🌧️We had a rainy summer!
🌀The rains really came into full force this summer with Hurricane Debbie at the beginning of August. While the hurricane didn't come to Englewood, we had 3 days of rain (and some gusty winds) from the outer bands of the hurricane. Then the rains kept coming into August and September until eventually the ground was saturated and we had standing water on our land and throughout our surrounding neighborhoods.
💧Most of our standing water was seen in our pathways, however under our mulched beds it was very saturated as well. While we didn't lost any fruit trees, many plants were showing signs of water logging. It seems over the last week though that these affected plants are making a comeback!
🐕This video was recorded on August 29th. The mosquitos came into peak population levels right around this time too. Yikes!
💙The last couple of weeks the standing water has disappeared. The rains are now shorter and less frequent. The rainy season technically comes to a close at the end of September.
😅Matt and I are officially no longer praying for rain, but happy with all of the growth in the gardens that came as a result!
🌿 I'll never grow tired of harvesting Katuk!
👂 From the sound to the feeling, to the instant handful of delicious healthy greens, what a delight!
💪🏼 Katuk is super nutritious, boasting 49% protein, loads of vitamins, and double the potassium of bananas. Add this to your list of super foods!
❤️ Join us in this #moment of #pure #relaxation during a #rain this #morning.
🐛 Found this hungry little caterpillar on our mulberry tree. This must be pure bliss for it!
🦋 I'm not exactly certain what moth this will turn in to later... Maybe a leopard/tiger moth? Anybody know?
🙀 I'm not concerned about the caterpillar hurting the mulberry tree, so I left it to do its thing. I know mulberries are resilient and throughout nature we see complex relationships between organisms - why intervene?
✅ Vote for "English" Jan for Pioneer Day's "Mayor For A Day"!
💸 To help fund Angel Land Food Forest and their campaign for Mayor For A Day, Garden of the Arts is selling 15 Gallon Mango Trees for only $180!
🥭 We have a nice variety of mangoes available in 15 gallon pots. Now is a great time to plant them in your yard.
🔍 Visit www.EdiblePlantNursery.com to see our full availability list and to schedule an appointment to visit us. We look forward to seeing you here.
🌳 Visit www ALFFi.org to learn more about Angel Land Food Forest and other opportunities to support "English" Jan's campaign for Mayor For A Day
🍍Check your pineapples!
😋Pineapples seem to fully ripen in the warm summer months. When the fruit is mature, the peel/sheet will change from green to a golden yellow. Some green can remain, as seen in this video, however keep in mind the pineapple will need more time to ripen off the plant before being enjoyed!
🧑🏼🌾Color and the sweet smell is what helps tells you when to harvest, not the size of the pineapple.
💛Like most foods from the earth, pineapples have lots of health benefits. One I've personally experienced is the mucus clearing power of pineapple. Pineapple may help clear mucus because it contains bromelain, an enzyme that helps break down mucus. Bromelain may also reduce mucus production.
🌤️Pineapples like well-draining soil, which makes them great for our naturally sandy soil. They can grow in full sun or partial sun.
🌿We have selected varieties of pineapples for sale in our edible plant nursery including:
✨Sugar Loaf
✨Florida Sweet
✨Juicy
💌To schedule a nursery visit, send us a DM or go to our website, GardenOfTheArts.com
🎨Art reveal!
💙Midnight Monstera
🩷Tropical Whispers
🌴These pieces capture a vibrant color palette and bring a modern, tropic-cool aesthetic to any home interior!
🖌️Original art by Dena Kittelson.
🌲Native slash pine tree management
☠️We have observed the native slash pines dying over the last 2 years all over Englewood and likely across southwest Florida.
🌀The main theory being circulated is as I explained in the video. Hurricane Ian in 2022 stressed the root systems. Then a severe drought for 9+ months did not help to recover these trees. Finally, the pine borer beetle killed these trees, which were already significantly compromised.
❓If anyone has any other information on this widespread loss of the slash pines in southwest Florida, please share it in the comments below.
💯Large tree management projects can be intimidating, but we were lucky to work with some of the best in Englewood. Thank you again, Jake Rhoades and team!
🌵Nopales Cactus Harvest
🌿The flat, paddle-shaped stems are called 'nopalitos'. This plant will also produce vibrant fruits called 'tunas'. Both the pads and the fruits are edible.
🔪As mentioned in the video, this is a spineless variety. Though, it is important to be aware of the small glochids that remain. These are found in the hard pockets of the plant and if they come into contact with your skin, it will be slightly irritating (like a small splinter). I usually take tweezers to remove any glochids when this happens.
😋Step 1. Cut those hard pockets out with a knife before consuming. The pads can be consumed raw or cooked. I've used them in stir frys and stews in the past. I treat them similarly to a green pepper in a culinary sense. The flavor is a bit grassy, but mild overall.
🧑🏼🌾To propagate this plant you take a mature pad, root it in water and then plant it in the ground.
💯Highly recommend growing this plant as another easy-to-grow, food forest crop. Being a cactus, they are drought tolerant and grow easily in South Florida.
🧡Tree ripened papaya!
🙏🏼One of my greatest joys in life is harvesting fruit from our own gardens.
🌞Each morning I take a stroll through the gardens with the potential of picking fruit and the promise of morning sunlight exposure. Hello optimized health!
❤️We have harvested over 150 papaya fruits over the last 6 months, with 24 papayas in the last 2 1/2 weeks. We've officially started a tally system on our refrigerator to keep track.
😅This has been our best run of papayas yet. When we first began growing papaya, a majority of the tree ripened fruits had maggots. This year, we've had ZERO maggots. We don't do much towards 'pest' management, so we take the good with the bad.
💚Even when the ripened papayas had maggots in the past, the green papayas did not. So lots of culinary options remain for enjoying this abundant fruit.
🙌🏼Praise be for these good papaya times!
🤎Comedy Clip!
😅Enjoy this humorous video featuring the mulberry tree, Matt, and Dena (behind the camera). Our voices are edited for further amusement.
🤣Dena stumbles upon Matt in the garden who is caught 'red handed' chowing down on mulberry fruits.
😋But for real, we were smitten with our mulberry season this year. Eating mulberries every day for over a month. Not to mention, we made 14 mulberry pies in total!
💜And that's officially a wrap on our mulberry season for this tree!
#mulberry #mulberrytree #foodforest #floridafoodforest #growyourownfood #growfruit #garden #southflorida
🤩Come take a tour!
🐍We love the ever-evolving process of creating a business.
💚Garden of the Arts is a dynamic business that celebrates beauty through art and nature, but also builds community and provides education. We want this space to reflect that!
🏝️If you find yourself on Dearborn Street, we would love to see you in the shop!
🌿 Edible Plant Nursery
