The farmer’s markets are nigh empty, local produce is limited to citrus and tropical fruits, and the heat index is at its sweltering peak. Might not feel like it’s time to start that vegetable garden, but backyard farmers need to get cracking, snappy-like.
For years I’ve dreamed about turning part of my suburban quarter-acre into a towering monument to edible nature. Tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, lettuce, eggplant, herbs and so much more, teased out of Florida’s sandy soil through our timid winter months, overloading my spring table with the bounty of my labors. I’d buy one of those wicker horns depicted in country “cornucopia” kitchen prints to set on my kitchen counter, loaded with Ries Farm produce, just to show my friends and neighbors what’s up.
This year I’m determined to see it through. Just one hitch: the labor part of that equation begins sooner than I thought.
“Fall season usually starts the third week in September,” explains Cindy Peacock, a horticulturalist with the Pinellas County Extension service, “but you need to prepare the soil now.”
Apparently, you can’t just throw tomato seeds into your lawn and hope for the best. If you want prize veggies that will grace your salad bowl through next May, you need to put in a little off-season effort.
First, pick a place for the plot. Peacock recommends six to eight hours of sun, although you’ll still get results with at least four hours of beaming rays. And, although most city-dwellers won’t have to worry about it, “pick a part of your yard you’re willing to spend time in,” she explains. That excludes the back 40, I reckon.
Although you can clear out a sward in your struggling St. Augustine grass and plant right at lawn-level, raised beds work best to discourage plant-eating worms prevalent in Florida. Containers work too, as will fancier systems like the popular Earth Box.
If you’re sticking with ground-planting, start by clearing out all plant life from the soil, then till the soil down to a depth of about 8 inches. You can spring for a soil test — the Pinellas Extension charges a mere $5 — then begin working in the steaming compost you’ve carefully collected over the summer. If you’re not that advanced, just buy manure and compost substitutes at your local garden store.
After that, Peacock recommends covering the entire plot with clear — not dark — plastic landscaping film. “The sun needs to get through,” she explains. “It helps the bacteria grow that you need for the vegetables.” The plastic needs to be down for about six weeks, which means I better get cracking if I want to hit the prime September planting season.
Unlike landscaping, you don’t want to cut holes in the plastic when it comes time for planting. Just pull it up and get your knees dirty.
We’ll cover what to plant in future Eating Local installments, but Peacock did have a tip if you’re pre-ordering seeds from catalogs and online sources: Make sure they are labeled VFN. These are seeds that are resistant to three common plant foes: the funguses verticillium and fusarium wilt, and microscopic worms called root-knot nematodes.
If you run into problems, just give a call to your local extension (contact info below). They all have horticulturists or master gardeners on hand to answer the questions of even the biggest farming noob. Better garden centers also usually have experienced folk who’ll know what’s up, with the benefit of tools and supplies you may need just a grab away.
Besides the joy that comes from eating something I coaxed with gloved hands out of my own patch of land, those backyard veggies will also likely taste better and end up drastically cheaper than what I could buy in the supermarket. All it takes is a little work. Starting now.
Resources: University of Florida/IFAS Extension Florida Vegetable Gardening Guide; Pinellas County Extension,727-582-2100; Hillsborough County Extension, 813-744-5519; Sarasota County Extension, 941-861-5000
This article appears in Aug 20-26, 2008.