Time to Harvest Roselle

Photos by Peggy McDonald

Peggy McDonald is the VegHeadz gardener who knows the absolute most about Roselle. She grows it each year at home and in the VegHeadz garden. We call her the Roselle Queen. 

Peggy has started harvesting this year’s Roselle.   Here’s her report. 

The two Roselle, Hibiscus sabdariffa, I planted May 1st, 2026 have started to fruit. 

The calyxes are fully formed a month before the winter solstice when they usually bloom. Obviously the plants could not wait another month. All I did was tie them to a T-post and watch them grow, they are now over 7' tall and 5' wide. These plants do have sprinklers so the drought did not affect them. 

This is actually the third year in a row that my Roselle has bloomed a month early.

 I've included one photo showing how to process the fruit for those new to growing Roselle.

Search Roselle in the right sidebar to learn a lot more about growing, harvesting,  and using Roselle, including some recipes.

I am happy there are no signs of the two spotted leaf hoppers, YET!

Pruning

Pruned grape vines. Muscadine Grapes 

bear on new growth, so each spring the 

previous year’s lateral vines extending 

from the main vines or cordons, need to be 

pruned back, leaving anywhere from 

2 to 6 buds or nodes. 

Early spring is a good time to prune most trees, shrubs and vines. Learn more about how and when to prune fruit trees by referring to the fruit care calendar under Gardening Resources in the left sidebar, or entering “prune” in the search box on the right.

We’ve been doing some major pruning in the VegHeadz garden and in the food forest. Our food forest is small and we need to prune quite heavily every three or four years to keep our trees at a reasonable size.  Pruning is also important to ensure that the ripe fruits will be within reach for hand picking.

Peter does a short training
session before
pruning begins

Almost done

Don’t waste the vines.
Wreaths and other projects
are easy to do while the
vines are still fresh and flexible.  
Mary and James made these in
about 15 minutes.

“

And then there’s the rose arbor. 
Each spring Peggy prunes the vines of the
Katrina Roses (Peggy Martin Rose—no relation).
In about six weeks, they will bloom profusely.

In the food forest, the Dwarf Black Mulberry
had become twiggy and overgrown.  
Peggy directs, George prunes, and
James hauls the cutting away.  

Pruning done.   Within two weeks (in mid March), all pruned trees were 
putting on new growth.  From left, a leafy Mayhaw which needed
little pruning, next to it a Peach, then forward is Wax Myrtle.   Large shrub in the back, 
is Elderberry, in front next to the entrance arbor is the Mulberry,
seen through the arbor is a fig, and to the right of the sunburst trellis
is an American Beautyberry, all pruned and ready for spring renewal.  

Photos by Emily Kelly

The Ethnobotany of a Tropical Fruit Market

Thanks to Clara Mullins for directing our attention to this very interesting short YouTube video about a visit to a tropical fruit market in Ecuador. 

There are some fruits and vegetables which you might recognize and many which you will not. Many of these things can be grown in our area.  Several are grown in the VegHedz garden.  Some we have tried with mixed success.  

Then there’s the problem of knowing what processing they need in order to be palatable.  We’re often not familiar with them and they’re not a part of our culture. Maybe this video will give you some ideas.  

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9f8lyMwwMSw&pp=0gcJCTMBo7VqN5tD

Pruning Fruit Trees, Shrubs and Vines

A third of blueberry canes 
should be pruned each year
to encourage new growth. 

It’s the season for pruning fruit trees and vines.  A good time to prune most fruits is between now and the end of February, when trees, shrubs, and vines are completely dormant.  Don’t miss the timely on-site workshop in the Leon County UF/IFAS Orchard on Paul Russell Road in Tallahassee.

  Link to Fruit Pruning Workshop Information and Registration

Detailed pruning instructions can also be found here:  https://northfloridavegheadz.blogspot.com/2022/11/pruning-fruit-trees.html

For a complete fruit care calendar for the north Florida area see the left sidebar under Gardening Resources.  

Citrus Ripening Season

 

This grapefruit was still very 
firm and quite tart.  Picked to test
flavor. Fruit on this tree will continue
to sweeten and the pith will narrow. It
should be at peak in several
more weeks.  

Citrus fruits are ripening in North Florida. 

Leaving fruit on the tree has some advantages. The fruit will get sweeter the longer it stays on the tree up to a certain point, and then it begins to get pithy or dry out with loss of flavor. Once the fruit is picked it does not ripen or sweeten any further so it’s important to leave it on the tree until it reaches its peak.

How can you tell if the fruit is ready to pick? Color isn’t always the best indicator of ripeness.  The best way to determine readiness is taste.   Eat a sample from time to time. 

