Seeds

Hi, Pamela

I found Thyme at Home Depot. The Wintberg nursery had basil plants, but sold out of them (drat!).

Will keep you posted as to what I find.

BTW, if you ever want to do a seedling/harvest swap, let me know. I have watermelon coming out of my ears now! Who knew it would do so well here?

Best,

LR

Pamela, I live in Florida, and just like every homeowner, I make my weekly trips to Home Depot and Lowe's. If you or anyone else needs anything like that, I'll be happy to check. We probably have a better selection here than you do on STT.

John - Thank you for that kind offer. Perhaps Loyal Reader and I can put together a wish list and send you some money? What do you think Loyal Reader? In this case, the search is not the fun part!
Pamela

John, your offer is very kind- thank you!

Pamela, I recently tried to place an order from a tropical plants place up in Florida. They were extremely nice, but told me that, due to new regulations, they are no longer allowed to ship to the VI (they used to, apparently). I'm not sure what regulation they're referring to, but I'm going to investigate it. Hence, I don't know if it's 'legal' for someone up there to send us plants or other agricultural material- I'll let you know what I find out.

Plus-- and I mean no offense to our hardworking postal service folks-- I've had many packages (including two this week) that were supposed to be here overnight or in 2 days, max (via Express Mail) that took 6 days+. So I'm a little concerned about the seedlings arriving intact in the heat with delays!

Pamela- good news- some seeds I started that I thought weren't viable have sprouted! Including some basil...so give me a shout if you want some seedlings in a while!

E

Definitely, I've got tomatoes started. Will let you know how they turn out.
I was thinking of just having John pick up seeds and mail down - can't be any harder than mailing rum - uh, island hot sauce - up to the states 🙂
Pamela

Hot sauce? I think you mean "balsamic vinegar" 😉

Seeds should be no problem. You interested in the more exotic varieties? Or just plain basil?

Best,

LR

Nothing exotic just everydat herbs - basil, oregano, etc.
I'd love to come get some watermelon seedlings this weekend if that is convenient?
Pamela

Watermelon coming out your ears?!? You may be planting them in the wrong place. 🙂 Hee hee. I wish I had a place for a garden, seriously everything seems to grow here!. My daughter grabbed a flower and gave it to me. She is so sweet. To make her happy we put it in water in the kitchen. I expected it to die over night. However, it sprouted roots and is blooming for the third time in a week! I have no idea what it is! Have fun you green thumbs!

Teresa

Teresa,
You are so funny! Maybe your little one has a future in hydroponics!
P.

Pamela,

Sure- send me an email or call and you can pick up some of the watermelon seedlings.

I'm trying to get some cinnamon basil, thai basil, and lemon basil going. Corn, cucumber, beans, lettuce, squash, soybeans, tomatoes are going crazy, but not so much luck with the herbs- my dill is anemic, my basil is trying really hard...

Teresa- a lot of things do really well in containers- and Home Depot has these neat little seedling starter kits- you just soak the disks in water, and they puff up into little self-contained soil pots! They are in the garden center by the seeds- cheap and easy.

Here's what they look like:
https://www.veseys.com/store.cfm?product=971&referer_cat=12

I started my seeds in those, then transplanted them to the bigger (also cheap) pots before putting things in the ground.

On a related note, I found a neat website - a guy in Puerto Rico has a bunch of tropical fruit trees and exotics- including miracle fruit and durian!

http://www.organicfarm.net/

He ships seedlings via Priority Mail from PR, and says he's had a good success rate with shipping.

Really reasonably priced, and shipping is cheap, too- $4 for a bareroot seedling.

Teresa, was this C. that brought you the flower? I have to agree with Pamela- the girl has a green thumb! 🙂

Best,

LR

Thanks gals! I will try to start a kitchen garden. I have a bamboo plant that isn't doing much, an ivy of some sort sitting in water losing it's green color, and of course the mysterious flower still blooming. I would love to have a little pepper tree or a tomato tree, but I am wondering - do you guys have any problems with bugs or insects eating your fruits or leaves? They used to eat our tomato plants alive back in the MidWest.

