Winter Tomatoes in Fl. (Plus veggies and garden pics)

[MsCowpea]

Marsha, did you say white peacock? Cue the white peacock. Had 2 for awhile.

I complain about the peacocks something awful and chase them with a broom but would never hurt one. But my neighbor just found one dead in her yard-right across the street from me . Glad I didn’t see it. Don’t know what got it- they usually sleep in the trees at night. But I was told half its head was eaten. That makes me think raccoon as once a raccoon got into another neighbor’s big bird cage that had 2 chickens and he only ate the head. I don’t blame the raccoon — it is only nature’s way. I actually don’t think the raccoons gets many peacocks —we have so many peacocks roaming the neighborhood, Though sometimes I will see a peacock with 3 teenagers and the number dwindles down to one over a few nights. It is a good thing in a way or we would have peacocks all over the place. One thing they do is peck on shiny cars. Drives my neighbors crazy —one put out a big mirror in her yard for a while to divert them from her car.

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Nan, it has been so long I don’t remember. I should put some out now as I am getting bird pecked just a little, not too bad.

[Barb_FL]

Your pictures and property are beautiful.

[MsCowpea]

Thank you Barb.

[MsCowpea]

My friends and I picked tomatoes. They also picked the lettuces, arugula, and celery.

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I made a tomato appetizer with Juliets.

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Didn’t juice celery as planned because nobody really likes the stuff. They did take a fair amount of celery to make cream of celery soup.

I tell people they have to take celery. I dont care if they throw it out their car window on my street and I see celery as I drive up and down the street. I just need it gone. It is not the juiciest celery on earth but would be good for soup. It was very fun to grow.

[MsCowpea]

I had 3 people do the blind tasting of Juliet’s organic vs synthetic Earthbox test. (Earthbox is a closed container system.)

First one immediately thought the 2nd one was much sweeter. 2nd person also went for the second. 3rd said the 2nd one was sweeter but she would eat either. The second one they all picked was from the all organic box. One said the texture of the organic one was better.

Now if you do something with them you wouldn’t tell a difference.


Much maligned JULIET. I dehydrated some Juliets until they were only about half done or so. So they still had moisture.
Drench with olive oil and fair amount of fresh pressed garlic . Let sit for for at least an hour. I put in plastic bag and turn it a bit.
Top cracker with cream cheese and top with garlicky tomatoes. Delicious. If you have pesto you can add to cream cheese, it’s even better.
Juliets are fantastic for this as they are firm and don’t fall apart and it concentrates the flavors.

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[Nan6b]

Oh! The beautiful bounty of it all!

[PlainJane]

Looks absolutely wonderful! Don’t know why people don’t like celery; I eat it all the time.
Those dehydrated Juliets look fantastic!

[MsCowpea]

Thank you both. The Juliets were a hit, none left. I actually love celery too. I like to put peanut butter on it. I like celery that is juicy and sweet. though that is probably the wrong word. Mine is a little dry , as I said good for soup. I know they supposedly like a lot of water so I did water them quite a bit but maybe not enough.

[MsCowpea]

Feb. 13, 2020

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[MsCowpea]

This looks like an earlier pic but it was taken yesterday.

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[arnorrian]

Beautiful garden!

[Barb_FL]

Wonderful harvest and beautiful zinnias. You even make Juliets look great.

[peebee]

I just saw all the pics here *SWOON* I love your orchids & zinnias! I was also an orchid killer up till a few years ago, yup too much care & fuss they said leave me alone so now I have 2 survivors indoors. Just as an experiment I'll tie a hardy outdoor type to a tree. It's way too dry here but I'll try to mist it often. Do you know the variety of yours?

[PlainJane]

Wow, the pictures! Can’t wait till zebra longwings make it back to me; I love them.

[Nan6b]

Peebee,the bletilla orchids just get planted in-ground.

[peebee]

Peebee,the bletilla orchids just get planted in-ground.

I meant the ones in the trees, those aren't bletillas are they? The leaves look different. My mom's garden is full of bletillas.

[MsCowpea]

Thanks everyone for the comments.
I don’t know orchids but I thought the one in the basket hanging in the tree is a cattleya???

I don’t know the names of the ones I tied to the trees. Will try and take a better pic.

[peebee]

Thanks everyone for the comments.
I don’t know orchids but I thought the one in the basket hanging in the tree is a cattleya???

I don’t know the names of the ones I tied to the trees. Will try and take a better pic.

Yes they looked like catts to me, they're gorgeous! I have a plant that's gotten too big for it's pot so I'm tempted to tie one portion to a tree but what is your lowest temperature you get there?

[MsCowpea]

The cattleya is in a big basket hanging in a tree. I never do anything for it. Ie water or fertilizer. Though I guess if there was no rain for a while I would spray with hose. I don’t know about fertilizing it, when I go down that path that’s when they suffer. Maybe I should one of these days- but something very dilute- maybe with a hose end sprayer? I could cover with a blanket if there was a big freeze. All the ones tied to trees are on their own.

I am in zone 10, we rarely get freezes. We did have a couple cold days and with wind it might have got maybe 30 but if it did it was brief
and didn’t hurt them. We went to a nursery that only sold orchids , told him we wanted some for trees , and he sold us some with no flowers. They have taken off in the trees-lots of roots.

I have seen huge clumps of oncidiums (small yellow flower) attached to trees in S. Fl. I am going to try those next. Those look spectacular when blooming.

[Ginger2778]

The cattleya is in a big basket hanging in a tree. I never do anything for it. Ie water or fertilizer. Though I guess if there was no rain for a while I would spray with hose. I don’t know about fertilizing it, when I go down that path that’s when they suffer. Maybe I should one of these days- but something very dilute- maybe with a hose end sprayer? I could cover with a blanket if there was a big freeze. All the ones tied to trees are on their own.

I am in zone 10, we rarely get freezes. We did have a couple cold days and with wind it might have got maybe 30 but if it did it was brief
and didn’t hurt them. We went to a nursery that only sold orchids , told him we wanted some for trees , and he sold us some with no flowers. They have taken off in the trees-lots of roots.

I have seen huge clumps of oncidiums (small yellow flower) attached to trees in S. Fl. I am going to try those next. Those look spectacular when blooming.

We haven't had a frost here since 2009.