Edible Gardening 101

You want to start growing your own food? Have you noticed how prices keep skyrocketing and quality is constantly plummeting at the grocery store? Would it not be easier to just pop out to the garden for a quick moment to get your 100% fresh, organic, grown with love salad fixings; no driving, no big spending, no pesticides, low carbon footprint? How about not supporting large corporate entities that have very little interest in your health and well being!


What do I need to do to start growing my own food?

 Its simple! I have always asked myself: 'What do plants need?'

• AIR
• WATER
• SUNLIGHT
• GROWING MEDIUM
• NUTRIENTS

Its so simple if you break it down.

1 - Choose your location. Is it your backyard, porch, community garden, roof, a wall?

Once you select a location you should observe your site.
How much sunlight does it get? Where is the sunlight coming from, ie do you get morning sun, midday sun or afternoon sun? Is it partly shady?

What does the soil look like?

Does water pool in parts of your location or does it drain quickly?

What do I want to grow in? Are hydroponics a suitable option for me?

I would say that choosing what you are going to grow is one of the last steps in the theoretical part of this journey because there is no way you can select a location for a large fruiting tree if all you have space wise is, say, a porch. Having said that there is NO reason to be discouraged if you have limited or a seemingly unsuitable space.

Now: DO NOT OVERWHELM YOURSELF!

Set realistic goals and slowly make them happen. plants dont grow overnight!!!!

2 - Determine how much soil you need and where you will obtain this. There are a multitude of ways to obtain soil. You can obviously find soil at local garden centers, and at online retailers or if you are very lucky and have or know someone who has horses or cows you can use the composted manure as an excellent soil conditioner. If you need a large amount of soil it would be best to get it delivered or pick it up (if you have a suitable vehicle) by the yard. One yard will cover the following:


A yard is 3x3=9sq ft.


Here is a quick conversion table to help you judge how much mulch you'll need

1 inch deep 324 square feet 
2 inches deep 162 square feet 
3 inches deep 108 square feet 
4 inches deep 81 square feet 
5 inches deep 64 square feet 
6 inches deep 54 square

3 - Get your seed and get to planting. Obtaining seed is simple. You can look for gardening groups in your area, groups on social networks, places like Folia which is an online garden planning social network, go to your local stores and get conventional seed and if you are like me concerned with where things come from I would suggest using any of the seed companies on the following list. I enjoy trading with gardeners in my state as their seeds have been naturalized to this climate if they come from a few generations of plants here.

4- Dont judge yourself! As with everything in life there is a learning curve. You will have plants die on you and you will need to try again. Over time your experience grows and you get better. There are ample resources online and hundreds of thousands if not millions of people who have experience and are willing to share their knowledge with you free of charge or you can take courses too.

Its VERY simple. As I have more time I will do further posts supplemental to this general gardening 101 talking about companion planting, soil amending, natural fertilization among many others so please stay tuned and feel free to contact me with any questions you might have. I am happy to chat all day about gardening!

Spring prep update.

I have been slacking on the blog! I must say its pretty difficult to create this habit of sitting down to write although its becoming more and more rewarding so I am doing my best to include this into the routine.

There is much activity over here in the Sanagaia garden space. We have our greenhouse! Its relevant parts have been moved and are ready to set up thanks to the men of the house. Once we get the footers done then we will be erecting it! Its going to be a great day! :) So much  more space for seedlings and the ability to get enough herbs to start doing a weekly market trip.

Spring planting and clearing is in full swing. We have beds for this and beds for that and we have the asparagus bed ready to plant our crowns in: lets see how they do in here in central Florida. From my research they need a dormant period that this climate does not offer. The way we see it we have the space so we might as well use it.

The most relevant thing that is going on is behind the scenes is organization. We now have a fridge just for the seeds. My mother has been collecting seeds for a while to share, trade or sell. We now have enough seed that we are starting to sell them. We will be adding items to the shopping cart as I catalog them and write about them.

I am very thankful to be able to pursue my passion for local food with my family. Its a gift that has no financial equivalent.

Please stay tuned as I begin adding our seeds to the catalog.

So much exciting news coming for the spring!

Fall 2013

Fall is an exciting time for gardens and gardeners in Central Florida.



The weather is ever changing but its milder than the summer months. Suddenly its much more pleasant to be in the garden all day long. This fall we will be implementing many awesome changes to our garden including some basic irrigation for the established raised beds, small fences around our main growing areas, a hot compost set-up, and planning our spring/summer crops.

We currently have a wide array of medicinal, culinary, edibles and ornamentals. I will be cataloging these over the winter. Its pretty exciting to see everything coming together. During spring we will begin selling seeds we have collected and we should have a wide variety of surplus vegetables we will be offering to the public directly at our site.

The work we are doing here is part of a larger vision to provide our local area with high quality locally sourced fruits and vegetables. Our dream is coming true; to share the plentiful bounty that occurs as you nourish the earth and watch as she nourishes you in return.

The most incredible pleasure has been harvesting enough vegetables to have YUMMY organic salads every day. As the garden matures and prospers we see plants showing themselves whose seeds have been dormant during the hot summer season. Many of the volunteer plants are much more vigorous than its seeded counterparts. Its lovely to walk around and see how our system changes daily.

I am determined to get organized this fall when I am not in the garden I will be working on this blog.