The great thing about Florida is that we can garden year round. We have ripped everything out except the peppers in preparation for the next adventure.
Right now, I'm in the process of digging up the plastic barrier on the bottom to create a deeper bed. With the raised bed, we were only getting about 10" of depth which I'm not sure made a difference but it seems that tomatoes need at least 12". So I'm digging a good 2' deeper, taking out the ridiculously dense dirt underneath then filling it in with the existing top soil then going back and filling it with compost manure and soil from a local nursery.
![[Image: 20170729_140018.jpg]](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v151/Stangfriik/Mobile%20Uploads/20170729_140018.jpg)
I thought about doing what's called solarization which kills any weed seeds along with soil borne diseases but after seeing how many earthworms we have in there, I'm unsure if it'll hurt them so I decided against it.
This go around, we are going to attempt to do what's called companion gardening. This is an anecdotal technique whereby certain vegetables and herbs benefit each other either by improving flavor or repelling pests. Plus it really maximizes the the results within a restricted area of space.
This is a rough layout and I'm sure it looks a bit umm muddled lol but I'm hoping there is a positive method to my madness lol.
![[Image: 20170730_104504.jpg]](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v151/Stangfriik/Mobile%20Uploads/20170730_104504.jpg)
Apologies for the chicken scratch lol but if you make out an esemblance of legible words, we are going big this time lol. These are all heirloom seeds which will be quite the dramatic difference than what you find at a farmer's market or grocery store. The beans are completely different, the tomatoes are a deep purple almost black, huge Brandywine tomatoes, massive peppers, broccoli and cauliflower that looks like fractals lol. Here is pic of the broccoli that we hope to grow. We aren't sure how it'll do due to our mild to warm winters but we hope it comes out half that cool.
![[Image: Alaska-Remple-Farms-Broccoli-Romanesco-DSC03676.jpg]](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v151/Stangfriik/Mobile%20Uploads/Alaska-Remple-Farms-Broccoli-Romanesco-DSC03676.jpg)
We will have to grow most of the broccoli and cauliflower in it's own rows outside of the bed due to their conflicts with nutrients. Cabbage also is a no no so they have to be placed far apart. We are gonna try to sneak in some in the bottom box though and see how it does.
Oh and we are also growing spaghetti squash and from the comments on the seed site, we will be practically giving these away because they produce so many lol. They also need their own dedicated area as it's a complete vine takeover from the pictures I've seen.
All in all, we are very excited to see how we do. Now that we've learned quite a bit, we hope we can have a more successful harvest.
Right now, I'm in the process of digging up the plastic barrier on the bottom to create a deeper bed. With the raised bed, we were only getting about 10" of depth which I'm not sure made a difference but it seems that tomatoes need at least 12". So I'm digging a good 2' deeper, taking out the ridiculously dense dirt underneath then filling it in with the existing top soil then going back and filling it with compost manure and soil from a local nursery.
![[Image: 20170729_140018.jpg]](http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Stangfriik/media/Mobile%20Uploads/20170729_140018.jpg.html)
I thought about doing what's called solarization which kills any weed seeds along with soil borne diseases but after seeing how many earthworms we have in there, I'm unsure if it'll hurt them so I decided against it.
This go around, we are going to attempt to do what's called companion gardening. This is an anecdotal technique whereby certain vegetables and herbs benefit each other either by improving flavor or repelling pests. Plus it really maximizes the the results within a restricted area of space.
This is a rough layout and I'm sure it looks a bit umm muddled lol but I'm hoping there is a positive method to my madness lol.
![[Image: 20170730_104504.jpg]](http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Stangfriik/media/Mobile%20Uploads/20170730_104504.jpg.html)
Apologies for the chicken scratch lol but if you make out an esemblance of legible words, we are going big this time lol. These are all heirloom seeds which will be quite the dramatic difference than what you find at a farmer's market or grocery store. The beans are completely different, the tomatoes are a deep purple almost black, huge Brandywine tomatoes, massive peppers, broccoli and cauliflower that looks like fractals lol. Here is pic of the broccoli that we hope to grow. We aren't sure how it'll do due to our mild to warm winters but we hope it comes out half that cool.
![[Image: Alaska-Remple-Farms-Broccoli-Romanesco-DSC03676.jpg]](http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Stangfriik/media/Mobile%20Uploads/Alaska-Remple-Farms-Broccoli-Romanesco-DSC03676.jpg.html)
We will have to grow most of the broccoli and cauliflower in it's own rows outside of the bed due to their conflicts with nutrients. Cabbage also is a no no so they have to be placed far apart. We are gonna try to sneak in some in the bottom box though and see how it does.
Oh and we are also growing spaghetti squash and from the comments on the seed site, we will be practically giving these away because they produce so many lol. They also need their own dedicated area as it's a complete vine takeover from the pictures I've seen.
All in all, we are very excited to see how we do. Now that we've learned quite a bit, we hope we can have a more successful harvest.
![[+]](https://www.bring4th.org/forums/images/collapse_collapsed.png)