Growing in America

Grocery stores are not what they were once upon a time. Rising costs with lower quality has made many consumers rethink where they are obtaining their fresh foods. I have noticed an increasing trend of people creating their own gardens in their homes. Sometimes homeowner's gardens are threatened by their local government and/or HOA to create their garden space elsewhere or face hefty fines. Recently I have been following two stories in Florida that have me somewhat perplexed and full of complicated questions.

There is Mr. Sean Law in Longwood, FL, you can find the first mainstream press interview with Law here. We went to visit Law and made seedballs with him and some friends in his front yard two weeks ago. It seems the city of Longwood and most specifically a few neighbors are extremely upset at the no-till, no-weeding, seedball farming that comes from the late Masanobu Fukuoka's practices in natural farming which Law is practicing in his front and back yard. Upon first glance it didn't seem odd to me; the garden is not that unkempt but its not thriving either (natural gardening takes some time to take shape) it is though dramatically different from the mowed lawns of his neighbors. Unfortunately Law is facing $130,000 in fines from the city of Longwood and is currently awaiting the Magistrate's decision to keep, drop or reduce fines. He has also filed an appeal with the Florida Supreme Court and started a petition to begin growing food forests in the city

I have also been following case of Tom Carroll and Hermine Ricketts in Miami shores. Here is a video and here an article about this case. This couple has been growing food in their front yard for 17 years! The city has made an ordinance now that specifically bans vegetables. They have been eating fresh organic food right from their front yard for 17 years and now due to the ordinance they have had to remove vegetables from their front yard due to the threat of $50 per day in fines. Carroll and Ricketts are now suing for the freedom to grow vegetables in their front yard. They are not asking for money only suing for $1; it is for the right to grow vegetables in their front yard, as they have for 17 years, where they get the best sunlight. They have had to go to the supermarket to get their organic produce now which is extremely costly after being accustomed to getting their own vegetables out of their front yard.


I personally have no idea why vegetable gardens considered unworthy of being part of the suburban American landscape while fake plastic ornaments, chemical fertilizer/herbicide, and other non-eco-friendly practices are never questioned.  Vegetable gardens are making such a fuss they are actually bothering people and governments. Now the in thing to do is to get your food from miles away with a MASSIVE carbon footprint, limited nutrients/freshness due to early picking, a HUGE distribution chain, high prices, unknown chemicals, picked by who knows who: who knows where. No matter how I think about these issues many questions arise. There are many reasons why this is happening. Somehow most Americans in densely populated areas have come to internalize the ritual of going to the supermarket and paying money as the only way to obtain their food. Food now comes from the supermarket and even there 8 out of 10 cashiers dont know the majority of vegetables I ever buy yet they know all about most boxed products. These days gardening is a civil 'problem' that residents need to be fined for. I mean does anyone see anything wrong with these pictures? I wonder when and how we were led to believe it was someones' responsibility to create our foods for us.

The way I see it I feel it is violating not only our rights but one of the fundamental premises of America and what we used to stand for. 'Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness'. In my interpretation preventing a person or persons from growing edible food which can sustain them and provide life for them, their environment and others would be preventing the right to life, dont you think? I guess it is my right to get food for money at the grocery store! Liberty is violated because in the two instances above the people own their homes and are not given the liberty to grow their own food freely, its a loose interpretation but good enough for me. Finally: it is obvious that in both cases the homeowners are doing something that makes them happy: so what to the pursuit of happiness. This is very simplistic. I just don't see how the neighbors can continue using harmful landscaping practices and you cant grow a turnip or you will be fined. Its absurd!

Is this modern America? Vegetable gardens 'BANNED' read the headlines... Self-sufficiency used to be what made us America now we just buy cheap crap from third world countries.

If more Americans adopted environmentally sound practices in their yard the cumulative effect would be incredible. If you stop and think about all the land occupied by human dwellings and all the 'maintenance' we must give it you might come to realize the carbon footprint of the 'natural' sea of green lawn look is incredibly high. We fertilize and water the grass only to come cut it back every week or two. How is that sustainable? When you take care of the land and work to conserve valuable resources you are indeed making a great effect on everything that surrounds you. Unfortunately our current view of front and back yards is quite askew and devoid of all logical reason.

I feel empathy for homeowners who go through these problems and I understand it is incredibly difficult to have ones way of life challenged because the government or the neighbors dont like it. In the cases mentioned quite costly. Our greatest effect can be made by highlighting the positive benefits that sustainable practices will have on the body, mind, spirit and the wallet. Unfortunately loving and taking are of the planet does not seem to be enough reason for many people to change what they are doing. Hopefully the future will see more and more Americans wanting to learn about and be involved in growing their own food and more voices being heard by local governments. Get involved for your health and that of your surroundings. Our population is increasing exponentially and the access to safe food and water is becoming and will continue to be challenged. It is time that we start getting real; working with our surroundings instead of against them or face the continuing destruction of nature which supports us and gives us life.