Some citrus varieties hold on the tree better than others.  Mandarins such as Satsumas, Clementines, Tangelos, etc., will not last a long time after maturity.  Their skins will become loose, and their juice will begin to dry up. Lemons can pretty much be left on the tree until you’re ready to use them, and grapefruits become sweeter the longer you leave them.

The bottom line – taste is the key.

Most citrus needs to be picked or protected if temperatures are predicted to go below 28°.  Satsumas and kumquats seem to be the most tolerant of cold temperatures while grapefruits, limes, and lemons will need to be picked or protected when freezing temperatures are predicted.

Two types of mandarins—
Clementines on the left, 
Orlando Tangelos, right.  Orlando 
Tangelo is a cross between
Dancy tangerines and Duncan
grapefruit.  Sweet, juicy, and 
quite cold tolerant. 

A heavy crop of Clementines. 
It has taken a number of years
for this tree to produce tasty fruit.
Clementines are small, a cross
between a mandarin and sweet orange.
These are larger than those you
see in grocery stores because they
were probably pollinated by a
nearby orange tree. They also have
a few seeds for the same reason.   

 Meyer Lemons.  Large and 
sweeter than regular lemons.  

Red Grapefruit - ‘Flame’.  Heavy
bearer of seedless fruit which is
consistently sweet and juicy.  

Cara Cara Red Navel 
Orange.  Developed from a natural
mutation discovered in Venezuela in
1976, the fruit is seedless and delicious
with a unique flavor and exceptional
vitamin content.  They ripen later.

Limequats.  A cross of Key Lime and
Marumi Kumquat.  Small and round,
with tart flesh and sweet rind.  More tolerant
of cold than standard limes.  They can be used when
green or when they become
sweeter as they ripen and change to yellow or
orange.  Unlike other citrus, limequats will continue
to ripen and change color after picking.
They do not have a long storage life 
but last longer when refrigerated.   

Several good references with more information  

https://deepgreenpermaculture.com/2025/03/15/how-to-tell-when-citrus-fruits-are-ripe-a-practical-guide/?amp=1

https://everglades.farm/blogs/news/cara-cara-oranges-origins-unique-qualities-and-uses?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=21783016276&gclid=Cj0KCQiAiKzIBhCOARIsAKpKLAPepC7qxCBAFRe2rhVK4xlpoolz72jp8NOWvqy8J4CXTADrIU7ewikaAp0CEALw_wcB

https://blogs.ifas.ufl.edu/okaloosaco/2021/12/20/let-citrus-ripen-on-the-tree/

Wednesday in the Garden — Bamboo, Bananas and Biochar

Linda L. is loading garden mix 
from a pile near one of the 
two bamboo clumps.

Fall planting season is in full swing and our gardeners are busy getting seeds and seedlings in the ground. 

We wanted to give you an update on our clumping bamboo planted in April 2019, and our biochar trial, which got underway at the garden workday on Wednesday.

This looks like a lot of bamboo, but both clumps of bamboo are well behaved and although tall, do not take up much space on the ground.

Clumping bamboos usually develop new shoots in the fall.   A little over a month ago, Louie D. noticed some coming up around the edges of the clumps. She knocked them over and removed them (this is easy before they harden). This left those coming up in the middle. The spiky new shoots can be seen at the top of the clump.  The shoots emerge from the rhizomes at their mature diameter and grow to their full height very quickly, often in a matter of weeks.

The new culms (the bamboo version of a trunk) have grown larger in circumference each year. We like to use them to define paths in the forest garden, and to build garden structures, such as trellises and tomato supports.

The footprint of the clump
is not very large

The bamboo stays erect, except when it rains.  Then the weight of the water on the leaves causes the culms to arch over, sometimes reaching the ground.  They usually return to an upright position after they dry.  If they don’t, we cut them off so they don’t get in the way. The area under the clumps is shady, quiet, and cool. We’re thinking of putting a bench there so we have another place to hang out in the heat.

Clumping bamboos usually belong to the Bambusa genus.  Those in the VegHeadz garden are Bambusa textilis gracilis and  Bambusa chungii barbelatta

Something else we noticed this week is the bananas. After a cold winter and a week of snow on the ground, the bananas got a slow start this spring.   They just recently sprouted a number of huge clumps of bananas. There’s little chance they will mature before cold weather later this fall, but we’ve learned that even when they’re not fully developed, they can be harvested and ripened.  To learn more about our ripening experiment, insert “banana ripening” in the search box in the right sidebar. 

