Fall in Florida

Garden Sunshine Peppers

I moved to Florida in 1988, so I've spent the majority of my life without a real "fall."  I've seen the leaves change in other areas, even in northern parts of Florida.  I always thought I was missing out on something. It wasn't until last year that I felt blessed to live somewhere that stays so mild in the fall and winter.  Last year I discovered fall gardening.  I prefer it to spring and summer gardening because it is cool enough to grow cabbages, broccoli, kale, lettuce, and carrots, but warm enough to grow eggplants, peppers, and tomatoes. In east central Florida, we have about 9 months of gardening.  June, July, and August are pretty horrible months to try and grow anything other than flowers, eggplant and warm weather spinach.  This summer was so hot, even my eggplant stopped producing. We've been blessed with some very cool mornings in the last month, which means my broccoli and cabbages are growing like crazy.  The days have still been in the low to mid 80s, allowing my eggplant and tomatoes to start blooming. My garden sunshine peppers are producing like crazy right now. My onion sets are almost ready for transplanting.  The only thing that doesn't like the weather is the Malabar spinach.  The cooler nights are starting take their toll. It looks like I am going to run out of room in my garden this year.  I guess that means it's time to buy some good containers and dirt.  I still need to plant lettuce, radishes, carrots, and another round of beans.