Not sure how to to post more then one picture at a time

As you are in SW Florida, try checking out "The Back Ten Feet with Sue Scott". She lives in SW Florida and has a lot of experience with landscaping in that area, especially in regards to attracting wildlife. I will post a link later when I have more time, but you should be able to Google or YouTube the above name.

Back Ten Feet

Thanks abunc Leekle2ManE appreciate the link!

Hi Irie
and welcome to the best place to learn just about everything you need.

I used to live on an island in the Everglades and the folks on this forum gave me so much valuable info for gardening down there. Here's a shot of my former backyard - most all my plants were in containers because of the oyster-shell soil.

Did you add good soil to your planter box? I like that you have a guitar in your yard! We had the added luxury of smelling crab traps all summer (but I couldn't've loved it more)

I look forward to more of your gardening adventures and pictures of your island landscape.

Susie

Hey susie thanks for stopping by! I love living out here love all the strange smells too!...... I plan on doing about 5 4x4 beds alon with melon and zucchini mounds..... all my soil is a mix of my compost, peat moss, coconut fibers, local organic cow manure, and some perlite......... just for fun here is a picture of the zinnias I just cut down. The seeds come from a 60 yr old strain my great grandfather grew on his ranch in western Nebraska. My ole man grows them still in my hometown in eastern Nebraska. The monarch butterflies as well as many other bees and pollinators go crazy for these. And they do so good in florida never end in blooms!

Pulled my last watermelon today a 'sugar baby'. I yeilded six, 7-8lbs melons over the course of three months off one plant, but cut her tonight. now the next week will be spent getting all my raised beds ready to go. I compost into a mix of coco fibers and peat moss so everything at the bottom of the pile is perfect to mix with more peat moss and I can plant in the beds right away if needed. My Tomato seeds are germing, pepper seedlings growing fast, keep check-in in too see things grow overnight.

Welcome to SWFL. My home garden is in Cape Coral and my work garden is in Sanibel. It is a wonderful area to play in the dirt. South of Naples and on an island, I am guessing Marco?

Isles of capri actually but 5mins from marco!

I lived in Naples and now an area just outside Ft Myers called Buckingham. We moved to 5 acres and I was so excited to make a huge garden. Everything is raised beds, with tons of compost. First year went great. Cabbages, broccoli grows awesome. Tomatoes began to wither. This year, my okra and cantaloupe didn't make it past about one foot. NEMATODES!!!

I've let the beds rest for the summer. Added tons or organic matter on top. Got a 50lb bag of crab shell dust to mix in. Going to try nematode resistant tomatoes now. Hope I can get something back. I've struggled with squash, cucumbers, cantelope and watermelon. Either nematodes or cucumber worm.

I was so excited my first year to have such a bounty of vegetables. In my third year now. If I can't get it right, I will try to grow the more susceptible veggies in containers with store bought dirt. It makes me mad to not be able to do better. Maybe you'll have better luck there because of the oyster shell base on the island. They say nematodes are the worst in sandy soil.

Good luck!

Yea I few troubles with nematodes but more problems with caterpillars. I did black Kirk heirloom tomato during spring and it produced great. My okra didnt barley cross a foot tall either.the tomatoes im growing are all for experiment this run to aee what does best. Hopefully all of them! And when did you plant you cabbage and broccoli? ?