me with cost of my home etc about $100 per quart.
Truth, mine are no better than you can buy.

DAVES 10-31-2021 09:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boomer (Post 2022990)
Thank you, Koapaka, for sharing this site.

I just spent a few minutes looking through it, am interested, and can take more time later to learn more. Brand new lettuce is one of my favorites and the only way to get it in its perfect state is to grow it yourself.

In the comment section, I saw that someone wrote about using it in a classroom. I used to grow amaryllis bulbs in my high school classroom. Even high school kids enjoyed seeing the progress each day of those fast-growing plants as they reached full bloom. One time we got 16 beautiful, huge, red blooms from one bulb — but that bulb must have been gifted or something.

Of course, with a vegetable garden in a classroom, the teacher probably would have to schlep it home during Christmas and other long breaks.

Anyway, thanks. You might have done some Christmas shopping for me.

Boomer


Re: Amaryllis

They are marginally hearty in the villages. I've been growing them for years in my garden. You need good drainage. I do not take them out. They are heavy feeders so lots of fertilizer when they are growing. On cold winter days I do cover them at night

The ones sold for the holiday season have been conditioned to bloom in december. They would normally bloom in the spring. You cannot take one of those and immediately put it in your garden and expect it to survive. You need to follow instructions for storing it and plant it in the spring. It will take two seasons to get into it's normal cycle.

OrangeBlossomBaby 10-31-2021 06:15 PM

I bought a small potted rosemary plant (was maybe 4" tall), a dying 4-pack of basil, and a dried out nearly-dead italian oregano pot along with a nicely growing potted greek oregano, and 2 echinacea plants, both very small but healthy. Got them all at Lowe's, the dying plants were around a buck on the "these are dead, take them cheap or they're getting thrown away in 3 days" rack. I also bought a lemon-thyme plant, I think at Walmart.

The rosemary is around 2.5-feet tall and over 3 feet in diameter, after I cut it back significantly. It's finally outgrown its ENORMOUS pot and is starting to die from root-rot, so I'll likely replace it next year. When you cut it back, the rosemary oil sticks to your fingers like tar and takes a couple of hours to wear off. Pot-grown rosemary is a pain, and very messy to maintain.

The greek oregano was in a shallow pot and suffered root-rot and died, and the italian oregano is flowering and doing great, and its roots have pushed through the hole in the pot and is now firmly ensconced in the flowerbed. I harvest the oregano every few months to keep it from getting overcrowded and killing itself. It's almost as big as the rosemary bush and around 3 times more dense.

The echinacea only flowers once a year, and I'm pretty much decided the flowers are unattractive so I'll probably replace them with some other herb in march.

The basil has managed to survive the whole year as four straight stalks with sickly looking yellow leaves that actually taste just fine with tomatoes and feta and olive oil, but the first freeze will kill them. The lemon-thyme does great - it dies in the winter and comes back in the spring, and sometimes gets pretty tiny little flowers on the ends of the stems. Tastes great with roasted chicken and roasted potatoes.

I have a bunch of other things growing in the front flowerbed but those are the herbs.

My garden is 100% organic (except for the original seeding method, which I'm sure was with the evil Miracle Gro) and unmaintained: I don't fertilize at all, I don't water, I don't use any weedkiller or pesticides. If nature intends for it to grow it'll grow. If nature intends for it to die, it'll die. I do weed the garden regularly (it doesn't really need much weeding) and harvest the herbs for cooking (except the echinacea).

Smschiller08 11-01-2021 06:36 AM

Container garden
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Laker14 (Post 2022297)
Hi Y'all,
I just purchased a small plant cart for the lanai. I want to grow some fresh herbs, maybe a cherry tomato plant. Rosemary, oregano, basil, cilantro, maybe something else as well.
Are there any nurseries near TV that would have the plants already started?
Anybody reading this who has done this?
Thanks,

I just planted my salad and herb garden in birdcage. I talked to Master Gardener from gardeningsolutions, UF-IFAS. She told me most big box stores sell the local varieties. Still some at HDepot and Lowe’s. Also on that site is a calendar for monthly planting. If you find any acorn or butternut squash seeds, buy two. I’ll pick them up.

