Jagger's Fruitful Adventures

Following their move inside, the Strawberries continue to look sad. They are still droopy and limp. I will say that there was a little growth since last time, however not enough to be noticeable. Something I did notice when inspecting the stems is that they have hardened. Their color turned brown and became frail to where I thought I would break it if I touched it. I have since moved it back outside since the weather is permitting. I think moving them inside only hurt them and I may leave them outside to endure the weather conditions unless its truly freezing. I will update if the condition of the plant improves.  As a bonus, the broccoli is doing amazing. It seems to be nonstop growing which is great to see. I am considering bringing it home over break and replanting it into a bigger pot so it can really take off. I also included my tomatoes as a bonus as they are finally starting to turn red and look awesome.  

With the assignment to try new fruit I really thought about what I wanted to look for. I have been eating fruit consistently throughout my entire life and actually prefer it as a snack over general snack foods. When deciding what I wanted to try, I walked through Publix and discovered my fruits of choice: persimmon and dragonfruit. PERSIMMON: There were two reasons I selected Persimmons. The first is that my roommates eat them pretty regularly so I've seen them often but never knew what it tasted like. The second reason is the color, it looked appealing honestly. After trying it, I'm conflicted. On one hand I enjoy the flavors the fruit has, it reminds me of a medley of fruits with a deeper taste. I am also a fan of the texture. I enjoy how it pulls apart in your mouth when you apply any pressure to it. What I am not a fan of is the feeling it leaves in your mouth after. The sensation is what I can only describe as it coats your mouth. Its a weird feeling, that is very hard to ...

For my farm tour I decided to not venture far and check out the UF Teaching Garden that is set up for horticulture students to practice and learn with first hand experience. I have driven by this garden many times and briefly visited once but never got the opportunity to walk through the garden. I wanted to see if the garden looked as good as I thought it would and I must say I was very happy I walked through.   (Amaranth Trail) As soon as I walked in I was greeted with the Amaranth Variety Trail. This was really unexpected and cool as it was a path of multiple colored Amaranths. The idea of a teaching garden in my mind would include the basic vegetables and greens that are used to educate beginners but I was surprised by the size and design of the plants and path. It gave me ideas on potential paths to create once I have a backyard to do so. (Blackberry bushes and fruit) (Blueberry fields)   (Muscadine Grapes) After walking through the Amaranths, I stumbled upon the berry sec...

 Today I visited the grocery sections of Walmart, Target, and Publix. Below is my review of them.  WALMART: Going to Walmart, I know the quality may not be the best but the selection is good and this idea shined through. The benefit to Walmart is that you can buy a lot in bulk. As seen in the pictures below, there are bags of fruits and vegetables available for purchase as soon as you walk in the store. I appreciate this layout as it allows for people to have a wide selection while saving on some costs too. The refrigerated section was decent but needed to be restocked more often than it is. The variety is pretty normal, nothing special with all the fruits and vegetables you'd expect to find in a grocery store. If I was looking to cook for a party or was a food shop owner, I would frequent Walmart when looking to buy groceries for the week. TARGET: This was by far the smallest grocery section of the three, which shouldn't come as a surprise as Target is more of a department st...

Tonight, I visited the Walmart garden center in Butler Plaza and walked through their plant selection. I chose Walmart on purpose as I have a love, but more so, hate relationship with Walmart garden centers. When I am gardening at home, if I need something quick I'll go to Walmart because its close and cheap. The plants they sell however, are questionable at best. I have previously bought tomatoes from Walmart to plant in my garden and they died within the first two months. I wanted to see if the plant problem was a local one or a chain wide problem.  Upon walking into the garden center, I must say I was surprised by the amount of green there was. Below are pictures of the vegetable section and it looked great compared to what I was predicting. They had a nice selection, ranging from herbs, tomatoes, and other greens, and they all looked healthy. The second picture below is the tomatoes they were offering and they looked better than expected considering the growing conditions and t...

STRAWBERRY UPDATE Coming in almost four weeks after my last strawberry post, I've have seen less growth than I thought. There was a new sprout, however, the main stems are weak and flop over. Although they are still alive they refuse to stand up on their own. I don't know what to think as I know that this plant likes to have runners so hopefully they grow out, but the lack of growth is semi concerning. I have since moved it inside and am waiting to see if it makes a difference. a   BROCCOLI UPDATE The broccoli has grown a lot! I am starting to see the center leave start to come in and am excited with the growth. I may consider moving it to a bigger pot in the future, as there are multiple seeds in the pot, but that will be a later problem. Right now I am happy to see it grow and will monitor for improvements.