Manure Depot » Grow Food At Home

Education: What to Plant in The Summer Garden @ Heathcote Botanical Gardens

Adina — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 03:48:26 +0000

I am back in my own garden again with a vengeance after the permaculture workshop at Heathcote Botanical Gardens. Time is flying and I have begun to consider what I am planting this summer, and when. At 1:00 PM on Sunday February 5 at Heathcote Botanical Gardens I will be presenting a class on what Continue reading →

In The Garden: October 2011, Plant Now!

Adina — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 02:22:37 +0000

Fall is the beginning of our cold crop planting season in South and Central Florida. Tomatoes, Peppers, Eggplant, Basil and Beans that were started in August may be getting ready to fruit, and may ripen fruit before our first frost. If you are starting those plants now you will have to protect them from the Continue reading →

The No Till No Dig Way: Gardening 101, It’s Easy, Really!

Adina — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 02:02:06 +0000

I made a new friend who is not yet gardening and was rather intimidated by it and quite sure it would take him a long time to learn how to grow food. He mentioned to me that he thought he should take a Gardening for Dummies Class, and that what I had to offer was Continue reading →

In The Garden: Summer Crops For South Florida

Adina — Wed, 11 May 2011 01:57:08 +0000

For many years I let my gardens fallow over the summer all the while feeling quite sure that there were crops that we could grow here in South Florida in the summer time, but I couldn’t figure out what they were, and I didn’t know who to ask. In order to save you the same Continue reading →

Inner Life: Shelling Peas

Adina — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 02:11:38 +0000

How is it, you may wonder, that shelling peas could have anything to do with our sacred inner life? Two summers ago I had lots of Black Eye Peas in my garden. I passed a big bag of peas to my rancher friend Linda from Crazy Hart Ranch. The following week, as she smacked her Continue reading →

Friends’ and Clients’ Gardens: My Brother’s Garden

Adina — Sun, 26 Sep 2010 03:20:33 +0000

“I prepared my bed, just as you instructed when we discussed preparing my garden. The soil was in pretty good shape already so I simply raked-out compost I prepared over the winter and then spread straw on top of that to keep down the weeds. When I planted my vegetables, I sprinkled the bunny and Continue reading →

Friends: Heathcote Botanical Garden’s Community Garden

Adina — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 22:47:43 +0000

Photos by Nan and Adina Heathcote Botanical Garden recently decided to create a community garden. I was fortunate to be at the first meeting about a year ago, and I was able to get involved with this project at the beginning. This community garden is currently focused on growing for a Sarah’s Kitchen in Port Continue reading →

Friends’ & Clients’ Gardens: Tami’s place

Adina — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 02:27:08 +0000

These Pictures were taken by Tami and Melody. This past winter Tami bought fresh vegetables from my garden, and carried a bucket of kitchen garbage to me for my compost every week. Everything changed when she ate the fresh broccoli I put into her bag. Tami said she didn’t know fresh broccoli wouldn’t stink when Continue reading →

In The Garden: When It Got Cold

Adina — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 03:56:47 +0000

The fall of 2009 was very hot and humid. We didn’t have night time temperatures below 70 degrees f. until it was officially winter time. By the time New Years Eve rolled around we had begun to have extremely cold weather and it continued well into February giving us very few warm days in between Continue reading →

Garden Pests: No Problem If You Foster Soil Life, Diversity and Balance

Adina — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 04:04:27 +0000

After I wrote the article Garden Pests: Nematodes I received a comment from Naomi. She wrote “Wow, mind boggling how many things can go wrong in a vegetable garden!” Her comment made me realize that I did not bring home the point of my article very well. While there are lots of potential problems [...]

Friends’ and Clients’ Gardens: My Neighbors’ Fabulous Garden

Adina — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 04:18:59 +0000

My neighbors grow in compost not because it is the organic or no till or healthy thing to do. They grow this way because it fosters the most vigorous plant growth and the most flavorful vegetables, in a place that once seemed much less hospitable for growing food.

In The Garden: Growing Legumes

Adina — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 01:21:55 +0000

Many growers have forgotten about legumes as nitrogen fixers, or have forgotten how to use them to help build garden soil. This would be unforgettable information except that it is easier to buy a bag of fertilizer. The bag of fertilizer method is easier for sure, but it is more expensive, hard on soil, and is a potential pollution threat to our water ways. Legumes lock up nitrogen for future use. Plants know how to tease nutrients out of soil, and how to attract and make deals with bacteria, fungi, and protozoa for the nutrients they hold in their bodies. Growing legumes enriches the soil and the microbes in the soil with nitrogen that plants are able to use.