Actually it was S. who decided to prune the outdoors. She usually picks the flowers up so close to the top that the petals fall apart when she opens her hand. This time she picked at least six inches of the stem, which I am still amazed is growing in water. I have only known ivy to do that.

I will try baby steps to growing a garden. I have been known to kill cacti for lack of water. I have noticed even they grow well here.

Teresa,

Well, I'm not sure what they are, but there are definitely pests here that are having a good ol' time munching on my plants. Yesterday, I pulled a little caterpillar off my corn- it was absolutely shredding one of the plants.

The other day, something (I have no idea what- a snail or a grasshopper, maybe??) ate a big hole right through the newest flower on my favorite hibiscus! (Yes, I know, there are bigger problems, but I had a boo-hoo, woe-is-me moment.)

Am seriously considering some yard bird....now I only have to figure out how to keep them away from the dogs! 😉

Maybe you and S. could start some tomato or pepper trees in the little Jiffy Pots? I think it's a whopping $5 investment for the tray, and seeds are less than 2 bucks, so might make a fun project for her! I have fond memories of growing plants with my Mom at a young age- it's always exciting to see seeds sprouting! And nothing tastes as good as your first tomato, hot off the vine. 🙂

Or let me know if you'd like some little seedlings, k?

Since nobody's responded to our "how about a regular gtg" post, perhaps you, Pamela and I can all grab a frosty beverage and swap plants/seeds at some point soon! (Others welcome, too, of course)

Best,

LR

LR and Pamela,

A potting talk get together sounds fun. Count me in! I will be looking at my calendar here soon and see what is happening. I might be busy the next couple of weeks, but after that things should be settling down a bit. Talk to you soon about it.

Teresa

Teresa,
A pot party - geez --- would love to join and exchange seedlings and seeds. Let me know when.
BTW, spoke with your boss yesterday and she raved about you!
Pamela.

Well, we ate the first watermelon today- and boy, was it good!

Actually, we started eating it- it's *huge*!- probably 15lbs.

I'm down for the garden party- let's pick a date.
Teresa, if the next few weeks are hectic for you, why don't we do it a little later?

I just planted a whole bunch of things, and the seedlings should be well on their way in a few weeks.

I'm going to be slammed from April 15- May 15th. Maybe 1st week in April?

As for a location, I can't think of many places that will let us bring in plants while we eat/drink. And I wouldn't want to leave seedlings in the car! So maybe we can eat/drink, then head to the garden? Or vice versa?

Here's what I've got so far:

Watermelon (3 different varieties)- 'regular', sugar baby, moon & stars
Pumpkin
Acorn Squash
Delicata Squash
Corn - sweet and Indian Summer
Zucchini
Yellow Tomatoes
Beefsteak Tomatoes
Jalapenos
Sweet peppers
Soybeans
Chinese Long Beans
Cucumber
Dill
Cantaloupe
Artichokes
Carrots
Butternut Squash
Cilantro (and how!)
Sunflowers
Celiosa

My basil got cooked 🙁 (By the sun, not me).

The next few weeks, I'm working on getting/starting:

banana slips
miracle fruit
durian
guava
pineapple
passionfruit
sugarcane (anyone know where I can get some cuttings?)

Looking forward to the gtg- let's pick a date!

Best,

LR

Okay, if I have to commit to a date...:) How about April 2nd or 3rd? I would love to get a slip for those 'short bananas'. Some locals call them figs. I thought figs were something else, but they are soooo good. They only produce fruit once a year, I think. Anyway, I will do some research on those. My landlord has a tree, but he is very protective about his trees and I don't know if he will part with a slip.

And WOW LR - you really do have things coming out your ears. I have started a little garden in my kitchen. We will see if anything pops up.

Pamela, thanks for the good news. I love my new job and am starting to have fun with it. Walking the WICO dock is getting me in shape too. I am starting to lose weight and finally firm up. So don't tell my boss, but I am getting paid to exercise! It works great!

Hope to see you both soon! Any other green thumbs with advice out there?

Teresa

April 2/3 sounds good to me.
I'm going to try to get some banana slips from the in-laws. If that doesn't work, I'll try the ag center up at Crown.

Don't know about 'short bananas'- will have to ask around!

