Manure Depot » No Till Gardening

Garden Amendments: About Alfalfa & Peanut Hay Fall 2011

Adina — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 04:02:04 +0000

In my In The Garden articles about the Lasagna Layer Mounds the garden amendments straw, manure, and alfalfa hay are frequently mentioned. They are the ingredients for the garden mounds, but they are something else as well. Of course we know manure is a waste product from livestock farming or ranching, and we know straw, 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 →

The No Till No Dig Way: Revisiting Soil Tilth and The No Till Garden

Adina — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 02:46:34 +0000

My garden grows beautifully. All I do is feed the soil with lots of organic wastes. I don’t dig, I don’t worry, I don’t fertilize plants and I don’t spray plants. All in all I would say that growing the No Till No Dig Way is an easier, more successful way to nurture a food garden.

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 →

Composting: To Turn or Not To Turn?

Adina — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 05:15:38 +0000

The conventional approach to composting is that we should turn our compost piles. I have already discarded the conventional approach to gardening: I won’t turn the soil. It occurs to me that it is past time to re-examine my approach to composting.

Harvests: This Summer In The Garden

Adina — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 01:27:08 +0000

This summer has been a whirlwind for me. I picked up some part time work at a local organic farm last winter and the job lasted way into the summer. A couple of months before the farm job started I began volunteering at the Community Vegetable Garden at Heathcote Botanical Gardens. Just as the farm 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 →

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.