Alternative Community Farmer/WPB.FL

We humans tend to put much THOUGHTS of brain power into our life , while in fact - it is our expectations ,intentions ,habits and EMOTIONS that rule our behaviours and actions.

As an urban farmer , I have met a lot of people who wanted to do a vegetable garden but did not know what to do.So they read a book,shopped at a garden center and stopped.One friend of mine had the top soil bags waiting for a year in the backyard! Another procrastinated for six months before breaking the ground!Another had a phobia of strangers at her home .Another was a manipulator who wants work to be done for nothing or did not honor her word and pay the guy!Another said she is a woman and and is not supposed to touch the dirt.

If you live in the South and especially in Florida then you will understand why people do not appreciate gardening work as a high profile status!  Well , to go back to history we had the slave plantations here..as a matter of fact we have a city named PLANTATION to keep the memory!

First: Work on your intentions.Do you want to eat fruits and vegetables or do you want to fight- and win- with the coach gardener?

Second:Work on your expectations.Do you expect yourself digging the ground weeding,planting and gardening? Do you have the time ,energy and BUDGET to do a productive ORGANIC vegetable garden?

Third : Did you do your homework first and got an idea of what is your plan to grow ?Did you try to educate yourself by reading gardening books,attending workshops,consulting a local gardener?

There are opportunities in life for us to take.There are people who can help us if we opted to SEEK their help.But on the other hand those people helpers and among them are the farmers and gardeners are not your new SLAVE or new GARDENER or new BOYFRIEND or (girlfriend)! In fact,They take the hardship of the extra mile to reach out beyond the field to those of you who live in homes with INEFFICIENT lawn fronts , idle backyards and try to help transform  them into productive vegetable gardens.Those helpers need to be respected and compensated.They do have their own expectations from you as well.

Both sides Expectations and Intentions should be made clear and put on the table  prior to ground breaking.This is how human relations excell, when communication is established on the grounds of mutual respect .

1-Recycle your and "their" -to be trashed PRODUCE/KITCHEN FOOD SCRAPP.Ask your local neighborhood health food store/supermarket/barn/restaurant etc,if they like to save their unwanted food scrapp ,for you to  compost. Otherwise...you know what to do!

2- Commute on foot/on a bike/in a bus/car pool.Take a break from your car.Give a break to the  earth.Do not burn fossil fuel!Do not smoke.Do not drink and drive.

3-Give away your unwanted:Absolete/idle/stored/dust accumulating treasures like old shoes, old refrigerator,bike,clothes.In this Economic meltdown ,there are hidden lines of "HAVE NOTS" displaced human beings.So, give them a hand .I suggest Garage sales or Church Rummage for better affordable delivery!

3-Replace your inefficient lawn with a productive veggie garden.Or even join a community garden if you have no back/front yard.Garden in containers , the least, if none of the above exist! 

4-Install the following:

 a) A rain barrel irrigation system to save on the water bills and survive the draught in S.Florida.

b) A solar panel electric and water heating system.Green energy is the new fashion.Wear it!

5-Buy locally grown produce ,if possible  switch to ORGANIC!

6-If you are a farmer, fascilitate a workshop or attend one on promoting the awareness of green energy/organic and locally grown produce .

7-Volunteer at a local community garden/soup kitchen/church/csa/farm/earth day or green events.

8-Do no harm to yourself/others/environment by following the NATURAL ONE AND ONLY ONE LAW: LOVE.An avallanche of laws were created as we broke this one law...Business as usual is not THE motto for EARTH DAY.GREEN and SIMPLE LIVING IS!

9-Do NOTHING .BUY NOTHING.SHUT OFF ELECTRIC.TURN OFF TV.Switch off your cell phone.GO OUTDOORS .TAKE A NAP in the garden.Spend the day in NATURE.HUG A TREE,a friend ,a stranger.Use eye contact to connect!WE ARE ONE WITH THE EARTH .IT IS OUR HOME for now and for later ,when we depart to the other side!Our first HOME was in the garden so will be our last one!RESPECT the soil by refraining from polluting with your hands/mouth or any other means!

10-Reward yourself .Be with your family at the  dinner table,at a park or visit a family member/friend .Schedule a massage treatment to yourself or a loved one. LEARN HOW TO RELAX...in NATURE.TAKE A LOT OF DEEP BREATHS...BE CALM!BE GOOD!

Have A Healthy Happy Earth Day

Tony :)

Alternative Community Farmer

How to make your own BASIC ORGANIC COMPOST in South Florida?

