So less than a year ago I decided I wanted to get into gardening for a couple of reasons. Firstly I thought it would be a great retirement hobby (I know I'm nowhere close to retirement, I wish, but I want to be good at it by the time I do) and the second reason is I eat A LOT of vegetables so I wanted to try growing my own. I've always loved the idea of having a gorgeous edible garden but I didn't have that green thumb influence growing up.
We moved into a new build which was great from a clean slate point of view but terrible from a shade and soil quality point of view. Under our top soil is just sand and then clay.
I started with some hard to kill indoor plants like Pothos and Monstera which need indirect light and just the occasional watering. Too easy.
I wasn't sure what I wanted to do outside so I wanted to design it first and then it became so overwhelming because it would cost a fortune and eventually I just got over it and started planting things. It didn't happen all at once and that was some of the best advice I got from a colleague who is a master veggie grower. She said just start small, get good at one or two things and then add. She's a great believer in just plant the seed and see what happens!
So this happened slowly (over a 6 month period) and I have a long way to go but I have actual vegetables and herbs that I can pick from daily! I love it so much, I want to be out there all the time but unfortunately the Florida Summer sun is nobody's friend.
Raise bed gardening worked best for my situation but my colleague plants most of her stuff directly in her yard.
I started a compost in the side of the house, I also bought a Vitamix compost maker for the house. I love it! It turns scraps in the dry crumble, like vegetable stock, and you can mix it straight into the soil.
Around November 2024 I put together some large raised bed gardens in that I got during Prime day and had just been sitting in boxes for months in the dining room. I watched a video on YouTube about the layering (cardboard, bark, carboard, mulch etc) before you put in the soil to reduce weeds/grass coming through. I'm in growing zone 9A so I figured I might have some time before it got too cold.
I got a couple of pots of flowers to help the bees pollinate :)
Most of them are from the clearance section of Lowes but I had no idea which ones to buy.
My friend gave me Zinnia seeds and this was the result - she was so pretty!
Kale my friend gave me - it was the only thing that lastest through the winter.
The best advice I got was to plant Marigolds with my tomatoes! It keeps the pests away and attracts pollinators! They are so hardy, I kept replanting their buds and they kept growing new plants. Love them!
My first greenhouse was a temporary one I bought from Amazon because I really needed somewhere to store the potted plants over winter. North Florida only gets about a month of cold weather but it's definitely cold enough to kill all the plants.
Fast forward a few months till it got warmer and almost all my raised bed plants had died. I decided in the spring to get a real greenhouse which I was very excited about. I put it together myself - it's not the greatest quality but it will work for my needs! It's way too hot right now (Florida Summer) to have any plants in there so it's more of a storage shed but over the cold months I'll be able to save all my babies!
I've used a great free app called PlantNet to identify random plants growing in the garden that I always assumed were weeds. This sweet thing is an Elderberry Tree so I'm letting it grow!
Another easy to grown pollinator flower I've been using is Cosmos - they are quite spectacular in the way they grow every which way like they defy gravity.
I bought an acorn squash locally and ate it but kept the seeds and thought I'd plant it - fast forward 4-6 months (I know it's technically not squash season) but I feel like the rules are different in Florida! I have quite a few fruits growing however the ones that touched the ground were being eaten so I had to figure out a way to prop them up.
I have some rose, jasmine, lavender and random flowers around the pergola.
This is a grape vine a friend who was moving gave me, I'm hoping I don't kill it!!
Bees collecting pollen from the sunflowers makes me so happy to watch.
My friend who moved helped me build an arched trellis simply and cheaply. We built another raised garden on the opposite side with wooden slats and pavers.
This is my discount passion flower vine.
Growing some new squash varieties in my new raised bed :)
Some jalapeño plants.
Here are some long bean vines my friend gave me but I don't think they like being moved because they are a re bit sad :(
So out of the two kale varieties my friend had given me last year this purple one lived all through the winter and continues to give me lovely leaves today - I wish I had more!! I just pick off the bottom leaves and it keeps growing taller!
Some tomatoes, cucumber and long bean vines.
I've cleaned up my composting area a bit, I closed it off a bit to deter animals, put pavers, cider blocks and pallets around it to deter weeds. As you can see, it didn't deter the Halloween pumpkin vine that's been growing since October LOL
This is sweet potato (I hope) and garlic, I've already harvested one group of garlic. I took cloves that I bought from the store that were small or damaged and planted them round side down with the point sticking out and they start growing! When the stalks are withered and dying, then the garlic is ready to harvest!
Growing some Okinawa spinach and mini pepper plants.
These mini pepper plants actually have fruit which is super exciting! I used seeds from bought organic ones and planted them in a small container. Once sprouted I split them up because they each need a lot of space.
This long skinny tree is an avocado tree I found growing out of scrapes in the compost (winning)!
Baby lemon tree that doesn't seem to be doing much but I'm hopeful lol
I have some discount flowers around the back of the greenhouse to attract bees and butterflies, which they do, but also attract wasps which I hate!
I grew dill from seed which was awesome! It seems very delicate and I don't know if I'm doing it right but it's still with us! My thyme died (behind it) though :(
Some other herbs are easy (at least in Florida). I bought organic basil and mint from Publix and replanted in large pots and they go crazy!! I just have to remember to cut back, especially if they start to flower. Now I have three types of basil in the same pot, mint, lemon balm, green onion (also from an old Publix one) and aloe vera. You can plant basil with tomatoes too. If you have limited space there are so many "companion" plant options.
