Alternative Community Farmer/WPB.FL

Have you ever asked yourself this question: Why container gardening is easier to handle than the yard gardening?

Well, here are some benefits listings  to encourage you to start an organic garden in containers if you live in a studio,efficiency,apartment without any access to a front or back yard.

Here in South Florida we are in the 9-10 agricultural zone.Keep this in mind because what defines which plants to grow and which not to is relevant to the zone category which is governed by climatic temperature in general.

I have noticed that the following reasons from my own experience suffice to consider container gardening especially for a new comer to S.Florida or a new gardener  .Here are some observations to take note of Organic  Container Gardening:

1-It is cheaper and SAVES  you money,energy, water conservation,and time.

2-It is SIMPLE and requires no special  expensive big garden tools and accessories.Small inexpensive tools will be enough.

3-It is INSTANT and requires not much efforts or resources to start and maintain. 

4-It is more accessible to the elderly,children and  people  with disabilities.

5-It is more PRONE  to manage,move  during inclement weather or the hurricane season.

6-It is EASY to maintain ,with less weeding for example .

7-It is FUN.You may like to decorate the containers with drawings or painting etc..and place at locations that you find more convenient .

8-It is PRODUCTIVE if you choose to grow fruits,veggies and herbs.

9-It is easy to SALVAGE if you choose to relocate or  otherwisewas obliged get evicted.

10-It is more FLEXIBLE  to locate  either indoors or outdoors.

Most people tell me they find it intimidating to grow fruits and vegetables in Florida. . Personally , I went through the same experience.   Gardening in South Florida is different ,but not difficult,because the region falls under the TROPICAL and SUB-TROPICAL zones 9-10-11.

I found it helpful to graduate from the  -  Florida  Master Gardener Certification program . Florida Horticultural EDUCATION helped me a lot to acquire the KNOW-HOW skills .BUT the Most important factor was my 10 years of  HANDS-ON  local community NATURAL farming and gardening EXPERIENCE.As they say,practice makes perfect! There is no shortage of out of state gardening books  collecting dust on the shelves nor for out of state gardeners who moved to retire in Florida.But there are shortages in finding Florida EDUCATED and FLORIDA EXPERIENCED  Organic "LOCALLY GROWN " gardeners and farmers.Best bet  is to start networking and checking internet sites like the popular:localharvest.org

We have been experiencing DRAUGHT and major Hurricanes during the last five years.This led me to experiment on Container gardening as a safegaurd flexible  horticultural process  that adapts and addresses to such kind of hardship inclement weather.

Florida Vegetable Container Gardening  TIPS.

Benefits and TIPS on Florida fruits and Vegies Container gardening :

1-It is easy and instant.If you have no back/front yard and live in an apartment with a patio or private entrance ,then you can do it.With the economy in a grinding crunch , saving on the grocery bills by growing your own organic food is not a bad idea.

2-You will by-pass the problematic disease and nematodes infested Florida sandy soil .Pesticides and fertilizers free container gardening is even easier to do in containers than otherwise.To discourage unwanted bad bugs , experiment with  vegies companion herbs like Cuban oregano .

3-Container gardening is resistant to Hurricanes(you can shelter indoors) and Water restrictions/Draught drills and dilemmas(you will save onwater bill, fines and tickets) .

4-Container gardening is almost a weed free gardening if you use your own home made soil mix.

5-Most of the following can be grown in containers : a)Vegies-Tomato,peppers,eggplant,beans,lettuce,green onion,squash,sweat potatos,yams,cucumber and more...

b)Herbs- Basil,rosemary,Cuban oregano,aloe vera,parsley,mint,cilantro and more.

c)Fruit trees- Mango,papaya,pineapple,pommgranate,fig,citrus etc

d) Edible flowers-Sunflower,nasturtium,marygold etc

For a start up kit what you need are the following:

1-Containers: 5 gallon  and 6-10 inch .

2-seeds and growers flats and  pots.Start seeds inside away from sizzling outdoors heat.

3-Home made Organic soil:  A mix of  saw dust, sphagnum peat moss,vermiculites,perlites,compost.Experiment!

4-Hook up with a local organic local farmer network.Visit localharvest web page , network and check events calender for  local  workshops and classes .

5- JUST DO IT!