[NFBF-Tampa] Blind Gardening Hack

Fri May 10 12:12:23 UTC 2024

What is this "harvest" stuff. We had our last frost a week and a half ago! LOL.

Dave

At 08:46 AM 5/9/2024, you wrote:
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>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.
>
>
>    * 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.
>    * 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.
>    * 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.
>    * 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!
>    * 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!
>    * 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.
>    * 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!
>    * 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!
>    * 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!
>    * 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
>        *
>        *
>        * From: NFBF-Tampa 
> <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>
>        * Cc: Louise Peyton <lp2473 at hotmail.com>
>        * Subject: Re: [NFBF-Tampa] Blind Gardening Hack
>
>
>
>Would like to buy some veggies from you.
>
>
>
>From: NFBF-Tampa 
><<mailto:nfbf-tampa-bounces at nfbnet.org>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' 
><<mailto:nfbf-tampa at nfbnet.org>nfbf-tampa at nfbnet.org>; 
>'NFB of Florida Internet Mailing List' 
><<mailto:nfbf-l at nfbnet.org>nfbf-l at nfbnet.org>
>Cc: <mailto:marion.gwizdala at verizon.net>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.
>
>
>    * Mix Roundup in a bucket as you would 
> normally do so (1/2 cup of Roundup to 1 gallon water)
>    * Put a rubber glove on one hand and cover 
> it with a cotton gardening or other work glove;
>    * Touch the plant you want to avoid with the 
> Roundup with the ungloved hand;
>    * 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
>
>
>
><mailto:Marion.Gwizdala at verizon.net>Marion.Gwizdala at verizon.net
>
>
>
>Fraternally yours,
>
>Marion
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