We live in a place between a brackish creek and the salty Gulf of Mexico. The soil is barely sand and mostly rock fill. The houses are close, most with landscaped lawns of bushes and trees to make the tourists think of Florida resorts, and back yards with screened in lanais and pools. My little garden resides in containers and planters of various sizes, due not only to the poor soil but the knowledge that most people around us are using chemicals to keep green lawns in a climate that does not naturally grow lawns.
The herb garden grows incredibly this time of year. I went out to trim the oregano, lemon verbena (makes a wonderful tea), chives and several others. The overgrown chives made a nice nest for the basket, and by sitting on the ground to get eye level and using a shallow depth of field it looks like I have a large, wild garden. It is actually ten 16”pots placed closely together in a small area that gets enough sun, but not too much. That can be a concern here.
Note to self: for future garden shots, take the camera down from your eye, and look around before you sit down to get the shot you want. It rained the night before and I plopped down without looking in a small puddle!
Last year I decided to expand. The gardener/farmers supplying our local farmers’ market slowly went on to other things and we were left with no one providing vegetables or greens during the hotter months. Gardening in Florida during the summer provides plenty of challenges. Container growing provides another set of challenges on top of that. I learned to try different kinds of greens that the usual lettuces, growing a few which Karl and I had before, and trying some new varieties. Hopefully they will provide some photography subjects as they grow, barring weather and bugs!
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