This tree is now about 6 -1/2  feet tall, and it was planted from a 3 gallon size at the end of this past winter. It has  grown about 1-1/2 feet since then, but more impressive is the noticeable increase in trunk caliber. It also bloomed nicely at the first of summer, but I removed the blossoms in order to direct the energy towards more growth.

Here is another variety that I just planted called a ‘Russell’ avocado. Except for the fact that this was the only variety available currently in my area (bought from Home Depot), this would not have been my choice. While the Russell is supposed to have very good taste, it is not cold hardy. I would have preferred a ‘Lula’ as another cold hardy variety, but simply could not find one. Therefore, I will have to take measures to keep this avocado covered when the temperature drops below 30F.  This was the size of the Brogdon above when I planted it, so you can get an appreciation for how well it likes it’s new spot!

Avocados like a well drained and loamy soil, so besides not tolerating any standing water, they are fairly tolerant of soil types and do not have many pest or disease problems (the type of plants that I am currently focusing on). Because they have a fairly shallow root system, they particularly like a thick mulch, and will even send their roots up into the mulch.  You can see in the pictures that I have pilled a layer of compost and leaves around the bases of these trees to take advantage of this fact. Avocados also are self pollinating, but to increase pollination, it’s best to plant an ‘A’ and ‘B’ variety – which is what I have in the Brogdon and the Russell.

One of the best places on the web for seeing pictures and reading descriptions of various types of avocados, is the Pine Island Nursery avocado viewer. I am curious to hear what types of avocados any of you folks are growing – or planning to grow.  So long until next time, and post questions if you have any, as I have done a lot of research on growing avocados.

Out of the six grape vines I now have, a couple had a few problems resulting in a loss of some growth. On one, I had put a little too much fertilizer which killed some of the newer growth. Be very careful to not place the fertilizer too close to the base of these plants, as they are very sensitive.  At the rate these are going, I am expecting a partial crop this coming summer. Not bad for 8 months since starting as bare root whips!

Out of these, a couple did not survive, and I had to buy two replacements at the local nursery this spring. The varieties which I now have are Ison, Noble, Tara, and Southland. You can see that the basic idea is to trim down to one shoot, and then let this reach the top.  Following this, you let one branch (cordon)  go in each direction where it will have 20′ of wire (10′ in each direction) before encountering the next post. Any grapes which tried to form this year, I removed so that the energy of the plant would allow maximum growth. Supposedly, it takes about three years to have a good harvest, but at the rate these are growing (and being in Florida),  I am betting on a decent first harvest next summer.

I basically have 120 feet of muscadine trellis, with 60 feet per row, 20 feet between posts and 10′ between the two rows.  These are 4×4 pressure treated posts which are sunk 1′ into the ground and cemented. Because of the length of the rows, I decided not to implement complicated end supports (such as diagrammed on Ison’s site).  The wire  is #7 gauge aluminum which I bought in one of the home improvement centers in the fencing department. As you can see, I cut some supports to run the vines up on (I used tie down fasteners), and I only buried these in the ground a couple of inches and placed a notch in the top to catch the wire. As the weight of the harvest increases, this will also give some extra support to the wires. To secure the wires at the posts, I drilled a hole through the posts about 1.5″ down (most instructions simply nail the cable to the top of the post and that would work also).

In this picture, you can see that after pulling the wire as tight as possible, I fastened it to the end of the outside post using a V clamp. What I have between this clamp and the post is just a wood spacer with a hole drilled so that I had room to apply a wrench to the clamp nuts. As mentioned, this is a much simpler solution than other plans which I have found on the internet, but I am fairly confident that it will be of sufficient strength. If the cable were to start getting slack in it, I will merely pull it and re-secure the end clamp etc. Of course, you want to let the post concrete set completely and cover the post holes before stretching and attaching the wire. If your trellis ends up being longer than about 60′ feet, it might be advisable to design an end post support system such as shown on Ison’s website.

Here is a final picture showing how two shoots have been trained to split off from the support and travel in each direction along the wire. Basically, when the original single vine approaches the top, you just choose two growth shoots and keep trimming off the rest. Once the tendrils of these shoots get a hold of the wire, it’s off to the races. The next step once the vine travels along the wire, is to then trim so that only one shoot per about 3-4″ is allowed from the cordon  (the main vines traveling out etc). However, I have not  reached that part yet, and this is my first experience growing muscadines,  so stay tuned. BTW, southern muscadines are incredibly healthy in that they have one the highest concentrations of resveratrol, quercetin, and other antioxidants.  It is amazing that these muscadines have accomplished approximately 8′ of growth in about 7 months.

Comments and questions are appreciated!

I am having to visit the  garden about 3 times daily just to keep up with the produce that is ripening. This includes pounds of tomatoes daily, okra, summer squash,  zucchini,  cucumber, corn, beans, peppers, broccoli, and even several watermelon (not planted in the raised bed, but on the far side).

Since this picture, my squash have succumbed to a bad case of powdery mildew – which I have only partly been able to control by eliminating infected leaves and spraying with baking soda. My corn unfortunately got ravaged by hungry raccoons, so I will probably need to install an electric fence for deterrence in the future.  Otherwise the garden is doing very well, and will probably last until the real heat of  July and August.

