Happy hour (in the garden)

Laura Young
ECB Publishing, Inc.

I can hardly think of a better way to start the day than out in the garden. As soon as there's enough light to see by, I'm pulling on my boots and gloves, deciding what tools to grab and then digging in to the black gold where all the growing magic begins and ends. The first trench I dug for in-garden composting has just become ready to function as a planting row, the soil there now wonderfully light and rich. I'll be gradually working my way across the garden again, digging trenches where I had planted and planting where I had trenches. All the joy of planting takes root in the quality of the soil and grows to abundance in the air and the heart. So, while my garden was taking a bit of a break in August, I used that time to conduct some soil tests. I got instructions from the extension office, collected dirt here and there, and brought it back in labeled baggies ready to send off to their lab. For a $10 processing fee per sample, before long I received a wealth of helpful information, and Ag Agent De'Anthony Price sat down and went over the reports with me personally. Thanks, De'Anthony! It was pretty much good news all around with helpful advice about how to boost certain elements and either correct or take advantage of pH levels in particular locations. The tests certainly informed my garden planning process, and I am ready to lean into some Fall planting!
What We're Eatin' in September: We're still enjoying sweet potatoes, peppers, eggplant, various herbs and tropical spinach. I was so surprised when my Malabar spinach vines got tiny little blooms that made deep purple berries. Lo and behold, these are edible and touted to be quite healthful – an excellent source of vitamins A and C, iron, and calcium. Although they don't taste much different than the spinach leaves, their mild flavor still has worked well in recipes with berries. One time I used them in a smoothie, which gave the concoction the loveliest purple color (see the recipe box). Another time I heated them with some frozen blueberries and blackberries I had picked earlier in the summer, adding in a little corn-starch-laced orange juice and maple syrup for a great pancake topper. On the wild side, I have just one word: chanterelles. If you are at all inclined to collect native mushrooms, study up on these. These bright orange fungi are gourmet fare and, I find, by far the easiest to identify with confidence.
What's Coming Along: A second seeding of zucchini has started sprouting, and the herb patch is doing well. The pepper plants and eggplant have continued to bloom right through the dog days of August and into September. Kale and lettuce that I seeded in little pots about a week ago are starting to show their first leaves, and the zinnias that died out scattered all kinds of seeds that are sprouting and promise a lovely show of colorful blooms later this month. Based on the soil test from the herb area, I'll be trading out the leaf mulch for pine straw to achieve a pH they'll prefer. The lemon grass is growing really well and becoming a dramatic centerpiece for this part of of the garden!
What to Plant This Month: According to UF/IFAS Extension, edibles to transplant in North Florida during September include arugula, beets, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, Chinese cabbage, collards, endive, kale, kohlrabi, lettuce, strawberries and Swiss chard. You can even give transplants of mustard, celery and spinach a try, with care. I've found the price of transplants has gone up considerably, along with just about everything else, so I'm looking to start as much of the garden as possible from seed packets. Items to direct seed in September include bush beans, pole beans, carrots, cucumbers, bunching onions, bulbing onions, radishes, squashes and turnips. If the heat put you off starting anything recently, now might be the time to dive in. If you want to rest your garden a bit longer, never fear: many of these crop choices will appear in the recommendations for October and November as well. The sooner and more often the better, though, because the act of planting a garden enriches us with hope and joy. Pulitzer Prize winning author Alice Walker in her poem “Rich” said it this way: “It takes so little to make me happy: An hour of planting … is an hour filled with gold...”