 

When fully developed, this would 
be a substantial
crop of bananas

Banana blooms are complex and
interesting

There is a new row of florets under each bract layer of the red blossom or “heart.” Each row of florets develops into a “hand“ of bananas. Cutting The blossom off will stop new bananas from forming, and direct the plant’s energy into maturing the ones that have already emerged.  The florettes are edible, and the blossom contains an edible core in the center. These are used in Asian recipes.

Learn about bananas from a young expert.  https://www.facebook.com/reel/863820269644395?fs=e&fs=e

Finally, we are preparing to move our biochar trial into the garden.  Four different versions of a compost/biochar mixture have been “marinating” and have now been added to the trial plots.  

Last week—an overgrown
 watermelon patch—and weeds

Watermelons and weeds gone
Four 4 x 4 beds

Six inches of soil removed from 
beds and mixed together to
provide a uniform growing medium
Photo:  Lisa Jacobson

Four different mixtures of 
compost and biochar were 
added to the beds along 
with the mixed soil from the beds. 
Photo:  Lisa Jacobson

The workers who made it happen

Ready for the next phase.   In a 
couple of weeks we’ll plant the
same crops in each bed.
Photo:  Lisa Jacobson 

New Food Forest Plants Database for North Florida

Enjoying the cooler shade as we 
learn about designing guilds and selecting plants. 

The VegHeadz have just completed a six session workshop on creating food forest guilds, selecting plants and other aspects of growing a food forest. As a part of our workshop, those participating helped to create a master plant database for our area, growing zone 9a.  The list includes some of the information needed to make selections of plants for your food forest. 

Link to Database.  The most up-to-date version of the database will always be available in the left sidebar of this site under Gardening Resources.

We’ll be adding to and refining the database as we continue to grow in our  small food forest (just 40’ x 70’) in the VegHeadz garden in Tallahassee. In this small space we have over 50 species of plants including over 10 sub-canopy size fruit trees.  We hope this information may be of use to you in selecting plants for your landscape, garden, or food forest. 

In case you think you don’t have room for a food forest, consider watching these brief videos about some tiny forests, any one of which might fit in your space. Thanks to Lorraine, one of our gardeners, for finding this resource.  Small Food Forests and Pocket Forests  

Chill Hours

Peter’s Curcuma bloom

Something is different about fruit production in our area this season. Many of our master gardeners have noticed that some of their fruit trees are bearing larger crops of fruit this year despite the snow and prolonged cold we experienced during the winter.

Last winter when it snowed, the temperature rarely, if at all, exceeded 45° for a period of at least a week. We had snow on the ground for a full seven days in some areas, an exceedingly rare occurrence here. This substantially increased the number of chilling hours experienced.

Some fruits such as peaches, apples, plums, and others require a more prolonged period of cold than we usually experience in our North Florida area. 

 Chill hours, or chilling hours, refer to the total number of hours during a plant's dormant season (typically winter) when the temperature is between 32°F and 45°F. These hours are crucial for certain deciduous fruit and nut trees to properly break dormancy and begin flowering and fruit production in the spring.  We usually grow varieties here that require less chill hours, but even they benefit from a prolonged period in the specified chilling range.  Hours below 32° do not count toward chilling hours, and other factors also go into the calculations.

In any event, it’s a good fruit year.  One gardener had hundreds, maybe thousands, of plums on two native plum trees in her yard where before there had been very few. Another gardener has so much fruit on her peach tree that the branches are weighed down and three of them broke.

Some fruit bears heavily every other year. Maybe this is the year, or maybe the chill hours have jazzed up fruit production for one season.

What brought this to mind is something unrelated. Master Gardener Peter G. planted a rhizome that was identified to him as turmeric.  It has bloomed beautifully this summer. Turmeric usually doesn’t appear above ground here until late May or early June.  If it blooms, the blooms later in the year at the base of the plant are unobtrusive. 

Turmeric (Curcuma longa)
bloom in the VegHeadz garden. 

Peter’s “turmeric,” which was started from rhizomes obtained from someone at the VegHeadz garden, for the first time bloomed in glorious color with both male and female flowers. The bloom looks very much like a Siam tulip (Curcuma alismatifolia), which is in the same family.   Peter was puzzled.  Clearly it is not turmeric (Curcuma longa) that has benefitted from chill hours or some other environmental influence, but a different variety.  (See comments below for further clarification.)

Nature’s mysteries are one of the things that makes gardening so interesting.

Elderberries

Elderberry blooms in rear,
Oakleaf hydrangea in front

It’s time for elderberries to bloom. You can often see them along roadsides where native varieties that we have ignored all year become apparent with their large clusters of blooms (called cymes, a particular type of inflorescence). Later the large clusters of berries, also called cymes, are less noticeable, but are easily found by birds and other wildlife.

