Rockledge Gardens
"Chillin' in the Garden"
May 30, 2012

Dear Gardening Bug,


Thanks to The Farm at Rockledge Gardens, our family ate very well this past holiday weekend! We were happy to have our kids with us, including Joseph and Liz, the bride and groom from last summer's garden wedding at Rockledge Gardens. Liz and Joseph are vegetarians, and we created some great vegetarian meals with our farm produce. They fixed dinner for all of us on Sunday, including babaganoush with our eggplant, fried green tomatoes, and sauteed collard greens. For our Memorial Day picnic I made gazpacho and caprese salad. The fresh veggies were FULL of flavor, and the meals were magnificent! 


Summer!
Memorial Day signals the beginning of summer, with schools out and vacations planned. There are many plants that love this hot and humid weather! This week's "garden treasures" highlight some summer favorites.

coneflowers
color garden

Butterflies! 

Although there are a few challenges in the garden in the Florida summer months, it's also a great place to spend time with the kids and relax in the shade. If you're looking for family activities in the garden, consider starting a butterfly garden or fairy garden. This Saturday at 10 am the Little Bugs (our kids' gardening club) will be learning about butterflies; the $5 fee includes a take-home butterfly pavilion and a butterfly chrysalis. Please call ahead to reserve you child's space in the 10 am program (there's just one session this week). In addition, friends of ours are having an open house at their own butterfly garden in Palm Bay on Saturday and Sunday; for information on Judi's event visit her website. 

 Summer Seminars

In the relaxed summer months, we're relaxing our seminar schedule a bit, too. Although we won't have seminars every Saturday, we do have some "cool" ones planned, including our popular rain barrel workshop presented by the Brevard County Department of Natural Resources, a seminar on nutrition, and a workshop on making hypertufa containers. Plus, our favorite summertime fruit, mangoes, will be in the spotlight at Mango Madness. Check out our list of summer seminars and events here.

alexander palmSummer Tips: Palms and Mosquitoes

Palms do most of their growing during the summer months, and want to be fed regularly. We recommend using Harrell's Fertilizer on all palms every other month.

Probably my LEAST favorite part of summer is the invasion of mosquitoes. Usually, they are just an issue for an hour or two around dusk (just when we're firing up the grill!). Here are some tips to help you keep them under control:

1. Empty standing water whenever possible. Even small amounts of water in pot saucers, old tires, soda bottles, and cans can can promote mosquito breeding.

2. Treat water that cannot be emptied with Bt (bacillus thuringiensis)

3. Spray to kill adult mosquitoes with essential oil pesticides such as Sharp Shooter (clove oil, mineral oil, and orange oil). According to the Dirt Doctor, Howard Garrett, there is a new study that shows that cinnamon oil also has the ability to kill mosquito larvae.

4. Use organic landscape management to encourage birds, bats, dragonflies, and other beneficial insects to help control the mosquito population.

5. Use skin repellents that contain herbs such as eucalyptus, tea tree oil, lavender, vanilla, and citronella.

peppers from The Farm at Rockledge GardensThis Week at The Farm

Every time we turn around, it seems, more of our tomatoes and peppers are ripening! Because of the abundance right now, we are moving the farm stand into the yellow building (where we hold our seminars); since it's air-conditioned, it should be more comfortable for you AND for the veggies. The stand will be inside the building, on the north end. We hope to have it set up and ready by Friday. We will be sharing our gazpacho recipe at the stand this weekend!
See you in the garden,
Theresa & Kevin
phone: 321-636-7662   
Rockledge Gardens "Quick Links"
Father's Day Special!
Not to worry ... you still have a few weeks, but we wanted to give you plenty of time to decide! We are offering free delivery AND planting with the purchase of any of the following trees, 25-gallon size: Live Oak, Magnolia, Areca Palm, Pygmy Date Palm. Limit 3 trees, please. 

          

No coupon necessary. Offer good through June 17, 2012.
rockledge gardens