hayduke's Blog

Viva Che
Dec 24, 2007 | 10:07 PM PST
Tags: key lime tree , southwest florida , Avacado , salsa garden

Hey Now...

So I make one offhand comment to a co-worker and come Christmas I'm the proud owner of a sweet little potted 18" Key Lime tree.

So now what do I do?

That's pretty much why I started this blog. I'm not much of a gardener, more of a cook, but I've always wanted to give it a shot.

Of course I have delusions of Grandure. I'll put the Key Lime tree on the other side of the steps down to the dock, then the Avocado tree behind that near the sheds and the raised beds for the Salsa Garden between the trees and the house.

A little background here:

I'm the Assistant Kitchen Manager at a local diner chain in the Sarasota Florida area (no, not Mel's. Think Fruitier). That makes me the second smartest retard in the kitchen. While we have a set menu, we can pretty much ignore the corporate orders on what we have for specials and improvise what we want (i.e. what we think will sell in God's Waiting Room yet still be tasty which means nothing too spicy or "weird").

Look at it this way: I introduced the concept of the Quesadilla to this place and now it's on the Corporate Special rotation.

Scary.

We know what we're doing even if we can't get away with The French Laundry type of stuff. We still try to pimp it out some.

But enough about me, back to Che, which is what I named my new Key Lime tree.

Apparently he came from Lowe's. Not that I have anything against big corporations (yeah, right. I do, but it was a pretty sweet gift from a really kewl co-worker). So I figure I'll just follow the instructions that came with him.

- +6 hours of light - Check, I live in SW FL, shouldn't be a problem even in the winter

- Semi-Moist - Check, if it doesn't rain, I can always hose him down

- Spacing - Check, got 12 feet to give him

- Zone 10 - eh, I'm supposedly Zone 9, but down here... it doesn't get THAT cold

He's still in a 12" pot, but I've got a good spot picked out to give him a new home, the soil should be fine as there is an 18'+ Grapefruit tree growing along the same lines in the yard. He's got some (what I think is) mature fruit as it's hanging so low that if I planted him now it would be hitting the ground.

Given my previous experience with (ahem) outdoor growing, I'm more worried about varmints than cankers, fungi or slugs.

My plan is to keep him potted until March so I can bring him inside in the event of a hard frost, otherwise just let him chill (not literally) outside where I plan to plant him, keep him damp, but not soaked, and see what happens. No fertilizer until Spring unless I see some Bad Weirdness.

My Next move will be an Avocado Tree in March.

Any comments, suggestions, feedback from growers in SW FL would be greatly appreciated.

iiVIVA CHE!!

Much Love from the Southlands,

~ hayduke

UPDATE 2:30 AM: Went outside to check on Che, pulled the large low hanging fruit and gave it a slight squeeze.

DAMN! That's KIND!!!! Last time I had lime that good was breakfast fish tacos at Caesar's Place, Humpabambito, Mexico. Gonna save that for Cuba Libres later tonight.

Can't wait to get the avocado tree in.

Merry Christmas!!!!