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March 31, 2025
A 17 hour journey - safe and sound
When I was young, I once travelled from NYC to Tel Aviv, with a stop in Zurich. That trip to compete in some international track meets. The flight took 17 hours. It was one of those “forever” flights. On March 31, 2025 we left Fort Pierce at 1:15 pm and headed back home to Delaware. The drive (with 5 stops) took 17 hours, as we arrived back home at 6:15 am, April 1. Driving through the night saved us the agony of having to drive the Washington-Richmond corridor, one of the most unpleasant routes on the east coast. It is good to be back home.
These onions were started on January 19, 2025 down in Florida. They were a bit root bound, but onion roots can be easily separated. I put the contents of the yogurt cup of onions under water, washing away the soil and each onion that separated very nicely. There are 47 onions, Ruby, Candy, Spanish, Walla Walla, and 4 leeks.
March has been a strange month down here in Florida. High winds, tornado warning, temps in the 40’s at night, low daytime temps (mostly mid-70’s) and very little rain. Spring break must be a disappointment for those college students who wanted some hot weather. Along the way my seedlings have been doing fine, with my fingers crossed that they will survive the trip north and become great plants in the Delaware gardens.
2025 Florida Garden
As spring is coming along pretty soon, I have started my seedlings for the Delaware Garden. No greenhouse needed. No heat mats. Just put them into containers and hope they grow. The first photo shows two tomato seedlings, a Bush Early Girl and a Early Wonder Tomato (determinate), which I hope to put into 5 gallon cans and grow for early harvest. The two trays contain mostly collards, broccoli and a few Early Delight tomatoes, along with some Red Wonder Peppers. I also planted celery, but no seedlings yet. The onion seedlings are in yogurt cups and include Spanish, Utah and Ruby red. The final tray has a variety of lettuces. I was finally able to locate Nevada lettuce seeds and I hope to get them started before we head back home.
Bessie, the cow!
Our local cow is quite the attraction in our community and I gathered some more information on her. “Bessie” is 20 years old and has never had any calves, as she is considered the household pet of the family that owns her. She loves carrots, which the two women brought to her in this photo, along with sweet potatoes (her favorite), mandarians and potatoes. When Bessie saw the two woman come up to the fence, she came running right over, looking for treats. The carrots were gone within a minute each, as Bessie just chewed them down.
Florida Gardens 101
This year (2024-25) is my sixth or seventh season of trying to grow some veggies in Florida during our winter stay. Let me start off by saying, “It isn’t easy”.
I watch YouTube videos, experiment and get blessings from our neighbors for our veggies, yet getting a decent harvest tends to elude me most seasons.
Although I harvested over 300 tomatoes (most of them golf size), I have been frustrated by predators and very poor soil (who else can I blame?) for a limited production in two raised beds. I only harvested two broccoli heads, the first one being very nice, the second one, so-so. My first round of lettuce, with the seedlings brought down from Delaware, came along quite nicely, with lots of cuttings. The second round, started and planted down here, did not do nearly as well. I had three beautiful Red Snapper tomato plants that were pretty much destroyed by nasty ants that left huge bite marks and blisters on my arms, legs and hands. What a disaster.
So, let me go down the list.
1. The soil down here in Florida can, in no way, be described as “dirt”. It is “sand” with some broken down compost, having little nutritional value, to say the least. I am guessing if you wait 5 years for compost to break down, you might have something, but even after 3 seasons of locally obtained compost, the “dirt” is still mostly “woody” in nature.
2. Bugs, more bugs and critters are a major problem. I found that I have to pick my veggies just prior to maturity, as there are bugs and creatures I don’t recognize, that will do the harvest for me. I have lost almost half of my tomatoes this year, because I don’t use poison sprays and, sometimes, failed to pick early enough.
3. The need for water and fertilizer is paramount. Despite a pretty wet winter down here in Southern Florida (the ponds are still filled with water), I had to water almost on a daily basis, as the raised beds dried out very quickly. Now that it is Spring down here, I water daily and the beds are dry as can be every morning, prior to my watering. I have fertilized every two weeks and it seems it is still not enough.
4. Bug sprays and other deterrents don’t seem to help much. Besides the nasty ants that have destroyed my Red Snapper tomatoes, my lettuce leaves look like they got shellacked with some brown gunk. The insects, lizards, cranes, squirrels and other wildlife are having a picnic with my small garden. The adage of live and let live does not apply here if you want to eat your own food. I used Dawn and cayenne pepper sprayed over the entire garden and I believe the insects and wildlife saw it as “seasoning”. Since it doesn’t get cold enough down here to kill off my garden predators, I just made do with what I am able to harvest.
