Great photos, Silvia! Thanks for sharing. How old is your avocado tree? I have a 15-ft tall, 6-year old avocado tree that has never had any fruit on it. Do I need to be more patient or is it time to get rid of it?

Just beautiful not a weed in sight how do you do it? After all day outside at the zoo I don't even want to look at my yard (yard not garden cause its a mess now) lol

Katie

Silvia,

Your garden looks wonderful:)

It looks great.. thanks for sharing..

Silvia,

Your splendid garden makes all of our efforts look so puny in comparison. Your pictures look like the ones I see in Better Homes & Garden. We can only strive to catch up, but in our hearts we know we never will.

Thomas,

Don't give up on your avocado tree. If it was grown from seed, it should be coming into fruit production in a few more years as it takes at least 8 to 10 years before fruiting. Buying a grafted tree to be a companion for your existing tree would be a good idea and would aid cross pollination and produce fruit much more quickly than a seed grown.

Lou

incredible garden, looks like a living farmer's market! just walk out back for "what's for supper."

Silvia, please keep on sharing your wonderful gift, it is such a treat to see the work of a master. You were blessed with the gift of growing things, and how lucky you are not only to have that gift, but to have been able to recognize that this is what you are supposed to do in life and to be gracious enough to share it.

Yes, Silvia, my friend, everything they said. :o) I never got my veggie garden doing much this year. When it was time to do it, I just wasn't in the mood. Maybe this fall will be better. I miss the yard long beans, they were so tasty.

Your garden's looking gorgeous, Silvia.

How do you cook your southern peas?

Bill

Thomas - Thank you. My Brogdon avocado was planted 2 years ago and it produced fruit the first year, it is about 10 feet tall now, this variety has a very good flavor. What variety do you have, did you planted from seed? Either way if it is not producing and if you have the space to put another one, I would recommend to plant a Brogdon nearby. I am also thinking of planting another Brogdon maybe in the front yard, it is a very nice tree.

Katie - I enjoy gardening, for me it is just another room in the house that I try to keep neat.
You must have a wealth of experience working at the zoo, very rewarding job, I love animals!

Bamboo - Thank you, your place by the lake is very beautiful!

Izhar - Thank you, I admire your garden and flowers, you have a green thumb!

Lou - I am so honored to hear all the nice words you have for me, thank you. It is wonderful to share with friends through the web our experiences, we are richer because of that. We all learn from each other.

Wallisadi - Thank you very much, coming from you it is a great compliment, you probably have one of the best gardens around and more varieties that I have ever seen. And you are right you can come and eat at my garden anytime, everybody is invited,:)

Rita - Thank you, thank you, you are being very nice. This is a wonderful community of gardeners and if I have something new I love to share with all of you. I am glad that you enjoy my humble postings.

Kathy, my friend - Thank you very much. Just remember it is never too late for veggie gardening, everything keeps turning and soon we will have to be ready for fall gardening.

Silvia

Beautiful, beautiful beautiful! I love it when you post pictures, it gives me so much inspiration! I should buy a camera and take some pictures too - we could post them side by side and title your half "The Right Way" and my half "The WRONG, WRONG, WRONG Way"! :)

Silva- your garden is so neat and tidy yet bountiful too. I think all of us know how hard it is to pull that off in Florida. You should bottle that pixie dust you use and sell it. You'd make millions:)

Silvia, Looking SO Good!!!! Not Seen a White Watermelon before.... Whats it like comapered to a Red for Yellow
Thanks for Sharing
NC

Silvia, how come your garden is not wilting in this heat? Everything looks so fresh and green. What is your secret with the Basil? I never could get mine to grow into a nice big clump before going to seed.

Regina

Thank you Bill, I did not see your post before, next time that I cook the southern peas I am going to include a picture.:) When they are green I use them as a green beans, when purple I shell them, even when they are dry I can cook them together. I just cook them with a little bit of water, when done I add salt, pepper and olive oil, sometimes I add chopped sweet or hot peppers, tomatoes and/or corn, some fresh herbs like cilantro or parsley. I think traditionally they are cooked with pork and served with corn bread. I also like them in soups like a minestrone. There is still time to plant them, I have to warn you, they are very productive!

Thank you Karen - Taking pictures is fun, we all love them! You should try your hand at taking some, this way it gives you an incentive to get better. And I am sure that you have a nice garden, you are just being modest.:)

Thank you Amber - You are funny, you have a great imagination! That is good, I wish I had some magic, but the plants in themselves are the ones with power. I am always amazed at nature.