Most of us were shocked when we first hit the ground trying to grow vegetables in South Florida .The reason:   SANDY SOIL.

There are so many ways to amend or even replace whatever found in the ground.

I personally opted to prepare my own ORGANIC COMPOST and soil after so many trials and errors of more than FIFTEEN years of HANDS ON Community gardening and farming in South Florida .Practice makes perfect .The ones who make mistakes are the ones who accomplish by DOING! Do not be intimidated by lack of knowledge. Follow the LEARNING CURVE! EXPERIMENT and EXPLORE!

I found in times of food safety issues and uncertainty to take the most untravelled road prompted by my own instinct and learned experience. Here are some suggestions if you choose to make your own Organic Compost and thereby Organic Soil.

Always start small to learn the process. Allocate, first, a safe location for the compost pile or get a compost bin .Remove any existing sod or weeds from the spot you chose to be your composting area .Cover with sticks/leaves or mulch for aeration.

 Start by compiling and collecting the brown and green manure first on a nearby spot.

A-Brown Manure: Consists of natural CARBON rich materials like: Saw dust, dried leaves, dry plants like sea weed, mulch...etc. Avoid using sick plants or weeds with seeds.

Here is a list of suggestions for sources of Brown Matter or Manure ready to be buried:

1-Coffee-paper filter and grounds /tea bags.

2-Newspapers/junk mail/paper towels and toilet paper rolls!

3-Old rugs/clothes made from Natural cotton .linen or wool. No polyester or plastic clothes please!

B-Green Manure: Consists of NITROGEN rich materials like: Kitchen food scraps, acceptable animal manure (I personally use cured /aged horse manure) and meals like blood and bone meals from a non-cow source for being PICKY!  Grain /legume meals like alfalfa, flax, corn, soybean etc...

Here is another list of suggestions for more sources of Green Manure:

1-Egg shells/Seashells/ Coconut shredded shells/other nuts shells!

2-Feathers and hair. No animal meat products, whatsoever!

3-Expired Organic dairy products: Milk/Soymilk, yogurt and cheese!

4-Expired cans of NATURALLY brewed beer/Expired brewers yeast .No soda drinks or any other drinks with added additives /chemicals or colors, please! REMEMBER:

 The secret keyword for composting is: R E C Y C L E!

For more info on future events /blog /etc, please visit us at:

www.localharvest.org/farms/M20618

What does the WORD EARTH means to a LOCAL COMMUNITY  FARMER like myself? 

SOIL!

Here in south Florida soil translates into SAND.So to make the soil ready for the EARTH..I have to: COMPOST.Here is a true story on the subject.

Once ,I asked a local barn to let me recycle the hay which they throw away in the dumpster and I was bullied and shown the door with A BIG NO for an answer!

Here in Florida we have a lot of cow manure that is recycled and sold in bags as compost.Consider what they feed and inject into the cows and you will understand why I choose not to use cow stuff!

This Earth day a lot of people like to ONLY EAT  and TALK GREEN while at the same time they walk BROWN .Meaning : there are a lot of hypocrecy in our approach in celebrating EARTH DAY.

We go shopping at a health food store  "X "that throws away its produce scrapp into the dumpster for example , while the hand outs and brochure talks green !

Wwe do not hear of LOCAL FARMERS or LOCALLY GROWN PRODUCE  and we do not see any in the " X" HF Store.Usually they are painting a picture to make them LOOK good in the eyes of the SHOPPERS.

Let us change this .Let us go to celebrate the EARTH DAY where the EARTH BELONGS : in the GARDEN .at the FARM.!

What has Earth day done to me .It is what I have to do for EARTH DAY instead.Guess what.I am fascilitating a workshop on RECYCLING nad COMPOSTING.

You could do the same and skip the market shopping and eating party.

Doing GOOD things to the EARTH is the best answer. RECYCLE!

Happy Earth Day.

Tony :) 

Summer is visiting us soon this year  in Florida .The draught has added to the vulnerability of our VEGGIE gardens not to mention the hurricane season that officially starts in June.

Forget about it!

Here are some good news for those of you who reside in Hot or Tropical climates .Cool down with home made heat tolerant FOOD RECIPES!

Personally, I prefer the following:

Watermelon .Next comes yogurt andlast : SALADS made from locally grown veggies like Caribean Spinach or Kalaloo or PURSLANE!.

How to prepare  your own yogurt?

Easy as 1-2-3.

1_Get a gallon of Organic whole milk.Pasturize gently by a splash boiling.

