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Here is a link that might be useful: Florida Vegetable Gardening Guide

Alan,
Welcome to GF! I'm relatively new and I've gotten such amazing advice, not to mention met friends and gotten a lot of free seeds and plants, either from trades or just because someone took pity on my newness to gardening. The folks here are outrageously generous.
Don't feel bad about posting newbie questions. I do it all the time. Folks here are really nice about that and share their wisdom (and their wonderful seeds) readily.
I'm also in the Miami area - actually in the Miami city limits. Even with a raised bed, it's pretty tough to grow much for the next few months. At least when it comes to vegetables and herbs, the heat is going to wipe out most things pretty soon.
One of the cool things you can do now is pile your yard clippings on the raised bed. We trim so much this time of year in the Miami jungle - we've got plenty of stuff to pile there. You can do that all summer and then in early August lay newspaper and mulch right over the stuff. It'll be lumpy but will even out in a few weeks. By October, it will have broken down enough for your winter garden. (It's not pretty during the summer - my veggie bed is in the back yard and in a corner we don't see it unless we go there, so we don't mind. I also throw peanut shells there.)
One of the struggles we face down here is not enough dirt and too much sand. Even in raised beds, the good stuff drains really fast. This method replenishes so I don't have to buy more dirt. And unlike fertilizer, this method of composting provides structure to the soil, in addition to nutrients. You may still want to use fertilizer. I use very little. I would have higher yields if I used more, but it's a fun challenge to make my yard self-sufficient while producing food.
My veggie beds are producing more each year - and I'm hauling less stuff to the street, reducing my mid-July who-wants-to-even-be-out-there labor.
Now's also a good time to get a free tree from the county's free tree day - they give away fruit trees sometimes_ or an almost free water barrel from the county. That's another way I make my veggie garden free - I save rain and then water my veggie garden with it.
Keep an eye out for the tomato seed exchange - it's a great way to get interesting varieties of tomatoes you might never have tried.
Good luck! And again, welcome.
Susannah

Here is a link that might be useful: free tree day sign up

Thanks gatormom and Susannah - I'm looking forward to learning more, and hopefully trying out some new things. It's disappointing that the heat will take most of the garden out soon. Actually, I've already lost my yellow pear tomatoes to the heat, much to the dismay of my two-year-old daughter (who loves picking yellow tomatoes from the 'garten'). I'm hoping that the peppers, okra, and eggplant can get through.

I hear you about the yard waste, and I'm thinking about composting some of it down.

What is the tomato seed exchange?

Alan

Hi Alan and Susannah!

Nice to see some other zone 10'ers on GW.
I am also in Miami, and am in the process
of ripping up the entire backyard to put in a
Veg / Cottage garden.

Did you know the City of Miami has a free (YES!! FREE!!)
compost and mulch facility on Virgina Key? The compost is
really quite nice, I just picked up two truck loads today
and am quite surprised I am able to string together full
sentences at this point. Only 18 more loads to go!
It is a little tricky to find, if you would like some detailed directions, you can contact me directly at
missgigiblue -at- live.com
I could never compost the amount I will need, (God knows that doesn't stop me from trying) and it's nice to know the city isn't just dumping all those trimmings in a landfill.

You are both sooo right about the summer heat down here, July and August are only good if you like to harvest your veg pre-cooked, although...sweet potato does quite well down here during the summer.

gatormomx2 is quite right about the IFAS website, it is an
amazing amount of information on Florida gardening.
(HORRIBLY laid out through! Navigating the site is like getting caught in a rats maze) Spot on info though.

Just bought about 30 seed packets today and am going to
be purchasing about another 60 for the fall / winter garden.
Would either of you be interested in comparing lists and doing some trading? (sounds like a lot I know, I'm a vegetarian and need my variety! :*)

I would hate for the extra to go to waste and would love
to pass on or trade the extras. Let me know if you are interested :*) (Most of them are the varieties recommended for the S.FLA climate)

Alan, I have a few bookmarks on square foot gardening, but for the life of me I can't remember what I tagged them with at the moment, give me a day or two to get over my heat stroke and I will send you some links.
Don't want to disappoint the little one and her "garten",
I would try laying down a thick layer of mulch and keep it
fairly moist and maybe picking up some shade cloth at a nursery. If you are handy you could make your plants a little "cabana", it's a small garden so it shouldn't set you back to much $$$. That might buy you a little more time and a cabana and some margaritas will make your summer gardening MUCH more enjoyable!!!

Susannah, thanks for the link for the tree program. I'll be signing up for that ASAP. Drat!! Have to re-do the garden plan AGAIN!!

anyway....my bed and some advil are calling to me, nice to see some Miami folks on this forum!!

have a nice night :*)

Christina

Here is a link that might be useful: UofF IFAS Extension

There is a Square Foot forum right here on Garden Web. I lurk there alot.

Here is a link that might be useful: Garden Web Square Foot Gardening

Christina,
Thanks. I didn't know about the free mulch. I'll check it out, though I can only fit so much into the back of a hatch-back.

Alan,
The tomato seed exchange isn't a formal thing, just something several folks here do each year. Denise organizes it. Some folks save seeds. Others buy a packet of something interesting. And we all trade. Since any seed packet has enough to plant far more plants than we have room for, it's a great way to be able to plant five or ten varieties without buying all those seeds.

For the moment, I'm hiding inside in the a/c. Wow it's hot today!

I am a master gardener who finds Solutions for Your Life just impossible. Another way to access the information is to type "edis" without quotes in the Google box after whatever topic you are searching, ie. type tomato hornworn edis in the google box and it will go directly to all the UF research on that topic. Does that make sense?? Happy gardening FTG.