The Start of the Harvest

Here in South Florida my mid summer harvest is getting ready. Before you say anything, yes I know it's May but being in a tropical climate calls for earlier seasons. So when the North still has snow on the ground I am already planting my "summer" crop. One of my favorite ways to describe the climate where I live is that I live closer to Havana, Cuba then I do to the nearest town in the nearest state (Georgia). Much closer. Another reason for early seasons besides the heat is the pests. Southern Florida is where many pests go for winter, so we don't really get a break from that. For example, I didn't go out into my garden for 3 days and had an entire squash plant eaten by pickle worms. So I have to remain vigilant. I am in the process of buying some more ladybugs (I also bought them during "winter") in order to reduce and hopefully eliminate these hungry annoyances. I'm hungry too guys 😩. Anyways, today I worked on ridding the main garden of pickle worms and harvesting chamomile and some of the smaller garlic and onions. This means my bigger garlic and onions will be ready soon! Yay! I'm also getting close to harvesting my sweet potatoes and purple potatoes. I will update then. In the meantime, enjoy some photos of the recent garlic, onions, and chamomile. Talk to you soon!

Some chamomile before and after drying. The smell of chamomile is so amazing.

Quick garden update!

I made the wall facing the garden into a trellis wall! It was soooooo easy and also affordable! Once I completed the wall I planted several raspberry and grape plants and even a Marionberry! Here's some pics:

The items we used to create this was PVC pipes and connectors, white plastic trellis purchased from the Po ;), and zip-ties to hold it all together. I dug a hole for the pipes and the trellis to ensure they remain firmly in place. The plants are really enjoying the trellis and I am enjoying the additional space for plants added to my garden, especially for long term plants like grapes - which can live for 20-30 years! 

Budget DIY Chair Makeover - From Drab to Fab

This is a super simple DIY that had an amazing outcome. Did I mention this was all done with Rust-Oleum spray paint for about $5 a can? I bought the bulk six packs so I could have leftovers for other projects. Just look at this before and after picture!

These were bar stools that that came included with our house ;) We used them as patio chairs for the bar area on our back porch. They were already pretty rough looking, but being outside in Florida made them pretty gross. Here are some more before pictures:

 The first thing I did was take them apart. This was very simple, I just removed the screws! 

I then cleaned them with a bleach, soap, and water mixture. After they dried I prepped them for spray painting. I swear I am not a spokeswoman for Rust-Oleum, but they always have my favorite stuff. I used their hammered spray paint and their fabric and vinyl spray paint. I am super obsessed with this hammered spray paint and use it for 90% of my crafting projects. Basically everything in my house is this hammered color.

 Then I sprayed my little heart out. I did two coats of each and I used about 4 cans of the fabric spray and two cans of the hammered spray. I am known to be pretty heavy-handed with spray paint (just ask my husband) so you may use less. The fabric spray went on smoothly and I definitely recommend it for any of your projects.

 

 Pretty awesome right? Well, it has been about six months and the chairs are still looking brand new! Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions. I will leave you with some more before and after pictures. Bye for now! 

Fall "Gahden" Update

The Hardwick household is definitely picking up pace at the current moment and we have some great DIY projects cooking up. As of right now, we are remodeling our kitchen - DIY style! I am super excited to post when we are done and cannot wait to share it with you. We purchased our house in order to eventually change everything inside, instead of buying one already redone at the same price. So I pretty much loathe all of the interior aspects of our home. We have been slow to take off with major remodeling but we have definitely done quite a bit of projects here and there. I have some more of these little projects I will be posting soon. Meanwhile, here is our fall garden update. Keep in mind that fall here in south Florida is the equivalent to summer everywhere else so please refrain from being perplexed by our summer veggies and fruits - its hotter than Hades here. 

The photo on the left is from the 14th and the right is from today (the 24th). This is a 10 day growth!

Here's what we have growing: 

Four types of Sweet Corn including ruby red, purple, and two types of white and gold; three types of Yellow Squash; Zucchini; Butternut Squash; Spaghetti Squash; Pumpkins; Luffa Gourds; three types of Eggplants; two types of Sweet Peppers; six types of Hot Peppers; two types of Tomatoes; Sweet Potatoes; Baby Carrots; Black Beans; Red Beans; Purple Beans; Italian Beans; Green Beans; Pickle Cucumbers; Sweet Peas; Seedless Concord Grapes; two types of Strawberries; Garlic; Shallots; Onions; Asparagus; citrus trees; and many types of herbs. Whew!

Excuse the mess in the garden, it has been raining like crazy here so I have not been able to do much weeding and pruning this past week. Besides the occasional flooding in low lying parts of the garden [ I need to buy some dirt =( ] things have been running smoothly. That was until two weeks ago when I had a massive cutworm/inch worm (not sure) infestation. I refuse to use Seven and the organic alternatives did not work in controlling them, so I pick them off daily since they continue to show up daily, but I made a huge dent in them the very first day. However, I feel like I have definitely won the battle thus far.

??  Pickle worm, Cutworm, Inchworm ??

Nico the Australian Shepherd - A little Fun Fact about Aussies: they are not Australian at all! The breed was actually developed here in the US! No one is 100 percent sure on how this name came about, stories differ. Another nickname for Aussies is Ghost Eyed Dogs, given to them by Native Americans in the 1800s.

My mother and her dog hanging out on the back porch in front of the flowers she bought me as a gift =)

I'll update again when some of these flowers start producing veggies!

9/30 Additional Pictures: