Fall and winter are optimal seasons for growing fruits and veggies here in Central Florida. For many people, this is their busiest gardening season. My December Garden Journal entries were full of activities from seed starting to harvesting.
“Hi there, and welcome to my monthly series about how I grow a year-round garden in a sub-tropical climate. Each month I’ll share with you my observations and notes from my garden journal. I’ll also include gardening tips, monthly harvests, and my favorite resources related to the season.“
Alisa
Here is a summary of what happened in December:
Journal Entries
Week 1
December 1st, I found a small fig growing on one of my fig trees. It surprised me because the three trees I’d been growing from cuttings had been potted for only about five months. I’d read it takes up to two years for them to start producing fruit. I felt very fortunate to have received such healthy cuttings. You can read more about how I got these fig cuttings in my post: Garden Journal June/July 2021.
Everything in the garden continued to grow slowly with our cooler weather and shorter daylight hours. Vegetables currently growing included: Seminole pumpkin, sweet potato, lima bean, Egyptian spinach, longevity spinach, Okinawa spinach, onions, new lettuce greens, tomatoes, green peppers, and jalapeno peppers.
I continued to harvest herbs as well: basil, mint, rosemary, and lemon balm.
The cranberry hibiscus had grown quickly, and I was able to harvest 8 dryer trays full of leaves for tea.
Many of the fruit trees started growing new leaves. However, the persimmons lost all of theirs and looked like sticks stuck in the ground. The branches are soft to the touch and I found tiny buds waiting for the longer daylight hours and warmth of spring.
Week 2
December 9th, our one-and-only lemon blossom opened!
On Saturday the 11th, I spent just over 3 hours repotting the rest of the dragon fruit that had quickly outgrown their small pots. It’s amazing how fast they’d grown. They are only 11 months old and several are over three feet tall.
It continued to be a dry fall, and my husband Mike and I water the garden as needed with the rainwater we collect earlier in the year.
Week 3
December 15th it finally rained. It wasn’t much, but every little bit helps. I’ve probably mentioned it before, but this is the driest fall and winter I can remember since I moved to Florida.
We use our saved rainwater for potted plants. The method we use to catch rainwater is to collect it from the downspout of our house roof while it’s raining. It’s then bottled up in repurposed juice bottles. They are stored under and around my makeshift potting table. It’s not the prettiest sight, but I’m happy to see the bottles of water sitting there, ready to use during our dry season. It’s better water than the city water that comes from the tap. Eventually, we’ll build a proper rainwater catchment system.
This week, shortly after the rain, I found rust on several of the dragon fruit cacti. I used an organic copper fungicide to kill the rust. Dragon fruit can be challenging to grow in humid climates as they are more prone to fungal diseases, fruit canker, and stem rot than in dryer climates. The University of Florida IFAS Extension has an excellent resource page for growing pitaya (dragon fruit) at home. I’ve added it to the Resources list at the end of this post.
The Egyptian spinach started blossoming this week. We have enjoyed adding the leaves to our meals. They are great in frittatas, salads, and green smoothies. I enjoy their mild flavor and will continue to find recipes from other regions of the world that use this heat-tolerant green in cooking.
Over the past few years, I’ve encounted many new-to-me edible plants, so I started creating plant profile sheets to help me with my gardening. Here’s a FREE Plant Profile Sheet for Egyptian Spinach I created for my garden planner that I’m happy to share with you!
If you’d like to see other tools I’ve designed for a homestead, you can visit my Etsy Shop: HomesteadByDesign.
Week 4
This week, the tomatoes started blossoming and producing small green fruits. They are the Brickyard variety that produce a beautiful, large, thick fruit. They are growing great in my milk crate garden pots, so I’ll be saving seed from the best ones.
The cover crop of brown mustard started coming up where we had dug the sweet potatoes over Thanksgiving weekend. Shortly before we plant sweet potatoes again in that spot, we’ll chop it down and mix the greens into the soil. The chemicals in the mustard plant leaves help reduce root-knot nematode presence. It’s best to rotate crops, but we plan to move to a new home by next Thanksgiving, so this will be our last crop in this garden.
This week we also had several small rainstorms pass through and the weather was in the low 80’s. It was a relief to not have to come home from work and rush to water plants before it got dark out. We also harvested more rainwater and rebuilt our stockpile of water bottles.
The cabbage seedlings finally looked strong enough to survive in the garden soil. The rainfall was encouraging, so I planted them near the pigeon peas and also planted a few with the cover crop.
I continued harvesting passionfruit leaves and flowers, cranberry hibiscus leaves, and mint for my herbal teas.
Harvest Summary
Food Harvested
- Herbs: rosemary, basil, lemon balm, mint
- Passionfruit leaves
- Cranberry hibiscus leaves
- Longevity spinach
- Egyptian spinach
- Okinawa spinach
- Cherry tomatoes
Seeds Saved
- Roselle
- Several types of basil
- Egyptian spinach
Gardening Resources
- Dragon Fruit Diseases
- University of Florida Guide to Growing Pitaya/Dragon Fruit in Florida
- Plant Profile: Egyptian Spinach
- My Etsy Shop: HomesteadByDesign
Looking Forward to 2022
As my husband Mike and I get closer to our goal of moving to a new homestead near the end of 2022, we’ve started turning our garden and backyard into a plant nursery/staging area. Other than sweet potatoes, I don’t plan to start any more plants in this garden.
I’m saving as many seeds as I can, and getting pots gathered and ready for moving any existing plants when the time arrives.
Over the next several months I’ll share with you how we’re planning to move so many trees, vines and other plants. Also, how we’ll restore the garden beds for the next family who will rent this home.
The year 2022 is going to be an exciting one!
Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram where I share all my “in-the-moment” gardening and homesteading adventures.
Until next month, happy gardening!
Alisa