Jade Vine, etc.

Well, while I'm waiting for some help from Liz with the stupid card reader to load images from my camera on to this computer I borrowed a couple from her. This maybe our all time Wish List plant. The Jade vine (Strongylodon macrobotrys) is a hard plant to come by. This pic and the one that follows Liz took at Fairchild Tropical Gardens last summer. They have a awesome pergola covered with many vines but the Jade vine is particularly impressive. This aquamarine pendulous blooming vine is a native of the Philippines and only does well in Zone 11, which happens to be the zone I live in. Hopefully one day we will find this beauty and give it a home on Big Pine Key.
Let me get you caught up a bit on the vegetable garden plan. This year I am starting a new garden and it will be in containers. In the past I had a 20'x 40' raised bed 24" deep of soil that was composted by me over a 10 year period. I have moved from that home and am starting from scratch.

The reason for raised beds or container gardening in the Keys is our soil. Most property is either on fill soil that has been piled up from digging canals or trucked in many years ago. Other property is directly on caprock, a cement like rock that is nearly impossible to break up. The fill soil is a highly alkaline limestone known as oolite that is almost totally lacking in organic matter and thus not at all condusive to vegetable gardening. The answer is raised beds and the deeper the better!

Another issue of Zone 11 vegetable gardening is climate. October through April is the prime time for growing vegetables in the Keys. The temps are much cooler and our rainfall is reduced from the monsoons and hurricanes of summer allowing us enjoy gardening instead of passing out from heat stroke. The lower winter humidity reduces fungus problems allowing for fewer pesticide usage.

I began composting for this years garden back in May with a pickup load of horse manure and locally ground mulch ending up with approx. 2 cu. yards of finished compost. To strech this I blended in 20- 2 cu. ft. bags of commercial compost. I'll tell ya more about my finished potting mix later.

I picked up some used 15 gallon and 7 gallon pots from a local nursery along with some pots that are laying around the house. Started some cherry tomato seeds yesterday with broccoli seeds to start tomorrow. More on that subject later.

Today there was time to grab some lumber I've had stashed to begin the garden structure. The plan is for a completely enclosed 14'x 16' cage. Ya see, we have this little prolem down here with Key Deer and feral iguanas. The deer are easy, just a fence will do but iguanas laugh at fences as they scale them with glee all the while eyeballing the tender veggie plants within. Well that's all for now.

see ya