Thursday, December 30, 2010

12-28-10 Frost Report

Another frosty morning at Deering Bay Yacht and Country Club's Garden!  The weather we've experienced this December has been unseasonably cold.  According to the National Weather Service, this December has been the coldest on record for Miami in 115 years. Even the New York Times poked fun at our cold temps in this article.

On the night of the 27th, I put some water in a shallow dish to demonstrate just how cold it gets near the garden.  You'll see how it formed into a solid block of ice the next morning.  When planning a garden it’s important to understand that different plants tolerate cold better than others.  There are two categories for cold tolerance; hardy and tender.  At the Club, we planted more of the frost hardy plants and as a result have had little damage.

It’s also helpful to the budding gardeners out there to understand what conditions frost forms.  Look for frost to form on a clear, calm night when the temperatures hit 39 degrees or lower.  Frost will NOT form on a cloudy and/or windy night, so remember that for next time we face a frost.  After a major cold front like this I look for cumulus clouds moving in off the ocean.  That wind pattern, winds out of the east, usually tells us that the ocean breeze will once again moderate our temperatures.  Enjoy these pics from the garden and stay warm my friends!

Tim

















Tuesday, December 21, 2010

12-21-10 Our First Harvest

The Garden looks spectacular...as you'll see in the pics below. Today was our first day of harvest!!! At 8AM this morning, me, Chef Diana Bermudez and Alberto picked radishes. The radishes were planted on November 15th and took 36 days to be ready for picking. In the photos below you'll see how we picked the radishes, cleaned and prepared them in our kitchen and how we served up a test dish for some lucky Members...all in under 2 hours from garden to plate!

The Radishes were served with salt and butter (classic French style) and also were included in a salad made by Chef Diana Bermudez.

Enjoy,

Tim Rowan




























Thursday, December 16, 2010

12-15-10 Frost Report

Deering Bay's garden fared relatively well after the frost of 12/14 and 12/15.  We survived with light damage to some basil, tomato and a few flowers as you can see in the pictures.  You'll also see some light frost on the golf course which I'm happy to report sustained the frost very well.  Enjoy these pics from the early morning of 12/15.