Be Patient (I say to myself)

So its been awhile since I last posted. I guess that's the fate of many a blogger. Life gets in the way, what can I say?!!? Thankfully my schedule has been filled with work, which may sound odd unless you are a freelancer like me. We take it when we can get it ya know.

I also must admit that a bunch of less than sexy things have been going on in my garden. I've pulled about a dozen or so VERY spicy radishes but that's about as exciting as it gets. On the other end I managed to grow the weakest looking sunflowers on the planet that are already at the end of their lives. I know, all things must come to an end but sunflowers are supposed to be easy and I can never seem to grow the gargantuan beasts that everyone else does... whateva.

I have been pulling and pinching all manner of green leafy things. Like I said, not as exciting as picking a ripe fruit but that day will come soon enough. Until then I have to remind myself to be patient. The weather has finally broken here in South Florida. Our real gardening season is in full swing.

Guerilla Gardening

Not the most beautiful landscape - I know. But that's the point. When I was a younger man I had a habit for a few years there of painting walls without the consent of their owners. Some people called that vandalism. I liked to think that some of my graffiti bordered on being called art. Well, fast forward a decade or so and while I don't go bombing with spray cans anymore I still feel the need to beautify otherwise vacant spaces. I was introduced to "guerilla gardening" while I was in college by a friend of mine. There was a produce market not far from our campus that would throw away all the pineapple tops at the end of the day behind their market. If you don't know, pineapples are the easiest thing to grow ( here in South Florida at least). You simple peel back a few leaves until you see signs the little rootlets and screw that thing into the ground. They always take. Our campus was a little bland so we decided to add several pineapple patches. I believe they're still there to this day.

This picture is of a patch of vacant land across the main road from my neighborhood. The city plans on making it a passive park but in the meantime it is a barren field with a few papaya trees and (not seen in this pic) a boarded up house. Today I planted sunflowers, 3 different types of corn, taiwanese black yard beans and hairy vetch. We'll see what happens but if you believe in good omens... it rained today.

I have a hard time finding local sources of heirloom and organic seeds. Last year in my desperate search to find someone in the neighborhood to service this need I stumbled upon Eden Organic Nursery Services. Their physical store is really just the office to an auto body shop but they do carry a wide selection of seeds, organic fertilizers, pest controls etc, etc. Check 'em out if you need anything - http://www.eonseed.com/. Believe me, Home Depot doesn't have what you want.

Ah-Ha!

So back at the end of October I told the story of my overzealous use of compost tea on my then burgeoning seedlings. They seemed to be taking off, I was excited, and thought a little mild fertilizer would do them good. Well, it instead burned them...or so I thought. What I didn't say is what went into the compost that may be the true culprit.

Behind my house is a nice little 4-acre lake that happens to be spring fed. Because of this anomaly the water is relatively safe to swim in ( sans the occasional alligator) and the whole neighborhood uses it to water their lawns. Just to make sure that it doesn't get clogged with algae and to keep down the growth of grasses near the shoreline, our HOA contracts a guy to come out every other month or so and spray the lake. I think you see where this is going.

A couple of days after the last spraying I collected all of the beautiful lake grass and muck from my shoreline. Great!! I was so happy for my little bonanza of detritus I immediately put it into my composter. A day or so later it rained and I drew the putrid water from said composter and applied it to my garden. And that's when it all started ending.

Last week I had a eureka moment and put 2 and 2 together. I did some research and found that a compound called glyphosate (commercially known as Pondmaster) was used in the lake. Pondmaster is Roundup's little aquatic cousin. Supposedly not harmful to fish but just as lethal to plants as Roundup. This coupled with the anaerobic bacteria in my too-wet compost was probably the one-two punch that a) killed the youngest seedlings and b) effectively bonsai'd my other babies.

As hard as I try Monsanto always seems to creep into my world.

Killing them softly

I am hellbent on being organic in the garden. What that means to me is pretty simple. No chemicals. Any pesticides or fertilizers I use are derived from natural sources. My reasons for being so stringent are many fold. I eat what I grow so I really don't want to take any chances with chemical pesticides. Besides killing the bad guys most of these controls also take out the beneficial insects in your garden. And eventually, as most commercial growers have come to find out, insects become resistant to these chemicals. So why start the arms race? It is a war you cannot win.

So when the inevitable chew holes started showing up on my young plants I started going through my alternatives. Big holes on leaves usually means slugs and/or snails. These are pretty easy to take care off. If you see them smash them. For the ones that are good at playing hide-n-seek dust the ground around your plants with diatomaceous earth. Soft bodied pests can't stand this stuff. Apparently it would be the equivalent of you sliding on your belly over crushed glass dusted with a little lye. It is relatively cheap and non-toxic ( you still should not breathe it in though - dust is bad for your lungs).

I'm going to wait and see if that cures my problem for now. I have found that most gardeners overreact and cause more harm by applying unnecessary controls. Chill out man! It's supposed to be relaxing( I tell myself).

Sweet Potatoes

I pulled my sweet potatoes today. Actually I should say more of my sweet potatoes as I have been harvesting them here and there for the last 2 months. They are a godsend for South Florida gardeners. Like cats and orchids they don't require much attention. And talk about bang for your buck. These guys all came from one vine!

Popeye's Lament

I just came back from the faux pumpkin patch around the corner from my house. I got two pumpkins which my wife and I will attempt to carve after we have a few drinks. Wish us luck.