2_Get a cultured yogurt cup from a health food store .I recommend the GREEK "Fage yogurt " or the ARMENIAN -for a sour one- "YERIVAN".

3- Wait until temperature of the pasturized milk falls to body temperature ( A quick dip of my pinky finger will tell me if so! 

Add the cultured cup of yogurt, gently spreading .Cover with a wool cloth or towel.Let sit overnight undisturbed in a dark place at room temperature.Place in refigerator for one more day. Stir on the third day and ENJOY.

My favorite recipe with yogurt is the GREEK SATSIKI.

Simply add above  home made yogurt to  2 crushed fresh Gelroy cloves of garlic,sprinkle some sea salt with  few minced parsley and mint leaves.Chop a cucumber after peeling.Mix.Refrigerate.Enjoy!HOPA!

My favorite cooling SALAD: Purslane SALAD.

1_Fetch  a handful of  wild grown puslane( mistaken and rounded up for a weed-loaded with OMEGA -3 !) in your backyard or order from a local farmer.

2_Chop favorite vegies and herbs, (mine are cucumber ,cherry tomato ,mint  and Cuban oregano leaves..)

3_ Crush two Gelroy garlic cloves into a pinch of sea salt and black pepper.Add three TABLE spoons of extra virgin olive oil.Juice one lemon.Mix all of the above,refrigerate for ten minutes. Enjoy and cool down!

Bon appetite!

Tony :)

Modern civilization offered the push button technologies for the modern man .Long time ago man did use the shovel to make a living and live from farming the EARTH.We are now in a cycle which is turning us upside down and people want to garden suddenly and they want the vegetables and fruits RIGHT NOW.

Sorry to tell you :You missed the train!

This Earth Day I see streets turn into FESTIVE MOOD.AS usual there goes the DEJA VU jewelery,hot dog and food stands ..bla bla bla..Folks: It is time to get real and start learning the lost art of farming and gardening the way our fathers did.Let us start with the EARTH which some prefer to call DIRT.Do you know how to make your own in case you lived on the MOON or close by at a SANDY soil like S.Florida?

Here comes help.Start recycling your kitchen scraps .Create a COMPOST PILE. Decomposed organic matter with the help of water,worms,air,sun will go through the DECAY process that occurs naturally to soil.

There are zillions of books and hundreds of internet sites that can teach you to do so.But who has the time to research and read?The Easiest way is to DO IT and go through the learning curve.

Here is a simple way to do it.

Construct a compost pile by layering the following:

1- Bottom layer: Remove sod and create a coarse dry matter on the ground to to allow air circulation I use dry leaves and wood sticks.Add Green Matter( Ex.kitchen scraps)

2-Manure of your choice.( Ex.mine is horse manure)

3-Plant waste.( Ex.leaves from the backyard)

4-Sawdust or mulch.

5-Local soil( EX.Sand in S.Florida!)

Hose this 4x4 layer with water and keep on repeating the process every time you add the kitchen scraps

Turning the pile upside down will help in aerating it and speed up DECOMPOSITION.

In case you live in an area that applies toomany restrictions like CONDOMINIUMS etc...use a Compost bin to avoid insulting your neighbour with the smmell of the compost..I usually add baking soda !

The soil is the next on line ENDANGERED SPECIES.Some of us like more convenient ways of using soil sold in bags.Use you discretion.I use my instincy and trust my OWN in times of emerging ...you know what!

Happy EARTH DAY!

This is your first time gardening in the HOT ZONES of 8-9-10.

You are frustrated and intimidated as you try hard to set up a vegetable garden in the new GREEN RUSH for backyard ORGANIC gardens.Relax, help is on the way.

Reading so many books from different climatic regions is on no use.Here in the DEEP SOUTH ..you are in a hot zone.Imagine yourself in Africa or in a remote desert..It is a discomfortable zone and still you insist on growing your own.GOOOOD.

Here are some suggestions :

A)What to plant?

1)PLANT to choosefrom:Natives or heat loving fruits like Cherry Tomato,Melons and Papaya.Vegetables: Okra,Caribean Spinach,peppers.Herbs:Basil.Cuban oregano,Lemon Grass and Aloe Vera.

B)Where to plant?

Location- Location-Location:Check out  for flooding area.Choose between raised beds or deep doubledug trencjhes depending on drainage.Set the Vegetable garden to the east or south of your home or in area with rtall structures to provide shelter from sizzling heat.

C) Which Irrigation system?

Install dip irrigation and or use rain barrels .We are in drought and there are water restrictions.Take this into  account.

D)What is best for sun protectio?

