Take That You Pests!

Another exciting day in the garden! Things are starting to look up, and by look up I mean grow up.  The eggplants are starting to look really good and happy along with the squash.  However some bugs are getting hungry and eating up my leaves and I do not appreciate it!  So today I sprayed some bug killer on the leaves!  Some other new happening in the garden are the emergence of the carrots.  They are so picturesque.  Another new addition to the garden happened today in the form of 48 new pea plants.

 

In class today we discussed the different ways the Florida climate can affect plants and crops here.  Florida has very consistent day lengths since we are closer to the equator.  Florida also is close to zero elevation meaning that we do not get very extreme weather.  Winds are usually calmer, it does not get to cold, and we have a lot of moisture.  Also we get a lot of precipitation to go along with "the sunshine state."  Both of these factors are great since plants need sunlight and water to grow!  We are able to avoid many of the extremes that other locations have to deal with like long days or nights, high winds, high elevation, severe droughts, extreme cold, high heat with low humidity.  Florida has great factors for plant and crop growth!  Even with all of this irrigation is still needed though, but to a lesser extent than in other places.  Usually sprinklers are used here since they can cover a wide range in a relatively cost effective way.  Other forms of irrigation are not as useful here like furrow flooding since the water would sink straight into our sandy earth.  

Yay cimate!

Oh No.... Please, anything but the Broccoli!!!

Today was a sad day, I learned that the broccoli died.  My favorite vegetable gone, dead, and then I had to find what to put in the 6 ft of space!  In place of the broccoli I planted the Kohlrabi, which I hope will be as delicious!!!  One of my pepper plants was not looking so good so I dug it out, and put in another eggplant in place of it!  This also made me sad since I love peppers!!!  Along with those I also planted my basil, and cilantro today!  I wish the veggies would just be ready I'm hungry!

Where life was taken, life was also given, my squash, zucchini, and cilantro all began sprouting!  I also hate weeds, I feel like half of the time is spent picking stupid weeds!!!

Our discussion today on GMOs was really interesting, and contradicted a lot of what I've heard.  It nice to hear something from people who actually know and not just emotionally charged documentaries.  I wonder if any of our seeds are GMOs???  It's an interesting and very emotionally charged topic which I wish had more facts about it and not strong opinions.  I'd like to know if Monsanto is as horrible as I've always learned it was?  I agree that we need new and improved agricultural techniques to meet the demands of a growing population, but are GMOs the best way, especially since we don't really know if they do cause any negative health effects, but then again if we think that way couldn't anything potentially cause negative health affects that we don't ever worry about like our computers and cell phones.  Who knows? And for now I'm going to keep on eating my veggies and fruits GMO/organic or not!

Getting Dirty

It has finally begun, the seeds have been sown!  Today we discussed the differences and pros and cons of seeds vs transplants.  Seeds require less effort, less money, but have more of a risk of failure.  On the other hand transplants are selected that will be more likely to succeed, they give us the ability to jump the growing season, but they also cost more money and are more labor intensive.

While planting my garden today I planted both seeds and transplants.  The seeds I planted today were: sunflower, scallion, all 3 varieties of carrots, cucumber, squash, and zucchini.  The transplants I planted today were: Juliette tomatos, new girl tomatoes, ladybug, orange bell pepper, red bell pepper, anaheim joe parker, and eggplant.
I hope everything survives

The who, what, where, why, when, and how!

Hi I'm Andrew Self!  I'm 22 and in my last semester here at uf.  I'm majoring in political science and anthropology and have a minor in African studies.  I've decided to take this class for a few reasons! First and foremost I love vegetables and want to have my own garden.  Apartment complexes just don't give you that option!  I'm also applying for the peace corps and gaining some insight into growing vegetables.  I will hopefully be able to do agriculture while abroad and when I come home I'd love to have a garden when I actually get a home and knowing something besides just rowing seeds into the ground would be useful.  I'm excited this class and can't wait to bring home some food!!!