Practical Plants

05/17/2026

04/21/2026

04/09/2026

Male and female che/mandarinberry flowers. We’ve had a supposedly self fertile female tree for around 7 years and get minimal fruit set so this year we added a male for pollen and a few more female cultivars. This interesting fruit is related to figs/mulberry/jackfruit and resembles a geometric lychee but is flavored like a mild figgy melon. Also hardy to zone 5 so when people say there’s no interesting exotic cold hardy fruits to grow here they’re generally uninformed. These trees went through the freezes this year dormant and with zero damage.

03/13/2026

It’s almost time to do some paperwork! End of the month til early April is generally garlic harvest season in central FL. Remember to aim for harvest when a bit over 30% of your leaves have dried down and “cure” them in a well ventilated spot in shade outdoors (wire racks under our carport makes for a very nice “curing barn” for all crops that require this). After the tops have mostly dried but are still pliable they can be braided for storage or can be left to fully dry and tops and roots can be trimmed for storage. I’m currently on the last of our frozen roasted garlic from last year so this harvest season could not be better timed.

03/12/2026

When considering the outcomes post freeze it’s best to remember you “Gotta take the good with the bad, smile with the sad. Love what you got and remember what you had” - our citrus is flushing new growth and it’s incredibly clean being that the freeze knocked back citrus leafminer significantly.

03/07/2026

🍅🫑🌶️🍆🍅🫑🌶️🍆
Good news for those that couldn’t make it out today it was very busy but we have a solid inventory for tomorrow! I know this weekend was local event heavy but with timing sensitive plants we had to have it this weekend. Availability for Sunday March 8th:

🍅
Bella Rosa 22
Cubanero 18
Golden hour 1
Chocolate sprinkles 7
Barry’s crazy cherry 12
SunDipper 8
Norwood Meiners 7
Black cherry 4
Sun gold 14
Big beef 13
Gajilete de PR 1
Montecarlo 12
Medusa 9
ItZ a keeper 18
Lemon Boy 9
Thai pink egg 16

🫑
Criollo do Cocina 1
Shish*to 2
Alliance Bell 2
Ka’ala 2
Solar flare 7
Sweet banana 16
Early Sunsation Bell 18
Candy cane choc cherry bell 7
Mega Marconi 10

🌶️
Kashmiri 8
Poblano 1
Ciliega Piccante 3
Mattapeno 3
Fish 4
Millet 3
Anaheim 10
Sugar Rush Stripey 2
Green Dragon 4
Serrano 27
Blessing 8
Mocha swirl 3

🍆
Rosita 5
Ping Tung Long 11

02/11/2026

02/09/2026

Nursery update! New things! Links in comments.