[NFBF-Tampa] Blind Gardening Hack

Thu May 9 15:34:46 UTC 2024

Marion:
Do you know anything about how nutritional butternut squash is?  I love it but don't know if it will raise my blood sugar.
As for garlic, can't wait to obtain some.
Thanks for sharing.  Looking forward to learning to cook some of the veggies.
Louise

From: NFBF-Tampa <nfbf-tampa-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Marion Gwizdala via NFBF-Tampa
Sent: Thursday, May 9, 2024 9:46 AM
To: 'NFB of Florida Tampa Chapter List' <nfbf-tampa at nfbnet.org>
Cc: marion.gwizdala at verizon.net
Subject: Re: [NFBF-Tampa] Blind Gardening Hack

Dear All,

                We suspect we will harvest more than we are able to eat or preserve. We would rather pay them forward rather than compost them! There is an adage in the field of "Harvest early; harvest often!" The earlier you begin harvesting the more the plant is encouraged to produce. Sometimes unripe fruit is picked resulting in a larger harvest. As we harvest our crops and begin giving them away, let us know and we will bring fresh picked produce to share. You can it forward by giving what you feel its value is to the chapter! Here's where we are right now with our garden.

  1.  We have begun harvesting yellow squash and our crop of them seem to be pretty prolific. We have five plants and each will likely produce about ten squash.
  2.  Of the two acorn squash, only one has survived but it is very healthy. We are not expecting many this season but have the experience for a larger yield next season.
  3.  I have three cantaloupes but I am not sure how many we will get from them as they struggled a bit in the beginning. Gardening teaches life lessons like learning through your challenges and being patient with the process.
  4.  Of all the squash, I am most excited about our butternut! As a winter squash characterized by its thick outer layer, winter squash is so-called for its ability to stay fresh through winter. Not only is butternut squash great for soups, casseroles, and pies, slicing one in half, seasoning it with a bit of seasoned salt, pepper, and olive oil, it is an excellent side dish! They also make great decorations during the fall!
  5.  In the near future, we will have an abundance of garlic. Merry has lost count of how many we have but I'll bet it numbers near triple digits!
  6.  Our Florida peach tree is loaded with small fuzzy fruit which appeared after the 1-year-old tree now about 12-feet in height was covered with fragrant pink flowers.I believe peaches will be on the give-away table.
  7.  We have about 20 Kentucky Wonder string beans on a 4-foot fence and you can almost see them (well, feel them) growing they are doing so quickly. This is another very prolific producer, so count on string beans!
  8.  I am going to be selfish with our first harvest of blueberries, as their first harvests are not very plentiful. Next year at this time will be a very different story, I hope!
  9.  Beefsteak tomatoes, anyone? I do have more tomatoes than I know what to do with! These tomatoes sell for nearly $6.00/pound in the grocery store. They are very large and star-shaped. The plant would be 10-feet tall if it were able to be supported but it's growing over the fence and the neighbors will likely have a few tomatoes, as well. It's also encroaching into another bed, so its presence is short-lived, as tomato plants are!
  10. Coming soon! This weekend we will start snap peas and another variety of pea I don't remember. In June we will begin our sweet potato box and July will have us establishing a pumpkin patch. These will be Somerset pumpkins which are sweet edible gords. I am seriously considering a patch for jack-o-lanterns but not sure where I can find that much room! Merry is not in favor of my idea of a giant pumpkin (400-pound) patch in the front yard, though!

Though Merry and I have the room for these gardens and the energy to care for them, it is possible to garden on your patio if you only live in an apartment. Food we get from our garden tastes very different than what you generally get in the produce market unless you are shopping at a local farmer. Most of us know the difference between the strawberries from Mexico we were buying in October and the ones that we may have had over the past three months from Plant City! BTW, you can find locally grown blueberries this time of year, as well and blueberries are great container plants!

                I'm going to get my day started after I turn off the microirrigation system! Keep planting seeds, growing your own harvest, and sharing the fruits of your labor with others!

Fraternally yours,
Marion

We are hoping to have a gathering when our lives settle down a bit - definitely in the fall

11.

12.

13.   From: NFBF-Tampa <nfbf-tampa-bounces at nfbnet.org<mailto:nfbf-tampa-bounces at nfbnet.org>> On Behalf Of Louise Peyton via NFBF-Tampa
Sent: Wednesday, May 8, 2024 6:58 PM
To: NFB of Florida Tampa Chapter List <nfbf-tampa at nfbnet.org<mailto:nfbf-tampa at nfbnet.org>>
Cc: Louise Peyton <lp2473 at hotmail.com<mailto:lp2473 at hotmail.com>>
Subject: Re: [NFBF-Tampa] Blind Gardening Hack

Would like to buy some veggies from you.

From: NFBF-Tampa <nfbf-tampa-bounces at nfbnet.org<mailto:nfbf-tampa-bounces at nfbnet.org>> On Behalf Of Marion Gwizdala via NFBF-Tampa
Sent: Wednesday, May 8, 2024 4:51 PM
To: 'NFB of Florida Tampa Chapter List' <nfbf-tampa at nfbnet.org<mailto:nfbf-tampa at nfbnet.org>>; 'NFB of Florida Internet Mailing List' <nfbf-l at nfbnet.org<mailto:nfbf-l at nfbnet.org>>
Cc: marion.gwizdala at verizon.net<mailto:marion.gwizdala at verizon.net>
Subject: [NFBF-Tampa] Blind Gardening Hack

Dear All,

                Some of you may know Merry and I are urban gardeners. We have recently begun xeriscaping our front yard and planted fifty-four Asiatic Jasmine over ten yards of potting soil. Unfortunately, grass has begun poking up through the soil and the Jasmine are not yet able to choke out the grass.

I contacted the University of Florida's Institute for Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) which has offices around Florida and spoke to their master gardener. Not knowing I was blind, he shared a gardening hack his father taught him and it is a great adaptation for those of us who are blind! Here is the hack.

  1.  Mix Roundup in a bucket as you would normally do so (1/2 cup of Roundup to 1 gallon water)
  2.  Put a rubber glove on one hand and cover it with a cotton gardening or other work glove;
  3.  Touch the plant you want to avoid with the Roundup with the ungloved hand;
  4.  Dip your hand in the solution and rub the product on the ground over the grass being careful to not get the product on the leaves of the plant;

Roundup is absorbed through the leaves of the plant and it will not harm the plant roots but you want to avoid getting too close to the stem of the plant.

                BTW, we are also growing hibiscus, gardenia, spearmint, sweet mint, lavender, thyme, Frangiapani, and rosemary. In our vegetable garden, I just harvested our fourth yellow squash. We also are growing butternut squash, acorn squash, canteloup, garlic, onion, Florida peaches, ruby red grapefruit, Bearss lemons, tangerines, and pineapple. We get our meat from the store! (smile)

                If anyone would like to chat gardening, please write to me off-list at

Marion.Gwizdala at verizon.net<mailto:Marion.Gwizdala at verizon.net>

Fraternally yours,

Marion
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