tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14925103425345638982011-11-27T20:24:04.179-05:00Briannoreply@blogger.comBlogger351100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1492510342534563898.post-89926903967067479662011-01-02T15:24:00.000-05:002011-01-02T15:24:17.961-05:00

We've planted radishes. We've planted carrots. We've got some lettuce. Here's some broccoli. And, finally....here's some cauliflower. It's surprising how much you can grow in a simple (and inexpensive) 4 feet x 8 feet above ground grow bed.  A deeper bed would be better and allow for growing more egg plant and squash. Our efforts for those have suffered and the best I can tell, it's due

Briannoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1492510342534563898.post-85227598785464247892010-11-21T09:05:00.000-05:002010-11-21T09:05:07.038-05:00

If you want to start a backyard vegetable garden and you live in Florida, this website is a valuable source of helpful hints, tips, and tricks. The site has a lot of square foot gardening advice and resources for all things gardening. There are even some links and pictures of 1,800+ lb pumpkins grown in BiotaMax treated soil.

Briannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1492510342534563898.post-17579031070763226682010-02-08T21:39:00.000-05:002010-02-08T21:39:24.190-05:00

I've been composting with red worms for almost a year now with good results. Until now, I've had inside worm bins.  A couple of weeks ago I set-up an outside worm bin. The picture at the left was taken on the first night after the worms were placed in the bin. Three pounds of red worms are in the process of composting fifty pounds of rabbit manure for my garden.

Briannoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1492510342534563898.post-30296045828726570112009-11-10T19:05:00.004-05:002009-11-10T19:40:31.716-05:00

Our square foot garden after about 6 weeks of growth.Here's a close-up of the squash.The banana pepper plants are starting to bear peppers.

Briannoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1492510342534563898.post-68285952880966024812009-10-25T17:52:00.005-04:002009-10-25T18:03:31.540-04:00

I spent 5 minutes at the local grocery store this afternoon conducting an informal survey. This survey was meant to validate an article I read on Huffington Post earlier today.A short quiz (answers below) --1. Where does salmon come from?2. Where do artichoke hearts come from?3. Water chestnuts?4. Cactus?5. What about mushrooms?6. Mayonaise?Answers:1. Thailand or Chili, 2. Peru, 3. China, 4.

Briannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1492510342534563898.post-7323083858993886982009-10-25T15:01:00.007-04:002009-10-25T15:19:09.714-04:00

Here's an updated picture of our backyard garden. I'm not sure the scare crow is having a practical effect, but Linda seems to like it.The squash and peppers are prospering and the broccoli, collards, and cauliflower have grown significantly. The coconut coir mulch, perilite, compost, and worm castings has proven to be a very viable growing mixture. We've survived our first pest attack. We added

Briannoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1492510342534563898.post-64246103900434966822009-10-25T14:43:00.006-04:002009-10-25T19:29:04.430-04:00

According to Tony Corbo, a columnist for Huffington Post, U.S. food imports are rising dramatically."U.S. food imports grew from $41 billion in 1998 to $78 billion in 2007. The growth has come in consumer-ready foods, such as fruit and vegetables, seafood and processed food products. It has been estimated that as much as 85% of the seafood we now consume is imported, and depending on the time of

Briannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1492510342534563898.post-60388229892635358012009-10-24T15:55:00.002-04:002009-10-24T17:17:04.405-04:00

I was invited to attend a new member orientation at Gamble Creek Farm in Parrish, Florida this morning. We joined the farm membership program to ensure that we have a reliable source of locally grown vegetables. The farm has a large variety of hydroponically grown vegetables with weekly harvests beginning within the next couple of weeks. It was eye opening to see the large quantity of

Briannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1492510342534563898.post-9953000985513062212009-10-04T19:18:00.002-04:002009-10-04T19:21:27.818-04:00

We were awakened by several crows perched in an Australian pine on the neighbors property behind our back fence (and near the garden). That inspired Linda to visit the local Old Time Pottery and purchase this scarecrow. Hope it works.

Briannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1492510342534563898.post-78241470875718512942009-10-04T19:15:00.001-04:002009-10-04T19:18:31.934-04:00

Here's a picture of our raised bed garden beginning in week 1. We water it daily (mornings) and keep an eye open for predatory insects.

Briannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1492510342534563898.post-85162877162702237962009-10-04T19:09:00.003-04:002009-10-04T19:15:22.011-04:00

Here is a picture of our backyard garden planted last weekend. It's an 8 feet x 4 feet raised bed garden design. The mulch is coconut coir to keep the weeds down. The individual plants were dressed with several handfuls of vermicompost.

Briannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1492510342534563898.post-74886159065468398932009-08-21T22:20:00.000-04:002009-08-21T22:22:09.876-04:00

Briannoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1492510342534563898.post-41552656491122944792009-08-09T15:11:00.004-04:002009-08-09T15:21:25.174-04:00

Hydro Harvest located in Ruskin, FL grows, markets, and sells produce via hydroponic methods. The video above demonstrates how you can also grow hydroponic produce in your own backyard.Buy your own system from Vertigro.com.

Briannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1492510342534563898.post-91063842935338196902009-08-08T21:45:00.003-04:002009-08-08T21:54:15.664-04:00

I've been wanting to experiment with a home built hydroponics system for quite sometime and today I found some plans to build an ebb and flow hydroponic system at Instructables.com.This same basic design could be used for an aquaponics growing system.Simply Hydro also has some pictures of home buildable systems that might provide some ideas if you decide to build your own system.

Briannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1492510342534563898.post-13214332378640034472009-06-06T15:51:00.008-04:002009-06-06T16:40:38.388-04:00

Linda has been urging me to set up the camera on a tripod and use the remote control to take some bird photos for weeks now. Last week she set it up herself with pretty good results. A faster lens would have taken even better photos, but for complete shade and a slow 300 mm 4 - 5.6 lens I thought these turned out well.We were hoping to catch the cardinals, but they're apparently pretty camera shy

Briannoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1492510342534563898.post-46724818872160032952009-05-31T15:04:00.003-04:002009-05-31T15:10:49.921-04:00

Our desert rose's love the sub-tropical climate of the Tampa Bay area. They like it dry, but seem to take massive amounts of rain without too much trouble. This one sits on the front porch and took the full brunt of 2 1/4 inches one recent afternoon and evening.We hadn't had rain for 5 or 6 weeks at our house, but when it rains in Florida, it REALLY rains. We got 5 1/2 inches in a week. The beds

Briannoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1492510342534563898.post-7462031280101452842009-05-30T10:23:00.003-04:002009-10-30T18:43:39.924-04:00

The soils in most of Florida are too sandy to raise a highly productive and quality vegetable garden. For better results, raised beds will work well. You can purchase them from Gardeners.com . They supply pre-made cedar or recycled plastic kits. There are many other sources online, from gardening catalogs, or you can build them as a DIY weekend project.Your choice of bedding is the most

Briannoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1492510342534563898.post-45161382279845730622009-05-28T21:50:00.003-04:002009-05-28T21:55:22.341-04:00

Holly White has a garden on her Detroit balcony that can provide 100's of pounds of fresh produce each year. How does she do it? Read this article in the Metro Times to find out.Hint: She uses worm castings from 40 lbs of red wigglers to kick everything in gear.She has a Can-O-Worms and a Worm WigWam worm bin. Read more on her blog - Homesteading in a Condo.

Briannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1492510342534563898.post-26395882849323423672009-05-28T21:41:00.002-04:002009-05-28T21:44:02.956-04:00

I've been researching aquaponics systems and ran across this interest video. I'd like to make a similar system using a two 150 gallon Rubbermaid grow beds and a 300 gallon Rubbermaid fish tank.

Briannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1492510342534563898.post-32410683452241732922009-05-24T12:33:00.006-04:002009-05-24T13:20:49.942-04:00

Linda and I have started planning for this year's backyard vegetable garden. Vegetable Gardening in Florida by James Stephens is a nice reference for planning purposes. There are several charts in the back of the book that list cool weather and hot weather crops.Florida is a little different in that most vegetable gardens are started in the fall months rather than the spring. It's just too hot in

Briannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1492510342534563898.post-23309621854588088702009-05-24T09:51:00.000-04:002009-05-25T11:08:49.538-04:00

My parents, grandparents, and all who came before them were farmers. They grew gardens to put food on the table and raised cows, pigs, acres of corn, soybeans, milo, and wheat to put money in their pockets.I have a lot of gardening memories from my childhood. Some of them are better than others, but all of them involved a lot of hard work, blood, and sweat. And, I’m sure that in my younger years,

Briannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1492510342534563898.post-76536870466082920512009-05-20T19:24:00.000-04:002009-05-20T19:25:42.893-04:00

Briannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1492510342534563898.post-68159415810675368982009-05-20T19:17:00.004-04:002009-05-20T19:22:49.564-04:00

I took these photos at the St. Petersburg Plant Fair a few weeks ago. This vendor is from Wimauma and had a magnificent display of desert rose specimens. I talked to her for a few minutes and she explained that the fullness is achieved by generous cutting and pruning. "The desert rose loves to be cut," she explained.

Briannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1492510342534563898.post-13423476720239246162009-05-17T19:05:00.000-04:002009-05-17T19:06:07.134-04:00

VegetablesVermicompostingAquaculture

Briannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1492510342534563898.post-49244136606509069402009-05-17T19:04:00.001-04:002009-05-24T13:27:47.507-04:00

Last night my wife and I harvested vermicompost from an inside bin that we started a few months ago with 1 lb of redworms. Besides generating a lot of nutrient rich soil additives, we've also doubled our quantity of worms in the bin to approximately 2 lbs (maybe a little more). I've always thought of vermicomposting as primarily an outside acitivity, but the inside worm bin has been very

Briannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1492510342534563898.post-85191451859468634912009-03-29T15:38:00.001-04:002009-03-29T15:40:07.208-04:00

Briannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1492510342534563898.post-50699472579233898242009-03-29T15:00:00.000-04:002009-03-29T16:24:07.411-04:00

Today I stopped by True Value Hardware. I was shopping for some rope and as I walked through the aisles I discovered coconut coir sold in bricks. Here's a store locator link: click hereTrue Value sells the block that provides 2 cubic feet of bedding for $7.99. It's organic coconut coir and more economical than any other source of coir that I've discovered to date. I plan to use it in my raised

Briannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1492510342534563898.post-72558089866132386672009-03-29T14:49:00.002-04:002009-03-29T14:54:50.606-04:00

The Stoneware Compost Crock provides a one gallon capacity kitchen counter composting alternative. The charcoal filters eliminate odor. I might have to get one of these for my worm bin. Right now I'm storing my "worm food" in the freezer and thawing and feeding the worms twice a week.

Briannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1492510342534563898.post-55416936067416666872009-03-15T20:53:00.002-04:002009-03-15T21:00:00.664-04:00

I made a trip to the local discount mart this afternoon and ran across this orchid for $7. I know nothing about orchids, but for a few dollars I figured it was worth making the effort to learn.

Briannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1492510342534563898.post-92036551837454186942009-03-15T20:00:00.002-04:002009-03-30T22:14:26.359-04:00

Composting is going to play a big role in my gardening plan, but a traditional outdoor composting bin or bed is not a good option for my neighborhood. After researching various options for composters, I decided that a worm composting bin will fit our needs nicely.I purchased a 5 tray Gusanito Wormswrangler vertical worm tower. The Can O Worms was another option I considered, but since we're just

Briannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1492510342534563898.post-39504051969739828322009-03-14T21:33:00.000-04:002009-03-14T21:34:30.459-04:00

Briannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1492510342534563898.post-76508463917067199322009-03-14T21:27:00.004-04:002009-03-14T21:42:12.342-04:00

This picture captures everything I like about Florida - sunshine, warm weather, scenery. When other areas of the country are experiencing 10 degree temperatures, ice, and snow; I can take pictures of beautiful flowers (in the middle of December).

Briannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1492510342534563898.post-88167335092380169062009-03-14T21:13:00.004-04:002009-03-14T21:22:32.135-04:00

I haven't read Lasagna Gardening by Patricia Lanza yet, but I just added it to my "must read" list. Any gardening method that promotes organic growing, reduced weeding, tilling, digging, etc. is a book that is worth reading.

Briannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1492510342534563898.post-65246917392149342522009-03-13T20:22:00.004-04:002009-03-13T20:59:06.391-04:00

There are many blogs about Florida gardening. Some blogs even provide step-by-step examples for constructing 4 feet x 4 feet above ground beds like those made popular by Mel Bartholomew on his popular PBS television program. Mr. Bartholomew recommends using a mixture of vermiculite, peat moss, and compost. You mix the three main ingredients for the growing medium in equal parts. This entire

Briannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1492510342534563898.post-51768260989916472012009-03-09T19:08:00.005-04:002009-03-09T21:36:56.955-04:00

Two years ago I tried to grow a few peppers and tomatoes in plastic containers on my back patio. I've seen it done successfully and I've read about it online, but my attempt failed miserably. The tomato plants succumbed to some little, but very evil, green worms and the peppers never fully matured on the vines.According to the University of Florida IFAS Extension Service, I'd have had better

Briannoreply@blogger.com0