by Superwoman

Created on: August 12, 2008   Last Updated: September 21, 2008

The garden spot was located in the deep south of central Florida. The soil was sandy so using peat and cow manure seemed the thing that worked well to build the soil.

After tilling and spreading the compost I ran into a pet problem. My dogs found the whole experience a wonderful thing. They were rolling and digging everywhere. The smell of the fresh tilled soil and the old manure was irresistible. I put a short fence up around the garden to deter the party. They still jumped over it occasionally. Destroying their choice spots on and off through the season.

I also had a gopher; also known as a land turtle in the south. It had it's burrow at the edge of the garden entrance. It kept getting further and further into the garden as it dug and it rained. These were endangered and protected animals. An oak log placed as a header protected the entrance integrity and marked his home quaintly. He crawled out and across the yard every morning. Every evening about five o'clock he would return as he grazed the grass across the yard. The dogs often urged him along a bit faster than he would've naturally been traveling.

Another problem was the truck load of aged manure. I had it hauled in for the garden and it was growing all sorts of weeds. So straw and mulch was used to keep the moisture in and keep the weeds down around the plant rows.

The green beans flourished with little to no help wonderfully in this soil. I had a really good crop of beans. Green onions were happy and growing very well. I also grew a twelve foot sunflower in the corner of the garden; it was amazing. It loved the manure combination. Corn, on the other hand , required some extra nitrogen to help it along. Some lime was used in that area also. The tomatoes had a rough time with the moisture as they were spotting about the time they were starting to ripen. I had to take extra care in the watering of the tomatoes. To much water was a problem there. The sprinkler setup had to be altered. The green pepper plants were one of my favorites. The price was high for green peppers at the grocery store. I felt a victory every time I picked one.

The little yellow butterfly's were everywhere. Next came the caterpillars. Poisoning the plants was not in my option book. I did dust the problem areas with some ashes from the fire pit often to curb the infestation of insects. Hand picking the caterpillars off the plants did put a quick stop to them. Then these little black grasshoppers with a red stripes came out in herds

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