It's the middle of a long hot Florida summer with a rainy start to July. We've needed the rain after a very dry spring and the 3 inch downpour in an hour on the 4th has helped get the lawns green and thriving. Another 1.7 inches of rain two days later was even better. In the first 6 days of the month we've recieved just over 6 inches of rain! While it would be nice to have a lush veggie garden taking advantage of all the rain, the fact is, you can only grow a few things durig the long hot summers here. Sweet potatoes love the heat and okra will do well, but if you're trying to get the soil ready for a bountiful Fall/Winter harvest, its best to let the dirt bake (see previous post on solarizing).

So what's an avid gardener to do over the summer? Plenty!! It's time to start those tomato seeds, fluff the compost to keep it hot and decompossing, trim the garden edge to keep that nice and tidy look and mow, mow, mow!!

Our new heirloom variety tomato seeds were started on Saturday and will hopefully start sprouting in another week. By mid August I should be able to put them in the ground with the goal of having a "Thanksgiving Tomato" this year! Enjo the pictures below of the mini green house now underway!