By Ron Sandstead
Summertime is definitely here. For those of you who are new to Florida, summertime is when most of us older folks are trying to stay inside. That isn’t always easy-especially when there is a yard to mow, weeds to pull and a garden to tend. Yes, a garden! I always seem to be outside when the humidity is 90 plus and the temperature is the same. Can you say Heat Index? Yep. That means it is Florida hot.
And that means gardening in Florida in the summer is a challenge. But, it isn’t all bad.
Actually, gardening is one of the few pleasures where you don’t have to apologize to anyone. You can plant what you want. You can grow flowers, vegetables and herbs—whatever you want! Well, maybe that isn’t entirely true. There are a few things that are illegal to grow (and your neighbor will turn you in). But basically, what you grow is up to you. You can be in a hurry – or not. You can do as much or as little as you want. It is your choice. If you get too hot or tired, just grab a bottle of water, go sit in the shade and admire your progress. How fun is that? There is a peace – and joy – in not having to answer to anyone.
I started gardening early. I was probably age 6 or 7 when I began helping my Mom work in the garden pulling weeds and picking flowers and vegetables. I enjoyed helping and what little kid doesn’t enjoy digging in the dirt? She started calling me “her little gardener.” I guess I have been hooked ever since.
Today, I grow a variety of things with varying success. Some things I plant do well – and others do not. I am always learning. For me, gardening in Destin is still an experiment. Basically, I am learning what not to do. I used to let my failures bother me, but I have learned to be grateful for my successes. Also, there is a simple pleasure that comes with watching plants grow. I am always excited when the seeds sprout and new life comes from the barren soil. It reminds me that all life is a miracle.
I came to Florida from Colorado after growing up in mid-state Illinois. Both places had soil that had nutrients and minerals. All a gardener had to really do was clear out a patch and plant some seeds. Then you best get out of the way, because you were going to be feeding the neighborhood.
Here in Destin and along our coast we do not have good topsoil. After all, we are basically a sand dune and have a lot of salt in our air and rain. Down here, what passes for topsoil is so sandy that water runs right through it. And forget fertilizer. Whatever nutrients that you happen to fertilize with, usually goes away after a few days. It can be frustrating.
So, what to do? It doesn’t take a smart person or one that knows a lot about gardening to figure out that gardening success here is almost entirely dependent upon creating good soil. So how did the “old timers” do it? I’ve talked to some of them and basically they brought in many loads of horse manure and dug it in. This obviously worked. For some of us, the easy way is to buy some top soil and have it delivered. Unfortunately, when you have a large garden, this can get expensive and there is no guarantee the soil will have the right nutrients for your flowers or veggies.
For our Community Garden, we decided to use as much organic material as we could and create our own soil. We accomplished this by adding many bags of leaves, several large piles of wood chips, 1500 pounds of biochar, many trailer loads of horse manure and over 50 cubic yards of mushroom compost. Our soil is still not where we want it to be, but it is certainly getting close. Our success at growing veggies, flowers and herbs was amazing this last year.
Oh, yes—did I mention that I am garden manager at the Destin Main Street Community Garden? Okay. I didn’t. So, since this is my first gardening article, I will just leave it here – other than to mention that there will be more articles coming about gardening on the Emerald Coast.
Happy gardening, y’all!
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