Discover the Fun of Gardening

February 24, 2011   

It looks like we're done with cold weather, which means it is time to plant spring veggie gardens. Kim and Joey's daughter Abigail helped them plant their garden this week by opening seed packets. She also supervised the planting of tomatoes, beans and cucumbers. Lots of veggie plants have arrived at the nursery just in time to plant for the season. To really get your gardens started, don't miss the Spring Veggie Workshop this Saturday at 10am. 

If veggies aren't your thing, don't worry. In just one day, Kerby's unloaded 10 trucks full of beautiful plants, trees, shrubs, soil and mulch. Everything you need to create a beautiful landscape and get your yard out of it's winter blues. 

2011 will be an exciting year at Kerby's. Check out the event calendar for other fun workshops and events, including our first ever kid's event and of course Spring Fling on the boardwalk. It will be a great year to Discover the Fun of Gardening.

Happy Gardening,
 Kim, Joey and Mark

In This Issue
Spring Veggie Gardens

Upcoming Events

 

Vegetable Gardening

It's crunch time! Or at least it's time to get your veggie gardens started so that you can harvest fresh, crunchy vegetables this season. For the nitty gritty on how to grow your own vegetables, come out to our workshop this Saturday at 10am. To tantalize your taste buds, check out these veggies that you can start planting this time of year.



Collard Greens - Delicious, especially cooked with a little ham hock and molasses, collards are a cool-season vegetable, but are also the most heat tolerant of all the greens. Plant seeds or young plants now to extend your greens harvest into the early summer. Greens are a great crop, because you can harvest the mature leaves and allow the young ones to keep growing, for a long harvest period. Don't forget to try mustard and turnip greens too.



Radishes, Carrots & Beets - Add a little color to your salads with these crunchy root vegetables. If you are gardening with your kids and grandkids, radishes are fun because they are really easy to grow and the seeds germinate very quickly (often within a week). All of these veggies are cool-season crops, so sow seeds now for harvest before summer. 



Beans - A wide variety of beans can be grown in our area, and are a fun crop for early summer. From bush beans to pole beans, lima beans to black-eyed peas (cowpeas) there are lots of different types to choose from. For pole beans, you should build a small trellis structure to allow them to climb up, but you can also plant beans with corn and allow them to twine up the corn stalks, talk about making your garden efficient!



Melons - A fresh, juicy melon on a hot, summer day. Yummy! Plant watermelon and cantaloupe now and watch these vining plants produce enormous melons. It's amazing what good soil, a little water, fertilizer and sunlight can do!




Tomatoes - are everyone's favorite. They are a warm season crop, and with the warm weather arriving on time this year, it's time to plant. From sweet 100s to beefsteaks, and disease-resistant varieties like floramerica and park's whopper, there is a tomato for every taste.  If you are really adventurous, try some heirloom seeds, such as Black Krim, Cherokee Purple and Abe Lincoln. They'll be some of the best tasting tomatoes you've ever had.

 
There are so many vegetables that you can plant, that it gets hard to choose which ones to plant. Make sure to plan your garden before you start planting to maximize the space, without overcrowding plants. In no time at all you'll have a table full of fresh vegetables, straight from your garden.


Upcoming Events
 

Kerby's has lots of fun planned for the garden in 2011, including workshop favorites on vegetables, herbs and roses, as well as some new kids gardening events that will get the whole family involved. 2011 will be a great year to Discover the Fun of Gardening.

 

Workshop: Spring Vegetable Gardening
Saturday, February 26th at 10:00 am

Healthier, tastier vegetables are easy to grow, and in this workshop, you'll get all the information you need to get your vegetable garden going this spring. Also included is an Earthbox demo, showing you how to grow veggies, even with limited space.

 

 

Workshop: Cold Hardy Landscaping
Saturday, March 5th at 10:00 am

Tough plants for Florida Gardens are the feature in this workshop. You'll see some amazing plants that are great at taking whatever mother nature throws at them. We'll also teach you some tricks for creating a beautiful landscape. Featuring our We Plan You Plant service, for anyone wanting a jumpstart on a gorgeous landscape.

 

 

Spring Fling
Saturday, March 12 10am - 4pm

Bring on the color! You won't be able to resist all the amazing flowers we've found for this year. Come out on Saturday and enjoy some fresh cotton candy and popcorn and take a stroll around the boardwalk to see all of this season's new arrivals. 


 

 

Workshop: Classic Southern Gardens
Saturday, March 26th at 10:00 am

Want to create a classic southern garden with camellias, gardenias and azaleas. Come out and learn about the best way to plant, prune and care for these classic shrubs.

 

 

 

 

 

Kerby's Kids Gardening Activity
Saturday, April 2 from 10am - 2pm

Little hands, a little dirt and lots of fun; it's the first ever Kerby's Kids event. Come out with the family for this fun event that will let everyone get there hands a little dirty. The kids will get to learn a little about plants, and create their own masterpiece to take home and watch grow.  

 

 

 

 

Workshop: Tropical Fruit Trees
Saturday, April 9th at 10:00 am

Juicy and delicious, there is nothing like picking fruit from a tree you've grown and eating it on the spot. Whether you like mangos or jakfruit, kiwi or papaya, or nance and custard apple, there is a fruit to fit every taste. After the workshop, you'll be able to sample some of the delicious fruits that can be grown in our area.

 

 

If you are having trouble reading this newsletter, click here to view it in a browser


Kerby's Nursery
2311 S. Parsons Ave.
Seffner, FL 33584
(813) 685-3265
www.kerbysnursery.com


Hours
Open Seven Days a Week
 Monday - Saturday,  9:00am - 5:30pm
Sunday,  9:00am - 4:00pm