What a thrill it is to have more than enough to eat ourselves, and plenty to continually share with friends and family.  Even after giving away many tomatoes, I still had to dry several bags by using a food dehydrator.  If more people would go through the initial planning (and planting) stages of a garden area, they would be as hooked as I am on growing their own foods. BTW, I have several people hooked on the delicious ‘Sun Gold’ tomatoes. Pictured on the left is one day’s harvest. In this picture, I have sungold, Juliet, and a Cherokee purple. I also have other varieties, including Kellogg’s breakfast heirloom.

I am having equal success growing zucchini, and I have been lucky so far this year in not having the squash vine borers that have plagued me in years past. These can quickly turn healthy cucurbit plants like squash and zucchini into mush! I am also fortunate that I have finally had sufficient pollination from bees and insects such that I have not had to pollinate by hand (see hand pollination of squash and zucchini – cucurbits). As the season first started off,  I did have to do some hand pollination, but as the weather warmed, the pollinators fortunately moved in.

I have also been enjoying eating fresh squash and zucchini flowers (from the male flowers of course).  I place them in my salads and also cook them with a little oil on the stove top. They are loaded with carotenoids and antioxidants. Finally, my goal in writing many of these articles is to show that with a little work and perseverance, you can truly achieve a magnificent production of edibles from a small space – and do it in a way which is environmentally sound and sustainable (I did not use many commercial fertilizers at all in this growing process). I will be posting similar articles on the many other vegetables that I am growing in these beds – I just started getting some fine watermelons that have ripened!

Here is a slightly different approach using re-bar, and here I have simply pulled a tie-wrap tightly and inserted an ‘S’ hook which I made from some 9 gauge wire.  I make  ‘string ladders’ whereby I can easily adjust the hanging distance from the support.  I first cut some string about 20″ long and wrap it around something like a shovel handle (pulling each end evenly).  I then start by tying a square knot around the handle. Afterward, the first tied loop is removed, and then the adjoining section of string is looped around the handle, and another knot is tied. This is done until a few sections are produced as seen in the image.

Also not pictured, are some some long stakes that I made by ripping 3/4″ pressure treated wood into 1″ widths.  I cut a point on the end and then drove these into the ground about 18″ deep and then simply drove finishing nails through to hang the supports (as in the conduit method).

This method of staking and supporting large tomato plants works like a charm, and is especially helpful when those huge tomatoes start weighing the plants down! I can reuse the stakes, string supports, and hangers year after year. The advantage to the hangers over traditional tying methods, is that you can support a lot of branches in one hanger without them being bunched together and constricted etc.

The plants which I have in these three 16′  x 4′ raised beds are:  1) tomatoes – sun gold, Cherokee Purple,  Kellogg’s Breakfast, Early Girl, and Juliet.  2) Cucurbits:  Squash,  zucchini, and cucumber.  3) Peppers:  Bell, Anaheim, Habanero. 4) Beans:  Kentucky Wonder, Purple hull, and Roma.  5) Broccoli and brussel sprouts. 6) Okra, radishes,  and eggplant.

If you click the picture, you can see that I have planted corn in the very back, and also have watermelon on the left side.  I eventually plan on installing more of these raise beds in this area. And the best part: I have not added any synthetic fertilizers, but am using all compost and other natural ingredients!

This is the first time that I have attempted to have such an intense concentrated planting using a square foot approach – especially considering that my indeterminate tomatoes will probably end up at 6 foot! I have another post coming soon on a new approach that I am using to protect my cucurbits from those nasty vine borers.

1. Take inventory of suitable spots on your property to grow your edibles. Consider the amount of sunlight, the orientation of the sun, the quality of the soil, the trees nearby (root intrusion), the proximity to pets and animals which could be detrimental etc. When you are done, decide how many square feet you have to work with (of course, containers can be considered as part of your equation)
2. Find out which things do best in your climate and soil (unless you are going to amend it etc).
3. Consider what you would like to plant and the quantity;  What do you and your family enjoy eating the most? Which things are most expensive at the store (sometimes, I will opt to grow things which are not as readily available, and/or not of good quality). How large is your family? Do you wish to grow for friends and/or have extra to barter? Would you like to grow extra to sell at market etc?
4. Now come up with a list of everything that you wish to grow and the approximate quantities of each plant. Do some research as to the spacing for each of these (square foot gardening in raised beds can greatly simplify this for most edibles).

Now that you have this list of things (and quantities) that you wish to plant, you need to decide whether you are going to have a row garden, raised bed garden, container garden, ‘or’ a hybrid of the above.  You are now at a point where you can truly plan the layout of your garden.

One of the easiest ways to visualize and design your planting area is with grid paper, and then mark off one foot grids. However, there are now gardening design programs which can greatly simplify the process, and they can be fun and educational to use – Some of these are even free! In the top picture, I have a screen shot from one which I am using this year to plan my new 1200 sq ft plot.  This particular program is fairly easy to use, and is available online at the Gardener’s Supply Company Garden Planner. They also have a neat planting guide for each plant which will help in your planning.

Anyhow, that is it for now, and just remember the hardest part of any venture is to simply take the first step. If you answer the questions above, you will have taken the first step to plan your edible’s garden. There is more to come on other steps along the way, as I will be video documenting the layout and progression of my own new plot – but at least we have ‘scratched the surface’ for now