Chris J Bell

Garden Going Strong

// November 27th, 2011 // No Comments » // garden

I planted most of the plants in the garden a few weeks ago.  I have 5 types of tomatoes, 3 types of cucumbers, green beans, peas, lima beans, eggplant, bell peppers and hot peppers.  Most plants are doing very well and I have already harvested a few cucumbers.  The next few weeks will be a challenge as work occupies most of my time and there will be little left for the garden.

Gardening Fall 2011

// August 27th, 2011 // No Comments » // garden

The South Florida planting season is around the corner. I have big plans this year for a variety of tomatoes, including some rarer varieties.

I plan on reworking my soil this weekend.

Garden Update

// October 21st, 2010 // No Comments » // carrots, cucumber, garden, squash, tomato

It has been roughly 45 days since I first transplanted seedlings and planted seeds in the garden. Most plants are doing well. The weather has been good except for a few windy days and some heavy rain.

The cucumbers I planted in the container were doing very good until I noticed caterpillars. These are the small light green variety that I dealt with last year. I wanted to use a biological approach but could not find the product I wanted. So I opted to spray with Sevin. It has been a week and it looks like they are under control, for now. Today I saw my first female flower which is a little early for the 55 day harvest time. It is a good sign that the plants are healthy. The plants that are in the raised bed are much smaller than their counterpart but are starting to flower.

The squash plants in the container are doing very well. They suffered from a caterpillar attack also. It has also has it’s first female flower. Again the plants in the container are much bigger than those in raised bed.

The tomato plants I transplanted are doing very well also.

Seedlings Emerge

// September 12th, 2010 // No Comments » // cantaloupe, cucumber, squash, tomato

I went out of town for two days and returned to sprouting seedlings. Tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, dill, basil, and cantaloupe all emerged. I am still waiting on the carrots, yellow onions, and scallions.

Carrots & Squash

// September 9th, 2010 // No Comments » // carrots, squash

This year I am planting carrots for the first time. I planted in my large raised bed. I only seeded half the bed to stagger the harvest date a little because you can only eat so many at a time. They should be ready to harvest in 80 days.

Another experiment I am trying is summer squash. I am not a fan of winter squash so I thought I would try a summer variety. I am relatively confident that our Fall/Winter will be mild enough.

Planting Cucumbers

// September 8th, 2010 // No Comments » // cucumber

I spent the morning planting seeds and making containers. I direct sowed 2 types of cucumbers. One is what’s called a bush variety that will produce slicing cucumbers. The plant is suppose to be compact but produce medium to high yields.

The second type is a pickling type. This plant will have 4′ vines. I direct sowed the seeds into a mound of garden soil and compost.