Yep, I live in central Florida. Most of central Florida is pretty sandy though there are exceptions, just like there are micro climates, there are odd patches of soil some places. Some people will liken gardening in Florida to hydroponics, the sand helps hold the plant up and we have to provide everything else. That does not have to be the case and is actually very detrimental to the environment. In a state that looks like swiss cheese with the numbers of lakes and we still suffer from a shortage of good water. People tend to over irrigate with sprinklers which is pretty bad. Yes we are in a state that often gets over 50 inches of rain a year but most of it comes during the summer/fall. The rest of the year can sometimes be very dry yet still humid. Makes for some challenging growing conditions. I use huge amounts of compost and mulch along with drip irrigation to help with my gardening. While on the NY clay you might do raised bed gardens to get better drainage, here in FL I do raised beds in order to fill them with lots of compost that holds moisture better than the powdery sand. There is year round growing of something or other here but many people give up on the garden through summer since they just can't stand to spend much time out of doors right now, some plants can be kept going with shade cloth and drip irrigation though. During the coldest part of the year here, all the normal northern spring and fall crops usually do great. I've not had much luck with regular potatoes though. Sweet potatoes love the hot humid wet climate. Some pests present a real challenge to those of us who won't use strong chemicals and many of those pests are pretty immune to many of the strongest chemicals anyway. Growing here can be a little frustrating since we are not quite tropical so the tropical plants can be knocked off by frosts and it is too hot here or we don't get enough chilling hours to grow some of the northern favorites. We also have nematodes big time. I've found that the tomatoes do much better in the aquaponic system than anywhere I have tried to grow them in the ground or even containers on the ground. Here is a link that might be useful: TCLynx

TheTradition, Few things. The raised bed sounds great but you might want to put some 20 mule team borax around the outside perimeter or the termites will destroy your hard work. The purple bags are what you want. The term pine "fines" is a bit misleading but the purple bagged stuff is the right size. Don't fertilize. Even if fertilizing at planting was a good idea (which it isn't) we are too late in the year for fertilizer. Let the plants go until mid February to start the fertilizer. They will still grow some during the fall (roots). Fall is my favorite time to plant BB. The roots determine how much you should cut them back but it is a good idea to cut them back at least some. It is a judgement call but it will remove the flower buds so no fruit this spring but that is a very good thing. Take 25% off the bush and it will reward you. The water is a very tricky. BB need to be constantly moist.not soaking wet but moist. A good 4-6" layer of pine needles or ground up leaves will help keep them moist. It is best if you can use rain water. Our water in Florida is quite alkaline and has a high level of bicarbonates in it from our limerock aquifer. That water is bad for the bushes so you want to use as little water from the hose as possible. At first you are ok but as time goes by the bicarbonates build up in the soil and the PH will rise. So if you are not going to treat the water the best advice I can give is to only water when the plants need it but never let them get dry. Mulch is your best friend as it will allow you to water less.

Thanks, herman2! I am going to my favorite nursery in a few days, just to ask about their fig procurement availabilites. It is always good to know plant names when asking questions. It seems like everywhere that I have read about figs seems to be geared to northern gardens. It seems like most planting and installation times are in the spring and I am assuming after the snow. Snow is not a possiblity here. Even hard freezes are very limited in Cental Florida. It has to stay at freezing temperature for several hours to do any damage. My white grapefruit, tangerines and lemons are producing after years and years. I plan to watchfully hover over my papayas and avocado trees. Not to mention my tomatoes and peppers. Thanks everyone for all of information! GardenWeb is a fabulous place to communicate with fellow gardeners. Diana

Susannah, what other tomato seeds do you have left? I have a mess of them. We have been getting drizzles all day, cloudy, gray and overcast. I wrapped my seedling condo and potting bench in plastic yesterday cause I thought we were gonna get a downpour. The 'Greenhouse' effect and todays dampness really made some of the baby plants shoot up!! the cukes and squashes are really taking off as are the already planted up Big Zac, Early Girl and Better bush tomatoes. I also have a healthy volunteer coming up. It looks like a Husky Cherry, but it is in the area the Yellow Pear and Black Cherries were last year. I sunk it deeper and dusted it and will let it be to see what we get. I am disappointed so far in the seed strips I got. The radishes, like I said, are really crowded together and the depth they suggested is way too shallow, the little seedlings are toppling over. Will have to replant some more deeper. Once we get outta the drizzles(supposedly by mid-week) I'll take some pics of my progress. Looking forward to seeing everyone else's fall/winter gardens too!