Manure Depot » South Florida Vegetable Gardens

In The Garden: Fall & Winter 2012 and 2013

Adina — Sat, 02 Mar 2013 02:31:48 +0000

This fall and winter there is a great deal to see and to eat in my South Florida Garden. I have gained a little extra time this year to spend at the homestead garden and I can see how that is paying off. I have been harvesting turmeric and ginger that grew all summer Continue reading →

In The Garden: More About Sweet Potatoes

Adina — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 04:20:06 +0000

Sweet potatoes are good for the soil. All summer long their vines and heart shaped leaves keep the soil covered. The mulch below the vines breaks down in cool comfort. The swelling potatoes gently move the soil repairing any compaction issues that existed before them. I find the soil below the potato vines to be black, well aggregated (lumpy) and loaded with worm castings. The weeds that are coming up around my transplants are easy to slip out of the soil where the potatoes were. The new crops are growing as if all of their soil needs are being met, and the soil is holding moisture much longer than the native soil.

Education: Making A Garden Plan Class @ Heathcote Botanical Gardens

Adina — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 16:45:52 +0000

I will be presenting a garden planning class 10 AM Saturday August 11, 2012 at Heathcote Botanical Gardens in the office meeting room in the old house. Participants will make an actual plan on paper. We will learn about choosing a garden location, orientation of the garden, crop successions, preparing gardens and soil, companion plants, Continue reading →

Education: My 2012 Summer to Spring 2013 Class Schedule

Adina — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 02:28:29 +0000

Here is the schedule for the classes I am teaching at Heathcote Botanical Gardens thru the spring of 2013. If you click on the link below you can see the pdf poster with dates and times. The composting class has already gone by, however, if there are enough who are interested I would be glad Continue reading →

In The Garden: Revisiting Sweet Potatoes

Adina — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 01:39:07 +0000

The sweet potato plant has multiple uses in the garden as a root crop, a leaf crop, and a cover crop. All parts can be used to feed livestock as well as people and it is at its best growing in hot dry sandy soil. This is a great permaculture crop for South Florida.

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 →