Garden-Florida

When we moved to this house back in 1998 there was a mostly-dead maple near the front of our yard. My neighbor had a similarly-placed maple in the same sad condition. A few years later we removed both trees. She had hers cut to the ground and the roots ground up. Mine was cut to about a two-foot stump.

My skeptical neighbor asked if I planned to leave it like that. I explained that I would find a small bougainvillea to plant next to the stump. In no time the stump would be covered over.

Being an avid gardener like myself she vanished into the back and quickly returned with a clay pot containing a small bougainvillea. She didn’t have the space and was happy to be rid of it.

Bye-Bye Bougainvillea

I planted the little thing close to the stump and pruned back the stems to encourage thicker growth. That was about the extent of my effort.

Within a couple of years the bougainvillea had grown into a large specimen, visible from about a block away. I pruned often to encourage new growth and the plant thrived.

Then in September 2004 the relentless winds of Hurricane Frances left the bougainvillea completely defoliated and pushed over on its side. I could not think of a good way to force the thorny monster upright, and so pruned back severely and filled in around the roots with a wheelbarrow full of dirt.

About the time new growth covered the thorns, Hurricane Jeanne arrived to smack it around some more. I know that bougainvilleas are tough plants but this seemed a bit much. Not to worry. By spring the plant was thriving, bigger and bolder than ever.

Then a couple of years ago the balsam pear vine arrived. My cousin calls it stink vine. Call it whatever you like, this plant is even more relentless than the bougainvillea. By this time the bougainvillea was so dense that it was impossible to root out the unwanted vine.

I pruned and trimmed but this only seemed to energize both bougainvillea and stink vine. And by this time I was working to replace the ornamentals in my landscape with edibles. Time for the bougainvillea to go.

The only reason I could think to keep it was that the thorny monster had become a favorite nesting place for the mockingbirds. But even if the birds refuse to serenade me this spring I could not justify the amount of time it now takes to prone the mess. I can’t tell you how often I found an hour or two to work in my yard, only to eat up the time yanking out stink weed and pruning thorny branches. I understand why the mockers love the plant for nesting. There’s no way a cat could negotiate the thorns. I don’t really understand how the birds manage it. With good views of the whole neighborhood, it did make for an ideal mocker fortress.

Well, I finally oiled up the chain saw, put on some heavy-duty gloves and set to work cutting the whole thing down. Even with the gloves my arms look like I just lost a fight with my cats. But it is done. The whole mess is cut back to a thick tangled stump of bougainvillea. And by the way, absolutely no sign remains of that old maple stump. Guess it all became bougainvillea food.

Anyway, I am still not sure if I will completely remove the bougainvillea or try to force it into a more manageable shape. For now I will watch and see how the stump recovers.

I usually preserve the fresh ginger from my garden as Crystallized Ginger. The process is simple and the ginger retains its strong flavor. You can find a variety of recipes online, but I will describe the simple process I have used for years.

Thoroughly wash and clean the tubers.

Peel, then slice the ginger into thin pieces, discarding any discolored bits. Since the shape of the tuber is not even like a potato, I find that it helps to cut into even sections and then peel and slice. You can also use a potato peeler to slice the ginger into thin ribbons. This may be a bit more time consuming, but worth it in the long run.

In a heavy pan combine a tablespoon of water, two cups of sugar and the sliced ginger. Bring the mixture to a slow boil on a medium setting, stirring regularly but gently. Turn the heat down and let simmer until no liquid remains. This may take an hour. Now the candied ginger and the remaining sugar can be stored in an air-tight container until needed.

The little slices of sweet ginger are great to steep with tea to sooth an upset stomach or to calm the body in general. Also, the ginger can be used in cooking, or nibbled like candy by those who enjoy strong flavors.

The above describes how I usually preserve ginger. This year I decided to try something different.

My son enjoys experimenting with marinades. I had read somewhere that ginger is easily preserved in vodka. This sounded useful for meat marinades.

When I came for a visit this week I brought some fresh ginger from the garden. We cleaned and sliced the ginger as described above. Then placed into a container, which we filled with vodka – the cheapest stuff available will do nicely. My son thought the ginger needed sweetening so he added about three tablespoons of cane sugar, then he shook the container to dissolve.

After a couple of days the ginger had become tender and the vodka smelled like ginger. Both the ginger and vodka can be used in meat marinades.

We tried our own version of ginger teriyaki with some of the liquid and ginger to which we added some oil, soy sauce, a little more cane sugar, onion and various seasonings. After marinating I boiled down some of the liquid for a glaze. The ginger flavor was wonderful.