DAVES 11-02-2021 03:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Laker14 (Post 2022297)
Hi Y'all,
I just purchased a small plant cart for the lanai. I want to grow some fresh herbs, maybe a cherry tomato plant. Rosemary, oregano, basil, cilantro, maybe something else as well.
Are there any nurseries near TV that would have the plants already started?
Anybody reading this who has done this?
Thanks,

Hope it helps. We just left the villages wallmart on Wedgwood lane. 11/2/21 about 4:00.
In the front of the garden plant section they just got in several of the plants mentioned.

DAVES 11-03-2021 01:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby (Post 2023921)
I bought a small potted rosemary plant (was maybe 4" tall), a dying 4-pack of basil, and a dried out nearly-dead italian oregano pot along with a nicely growing potted greek oregano, and 2 echinacea plants, both very small but healthy. Got them all at Lowe's, the dying plants were around a buck on the "these are dead, take them cheap or they're getting thrown away in 3 days" rack. I also bought a lemon-thyme plant, I think at Walmart.

The rosemary is around 2.5-feet tall and over 3 feet in diameter, after I cut it back significantly. It's finally outgrown its ENORMOUS pot and is starting to die from root-rot, so I'll likely replace it next year. When you cut it back, the rosemary oil sticks to your fingers like tar and takes a couple of hours to wear off. Pot-grown rosemary is a pain, and very messy to maintain.

The greek oregano was in a shallow pot and suffered root-rot and died, and the italian oregano is flowering and doing great, and its roots have pushed through the hole in the pot and is now firmly ensconced in the flowerbed. I harvest the oregano every few months to keep it from getting overcrowded and killing itself. It's almost as big as the rosemary bush and around 3 times more dense.

The echinacea only flowers once a year, and I'm pretty much decided the flowers are unattractive so I'll probably replace them with some other herb in march.

The basil has managed to survive the whole year as four straight stalks with sickly looking yellow leaves that actually taste just fine with tomatoes and feta and olive oil, but the first freeze will kill them. The lemon-thyme does great - it dies in the winter and comes back in the spring, and sometimes gets pretty tiny little flowers on the ends of the stems. Tastes great with roasted chicken and roasted potatoes.

I have a bunch of other things growing in the front flowerbed but those are the herbs.

My garden is 100% organic (except for the original seeding method, which I'm sure was with the evil Miracle Gro) and unmaintained: I don't fertilize at all, I don't water, I don't use any weedkiller or pesticides. If nature intends for it to grow it'll grow. If nature intends for it to die, it'll die. I do weed the garden regularly (it doesn't really need much weeding) and harvest the herbs for cooking (except the echinacea).

Re: rosemary
No experience with it. Dirty hands plenty of experience.
Learned from my uncle who was a printer. Try it. Dried corn meal. I think the course works better. Put it in your palm and add liquid dish soap and wash your hands. Cheap, it works great and is easier on your hands than typical commercial products. Oily dirt.
try cooking oil-corn oil etc.

Re: echiacea
I never herd that called a herb. It is sold as a flower-painted daisy. Where we used to live, I tried growing it several times and it died. Perhaps it was too cold. It is supposed to be good for preventing colds. Depending on what you read that is debatable. I've also read you are not supposed to use it long term.

DAVES 11-03-2021 01:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Smschiller08 (Post 2024027)
I just planted my salad and herb garden in birdcage. I talked to Master Gardener from gardeningsolutions, UF-IFAS. She told me most big box stores sell the local varieties. Still some at HDepot and Lowe’s. Also on that site is a calendar for monthly planting. If you find any acorn or butternut squash seeds, buy two. I’ll pick them up.

You need to read and beware, I used to have a huge collection of peonies. It is too hot here for them. Yet all the box stores sell them from boxed displays


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 01:29 PM.

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2025, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Search Engine Optimisation provided by DragonByte SEO v2.0.32 (Pro) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2025 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.