Hi NC, thank you. I have been sampling a lot of white watermelons, they are very productive! They have a great flavor but according to the tasters in the house they are not that sweet, we like them in juices and cocktails, for that they were great! I have saved a few in the freezer so when you come to Florida we will celebrate.:)

Silvia

Hi Regina, thank you and I am glad that you like the garden. About the basil this is what I do. I start from seed different varieties for different dishes some are genovese, opal, lemon and others, I did start more of the variety basil lettuce leaf and that one holds better in the heat and is just as tasty. The location also helps east side of the house, morning sun and afternoon shade. If it does not rain I water them.

Silvia

Silvia thanks for sharing your marvelous garden in pictures you have obviously mastered the art of the edible landscape Florida Style.
Did the cold hurt your Atemoya it looks great. I would like to put one in but these last few winters have been tough.

Hi Rednolf

Thank you. I have been very lucky with the atemoya, it started producing the first year that it was planted, it is also in a good location on the east side of the house and somewhat protected by the fence. The past winter was not covered and made it and is producing fruit now

Here is a better picture

The ripe fruit

I was more worried about the lychee tree that is exposed to winds and cold in the front yard and was not protected either and this time it surprised me with fruits.

I also have a red sugar apple in a pot that is doing well, no fruit yet, I just bought in January.

Silvia

Silvia, your garden is gorgeous ! please, can you tell us what you use for the sides of your grow-boxes? is it PT, or something else... it is so very neat, and I don't see any wood-rot.... congratulations on a successful paradise..........sally

Very nice Silvia, I see you've moved into the front yard now ;-)

Tom

Silva

Stunning as ever. Got a question on your square foot boxes. Do you have a bottom to them? I've seen directions for with a bottom and without.

Julia

Sally - Thank you for your kind words. And yes the boxes are pressure treated pine and they are holding pretty good in this weather, easy to make too.

Tom - Thank you. And yes I moved a long time ago in other territory, lol. On the sides of the house I have a Dancy tangerine, a calamondin, a pomegranate, a cherry of the rio grande or something like that, the lychee and in the future I like to add more, one by one.

Talking about the whitefly again, I don't know if you saw Al from the container forum posted a spray that he uses, it has neem oil (cold pressed-virgin only) that he gets at Dyna-Gro, water, dish soap and alcohol, I don't remember what thread I saw but if you don't find it maybe I can look for it. It sounds like a good one to try.

And don't be a stranger.:) have to show up more often, lol. By the way, do you remember my fig tree? I was not happy with that and I have been putting everything in the book to fix it even Bernie's gifts of guano, worm castings and voila this year I have great figs and I made fig preserves today, also a mango marmalade. I have food that I put away to last me a long time...

Julia - Thank you, the boxes don't have a bottom, the grass was weed whack short and I put layers of cardboard and newspaper, another layer of coastal hay, peat moss, black cow and bagged garden soil.

I hope that you already planted your butterbeans in the ground, here are mine and how they look today. Your speckled butterbeans are the low ones, on the trellis I have Christmas lima

Silvia

Yes I planted them already, but mine look different than yours. I only have one leaf at the top now. Maybe you planted yours earlier than mine and that's why?

Silvia, how do you make yourself get out in this heat and plant? I am still waiting for some cooler weather. I guess I need to get busy.
Sharon

Julia - Your beans will catch up in no time and the rains that we are having are good, don't have to water them. Mine were planted a few days after you sent me, I hope they are bush, if not I will use them as ground cover.:)

Sharon - When is cold I plant and when is hot too. When cold I wear warm clothes, when hot I use the hose to cool me down,lol

The original woman that invented the lasagna gardening, used to garden with no clothes and she was not young or a beauty queen, lol

Of course I would not do that or I would be arrested, lol. Gardening is very busy this time, between harvesting, freezing, making jams, and planning for the fall garden...

Silvia

What with the humidity it is uncomfortable out there... I drape a wet rag around my neck and it helps, doesn't look very sexy but it helps keep you cooler since all your blood-vessels go up thru' there, and if you can drag along a water bottle with ice in it and lay on your neck it helps... I fill my bottles half-way and freeze them and then add water when I go out there, keeps the water cold longer as the ice melts.... what a sight, this old lady dragging around the garden with a wet shirt on, an old hat, and a water-bottle on the back of her neck... dirty, also.... my street has folks jogging in the early-morning and they stop and stare, but I just smile and wave.... sally