5. The plants take a. very long time to mature. The tomato seedlings, which I brought down from Delaware in the beginning of November, took until January to bear tomatoes. I had started the seedlings in early October. The long maturation results in the plants dying off by the middle to end of February, as they have been in the ground for almost 5 months.
The end result of all of this is that I gather about half of what I grow and I have to cut out pieces from the tomatoes, before I can use them for dinner. It is no wonder that I don’t see many market gardens in the area. Trying to produce food for a living down here is, in my opinion, a very hard job and I don’t think there are too many young people who wish to undertake such a stressful occupation.
I watch YouTube videos, experiment and get blessings from our neighbors for our veggies, yet getting a decent harvest tends to elude me most seasons.
Although I harvested over 300 tomatoes (most of them golf size), I have been frustrated by predators and very poor soil (who else can I blame?) for a limited production in two raised beds. I only harvested two broccoli heads, the first one being very nice, the second one, so-so. My first round of lettuce, with the seedlings brought down from Delaware, came along quite nicely, with lots of cuttings. The second round, started and planted down here, did not do nearly as well. I had three beautiful Red Snapper tomato plants that were pretty much destroyed by nasty ants that left huge bite marks and blisters on my arms, legs and hands. What a disaster.
So, let me go down the list.
1. The soil down here in Florida can, in no way, be described as “dirt”. It is “sand” with some broken down compost, having little nutritional value, to say the least. I am guessing if you wait 5 years for compost to break down, you might have something, but even after 3 seasons of locally obtained compost, the “dirt” is still mostly “woody” in nature.
2. Bugs, more bugs and critters are a major problem. I found that I have to pick my veggies just prior to maturity, as there are bugs and creatures I don’t recognize, that will do the harvest for me. I have lost almost half of my tomatoes this year, because I don’t use poison sprays and, sometimes, failed to pick early enough.
3. The need for water and fertilizer is paramount. Despite a pretty wet winter down here in Southern Florida (the ponds are still filled with water), I had to water almost on a daily basis, as the raised beds dried out very quickly. Now that it is Spring down here, I water daily and the beds are dry as can be every morning, prior to my watering. I have fertilized every two weeks and it seems it is still not enough.
4. Bug sprays and other deterrents don’t seem to help much. Besides the nasty ants that have destroyed my Red Snapper tomatoes, my lettuce leaves look like they got shellacked with some brown gunk. The insects, lizards, cranes, squirrels and other wildlife are having a picnic with my small garden. The adage of live and let live does not apply here if you want to eat your own food. I used Dawn and cayenne pepper sprayed over the entire garden and I believe the insects and wildlife saw it as “seasoning”. Since it doesn’t get cold enough down here to kill off my garden predators, I just made do with what I am able to harvest.
5. The plants take a. very long time to mature. The tomato seedlings, which I brought down from Delaware in the beginning of November, took until January to bear tomatoes. I had started the seedlings in early October. The long maturation results in the plants dying off by the middle to end of February, as they have been in the ground for almost 5 months.
The end result of all of this is that I gather about half of what I grow and I have to cut out pieces from the tomatoes, before I can use them for dinner. It is no wonder that I don’t see many market gardens in the area. Trying to produce food for a living down here is, in my opinion, a very hard job and I don’t think there are too many young people who wish to undertake such a stressful occupation.
April
3
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Walking in Florida
The walking has slowed down a bit as I have had some left hip issues for the last 5 months or so. It seems that recovery is coming along, albeit quite slowly. So my walks have been shorter, but multiple times a day, depending on how the hip is feeling. Hopefully, I can get back into full swing by the time we head back north.Daily Updates:
04-03-2025
Edward Vander Wande (1946-2023)
In memory of Ed Vander Wande (1946-2023), who was my neighbor three houses down the street in Clifton, NJ and was a great friend who enjoyed mechanical things, motorcycles and, later in life, skiing the Colorado mountains. Ed (front row, second from the left) and I used to play tug of war with our Lionel trains. He had a super powerful Santa Fe diesel, while I had the Illinois Central diesel. His train always won. Ed was quite creative, using his basement to build things, including a "Spooky House" that my sister still remembers, scaring her with every twist and turn around his cellar. May you rest in peace Ed, you will be missed. Our prayers go out to his wife Judy, as she was a terrific partner for 46 years.
Shorty Schuder (2005-2023) & Ella Schuder (2006-2023)
In memory of Shorty Schuder (2005-2023) and Ella Schuder (2006-2023). They were the most precious of gifts for us, Shorty, a loving, snuggly dog, almost died in infancy, only to hold on and have a wonderful life with us. He didn't care for the water, but loved to go for walks and eat. Ella came to us via our daughter, as she wanted companionship 24/7, which she got from us. She also hated the beach, but walked every day until the very end of her life. We miss them both very much.