After using some of the liquid for marinades, add more vodka to the container. It will take on the strong flavor of ginger after a couple of days.

Ginger is easily grown in Florida. Simply purchase a nice tuber that is firm to the touch and tinged with green and pink. This means it is fresh. (I found one at the store a few years ago that had especially plump sections. This one has given me good, plump ginger tubers ever since.)

When you bring the ginger home from the store slice it into sections, usually 4 to 6 sections for a typical tuber. Let the ginger dry overnight and then plant in a container with good quality potting soil. I do this to give them a good start. After the first year, they go into the ground, in improved garden soil, in a sheltered location. They grow well in shade or partial shade.

Last fall, after Tropical Storm Fay left my back yard flooded with 14 inches of rain, I decided it was time for some serious re-landscaping. This would begin by raising the soil in some areas and working for better drainage and runoff in others.

I shredded a substantial amount of plant trimmings to compost. Among the items shredded were the roots and stems of the sweet potato plants just harvested.

With one distraction after another last spring I didn’t get around to redoing the back yard. So the big pile of compost just kept getting bigger. Then one day I noticed a sweet potato plant growing in the center of the pile. I guess one shred of root established and sprouted. I decided to leave it alone and see what happened.

Over the summer the plant thrived and grew enormous. Now, finally ready to redo the area, I uprooted the plant last Thursday. The photo doesn’t give a good perspective on the size of the tubers. This is because they grew so long. I am not sure why. The photo was taken immediately after I dug them up. This was from that one plant, which had been completely ignored all summer, left to grow with absolutely no help from anyone.

Sweet Potatoes From The Compost Pile

The fresh sweet potatoes looked so good I went ahead and baked them Friday. The texture and flavor was absolutely perfect. Since we were having a neighborhood garage sale yesterday I reserved a cup of cooked, mashed sweet potatoes for Sweet Potato & Pecan cookies.

Sweet Potato & Pecan Cookies

¾ c butter
¾ c light brown sugar
½ c sugar
1 egg
1 c sweet potato, cooked & mashed
1 ½ c flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp nutmeg
¾ c quick cooking oatmeal
1 c pecans
1 c golden raisins

Cream butter and sugar. Blend in egg and cooked, mashed sweet potato. Mix in dry ingredients and then sir in pecans and raisins. Drop by teaspoonfuls. Bake at 350 degrees 14-16 minutes.

This made about 52 cookies and were they ever delicious!

The more I grow sweet potatoes, the more I am impressed. They grow in a wide variety of soils and once established need very little attention. I have some more plants to dig up soon that came up from last year’s bed. Again, no help from me. I think they actually look better than the ones I started from slips. I am beginning to think that if you grow these thins once, you will have them always. They are just that easy to root.

When Overwhelmed

With one thing after another unexpectedly occupying my attention these past few weeks, I have fallen hopelessly behind with garden chores. And late summer is unforgiving in Florida. Rain and sunshine energize weeds to overtake the garden at an astonishing speed. As do vines and pretty much everything else.

I look at my overgrown gardens and I am overwhelmed. Looking at this work is enough to sap my energy. Why does thinking about work feel more exhausting than the actual work? Where to begin? I need a plan of attack. There’s too much that needs doing. The situation is overwhelming and impossible. Perhaps I’ll tackle it tomorrow when I’m a little more rested.

But tomorrow arrives with a dozen unexpected demands on my time, coming from every direction at once. Oh well, the yard work can wait.

Sure. Yard work can wait. The weeds don’t mind. They are thriving and cheerfully scattering their seed in a gusting wind. The vines stretch out ever farther, threatening to smother a small tree. Work that appeared overwhelming yesterday is even more so today.

Time to take action.

Where to begin?

I have discovered that the worst thing to do is spend time assessing all the work needing attention. This will overwhelm, and make it too tempting to put off for another day.

With any overwhelming task, I find the best approach is to not think about the totality. Start wherever you’re at. Pull up one weed. Then another. It doesn’t matter where you begin, just begin. One simple task. Then another simple task. Trim back that vine. Prune those limbs. One task at a time, and after a bit – Progress!

This seems to be true no matter the task. No reason to dwell on everything that needs doing. Put that same energy into pulling up that first weed.

What did I learn for this experience?

I should have trusted my sense of smell and touch. I finally cut the mango this evening because even though there was still quite a lot of green on the skin, the aroma was becoming overpowering. The fruit was very soft. There was no green inside and some of the fruit was almost overripe. Next time I’ll slice when aroma and softness tell me it’s time, regardless of the color of the peel.

As you can probably tell from the photo the fruit was very juicy. The texture and flavor were excellent.