The Maple Hill Hop 138

Welcome to 

The Maple Hill Hop.

This is a hop for folks who love the outdoors.

Feel free to post about anything that's going on

OUTSIDE

in your neck of the woods,
no matter the season.

(Please share only outdoor posts.)

*Grab the button above to link back to Maple Hill 101.*

Today we are going back to Farm School,
so that I can share a bit of an update 
on Faye & Lynn's 7,000-square foot container garden.
(You can see all of our Farm School posts under our header.)

Summer is typically a slow time for the Florida veggie garden.

Lynn grows hundreds of okra plants at this time,

as well as a variety of herbs.

He's working on keeping lettuce going through the summer

by using the shadier parts of the garden,

 and he wants to be able to offer his customers something new.

This is Red Malabar spinach, 

an alternative to lettuce or conventional spinach.

While traditional varieties of spinach do well here in cooler months,

this is the perfect time to start up a batch of this heat-lover.

It germinates within a week,

and given sufficient water, it will continue to grow

with very little help from the gardener.

Lynn seeded his plants every 2 inches apart,

and has them aligned down the center of each pot.

The trellises are already in place,

so that this climber can reach for the sky.

It's so exciting trying new crops.

Knowing that this particular spinach doesn't mind the heat,

gives us something to look forward to.

The other new crop being grown this season is pigeon peas.

We had some growing in our backyard,

and thought that Lynn & Faye might like to try them out.

(They were profiled here.)

They enjoyed the taste when we picked some for them,

and we were happy to share the harvested seeds 

so that they could start their own crop.

At right around a month old,

these babies seem to be doing fine.

For now they are unsupported,

but Lynn may add stakes if need be.

It's fabulous to have another goodie to grow during this season,
when the veggie garden slows down due to heat and humidity.
Looking forward to seeing this crop flourish!

That's what's been happening at Farm School.
What's going on where you are?
Let's HOP!

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