How to Grow Amaranth Greens in Florida

We all can agree that growing greens in Florida’s summer is no easy feat. Last year I tried growing baby bok choy in the shade, as well as trying different forage type greens, such as sweet potato leaves and cow pea leaves in my salads. While they worked OK, something was still missing. And that something was in a realm of a regular salad type green. So, this year I am trying something different.

Enter a new type of leafy vegetable: Amaranth Green.

I ordered the seeds from Bountiful Gardens because they offer all open-pollinated, non-GMO, heirloom seeds. The description for the amaranth, that is leaf amaranth, not the grain type, was that it loves heat and loves moisture. OK, heat is no problem in June and beyond, and moisture I can reasonably provide. Granted, we had a lot of rain lately, so moisture was supplied by nature.

True to the seed company promise, amaranth survived and is doing quite well. I only planted a few plants, but have been snipping the leaves for the salad for about two months now. Lately we have been suffering some excruciating temperatures, but amaranth stood to the challenge.

Amaranth Greens

The only problem with it is that it is quite difficult to start from seed. As usual, I start my seeds in nursery containers, and noticed that with this plant it is not easy when it comes to to achieving good consistent germination. The seedlings themselves look (and behave) quite weak for a few weeks, but when transplanted to the garden they do take off strong. I also tried to seed amaranth greens directly into the soil, but cannot attest to the success of that method because I mixed up replanting of the transplants and direct seed in the same bed. I think it would be better still to start it in nursery containers. All in all, it is a worthy green to try. It is somewhat dry and tough, compared, let’s say to romaine lettuce, but as we know, everything dies in our gardens in the summer, so a plant that keeps providing a harvest during the hot days is a winner no matter what. It tastes kind of like spinach, not a very strong taste, which is a good thing. I usually just chop it up in fine strips and make it a base for my salad. My verdict – thumbs up for that unusual vegetable, leaf amaranth green.

You can grow greens indoors in the summer. Click the image to learn more...

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Let's grow some peanuts

I always wanted to try growing some peanuts, even ordered the seeds a couple of years ago, but never got around to it. Recently I bought a bag of peanuts in the store and decided to try some out. For the peanuts to be "germinatable" they need to be raw, not roasted or processed in any way. Here's some raw peanuts from the bag, shelled:

I got some sixteen ounce Styrofoam cups, filled them with moistened potting mix to about two-thirds and placed peanuts on top:

Then covered with soil and watered:

Now I have to wait a week, maybe a couple of weeks for the peanuts to come up, while keeping the soil moist of course. Really, that's all to it.

When it comes to seeding, I do not obsess with it. Trust me, I used to, but not anymore. Nature will take care of it's children, and the children, aka seeds, are very resilient. I have volunteers in my garden all over the place. Whenever you leave a fruit on the ground, like a tomato or some Marigold heads, or radish pods, or been pods, etc. - they will seed themselves, it is inevitable. The only thing to pay attention to when it comes to seeding, is seeding in season and in conditions close to those of natural growing conditions.

Take these peanuts for example, naturally they should be seeded deeper than you would seed a tomato because peanut fruit is buried in the ground, and tomatoes simply fall on the ground. If in doubt, think how a plant would germinate in nature and try to imitate it. That's it. Happy seeding!

How to replant pepper seedlings

If grown in proper season, peppers are pretty easy to grow. In June and July we can seed peppers to be set out into the garden in August and harvested up until the first frost, which usually happens in December. I seed peppers in styrofoam trays leftover from mushrooms. They are free and have sufficient depth to start pepper seeds. You will have to poke some holes in the bottom of these trays to allow drainage. After the seedlings come up and show second leaves, they are ready to be replanted:

In this close up you can easily see that pepper seedlings have four leaves, two of the original seed leaves, which are called first leaves, and two of the seedling leaves, which are called first "true" leaves.

I use 16 oz styrofoam cups for my seedlings. Poke some holes in the bottom of the cup for drainage. I use a pen for that:

Fill the cup to about one-third with soil, I use Miracle-Gro potting mix for that. It is pretty cheap, about eleven dollars for a two cubic foot bag, and works very well. Carefully insert a teaspoon into a seedling tray and pick up a seedling from the bottom. Hold the seedling by the leaves, not the stem, and set it into the cup:

Fill the cup with the potting mix up the leaves. Water thoroughly so that some water runs off from the bottom holes:

Now the seedlings can stay outside, preferably under a tree where they will be cool, but still have some dappled sun. When the seedlings are six inches tall, or in about a month, they can be set into the garden.