We have a large elderberry tree/bush (Sambucas nigra) in the VegHeadz garden that grows in partial shade. It’s always a pleasure to notice it when arriving on a May Wednesday to work, as it rears its head full of blooms at the back of the edible forest garden.

A recent article in Florida Farm and Family magazine highlighted a family in north Florida that grows elderberries commercially.  The article gives an idea of the products that can be produced from the berries which are harvested in late summer – juice, syrup, wine, balsamic vinegar, and others. Read the article here.  

Like many other dark berries, elderberries are reported to have many health benefits.   Elder flowers also have a pleasant flavor. They can be made into teas, cordials, or used in baked goods, such as cakes or pancakes to provide a unique fragrance and flavor. 

The berries and flowers should not be eaten raw and all other parts of the plant are toxic. They contain a cyanide compound similar to the seeds of apples and peaches, which may cause gastric distress.  Cooking releases the harmful compounds and cooked preparations are safe to eat. 

Don’t let that deter you from using elderberries.   We are often unaware that other foods which we commonly eat should be cooked before eating to remove toxins, including lima beans, kidney beans, lentils, chickpeas and staple plants in the tropics such as cassava.  

Elderberries are easy to grow, and even if not used for personal consumption, are a boon for wildlife.   A paper from the University of Florida tells us all we need to know about growing them.  https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/HS1390

Whether you grow elderberries or collect them from the wild, you might enjoy a recipe for Elderberry Balsamic Vinegar.  While not technically a balsamic vinegar, elderberry vinegar has the same slightly sweet and syrupy consistency that we all enjoy on salads and many other culinary creations, and can be used in the same way.  

A vinegar qualifies as balsamic if it's made from grape must (unfermented grape juice) and is aged in wooden barrels, typically for several years. The aging process concentrates the flavor and sweetness of the grapes, resulting in the characteristic rich, dark color and syrupy consistency. 

Recipes can also be found online for a traditional spiced but less sweet sauce called pontack or elderberry ketchup, which has been made in England for centuries. It goes well with meats and wild game.  Some say it is similar to Worcestershire sauce. 

Elderberry Balsamic Vinegar 

Pick ripe elderberries (i.e., dark and glossy) from their stalks.  Be careful not to include any green or partially ripe berries, and remove any twigs or leaves.  

Weigh the berries and place them in a large glass or plastic container or bowl. 

For every 12 oz. of fully ripe elderberries, add

2 cups white wine vinegar or cider vinegar to cover the berries. 

Stir and slightly mash the berries, making sure any floating berries sink. 

Cover and place the container in a cool place to steep for 5 to 6 days. Check daily and stir gently.

Drain the vinegar/berry juice using a sieve, cheesecloth or jelly bag to remove the berries. Allow the berries to drain for a prolonged period (up to 24 hours), to extract all the juice. Don’t press the berries or squeeze the bag or your vinegar will be cloudy. Discard the drained berries (compost).

For every 1 cup of vinegar/elderberry juice

Add 1 1/2 cups sugar  

Add the vinegar/berry juice and sugar to a stainless steel or other non-reactive saucepan  Bring to a boil. Stir and simmer for about 15 minutes. The sugar should have dissolved, and the liquid should have thickened slightly. Pour the hot balsamic vinegar into sterilized bottles through a sterilized funnel.  Cap and label. Enjoy as you would any balsamic vinegar.  Store in a cool dark place for up to one year.

Dooryard Fruit Maintenance in January and February

If you have fruit trees in your landscape or are thinking about planting some, January and February are busy times in our area. Deciduous fruit trees,  berries, and grape vines can be planted throughout January and February and for those who already have some in their yard, it’s the time to prune and fertilize.

For citrus, it’s best to plant after the last frost to allow new trees to put down roots and get established before next winter.  Pruning can be done most any time, but it’s good to leave excess growth until after danger of frost to help protect the trees.  However, February is a good time to fertilize citrus.  

If you’re unsure what to do and when, refer to our dooryard fruit calendar in the left side bar or at this link.   The calendar also includes links to information about maintaining each type of fruit, including how to fertilize and pruning instructions.

Another resource is the free Fruit Pruning Workshop scheduled at the Leon County Extension on February 4. Information and Registration here.

We welcome any questions or comments so we can make the Fruit Maintenance Calendar as useful as possible. You can leave comments below or reach us at the email in the left sidebar.

Banana Ripening Update

Our bananas looked like this
in December

The VegHeadz had several good bunches of bananas on their plants last fall, but they did not have time to fill out completely when cold weather hit, stopping their development.  

