Comments on: Our Dog is Designing Our Edible Landscape https://ourtropicalsoil.com/2018/07/20/dog-designing-edible-landscape/ Growing Food in the Tropics Thu, 29 Jul 2021 22:01:01 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 By: Melanie https://ourtropicalsoil.com/2018/07/20/dog-designing-edible-landscape/#comment-21 Fri, 20 Jul 2018 17:29:05 +0000 https://ourtropicalsoil.com/?p=219#comment-21 In reply to Craig Hepworth.

Yes, I have learned now how important it is to do some long term planning before investing a lot of time into making a garden. That is a funny story about Buddy and the lambs-quarters. I have never heard of that plant so I will have to give it a try eventually. The Ethiopian kale did well in the summer for me when I intercropped it. In areas where they were all planted together they had more problems with aphids. I am very interested in growing vegetables for hot weather, and I think that is because ever since I was young I had this mentality that no vegetable could grow in South Florida. When I started learning of all the different possibilities I was really amazed and excited to try growing them!

]]> By: Craig Hepworth https://ourtropicalsoil.com/2018/07/20/dog-designing-edible-landscape/#comment-20 Fri, 20 Jul 2018 16:27:44 +0000 https://ourtropicalsoil.com/?p=219#comment-20 Sounds like you're well on your way to figuring out a garden arrangement that works for you, the dog, and the neighbors. I love your heading "This is not what I want," haha - I've been at that point many times, of looking around realizing that my garden plans have not turned out the way I intended, and I need to re-formulate them, based on the latest experiences.
My favorite dog gardening story was when I was dog-sitting my friend's dog Buddy, and he dug a small hole in the lawn near my garden. A few weeks later, I noticed that a number of Magenta Spreen lambs quarters plants were sprouting in the spot he'd dug - that bit of soil disturbance was all the dormant seeds of this plant needed to germinate and colonize this little patch of ground. I surrounded the lambs-quarters area with stones in a heart shape, and called it "Buddy's Garden". That patch of edible plants would not have been there if it weren't for Buddy's action.
Do you grow Magenta Spreen lambs quarters? It's a great re-seeding annual green for spring to early summer, excellent raw or cooked, super tasty.
Have you had good results with Ethiopian Kale over summer? I had heard that it could handle Florida summers, so I tried it last year, and my plants of it got leaf diseases and crapped out in early summer, just like other brassicas. This year I've been getting good results with two brassicas from Johnny's seeds: Chinese kale 'Oros', and 'Carleton' greens - both are handling the summer pretty well so far.
Another super rare green that grows wonderfully in hot weather is Indian lettuce, Lactuca indica. It's a tropical lettuce that grows great right through the steamy heat & humidity of a Florida summer, great for salads. Another excellent candidate for your annual garden.

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