Fodder food: alternative greens in the garden

I am trying to eat mostly organic, within budget, but in the summer having greens in the salads is always challenging. Yesterday, instead of rushing to Publix for a head of lettuce, I took a walk around the garden instead. Here's what I found:

Horseradish leaves:

Purslane:

 Sweet potato vines:

and Amaranth:

All these greens are edible. Sweet potato and amaranth leaves have food value of spinach, they can be consumed raw but I lightly blanch them before eating to soften them up. Purslane is a weed and will seed itself in containers and garden beds where there is no thick mulch. Horseradish leaves are edible raw and give tangy taste to the salad. Young horseradish leaves are tastier and more tender than older leaves, but you still have to cut the stem out and only use the greens part.

There are other fodder foods that can be used in the salad: mustard greens, swiss chard - both of these will "oversummer" in the garden if they were established in prior fall. Other non-traditional greens include green bean leaves, cowpea leaves and radish tops. On a broader scope, practically any green can be eaten, except for the nightshade family, such as tomato leaves, regular potato leaves and pepper leaves. Here's the recipe for the fodder food salad. Hope you like it.

Time to harvest cowpeas

It is June and cowpeas have been growing nicely. I use cowpeas as you would use any green been in my cooking. To harvest, I use scissors and cut off at the end of the bean itself. This way the plant is not damaged by pulling as well as it makes it easier to cut off the ends when preparing for cooking or freezing later:



One end is already cut so my future work will be reduced in half.



Sometimes you will see large red ants on the cowpea plants and also aphids on the beans. The ants are easy to get rid of, just shake them off the plant and they will fall onto the ground. Aphids are easily washed off with the garden hose or other means. Ants herd aphids on cowpeas and other plants, such as sunflowers. They are not harmful and do not do much damage to the plants or the crop.


Aphids on the cowpea bean


This amount of cowpea beans was harvested from a small four by four feet area in the garden. You can keep picking cowpea beans for about a month. After most of the green beans are harvested, leave a few on the vines to mature and dry; this way you will have your own seeds next season. Dry cowpeas can be used just as any other dry bean in your cooking, except they don't need to be soaked or cooked for as long as the other beans.

Now that one end of cowpea beans was cut off while harvesting, it is easy to process them for cooking or storing. I don't blanch cowpeas before freezing because they will not discolorate anyway and blanching involves additional steps that are not necessary before freezing cowpeas.

Canning crushed tomatoes

Tomato harvest is upon us and if you are like me, you have a lot of tomatoes in your back yard garden. I grow Roma variety specifically for canning. Lately I only can crushed tomatoes. The advantage of canning crushed tomatoes in a raw and simple form is that they can be used later as a base of salsa, spaghetti sauce, pizza sauce, chili, gumbo, you name it. Canning crushed tomatoes saves time and provides versatility.

First, I chop tomatoes with skins on (never a problem in later cooking) and put in a large pot:

Simmer chopped tomatoes with no added water for about fifteen minutes:

I do not add salt or lemon juice to my crushed tomatoes, they are acidic enough to hold their own. After simmering, ladle tomatoes into a clean hot jar:

Put clean sterilized lid (dipped in boiling water) and the ring on the jar. Hand tighten, but do not over tighten.

Put a kitchen towel on a bottom of the pot so that jars do not have contact with the metal bottom. Place jars into a large pot, tall enough to cover the jars with hot water from the tap for about an inch.  

Bring to a boil and then boil for twenty minutes, then take the jars out of the pot using a jar lifting tool. Set on the counter to cool. The lids should not have a bubble on top of them; if they do, press on the bubble with your finger. The bubble should go down and stay down. If it does not, and pops back up, use this jar for your immediate cooking, storing it in a refrigerator. Here's the finished product, canned crushed tomatoes: 

The jars should be stored in a dry cool place, such as your kitchen pantry. I cannot testify if they will last for more than a year as we eat them way before that... :)  Enjoy!