Select fruits and vegetables plants with broad leaves that protect from the scalding sun.For Fruit choose banana,for vegetables choose caribean spinach for example.

E)What about the undergrounds ?

Tubers do good in Florida summer because the rain is non-stop and the heat is dissipated  above the ground, the underground tubers will do good.Example: Try sweat potato,yam family\

Miscellaneous:

Some herbs do great in the Florida summer like basil,aloe vera,lemon grassetc..Try a shaded area for bewst result in the summer with 50% sun exposure.

Start from seeds .Experiment in flats .Use growers flats.Hands on is the best teacher.Books confuse you especially those gardening books that adress the OUT OF STATE gardening.

Form a group of networking gardeners and share experience and knowledge.Community efforts now are making more common sense than the financial markets!

RESPECT.APPRECIATE.JUST DO IT...start in a can or container.YES YOU CAN!

Remember the VICTORY GARDEN? Probably not.It happened back in the 40s during and after  the  GREAT Depression and WW-II .

We need to learn from HISTORY as it repeats itself in cycles!

I do not remeber anything myself but I can learn the lessons of an ecconomic crunch that is touching the short and tall the rich and the  poor.

I have been gardening since long .A fourth generation gardener and a Master Organic farmer to top the experience with some papers hanging on the wall!

Wake up folks.Soon, the  illegal people from the South of the border whom we hire to pick our tomatoes and do the DIRT menial work ,will all be gone.Who is going to pick the tomatoes?

You and me.

Start learning the gardening process by paying attention to your inefficient back/front yard.Start learning to appreciate what the EARTH provides as our food.We take things for granted and we do TAKE ADVANTAGE of situations and PEOPLE.Now is the time to reverse all of this attitude .We need to RELATE and connect to EARTH and its living inhabitants.We need to build UNDERSTANDING among each other. The SAFETY of our FOOD is something we need to TAKE into our own hands before we put it into our own mouth.Meaning: WE NEED TO START GROWING our OWN.

To do that we need to change the frame of our mind.We need to RESPECT.We need to RELATE.We need to APPRECIATE.For the ones whom we hired to pick our tomatos now are doomed to go back home.Our anger we direct at them, those who picked our  GMO and PESTICIDE rich fruits and vegetables for us to eat and CONSUME.Just like we  directed our fire at those who posed no harm against us and were the FALSE bearers of the ARMS OF MASS DISTRUCTION.We were the accusers and abusers and now we are  taking our own medicine which we forced unto others.POISON.INTOXICATION..in food and pants.In drywalls and toys.It is coming back on us like a KARMA.This EASTER let us pray for forgiveness.This Pisache let us pray for redemption.This EARTH DAY let us pray for more POISON FREE vegetable gardens in our backyards .AND let us Do IT the ORGANIC WAY!AMEN!

Number ONE : June is the official starting month of the HURRICANE season in Florida.Gardening in containers is Hurricane resistant.How? It is easier to move a container to a safe shelter indoors out of STORMS way .

Number TWO: Containers can be a better home for a productive plants in the sizzling  Florida summer heat .How? If you choose to build a a container soil rich in moisture retaining texture like :sphagnum,saw dust and vermiculite .Then you win the challenge to garden even in the summer!Remember to keep on adding mulch and choose ceramic containers rather than plastic ones.

Number THREE:If you are  senior citzen who tends to be less mobile,a person with a disability or with no tolerance to the outdoors Florida heat and summer bugs or just a new comer to Tropical and sub-tropical vegetable ORGANIC gardening and would like to experiment,then it is easier to do so in containers .

Number FOUR: Container Organic is more affordable ,saves on the water bill, and complies with water restrictions .Also , it is water thrifty!

Number FIVE: If you live in an apartment with a PATIO or PRIVATE ENTRANCE- without any access to a front/backyard -then , it is your best bet to go Container Gardening!

Number SIX:Your Container  steril soil -when self prepared-will   contain  a healthier growing medium ,nematodes  free , the least.

Number SEVEN:You may choose to control the climate by moving a container to less  challenging inclement weather.Example: Move  to a shady area or to a sunny area in the patio or even indoors when windy or too hot! 

Number EIGHT:Container gardening is instant and EASY..No sweat!

Number NINE:Container gardening is weed FREE , in general.It all depends on the soil you choose , I recommend you make your own .

Number TEN:In this kind of economy it is good to save on the grocery bill by growing your own.When hit by foreclosures ,your container garden could be salvaged and saved.Simply carry away with you when evicted ,if you rent! 

Tony,

Alternative Community Farmer