"I believe in adequate defense at the coastline and nothing else. If a nation comes over here to fight, then we'll fight. The trouble with America is that when the dollar only earns 6 percent over here, then it gets restless and goes overseas to get 100 percent. Then the flag follows the dollar and the soldiers follow the flag." - General Smedley Darlington Butler
"The means of defense against foreign danger historically have become the instruments of tyranny at home." - James Madison
Monday, February 28, 2011
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Ch-ch-ch-changes....
Spring is palpable here in Tampa.....the shift in sunlight, the budding of citrus and azalea and my beloved Old Roses, the chickens laying more and more often, the emergence of amaryllis foliage, tabebuia trees clothed in those huge, stunningly fragrant yellow blooms as the very few maples boast bright green new leaves...those and many other cues are giving me a luscious case of spring fever after this VERY chilly winter. Perhaps I am being swept up by that enthusiasm, but I am starting small pots of summer crops JUST to see if I can get away with this early of a start sans a greenhouse.....Holy Basil, Ashwagandha, Quail Grass and as soon as I get seeds from a fresh fruit, OODLES of papayas as the last two years I've had 100% mortality in winter and green papaya is normally a staple in my diet. Yesterday I began attempting to layer root branches of "Gray Street Grape" (Conquistador?) in 1 gallon pots atop the old quail pen to hopefully later sever and grow out and sell as whatEVER it is it is hypervigorous and makes OODLES of deep purple, flavorful Concord-type grapes in a state where true Concords are considered impossible. I will today set up a roses nursery for young plants plus try rooting cuttings in various tubs and fish tanks now that temps are up a bit. A very busy time of year but I love feeling "manic" like this, knowing I am making steady progress making and burying vast numbers of 4, 5 and 7 gallon Water Wise Container Gardens to allow me to grow Old Roses and food crops in abundance in defiance of perennial drought and high water bills.
One of these days I will be "done" and just sit back and get altered and survey the splendor...yeah, right! John
Friday, February 25, 2011
My Classes This Weekend
Plan Now for a Productive Organic Spring and Summer Food Garden 2-5-2011 2-27-2011
There is an unfortunate widespread myth that summers are too hot, muggy and buggy to grow a successful organic garden here, but nothing could be further from the truth. Healthy soil and choosing subtropical and tropical crops that LOVE the heat is the key to fresh abundance from your yard for that long hot half of the year when so many folks let their gardens go barren and weedy. You will receive a handout with a long list of heat-loving crops, plus I will give you seeds of two kinds that utterly thrive each summer here. Growing these crops organically is easy as very few pests attack them, but we will cover those few possible problems and how to deal with them cheaply and without using poisons.
The class will be offered twice in February: on the 5th and the 27th, from 11 AM until 1 PM, with a 30 minute Q & A session after, to give you time to plan the summer garden, prepare the soil, and acquire the needed seeds and soil foods. The cost is $20 per student, and my address is: 3212 West Paxton Avenue Tampa FL 33611 813 839 0881 JohnAStarnes @msn.com RSVP is helpful in my planning how to best teach this class.
Just think....as your winter garden fizzles out each spring, you can phase in six more months of adundant home grown food with a whole new range of tastes, textures and nutrition! See you then. John
Tropical Fruit Crops 101 2-26-2011
We have SO many choices for fruit crops for our landscapes beyond citrus, especially if we live and garden in warmer areas closer to the coast. You will learn how to improve the soil, where to grow the respective crops discussed, and receive a detailed handout with a very lengthy list of fruiting plants you can seek out for your edible landscape. Not only do these plants bless us with tasty nutritious fruits, they add visual lushness to any yard. Local and mail order sources of them will be covered too. The cost is $20 per student, and the class will be held here at my home on February 26 from 11 AM until 1 PM. John
There is an unfortunate widespread myth that summers are too hot, muggy and buggy to grow a successful organic garden here, but nothing could be further from the truth. Healthy soil and choosing subtropical and tropical crops that LOVE the heat is the key to fresh abundance from your yard for that long hot half of the year when so many folks let their gardens go barren and weedy. You will receive a handout with a long list of heat-loving crops, plus I will give you seeds of two kinds that utterly thrive each summer here. Growing these crops organically is easy as very few pests attack them, but we will cover those few possible problems and how to deal with them cheaply and without using poisons.
The class will be offered twice in February: on the 5th and the 27th, from 11 AM until 1 PM, with a 30 minute Q & A session after, to give you time to plan the summer garden, prepare the soil, and acquire the needed seeds and soil foods. The cost is $20 per student, and my address is: 3212 West Paxton Avenue Tampa FL 33611 813 839 0881 JohnAStarnes @msn.com RSVP is helpful in my planning how to best teach this class.
