Who is eating my Arugala?

Gardeners have been experiencing very unusual and unpredictable weather lately. In my own Central Florida garden, my Christmas Cactus photographed at Christmas/late December 2010 is just beginning to bloom. This plant typically in past years has been as predictable as the best calender, displaying it's showy flowers, as a gift, just in time for Christmas day. We were caught with little warning in mid December with a "hard frost" for two consecutive nights killing off and browning up plants, gardens and even turf. Floridians like myself are not used to this and as a gardener, I find this to be just so invasive of nature to just wipe out with one swoop my beloved garden. Below is what was left of my "edible garden".

As I moped about, surveying the damage, I did discover buried way in the back of my yard in a very often not explored spot, a Bromeliad in bloom. Was this a sign that Mother Nature was attempting to win back some of my lost admiration and wonderment?

So, after looking at my edible garden disaster for several weeks , as long as I could possibly endure this, I did break down and pull everything out and replanted. Ah a new fresh start. I planted all the "winter or cold weather" veggies that could survive another hard freeze. I planted several varieties of lettuce, celery, broccoli, cabbage-green and red, brussel sprouts, kale, beets and probably some additional veggies that I just did not think of now, in addition to many herbs in portable pots, that can be moved under cover in severe or freezing weather.

So here are my new little sprouts proudly doing what I expect of them. And I do check them several times a day. Even my kale and beets are coming up from seeds. My raised beds measure 4 foot X 6 foot, and were easily made by cutting 2 pressure treated boards in half, originally 12 foot and 8 foot. A drill and and some special screws and I have my raised beds to house my edible garden and I control the growinng soil. Yes, since the new planting, we had several additional evenings with a hard freeze and I just cover my raised beds with a full size fitted sheet....really easy. I would like to take the credit that I thought this out and planned it accordingly, but cannot. This worked out quite by accident!

This morning, I noticed that my Arugula was ready for harvest. There is nothing like going out to the garden to pick fresh produce for dinner. I immediately got on the Internet and found a recipe for Cape Cod Chopped Salad which looked very yummy, and proceeded to go outside with my basket and clippers to pick my Arugula. But.......it was all gone! Chewed down to just nubs. Who is eating my Arugula? What furry little critter is getting the benefit of all my work? First the weather then the critters.....

By the way, I will mention for any of you Vegitarians out there, I am sure this salad would still be yummy with the bacon left off!

Obviously the photo above of the Arugala is not from my garden. I have decided to just be patient and wait for my crop to regrow, which it will....and I will get to it first.

If you are not familiar with Arugula, it is a spicy little leaf, which some describe as bitter and others characterize as having a "peppery-mustardy" flavor. Because it is so potent on its own, it is often mixed with milder greens to produce a nice balanced salad. It can also be sauteed in olive oil. You can substitute most any green for arugula, but the closest matches are Belgian endive, escarole, and dandelion greens.

In the meantime, while I wait, I will admire my Orchid which is in full bloom and fills my kitchen with the sweetest aroma. But, I could not help to think that what I have experienced in my garden is probably how one would feel when they go to the refrigerator for a glass of milk and find a milk container empty!!!

It has been a slow recovery....

But we are slowly making progress after a bitter cold winter here in Central Florida. Garden ornament.....I salvaged this "planter" out of my daughter's home being totally renovated in Pt. Saint Lucie, Florida. It certainly adds "my touch" to the landscape. Actually most visitors to my garden hardly notice it until I point it out to them.

This is a "baby" from my Giant Kalanchoe Gastonis Bonnieri, Donkey Ears, that I photographed extensively and posted about, probobly until I bored my readers silly. The poor mother plant is gone...a victim perhaps of the glorious bloom it produced and then followed by the freezing weather. And yes during the cold days and nights she was moved into my lanai and covered. It just got too cold. But this little baby protected by other plants did make it. Hopefully by fall it will be ready to bloom for me. I did give away several other babies.

I have pots of assorted flowering plants scattered around to add color and interest.

And I have added a small water feature to my garden, because I just love the plants that can grow in it. But once again the cold weather made victim of several of my flowering water plants. The "lettuce" plants survived and I recently added Papyrus, or "Little Tut" as it is commonly known. The Papyrus is a native of the Nile River, and are the plants the Egyptians used to make the first paper.

The addition of flowering annuals add accent and draw the butterflies and birds.

I have several large Stag Horn Ferns which did fairly well. Several of the fronds were burned from the cold, but new ones are filling in quickly.

I do not have a name for this vine that I purchased last season, but this is the first bloom which I imagine will attract butterflies, at minimum.

My Bird of Paradise is doing well under the canopy of the large trees, and was not at all affected by by the Florida freeze.

Several varieties of Bromeliads did well, I just need to remove the burnt leaves and separate the clusters.

Shrubs are starting to produce their flowers adding more color.

Some more flowers added for color.

Moving out to the front yard, my big brown spot recently the topic of another post is filling in quickly. I am real pleased with the Asiatic Jasmine. My front beds have everything filling in and looking better finally.

My Crinum Lillys which looked like wilted spinach after the cold are coming back beautifully. As noted in a previous post, I have moved them 3 times from different homes here in Central Florida and do really "baby" them.

Since they are in pots, the Red Bird Cacto Cardenal was moved inside my covered lanai during the freeze and did still end up dropping every one of its red color showy leaves, but they are just starting to come back now. I will be patient and it will be worth it.

The little sign displayed reads: A garden of friends is always in bloom!

Ah, now to my "new" favorite plants......My edible landscape, growing in 2 raised beds, using the square foot gardening method. Seen here in the rear is Kale and up front is Zucchini. Other plants I am growing include: beans, several varieties of tomatoes, cucumber, eggplant, green & red peppers as well as hot pepper, squash, broccoli, cabbage, several varieties of lettuce and carrots.

Cherry Tomatoes are abundant on this plant with the first ones ready to pick in the next day or so.

Here are 2 Spaghetti Squash seedlings just emerged from seed. I think that the tomato crop will be very abundant from what I see now. I have about 5 different varieties. I also grow herbs which I love to have for cooking. Once you cook with freshly picked herbs you will never be happy with dried or even the "fresh herbs" you purchase in the grocery store. I am currently growing Basil,Chives, Dill, Ginger, Lavender, Marjoram, Mint, Oregano, Parsley, Rosemary, Sage, Tarragon and Thyme....I think that's it. I even love the scent of the herbs when I water them...........which is what I think I need to do now, since it did not rain.

Keep Gardening.......

Make every inch of your property beautiful, productive and delicious!!!!