Sunflower nearly ready to show me some love!!
Cosmos and marigolds are going crazy with all the rain and sun we've had!
I have long beans, cherry tomatoes, tomatoes, borage, cosmos and marigolds all growing in this smaller raised bed.
Bed of cosmos and marigolds next to the bean/tomato bed
I planted long beans from seed and OMG have they taken off. I've been picking some every day and they last a while in the fridge.
This is an Jujube (Asian apple) tree my friend gave me!
Plumeria tree (or Frangipani and we call it in Australia) a friend gave me.
A Guava tree a friend gave me :)
Peach trees my husband is growing, the potted one he grew from seed!
Compost with Audrey II pumpkin growing out of it lol
Wild flowers I planted in front of the composting area that was just dirt.
My first harvest of garlic!
Bees on the Cosmos :)
Long bean flowers, so pretty!!
Close up of some marigolds!
I started with indoor plants; monstera and pothos are so easy to grow you can literally grow them in water forever.
Some hanging flowers on the pergola.
View of the arched trellis from the compost area.
Sunflowers! So I didn't grow these, I stole these from a friend who moved house and she was the sunflower queen!
The chocolate sunflowers are my absolute favorite - they have this dark brown red color that's so rich they look like velvet. So goth ;)
Hibiscus tree that I hope is ok since it keeps getting blooms and then they keep falling off :)
My arched trellis are is doing pretty good this summer! I have the following;
Bed 1: Passion flower, sweet peppers, bitter gourd, long beans, jalapeños
Bed 2: mini sunflowers, purple kale, sweet peppers, cosmos, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, long beans
Bed 3: Garlic, sweet potato, sweet peppers, Okinawa spinach, Jewel of Opar, Celery
The elder flower bush!
In a small bed that wasn't been used is where my acorn squash is and you can see it getting bigger! Its the only one that looks happy so I'm trying to keep it propped up!
Green onions
The other day was an exciting day because I made a vegan omelet where all the ingredients came from the garden (tomato, basil, green onion, spinach & garlic) and the only other ingredients were Just egg and mushrooms :)
February 2026
After winter set in (yes we get some freezes in Florida too) just about everything died except what I was able to drag into the greenhouse.
So before it got warm enough for anything that might still be alive to come back I cleared out all the dead plants and vines and tried to prep the soil a bit with some seaweed fertilizer and I made two new beds where my huge wild flowers had been.
I redid the section around the paved area with fresh soil and fertilizer and created a border with cheap stones from the hardware. I planted marigold seeds and then covered with some mulch.
Marigolds are amazing - if I haven't said enough times before LOL. They grow so quickly!
Finally starting to blossom!
Fast forward to April 2026 and I'm sad to say my garden adventures are almost over (temporarily of course). I change in life circumstances means I have to move and my new place will most likely only accommodate some potted plants at best.
I was impressed with what came back this year with zero help from me.
Random sunflowers everywhere. When I plant them I can't get them to grow at all but I have around 10 random sunflowers growing all over the garden and I couldn't be more happy about it!
The Okinawa spinach came back which I was excited about!
The Jewels of Opar spinach came back - I'm in love with those gorgeous tiny pink flowers :)
Sweet potato vine came back with a vengeance, I've already had to prune it back lol
Cucumber I planted in the colder months is doing well, being crowded by marigolds (there's a theme coming there).
Random Calle Lilies that I don't not remember planting coming up lol
Crepe Myrtle I thought was dad came back!
Collard greens are doing great but aren't dead and I'll take that as a win! More marigolds I did NOT plant lol
The small broccoli plant I planted back in I think November (?) is going strong, probably not in the way it's supposed to, I'm mostly harvesting leaves and flowers but I'm not mad about it.
In amongst the broccoli is some sunflowers and a bunch of marigold.
On either side of the bed is a tomato and chili pepper plant that I got on sale.
Tomatoes are doing well, but I keep eating them before I get them inside :)
Tub of just marigolds, I'm able to harvest so many seeds each season that I'm never short of them.
The Lemon Balm was the only herb that survived the freezes we had this past winter but I split her into two plants and repotted in an attempt to take her with me!
Found a random elderberry sapling so started her in a pot and have since planted her and she's doing very well :)
The Red Salvia was doing so well I repotted her and she went mad! Loving it!!
This was a tiny sun rose someone gave me and I put it in a larger pot a few weeks ago and it's gone wild! Love that it hangs over the edge a bit, might make a decent hanging plant. Those flowers only come out at certain times of the day but they are are so sweet!
I remember my marigolds being more yellow and orange so I'm chuffed that they are all a sunset orange this year!
I pruned back the rose bush in winter and it came back again, so happy!!
The potted and ground planted Jasmine also survived the winter and are finally flowering!
Finally getting it wind around the pergola!
Mulberry tree survived the winter in the ground and has it's first berries!!!
I sincerely thought the grape vine was dead but it came back as well!! So happy about that - the next door neighbors have shared custody of any grapes that come in lol
The avocado plant that stemmed from a seed in my compost is now planted and doing so well! I kept in the greenhouse potted until the spring.
Since I know I'm moving within the next couple of months I haven't planted anything new but am still harvesting what I have! Most recent harvest consisted of lemon balm, broccoli leaves, stalks, flowers and some florets, chili peppers, green onions, Okinawa spinach and Jewels of Opar Spinach. It's just the best feeling and I will miss it!!
