Itâs a little too soon for Speed Weeks đ in Daytona so it âmust be âSeed Weeksâ! đ€Ș
If you are following this blog, then you will see itâs already time to transplant the seeds that were just in baggies!
âRecyclingâ the days trash into useful vessels
What a difference a few days makes. Shhh, had to eat all the Krispy Kreme donuts to put the box to good use! Oatmeal box, egg crate, toilet rolls, dog food box; etc!
âRecyclingâ all in a days work as well!
Lettuce
The Lettuce and Calabrese Broccoli actually sprouted in 2 days and grew quite fast. I had to use a skewer stick to push roots down further into soil. Tomorrow theyâll be jumping out to the garden by themselves!
I am getting ready for the season. The last frost predictions are usually mid February to be safe. Weather is unpredictable so be prepared to cover tender new growth if you do set them in ground.
The purple color is from the grow light. Not really needed but since I have one, why not!
This is the simplest way to get a head start that I have tried. I use a sponge for most seeds but with so many I have to use a wet paper towel.
As you can see, I wet the towel (just short of dripping) and place in a sealed baggy. If you have never tried this, most all seeds sprout. Make sure you have room in your garden. Now is the perfect time to till or turn the earth.
Add amendments or your favorite medium to the beds. When those soaking seeds get an inch or two big you can sow. It’s best to transfer new seedlings into small pots to get established before setting out into the elements.
If you have any wildlife that frequent your yard, be diligent in protecting against invaders!
Squirrels in my yard are my biggest culprits. I watched a squirrel eat the leaves off my hibiscus! They eat everything. Rats are also a problem as well as any animals that eats grubs, or greens. Inexpensive wire fencing helps deter.
If you have ideas on how to keep pests out if your garden, comment and let us know!
It’s never too early to be prepared so let’s get growing!!!
The list above is shared from UFl but NOT ALL will grow in your location in Central Florida. The list is by no means an exact science with so many unique locations to consider
Lakes, open areas, dry areas, scrub areas, soil quality, Â PH, soil amendments, sunlight or lack of, seasonal weather events,; etc, Â all play a part in the health of your garden
âNativeâ plants are pretty much whatever grows naturally without human placement.  That is âmy opinionâ from 30 years of  trial and error.  Iâve watched nature decide what filled the empty spaces in my yard  Some were allowed to remain but others had to go. The yard and garden transformations from year to year are ever changing  I donât always agree with Mother Nature but I believe, I know, she knows best!
My goal from the first year living in Florida was, not to watch another plant freeze, or die due of dehydration from heat, or dry to a crispy dried branch!! Â After all, I had personal relationships with some (actually all) Â of these plants. Â Did I mention what it cost to âwing itâ? Or how I had what I thought was a green thumb…..until I moved from âSouth Jerseyâ to Florida! Â Thank goodness I was up for this new challenge!
My daughters when they were young posing with the Zinnia!s.
When you see your favorite little joys bite the dust it is heartbreaking.  I do not like loosing things that give me so much joy.  Anyone who shares a gardening passion can understand that!  I knew it was time to stop watering dead plants AND stop wasting money as well  Itâs a wonderfully different experience now
SO – I joined Deltona Garden Club  and my little piece of paradise began to grow! The knowledgeable ladies and men I had the pleasure of meeting, taught me so much  Sadly many of my mentors are gone but I am hoping to keep the garden club legacy alive by sharing stories such as this
Florida celebrates Arbor Day every January as well as every April 26th.
Cool days of winter are perfect.
Celebrate “Arbor Day Florida” today by planting a tree. *Or not? It’s usually a great time to plant trees that are in a dormant stage. â ïž (*I’d wait until after the freeze we are expecting Sunday here in the southeast.)
“What types of trees are dormant in Florida?” “What type of tree grows in Florida?”
If you take a look around your neighborhood, take note of trees that have lost their leaves! If you aren’t sure what kinds of trees they are, pick up a few leaves. Take a photo of height and placement for reference.
Trees aren’t just for oxygenation, erosion, wildlife, etc, but for cost savings if you’re a homeowner.
Planting the right tree in the correct place can cut your cooling costs in half. Florida sun can be scorching and relentless on the hottest summer days. Save your interior carpet, furniture, curtains from fading, or “disintegrating” all together!
The hottest time of day for the “rays” to be most intense is around 4 pm at my home. The sun setting in the west doesn’t loose much punch on the way down. Hot as 2 o’clock noon if not hotter. An aluminum awning had to be put over the window immediately after building the home. Took some time for trees to be tall enough to be effective.
Electric bills too high? Plant a đł. See you in April!
See our photos of our tree planting projects or get advice from our community at DeltonaGardenClub.com
We use over 80,000,000,000 aluminum soda cans every year.
Used aluminum beverage cans are the most recycled item in the U.S., but other types of aluminum, such as siding, gutters, car components, storm window frames, and lawn furniture can also be recycled.
A used aluminum can is recycled and back on the grocery shelf as a new can, in as little as 60 days.
An aluminum can that is thrown away will still be a can 500 years from now!
Paper
The average American uses seven trees a year in paper, wood, and other products made from trees.
This amounts to about 2,000,000,000 (2 billion) trees per year!
We throw away enough paper and wood each year to heat 50,000,000 homes for 20 years.
Each ton (2000 pounds) of recycled paper can save 17 trees, 380 gallons of oil, three cubic yards of landfill space, 4000 kilowatts of energy, and 7000 gallons of water. This represents a 64% energy savings, a 58% water savings, and 60 pounds less of air pollution!
The 17 trees saved (above) can absorb a total of 250 pounds of carbon dioxide from the air each year.
Burning that same ton of paper would create 1500 pounds of carbon dioxide.
If all our newspapers were recycled, we could save about 250,000,000 trees each year!
Plastic
Americans use 2,500,000 plastic bottles every hour! Most of them are thrown away!
Plastic bags and other plastic garbage thrown into the ocean kill as many as 1,000,000 sea creatures every year!
Recycling plastic can save twice as much energy as burning it in an incinerator.
Americans throw away 25,000,000,000 Styrofoam coffee cups every year. Glass
Every month, we throw out enough glass bottles and jars to fill a giant skyscraper â all of which are recyclable! A glass bottle would take 4000 years or more to decompose ââ longer if it’s in the landfill.
The energy saved from recycling one glass bottle can run a 100âwatt light bulb for four hours or a compact fluorescent bulb for 20 hours. It also causes 20% less air pollution and 50% less water pollution than when a new bottle is made from raw materials.
Mining and transporting raw materials for glass produces about 385 pounds of waste for every ton of glass that is made. If recycled glass is substituted for half of the raw materials, the waste is cut by more than 80%.
Miscellaneous
An estimated 80,000,000 Hershey’s Kisses are wrapped each day, using enough aluminum foil to cover over 50 acres of space ââ that’s almost 40 football fields. All that foil is recyclable, but not many people realize it.
Rainforests are being cut down at the rate of 100 acres per minute!
A single quart of motor oil, if disposed of improperly, can contaminate up to 2,000,000 gallons of fresh water. Motor oil never wears out; it just gets dirty. Oil can be recycled, reârefined and used again, reducing our reliance on imported oil.
A typical family consumes 182 gallons of soda, 29 gallons of juice, 104 gallons of milk, and 26 gallons of bottled water a year. That’s a lot of containers ââ make sure they’re recycled!
We have two times a year here in Florida to celebrate Arbor Day. January and April!
This year, January 19, 2019, I will be planting a tree at Pine Ridge High School. Please contact DeltonaGardens@outlook.com if you are interested in attending.
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Deltona Garden Club 