Without nature we are nothing.

Red Wiggler : Eisenia fetida

Red Wigglers

Eisenia fetida also known as the red wiggler worm. Lovely red wiggling friends! These are so easy peasy to keep once you figure out how to keep them at an even temp. They will make quick work of the majority of your raw food scraps and can be kept in your home for a low volume household or you can adapt your system to suit the needs of your household/community. Once you are set up you can harvest the castings, make worm tea or collect it and even use it for trades. The nutrient dense castings make an excellent soil amendment. The worm tea can be used as a foliar spray or just poured on the ground to nourish your plants. The castings are living as they contain tons of bacteria and fungi that benefit soil thus benefitting the plants.

Next I will show you my worms and then explain a little about how I keep mine.

I am currently running three worm bins right now; two of them are simply black plastic 3 gal pots and the other is a Worm Factory my mom got a couple of years back. The worm factory is not so suitable for the Florida climate so I would only recommend you get one of these pre made units (there are several brands) if you can keep it at an even temperature in extreme hot or cold. The worms work best at 55 - 77° F although they can tolerate other temperatures they work best in this range.

Here you can see what a small handful of worms looks like with some casting and debris... You can tell when they are well fed as they will be active (if the temperature isn't too cold or too hot) and appear very red otherwise they will look a little grey and not so plump and full of life.

In this next picture you can observe the main food my worms will be getting from now on. We are juicing daily for our health and save the pulp, separate from our compost waste, in a small plastic tub with a lid until its full. As it sits on the counter for two to three days in this tub it begins to break down. There is  no noticeable bad odor and I find it to be an important step as the worms like to get into predigested food. In the bag above the bowl there were left over's from our Jack-o-lantern that had past their prime. I let these bits of pumpkin sit out and we also gave our worms the pumpkin we had carved also.

We have rodent problems in our barn and they are extremely attracted to the food I give to our worms. My partner collected a huge bag of palm debris which I am using to line the bottom and top of the bin. Once I feed my worms I cover them with the palm husk and then put another pot with a small weight to that creepy animals can t get into the bin. Its worked great so far. Even if you dont have rodent issues its good to have a lid for your bin or cover it with leaves once you feed as the worms dont like light too much.

Below you can observe what their eggs look like. Once the temperature here gets cooler after the summer the worms start multiplying VERY rapidly and I have been finding stashes of eggs all over my bins.

So very simply this is how I set up my bins:

1. I take a large plastic planting pot and line it with palm husks or large chunks of coconut fibre... You can use any organic material that you want that does not contain volatile oils as they might affect the health/productivity of your worms. You can also use any container so long as it has tall sides and you have created areas where air can get into the bin. When I started I made mine out of some rubber storage tubs.
2. I add coco fibre (you can find it at hydroponic stores, some garden centers and online) to create the bed they will be in. It should be moist/wet but never soaked about one inch of material should be enough.
3. Then I add my worms. If you are just starting then you can get worms online, from a specialty grower, or better yet find someone locally or a community garden that would be willing to share some with you. The worms will take a minute to get settled so when you move onto the following step you must take caution.
4. Feeding = simple.... Take your food scraps (preferably cut into pieces; some people blend it up with a little water in a blender) or better yet pulp from your juicer and put a thin layer on there...

How much I feed them depends on several things:

size of the container
amount of worms
temperature
the type of food I am feeding

After some time if you are somewhat of a weirdo like me you will begin to develop a relationship with your worms and will be excited to see all the awesome castings they will be making for you!

Now the last thing is to know that the worms are not HUGE fans of citrus and Alliums (onions, leeks, garlic, etc) so they can be added but too much and your castings will be acidic and you will find some funguses you probably dont want from the citrus... In small quantities and mixed/broken down like in the pulp there are no noticeable negative effects.

I will be making another post on Harvesting and use of Eisenia fetida castings and tea. Stay posted!

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.

Three Bin Composting Solution

Above are the side and front view of the area we chose to be our new composting area. Josh began with a pointed shovel to clear the area and level it off to place the palettes that my father had obtained free of charge from a  local business. We placed three palettes on their sides to act as the back to our compost pile and then will use four to make the shape for the three areas: Layers, Mixed, Finished. Its pretty simple!

Here is the almost finished product. We need two more palettes and the chicken wire to line each bin. BUT We already have a system for our food waste. YAY

This week we are working on contacting local businesses that can provide us with enough waste to make our composting project a reality. We already have sources for horse and chicken manure. We are now looking either to obtain our own bunnies for rabbit manure or to find a local backyard bunny farmer who wouldn't mind sharing their bunny droppings. We will also contact several coffee shops for their grounds and a couple of restaurants to make sure we have enough food waste to layer.

Its going to be a hot pile of dirt! I cant wait.