Manure Depot » South Florida Vegetable Gardens

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 →

In The Garden: When It Is Cold, Sheets & Straw To The Rescue

Adina — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 20:20:22 +0000

Even with expecting cold weather, choosing our warmest spots for our most tender vegetables, and growing lots of brassicas, onions, and carrots every where else, we need lots of great strategy for protecting our tender and often favorite vegetables. Local farmers are losing millions of dollars in tomatoes in these low temperatures. There isn’t much they can do for a field of tomato plants in 20 degree weather, but we gardeners having far fewer plants to protect, can afford to put lots of effort into just a few plants.

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: 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 →

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.

The No Till No Dig Way: Why Soil Should Not Be Disturbed

Adina — Wed, 19 May 2010 04:49:35 +0000

To grow in an organic manner in such a way as to decrease the cost of your inputs, increase the health and disease resistance in the garden, and increase garden yields, a grower must focus on the soil. This focus must be on maintaining optimum populations of the microbes and the invertebrates that are present in healthy soils.

The No Till No Dig Way: Revisiting The Lasagna Garden Mound

Adina — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 02:50:17 +0000

The concept of this no dig bed is simple. You don’t till or disturb the soil below, and you create a mound that roughly approximates a balanced pile of stable scrapings. This is a great way to start quickly and these mounds feed the soil below as the growing season progresses attracting beneficial insects and microbes to your growing area, and you won’t have to fertilize the plants growing in these mounds.