While bananas ripen better off the tree, in order to reach their full potential they should have plump sides before cutting the stalk down. We assumed that because they were not fully developed, they would not be edible if we tried to ripen them.

Our ever-curious gardeners decided they weren’t going to abide by that assumption, and several of them took bananas home on January 10 to ripen in different situations to see what the results would be.

Cathy ripened hers inside hanging on a coat rack.  It took less than two weeks.   About a dozen ripened and Cathy reported they were firm and sweet.  They were small as they did not develop further after cutting from the plant. The very small bananas turned black as they yellowed, but the larger ones did a bit better (photo). 

Cathy’s ripe bananas

Rebecca ripened hers in a paper bag inside and it took about the same amount of time.  

Peggy hung hers in her unheated garage and they also ripened nicely, but took about six weeks.  She had about a dozen finger-size bananas ripen.  

Peggy’s ripe bananas 

The bottom line—don’t give up on your bananas even if they are not fully developed.  This is the usual result as weather turns cold.  Occasionally bananas will have time to fully develop in our area giving us more bananas than we can use.  It doesn’t happen very often, but we’ve learned we can still enjoy home grown bananas most years.  

Time to Prune Grapes

 

The VegHeadz are learning about caring for grapes now that we have a grape arbor, and February is the ideal time to prune grapes. Grapes bear fruit on new growth on one year old vines, so it’s important to trim back last year’s growth in early spring to make way for new shoots.  Training vines also keeps the arbor from becoming an unmanageable tangle, with the resulting shade causing grape production to decline.

Peter Goren, the master gardener who is heading up the grape project, has decided to use the Munson Method of pruning. T.V. Munson, who lived in Texas, spent many years studying grapes and developing varieties.  He is considered to be the savior of the French wine industry through his research.  Read that interesting story here: https://www.grayson.edu/munson/index.html  

There are many options for training grapes, depending on your situation and the variety of grape.  Muscadines are the species that grows best in our area. For everything you need to know about growing muscadines see:  https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/hs100

Dooryard Fruit Care

A new resource is available on the VegHeadz blog—a North Florida Dooryard Fruit Care Calendar.  For those who have fruit trees or who aspire to grow some, this is a helpful aid to prompt you when to plant, fertilize and prune.  

The reference links included provide additional important information.  

Dooryard fruit doesn’t need a lot of fertilization if they are planted in loose, fertile soil and consistently mulched.  The fertilization schedules recommended in the references have been adjusted on the calendar to allow you to fertilize almost all of your fruit at the same time.  However, you should be aware of the fertilizer needs for each variety as some, like blueberries and citrus, need an acidic fertilizer and others a more neutral type.  

This calendar is under development and we welcome comments, suggestions and questions in the comment section below.  The calendar is available in the left sidebar and at this link:  

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XEmFrZHuVDZSdRZ-8FkNsk8uaJKDaIj9/view?usp=drivesdk

Wednesday in the Garden

Some of our intrepid gardeners—
Mike, Louie, Cathi and Cathy

It was a cool day at the VegHeadz garden, but a number of the VegHeadz turned out to weed, and plant, and collaborate, and plan for the VegHeadz table at next week’s annual MG meeting.   No matter the weather, it’s never a good day to miss being in the garden.  

Seen in the garden this week:

Some variety of Pak Choy

Fennel, ready for butterfly larvae
to munch

Beautiful lettuce

Winter vegetables are fun—
many shapes and shades of green

Broccoli almost ready for harvest.  Each 
little bump is a flower bud.  

Peppers—maybe Aji Dulce

Echinacea—Purple Coneflower
Undaunted by recent cold snaps

Looks like Carrots, but it’s
really Dill

The persistent tomato in the Hugelkultur
bed is still producing.  These tomatoes are
down in the center of the plant which 
gives them some frost and cold protection.  

Jalapeno peppers.  In warmer weather 
they would ripen to red if 
left on the plant

Several of our banana trees have produced bananas. Unfortunately they. will not have
time to develop and ripen in winter’s cool weather and short days. Last winter we had a
hard freeze and all the banana trees died back. It takes a banana plant up to 18 months to
bear fruit in our climate.  These “trees” had to first regrow and then produce fruit,
which didn’t give them time to develop completely.  Bunches which are
mostly developed with plump bananas can be cut and ripened inside.  
These undeveloped bunches will be removed and composted along with the plants on which
they grew (will not bear fruit again) and any other surplus banana plants developing within the mat.
For more information, enter “bananas“ in the search box in the right sidebar.