Radish's potatoes, mint and Elvis

Nothing says romance like Elvis impersonators at the State Fair

Being the sentimental guy that I am, our romantic valentines day celebration consisted of going to the State Fair and seeing the Elvis impersonators and Budweiser Clydesdale's.  Top that valentine.  The State Fair had many agricultural and 4H club displays.  At one display, the kids were giving away little plastic bags with cotton balls with some radish seeds.  Since my wife likes radish's, she gladly accepted one and gave them to me to plant.  That was several weeks ago.

sprouting radishes

radishes new home

So today while rummaging around the shed looking for something I noticed the little bag with the cotton ball.  Somehow it accumulated a few drops of moisture in the little bag and the radish seeds were starting to grow inside the bag.  So the cotton ball was removed from the bag and all the little seedlings were separated from the cotton and planted.

newly planted potatoes

Another new addition to the Florida Bee Farm and a long shot in my mind are potatoes.  I was recently at a Farmers market and talking to a guy selling organic potatoes.  He happened to have a few potatoes that were starting to sprout that he had under the display because he didn't think any customers would want them.  He gave them to me for purchasing a pound of good organic potatoes.  That worked out perfect because you need organic potatoes for planting because the ones in the supermarkets are sprayed with an anti-sprouting spray to keep the potatoes from sprouting eyes.   Another reason for eating organic.

The potatoes had quite a few eyes already sprouting on them so they were cut into many pieces that all had an eye.  And then placed in large pots with a small amount of dirt on top.  As the plants grow you're supposed to keep mounding dirt on top.  I've heard only a few varieties grow in Florida so this may or may not take as the guy at the Farmers market had no idea what type of potatoes they were.  Since I'm the lucky guy it's worth a try.

relocated sweet mint

While reading some gardening tips today, I noticed people discussing growing mint.  The consensus was that you should put mint in a shady location with plenty of water.  My mint was not doing well in a sunny area so our barely surviving mint plants were transplanted into pots and put into a shady spot after a heavy watering.  Must have mint for Mojitos.

Indian Rocks Co-Op

Once again I was away from the Bee Farm on another everglades sailing trip.  Upon my return I noticed a group of tomato plants that looked pretty thirsty.   Checking the irrigation system revealed one zone that was inadvertently switched off !  How very frustrating it was because it was simply due to rushing a job to hurry home and pack for the trip (which was put off until the last minute).

One of the tomato plants was heavy with fruit so when it weakened from lack of water it collapsed on it's stems.  That plant may not make it.  The other plants were better supported by their tomato cages and will probably be ok even though a few lost leaves and stems.  Needless to say on Monday morning all plants received  extra water rations.

The good news is the tomatoes are starting to take off and we listed eggplant and some tomatoes with the Indian Rocks Co-Op.    Plus there were plenty of garden fresh tomatoes to accompany me on the trip to the everglades where our group eats well and shares so much food that we all probably gain weight on the trip. 

eggplant

The Indian Rocks Co-Op will be selling our excess produce and it looks like a good source of fresh veggies.  We'll be ordering from them as well as selling.  As people learn more and more about how big agriculture poisons our food, co-ops and healthy organic vegetables and food will continue to be more popular.

As they say, you are what you eat and last night was such a delight using a half dozen of these delicious heirloom tomatoes and several extra large Black Krim tomatoes (not shown) which are just starting to turn red.  The flavor is amazing.  We diced the tomatoes and added to a large pan of thinly sliced onions, lots of garlic and some white wine.  A little cream, salt, pepper and pasta .... heavenly and just one more reason I'm the lucky guy.  

Rutger tomatoes