Rank Newbie here - need advice!

[bills]

Congrats on the new home! I bet your both excited.

Some really great advice so far from Hoodat, and the others.

Does the property have an existing veggie garden, or do you need to start from scratch?
If your starting from scratch, now is a good time to plan the best location for the garden. Most veggies prefer good long daylight hours to prosper, so look at where you can dig, that won't be in a lot of shade. Some veggies actually do like a bit of shade, or they may bolt, rather quickly, or wilt from the heat, so you could look at having two beds, or one larger bed that has an area with a little shade. Keep drainage in mind, as well, as many plants won't fare well in a swamp.

Perhaps have your soil tested for PH etc., as this will help to determine what it may be lacking in. You can than begin to "adjust" the soil through composting, liming, etc.
Start looking through seed catologues to see what variety's may do best in your climate, that you would like to grow.

There are some great books on raising poultry, and honeybees, so I would hit the library, or bookstores right away for them. I'm sure there are some great web sites for beekeepers as well, so you may want to research them.
As to raising poultry, one of the best sites is the one hiker mentions. Great people who can offer a newbie a tremendous amount of help. ( A lot of them are members here as well.. )
http://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/index.php

Sounds like you have your work cut out for you, but you can always start small, and then build as you get the hang of it all..

 

[dragonlaurel]

I used to live in Orlando. You should get your soil ph tested. Most plants want the ph to be near 7, which is neutral. Potatoes and some berries are big exceptions. They want acidic soil. You could grow them in containers if you don't want to amend the ph of a big area.

If your soil is too alkaline, a thick layer of pine needles makes a great mulch. They are acidic as they break down and would add more humus which most Fla soil really needs. Mulch is a Fla gardeners best friend, since sandy soils don't hold on to stuff you add to the soil well. Stirring some mulch or compost into your soil will help it stay moist enough for longer and still allow excess water to drain. Any stuff you buy to add to your soil will get absorbed better too, instead of rinsing away fast.

I used to dump my leaves and pine needles where I wanted to make a good garden bed. Turn some of them in with a tiller or shovel, if you're in a hurry. Then I'd go to a bait shop and get a container of worms. Release them into the garden spot and the compost pile. They speed up the process that turns the mulch into good dirt and fertilize it at the same time.

My lawn soil there was contaminated from over use of chemicals (previous grove) , so I grew my edible stuff in containers. It worked great and turned out to be easy. I could vary the soil to suit that plants needs, but most food plants aren't that picky. The cheap bags of "organic potting soil" were just fine. Put a few earthworms in the pot when you do container gardening too. It keeps the soil from getting too caked up, and they can feed on a layer of much that you put on the top of the pot. The plant wins the whole way around.

About Fla weather-
My garden NEVER read the info on the seed packets. The packets are describing "average conditions", not summer in Fla. Many plants appreciate a little bit of shade in the hottest part of the day there. Planting on the East side of the house can work too since the morning sun isn't as intense. Many plants couldn't take being in the Southwest corner of my yard. They would dry out too fast, but it was wonderful for aloe and yucca.

If I owned that property, I could have planted a few fruit trees in that corner and mulched extra thick there. Avocado, and Loquat grew well there and a neighbor had a producing pear tree. Some nursery companies can tell you which varieties will produce in your area. Growing peaches is possible in Fla. Just find out how many chilling hours you get from the county extension service and which varieties like those conditions.

The extension office can give you better planting dates for most crops for your area too. Many crops that like to grow in cool weather might need to be planted in October or later and just covered on the coldest nights.

Some plants that most people grow for one season, can actually grow year round, or for more years, if freezes don't kill it. On nights with light frost expected, I just moved all the patios potted plants close together and tossed sheets over the lump. Tucked it in under the pots, so the wind didn't take it off. If a hard freeze was expected, I had heavy clear plastic that I would use instead. That stuff needed to be removed before it got very warm again. If the day went over 50 degrees, I'd pull it off.