The farmer and I at the patch had a little chat about the unusually hot October here in South Florida. We were both on the same scary page. The Climate Change one. Record breaking heat here and the earliest recorded snow in the Northeast. Denver International just had 5 foot snow drifts. Before Halloween!

People that deal with the Earth on an intimate basis have been recognizing these changes for some time. Ask any farmer and they will tell you things are not right. Sometimes I feel that people think that combating Climate Change is about saving the polar bears and penguins and some small fish that lives in a pool in the bottom of a cave in the Mojave. These things are true but really it's about saving us. The polar bears will die but some creatures will make it through the bottleneck. Will we?

I say these things because after two attempts my spinach seedlings have died. Spinach is notoriously difficult to grow. It needs a cool, moist environment. We had a cool spell earlier in the month and I thought, "Ok, this is it. The weather is breaking." Not true. It's in the upper 80's again. This is the hottest October I can remember. Enjoy your spinach while you can. Happy Halloween!

Locals Only

I mostly garden because I like to eat the things that I grow. Maybe that's why I don't have kids. For me there had to be a tangible result for my efforts. What can I say, I'm goal driven?!!? Occasionally I would grow things for beauty's sake. A bonsai ever so often or every kid's favorite, the venus flytrap. But I've relaxed over the years and my appreciation of the limitless beauty of nature has grown. I'm almost obsessed.

Over the last couple of years my obsession has turned to native florida flora. Not many recognize it but we live in a savanna environment. Plants here need to be tolerant of summer monsoon rains and dry winters. Without supplemental water most plants wouldn't make it between November and May. Florida natives will though. Unfortunately they get a bad wrap for not looking great year round. Then again what does? Shit, you don't! Take a look in the mirror after the holidays. Hmmmmm.

If you're making a native flower bed just be conscious of the bloom season of each species. Right now my Blazing Star plants are, well, the star of the show. Mid to late summer it was the Bee balm and mimosa plants. Before that it was tickseed and mistflower.

Yes, they do go dormant but the dried flowers can work with the right design. Experiment. Why waste money on crappy home depot annuals that you have to buy every season? These guys all readily reseed with no effort. Or money

My Plan for World Domination

Today I helped the Helton's set up their garden. Brad and I share a hatred for all things Monsanto so this seemed like a logical way to stick it to the man. Oh, and the kids might like it too.

We planted carrots, lettuce, beets, broccoli, collards and Thai yellow eggplant. I have no idea what that thing is gonna taste like. Good luck to you Brad & Kim - keep Shea away from dem cigars will ya?!!?

Sunday Blues

The last picture perfect Sunday before we lose daylight saving time. Someone should solve this problem. Yesterday afternoon I rotated my compost pile. Exciting, I know. It rained the last couple of days so needless to say this thing was full of some pretty putrid brown water. Not pleasant but it makes a great natural liquid fertilizer.

So I drained this stuff out of the composter, diluted it with water and fertilized all of my plants. When I got up this morning half of my seedlings were dead. DON'T DO THIS. Even a mild fertilizer is not good for seedlings. Let them do their thing and plan on feeding them when they get a couple of weeks older. Lesson learned. Time to reseed.

I've been gardening since I was a kid. My Dad always had a garden and I followed in his footsteps. There were very few years that I didn't grow something. Even all those years (11-21) when it wasn't cool to be a guy growing mustard greens in his parents backyard. But the same social pressures that convinced me to relax my curly hair didn't stop me from gardening. I just have to be in communion with the Earth. It's my church what can I say?!!?

Which would make South Florida gardening like paying penance... sometimes. You have to start with the foundation. The soil here is a mix of sand and nematodes with a little coral rock thrown in for good measure. If you are going to plant veggies you have to change that. A big brick of peat, a lot of compost (homemade hopefully) and a good blanket of mulch to top it off. Lately I've also been experimenting with bio-char, more on that later.

Get that stuff goin'! Entice the worms in with the compost. They'll love it and reward you by aerating and fertilizing your garden. Let them do the work of tilling. In fact, I say don't till. Most people do more harm to the soil structure by tilling than is worth any benefit. If you have sod lay down a thick layer of wet newspapers and make a raised bed on top of this. The newspapers will kill the grass and eventually decompose themselves ( I wouldn't use color and/or glossy print though, just b&w ink). SAVE YOUR BACK!! You'll need it later.

Some Like It Hot

One of the things you can grow in South Florida in the summer. This is a sweet potato vine that I grew from a slip from a store bought sweet potato. No magic here. When your sweet potato starts to root ( which they all inevitably do) just stick it in the ground. Before you know it there will be three leaves and shortly after a sprawling vine. I never fertilized or had a pest problem. And every once in a while I reach down and pull a sweet potato out of the ground! Duncan 1, Wholefoods 0.

OUR growing season

It's On! While the rest of the country is pulling their sweaters out of storage we South Floridians are preparing to enjoy the best time of the year. The sun is still out (it never really goes away), humidity is down a little and it is not 90+ degrees all of the time. Now is the time to get out there and dig!!

This blog ( I really can't believe I'm blogging... or for that matter have an iphone. I didn't think I was going to be THAT guy) is about my garden and the pleasures and tribulations of gardening in South Florida. The rest of the country thinks that we have it easy. No winters right?!!? But those of you who have ever tried to grow broccoli in the spring like the seed package says know better. Ever try to sow seeds directly in the ground here? And how about that new garden menace, the iguana?

So I'll be chronicling my backyard garden here and hopefully I'll hear from you. One can never know too much and there's always something new to learn about the earth.