It’s time to grow again
We are starting to get our bragging weather back. If you time it well, you can even get out and garden now. Early morning gardening is possible. October is Southwest Florida’s gardening energetic planting season. Seeds, potting plants, shrubs and bulbs are ready to begin.
Judith and I have been busy at Trafalgar Middle School planting the flowerbeds with the students in charge of them. They are pie-shaped areas near the walkways of the buildings the students walk on as they go to their different classes. We started with seeds right into the ground and found only half responding. Judith tried starting some in pots. We wondered if our lack of enthusiastic growing was the result of trampling by the students as they dart in and out of the beds going between classes. We put up markers, broken yardsticks with loose plastic pop bottles pulled over them, designating the rows where seeds should be. We are now doing already potted bedding plants that show their presence.
The vegetable farm has taken on a life of its own. Last spring’s covering of plastic has helped keep weeding from being an overwhelming fall chore. The vegetables and fruit trees are bearing nicely and the gardens are now on many garden tour groups’ agenda. Al is now in a trailer classroom by the garden patch. He has incorporated math, science and other studies that pertain to the garden out of these classrooms. He has been able now, to use the crops in the cafeteria for the students and teachers.
As much as this is the month to start growing plants, it is also the month to stop pruning shrubs and poinsettias. Pruning leads to plants sending out new growth that can be damaged if we have a cold snap, creating the dreaded “die back.” I hear snow is predicted in some spots “up North.” Our Southwest Florida area doesn’t seem to be in any danger. Hurricanes are not over until the end of November, so we are enjoying a bit of a dry spell, but more rains will come. The fertilizer ban is over, and the palms would appreciate an 8-2-12+Mg feeding. It’s time for that last-month-of-the-year fertilizing of shrubs and trees.
I was at ECHO for its Farm Day at the Master Gardener table, right by where they had the table loaded with the six-packs of “Sweet Charlie” strawberry runners right next to us. It is time to get these started. I thought it would be beneficial to plant strawberries on the mounds of soil last year at the school and have the runners cover them, but the rain washed the soil right into the crown of the plants, killing them. We have about six left that are now on solid ground. Starting over. They do well in hanging baskets.
My challenge now, is to learn to grow turmeric, Curcuma longa, called the hidden ginger. I have been drinking turmeric tea to help my arthritic joints, so I am looking into growing these rhizomes. I am now seeing them in the grocery stores; they look like the large sweet potatoes of ginger. Both are in the same Zingiberacea family, along with the Pine Cone Ginger, Zingiber zerumbet, or Shampoo ginger I tried to grow for its flowers. I seem to have a thing for gingers, they are so fragrant, producing beautiful flower heads. My problem is when they die back for the winter, I lose track of where I planted them. The Pine cone Ginger works well in floral designs, so that started my ginger spree. Then I decided to plant the ginger root, Zingerber officianale, I bought in the grocery store for cooking. I’m sure I could do the same with turmeric. Articles say it is an easy-to-grow plant in our sub-tropical zone.
I bought the powdered turmeric around Easter time to dye peeled hard-boiled eggs, trying to do the healthy coloring without manufactured dyes. It certainly stains everything yellow, my cup, spoon, terrazzo floor. A little bleach works wonders. Then I found that it is anti-inflammatory and started using it for tea as I can’t have caffeine. I will start making curries for which it is famous. It is the ingredient in mustard that makes it yellow.
Now is harvesting time for the rhizomes, which is why you can find the rhizomes in the grocery stores, and dormancy follows; since we have the weather to not freeze them, they can be grown in the ground here. I might do the pot bit to keep track of it. The gentleman, whose directions I am following, uses coconut coir as his potting medium to aid in moisture retention and to avoid compaction. Place the bright orange rhizome just below soil surface, making sure the buds or green growth face upward. Keep it consistently moist, but not soggy, they are not drought tolerant. Early morning sun is best, not the hot direct afternoon sun. Some shade is beneficial.
In 6 weeks I should see the fresh leafy growth and when they reach a few inches tall, then, I will put them into the ground or larger pot. Their shoots eventually become 3 to 4 feet tall. In the summer, feed with organic fertilizer twice a month. At about 10 months, they are mature. When the leaves start to brown and dry up in the fall or early winter, cut them down and harvest what you need. Mark the spot. It will return in the spring as a beautiful tropical landscape accent. The whole plant is edible, leaves as wraps, the flowers can be eaten as an exotic vegetable, the root dried, boiled and powdered as a spice
Tumeric is called the hidden ginger and I hope I can find it better than my regular ginger. There is also, one other edible ginger called Galangal for all Thai cuisine cookers.
Thank a tree, we are blessed in their presence.
Joyce Comingore is a Master Gardener, hibiscus enthusiast and member of the Garden Club of Cape Coral.