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FEBRUARY IS WHEN VEGETABLE
GARDENERS IN NORTH FLORIDA TURN THINGS UP A NOTCH Last call for broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower! February is the last month to plant these cool season favorites in your north Florida garden until the end of summer. Because our hot weather sometimes arrives early, it is probably best to get your transplants in the garden by about mid month. Sounds like some great President’s Day fun! Transplants are available for purchase now at local department stores, DYI stores and garden centers across north Florida. I recently set out some Snow Crown and First White Hybrid cauliflower that I started indoors from seed. Snow Crown is an All American Winner and is said to be a top choice for home gardens. First White is also a prize-winning cauliflower that is big on taste. Last year I grew White Cloud and was quite pleased with it. February is the month when north Florida vegetable gardeners turn things up a notch. What a difference from January, which for most of us was as dull as a bus ride to Bloomington.
North Florida veggie gardeners who start seeds indoors are getting busy with their peat pots, grow lights and coldframes. If you are starting your own tomato seeds, it would be prudent to include a variety that is resistant to Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus, or TSWV. Tomatoes such as Fletcher, Amelia, Bella Rossa Hybrid, BHN 440, BHN 640 and Talladega. In the past it was difficult to find transplants resistant to TSWV but now they are readily available (more on this subject in my next post). If you intend to include them in your spring garden, eggplant and pepper seeds should be started this month, too. I’ve had good luck and prolific yields of lovely fruit in my north Florida garden from such eggplant varieties as Fairy Tale, Purple Rain Hybrid and Crescent Moon Hybrid. I don’t regularly grow peppers but I have had good success with Corno Di Toro, Anaheim Chile and Italian Relleno peppers. They are great on the grill, stand up to the heat of the summer and produce fruit well into the fall.
Other veggies that can be planted this month in north Florida include cucumbers, collards, English peas, radishes, turnips and potatoes. This year I am going to grow Russian Banana fingerling potatoes, a Russian heirloom said to have unsurpassed flavor. The Russian Banana is a late season potato, so I may not have great success getting them to full size, even as small as that is (four to five inches). But it is worth a try if they are anywhere near as tasty as reported. I did have great success with potatoes last spring. I grew Yukon Gold, an early season golden-fleshed potato that was lip-smacking good. Potatoes recommended for north Florida are Sebago, Red Pontiac, Atlantic, Red LaSoda, LaRouge and Superior. Plant 2-ounce seed pieces with eyes. |
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