How to grow bok choy in the summer

It is very difficult to grow lettuce or other salad greens in Florida summers. But the salad of only tomatoes and peppers gets boring. I decided to try to grow bok choy for the greens and so far the experiment proved successful. Bok choy is a type of oriental cabbage that has juicy green leaves and stems, and can be eaten raw or cooked. I planted Toy Choy variety that does not grow tall. I planted it in a shady spot completely shaded by tomatoes from all sides, except Northern side. I water it every day and pick the leaves almost every day as a tasty addition to my salads:

Here's a close up of a couple of bok choy plants:

Ten to twenty plants will give you daily pickings for probably a couple of months. Bok choy needs to be watered daily and grown in the shade. It is very high in vitamins A, B, C and K. So, try growing some bok choy in your summer garden and enjoy tasty alphabet nutrition!

Grow okra in your summer garden

Okra is one of the most prolific and heat resistant plants. You can grow okra with minimal effort but it will reward you with outstanding yields of okra pods that can be eaten fried, baked, or in soups and gumbos.

Okra seeds are quite large and easy to sow. You can sow them directly in the garden, about a foot apart, or start them in containers, I use styrofoam cups for that purpose, and then set okra seedlings into the garden when they are a few inches tall. If seeded directly into the garden, seeds need to be watered daily, or as needed so that the soil remains moist at all times.

Okra grows pretty fast and needs daily watering until it's established, or about three weeks old. Beyond that, if there is no rain, you should water okra twice weekly, but thoroughly, so that roots can follow the water into the deeper soil.

Here's okra, a month old:

It already has some young pods on it:

Pods should be picked when they are three to four inches long so that they are tender and not woody. Pick okra often and don't let the pods to grow large and tough. At the end of the season, however, let a few pods from different plants to grow and dry on the plant, so that you could have the seeds for the next summer.

Okra can be planted anytime from late March through August. So, if you don't have any okra in your garden, it is not too late to start seeds now. Grow some okra in your garden, and it will reward you with beauty and abundant vitamin and mineral packed crop.

Sweet potatoes from store bought potato

We can still plant sweet potatoes in June. In fact, they can be planted anytime from beginning of April through second week of July and harvested in October and November. You can purchase sweet potato slips, but you can also grow your own potato slips from a store bought potato. A note of caution, a store potato might be treated with the retardant agent to prevent growing. I however never had that problem in my efforts of growing the slips. So, get yourself some sweet potatoes from the store, insert three toothpicks to hold the potato in suspension and submerge the lower part in water:

In about a couple of weeks the potato will start growing slips. You can expect six to ten slips from one potato. Once the slip is about six inches long, break it off the potato and insert into another jar filled with water, like this:

The slips will grow new roots and will be ready to be transplanted into the garden in about two to three weeks. Once they are in the garden, water them every day until they are established. Here's a sweet potato vine hiding under a young okra:



If sweet potatoes are grown in a fertile loose soil, you can expect to harvest four to ten potatoes from one slip. Enjoy!

Growing cow peas or cowpeas or black eyed peas

As the name of this vegetable can be spelled in many different ways, as it is that useful to the gardener. Usually Florida gardeners are wondering what can they start in the summer. Regular beans do not do very well in the heat and humidity of our summers, but cowpeas do not care! I usually seed them throughout the whole summer, starting in May and finishing in August. I always have cow peas in different stages of development growing in my garden. I plant them in piles as I do everything else, whenever I have a free spot after pulling some plant that was done fruiting.

At any given time I have cowpeas that are dry and ready to be harvested as a dry bean:

Some others are fruiting or starting to fruit, and can be used as green bean:

And yet others are just starting to come up:

When I first started I just used the dry cow peas from a grocery store bag. Now I have my own seeds. Cowpeas produce in abundance. Usually, when I am done gathering them as a green bean, I leave a few pods on the plant to save as a dry bean. The yield of dry bean done this way is somewhere between twenty and forty seeds per plant.

Not too early to start peppers

This is a second week of June, and not too early to start peppers! I seeded peppers a week ago, and now I have some cute seedlings coming up. I used to plant a variety of peppers, but now I only  plant cubanelle pepper as a sweet pepper and some chili peppers. I had some success with bell peppers, but not enough to put effort into it. Banana pepper was good, but Cubanelle, while having similar qualities is better. Cubanelle pepper is very versatile; it can be eaten green, as we do mostly, as well as letting them go ripe, where they develop into some nice red color and distinct sweetness.

Here's a picture of a cubanelle pepper on the vine. They are very prolific.

Peppers take their time to grow. If you seed now, you can put plants into the ground beginning of August and they will start to fruit end of September. You will have plenty of time to enjoy the harvest till the first freeze! Seed your peppers now.