There's a place up in Florida that has a great variety of bananas- www.stokestropicals.com. They don't ship here (or at least that's the party line)- but I know a few people who have gotten similar stuff sent here.

Good luck with your kitchen garden! What have you got growing?

Glad you are liking your new job- that's great!
My job only gives me toned fingers 😉 Have to rely on gardening for the rest of the workout.

Take care,

LR

Hello,

WOW Loyal Reader you do have quite a garden going. A few years ago I got the bug to plant vegetables after seeing the seeds and vegetable garden books in Lowes (while in the states visiting, for others reading this - we don't have a Lowes in the VI).

I tried tomatos - which the bugs totally ate up. Carrots - which didn't do well for me. Lettuce - did well. Pigeon Peas - local plant, grows easily. Thyme, basil, rosemary were the seasonings I had. Also tried zuichini - didn't grow. Had various peppers. Years prior had pumpkin, Sweet Potatos, Okra.

For fruit trees; Sugarapple, sour sop, mango, avocado, figs (which Teresa is right about - thats what we call the 'little bananas'), papaya, coconut, hog's plum, passionfruit, use to have guavas and guava berries but lost them to hurricanes and never replaced them.

Was over on St. John recently and went down to the Coral Bay Garden and they have a fairly large vegetable garden. If you go over to St. John check it out. Perhaps give them a call about seeds, seedlings... They had a wide range of things.

Have fun with what seems to be the beginning of a 'Garden Club':)

Onika, you and Petrus were trying some veges out, how are they coming along?

--Islander

First weekend in April sounds good - LR what part of town do you live in? I am up in Mandahl by Peace Corp school ...
Pamela

Well, shoot, Pamela- we're practically neighbors!

Islander- thanks for all the info. What is hog's plum? And what are you supposed to do with guavaberries? My +1 loves to sing the Christmas guavaberry song (which gets stuck in my head...urrgh!!!)- can you eat them plain? Or do you have to mash 'em up and make booze out of them? We have a small tree (recently made much smaller), but I've never seen any fruit on it.

Is sugarapple in the same family as the cherimoya? I adore cherimoya- and they are so spendy at the store! $5+ each at Gourmet Gallery!

The bugs are chowing on my pumpkin- finally put some sevin dust on the leaves- but are leaving the tomatoes alone. (for now, at least).

Islander- What's the trick to starting soursop from seed? Does it need to be scored or heat-treated? The seeds I planted a month ago are just sitting there....not even sprouting. Thoughts? Or should I just buy a seedling?

Where can I get sweet potato tubers?

Thanks for the tip on the Coral Bay garden- will have to check that out next time we're over there.

Best,

LR

Good morning, good morning! I've come for my guavaberry, good morning!!...Sure could use some musical note emoticons here to signify singing the song for you... 🙂

EE,
Get out of my head ... ewwwwww

Okay, I will now call them figs! My landlord just brought me some more today. I guess they produce fruit at least twice a year. They are so tasty! They taste just like bananas, but more flavorful - does that make any sense? I really like them.

I have planted some flowers, just to get started and some sweet basil. My sweet husband bought me a Money Tree. He said that is what they call it. Anyone know anything about it? I don't know how much it needs to be watered or anything.

Pamela, you are near Mom's Garden. Have you shopped there or checked out whether they have any seeds? We just looked at a house over there. We really want the house, however a few hundred people called about it. The owner stopped taking calls after a while. We need a bigger place and are now looking to move. Anyway, we might check out the garden place on St. John this weekend. I have been wanting to go to Cinnamon Bay to hang for a minute. It is my stress reliever.

Pamela, Islander, LR,
what does a banana slip look like? What am I looking for and how do you 'pick' it? I was wondering in case my landlord lets me take one. I would never steal one. I just want to look somewhat educated when he says yes and lets me do it myself. Knowing me I would try to plant a leaf or something. 🙂

Teresa

quite the gardeners! impressive! i've had lots of trouble with critters eating my plants (eggplant, tomato, squash, green pepper). really don't want to use chemicals if possible. any suggestions? what are you doing? also LR, how did you get your watermelons to do so well? i planted some & got 2 "cantalope" sized melons (was very excited) but that was it. all other vines dried up...