I want to start a fruit and vegetable garden in Central Florida… What should I grow?
I am willing to devote my entire yard to this. Trees are A-OK. I already have a Coconut tree, an orange tree, a mango tree and a Sugar-apple tree. So far, I’m thinking I will grow more Citrus, Pomegranate, tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, papaya, and banana. Any other suggestions? Any reason why I should not grow any of these? Please back up any comments or criticism with facts and references.
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peaches! OH and key limes! Those are REALLY good for lots of recipes.
I grew up on a horse farm in west Central Florida–in Zephyrhills, FL. We had an entire acre of our 40 acre property devoted exclusively to a vegetable garden. In fact, about the only thing on your list we didn’t grow was pomegranates—but I’m sure they will grow here just fine because it is a tropical.
My father is a 4th generation farmer and rancher (who also happens to be educated as well–he is an electrical engineer who just recently retired from a 40 year career at Tampa Electric Company). Our vegetable garden was primarily for fun and for family use–we ate all our own organically grown garden produce and raised our own poultry and beef right on our own farm. I live in St. Petersburg, FL now, but I still have about 40% of my yard planted with edibles (right along with my flowers and landscape plants). Vegetable gardening in Florida is all about knowing what plants like the sun or shade and what the water usage is. You can plant most vegetables here if you provide the right microclimate for them–meaning cold-weather crops will need cool partial shade and probably a different soil ph than is found here. You’re probably not going to be able to grow good asparagus, broccoli, or rhubarb here unless you have a greenhouse–it is too hot and sunny for those plants. However, I have successfully grown corn, blueberries, apples, spinach, and various other cold zone plants just by making sure they get less sun and by adjusting the soil content. Make sure you add potatoes (regular and sweet) to your growing list–they are easy to grow and the plants are pretty, plus you can grow them in mixed rows with other plants that are taller (like beans). Lettuce is very difficult to grow in Florida without greenhouse conditions (too susceptible to FL pests and insects), but you can grow good cabbage, brussells sprouts, all kinds of beans and peas, onions (yum), carrotts, leeks, watermelons, pumpkins, squash, all varieties of peppers, …….I can go on and on.
Just read the seed package if you’re starting things from seed and follow the rules! Talk with a good local nurseryman or horticulturist (not to be found at Home Depot or Lowe’s, sorry to say–they’ll sell you anything just to sell it)–a local vegetable farmer is a much better resource! Use plenty of compose and start your own compost pile at home–you’re gonna need it. Horse manure is king–hook up with a good stable near you to ensure a plentiful supply of this gardener’s bounty. Make sure you have good irrigation available–a sprinkler system with a programmable timer and/or a drip system is best. Also, think about investing in keeping some small banty hens (yes, chickens)–we used these to control insects in our garden rather than use pesticides…it works well, plus you get the manure as a bonus.
Don’t start with a plot that is too big for you to work by yourself–vegetables need a lot of weeding, aerating, pinching, picking, and general tending. It took our entire family of four working more or less daily during the growing season to stay on top of a one acre garden. However…more than worth it, because that one acre provided our family with almost our entire produce needs year round.
Fruit trees don’t need a lot of work if they are planted well and watered in…so go to town there. Grow a nectarine tree–they are delightful fruit trees to grow in Florida…the flowers smell heavenly and the fruit is to die for. You should also consider grapes…there are several varieties that grow well in tropical conditions–we had three varieties on trellises in our garden to shade some of our more delicate vegetables. Passion fruit is another FL fave–gorgeous flowers and the fruits are very pretty and unusual tasting.
Email me if you have any other questions. I am an avid gardener and, although I do not do it for a living, I have set up gardens for almost every friend I have, plus I am on the Botanical Society for Sunken Gardens, FL. Enjoy your garden!
***BTW, Fl is one of the leading tomato producing states, so no problems there–almost any variety will grow here. Eggplant and papaya are also good choices, but bananas are mainly ornamental here–it doesn’t get hot enough! Bananas are a true-blue near-equator tropical plant that require extreme temperatures and torrential rainfall to ripen to an edible fruit. It is not common for a banana tree to bear edible fruit in FL, but grow it anyway–they are such pretty plants and your squirrels and birds will love you for it!