Just think....as your winter garden fizzles out each spring, you can phase in six more months of adundant home grown food with a whole new range of tastes, textures and nutrition! See you then. John
Tropical Fruit Crops 101 2-26-2011
We have SO many choices for fruit crops for our landscapes beyond citrus, especially if we live and garden in warmer areas closer to the coast. You will learn how to improve the soil, where to grow the respective crops discussed, and receive a detailed handout with a very lengthy list of fruiting plants you can seek out for your edible landscape. Not only do these plants bless us with tasty nutritious fruits, they add visual lushness to any yard. Local and mail order sources of them will be covered too. The cost is $20 per student, and the class will be held here at my home on February 26 from 11 AM until 1 PM. John
Thursday, February 24, 2011
"Quail Grass"
Tom brought seeds of this to the Wacky Hat potluck and I looked it up...here below is a great link. I've nibbled the leaves of ornamental celosias but had never heard of this tall wild form that he says bears tender tasty leaves in the humid summer heat, this strain reaching 8 feet in height! I will be sharing seedlings with friends, selling plants to customers in 1 gallon plots, and am hopeful it helps solve the problem of growing fresh greens that chickens will eat in summer. Thanks Tom for a whole new (to me) food crop! I'm guessing the seeds would mirror the nutrition of amaranth seeds. John
http://www.floridata.com/ref/c/celo_arg.cfm
http://www.floridata.com/ref/c/celo_arg.cfm
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
My March Classes
Basics of Frugal Backyard Chicken Raising 3-13-2011
Many folks these days are considering, or have followed through on, pursuing a long time desire to raise backyard chickens for fresh eggs or even meat they know the origins of. I've had chickens on and off since the mid 90s, and can share how to raise happy, healthy, antibiotic-free chickens and eggs VERY frugally. I am teaching this well-received class again on March 13, on the 16th, from 11 AM until 1 PM, with a 30 minute Q & A session after. My address is: 3212 West Paxton Avenue, Tampa FL 33611, about 6 blocks south of Gandy and 1 1/2 blocks west of MacDill, jungly yard on the south side. Please park on my side of Paxton off of neighbors' lawns. The cost is $20 per student. Please bring a note pad and pen as we will cover many points. You will receive a pack of winter greens seeds to sow next fall to provide raw green plant matter VITAL to having healthy backyard chickens. 813 839 0881 or e-mail to RSVP. See you then! John Starnes
BASICS OF URBAN FARMSTEADING AND FOOD SELF SUFFICIENCY FOR BEGINNERS 3-19-2011
There is wonderful security and satisfaction in being able to prepare many of our meals from abundant gardens around our homes. Imagine FRESH omelets and meat from a backyard henhouse, or expensive "exotic" crops such as arugula, Barbados Cherry, cassava, chaya, papaya, many herbs and staple crops for Thai and other ethnic cuisines fresh your own yard. But where to start if you have a "normal" yard of high maintenance lawn and ornamental shrubs? Organic landscape consultant and garden writer John Starnes (St. Pete Times, Fine Gardening, Florida Gardening) shows how to make the transition in stages based on your time, temperament, budget and goals, using his jungly south Tampa "urban farm" as the classroom.
Learn the ease of "sheet composting" vs. buying an expensive compost bin, using household graywater to nourish your crops and cut your water bill, cheap and easy organic pest control, plus a very effective, low-labor method for killing lawn areas in place and turning them into productive gardens. You will receive a detailed class handout, but be sure to bring a notepad and pen, and, if you wish, a camera, as people tell me that my classes are very information dense.
I will be teaching this class again on March 19th from 11 AM until 1 PM, from 11 AM until 1 PM followed by a 30 minute Q & A session. The cost is $20 per person. My address is: 3212 West Paxton Avenue Tampa 33611, which about 6 blocks south of Gandy and 1 1/2 blocks west of MacDill Avenue. I hope to help folks eager to transform their yards into sources of sustenance, personal independence, and spiritual satisfaction.
Come see how little the freezes affected my food supply, and enjoy fresh raw nibbles as we walk amongst the free range chickens. John
Water Wise Container Gardening 3-20-2011
Hopefully, we are all making wise water use a central focus in our lives as Florida's population continues to boom. Water is scarce and expensive, so I've invented an alternative method of making home made container gardens that grows food and flower crops well with much less water, and that can be made for free to just $10. As a result, despite my yard being an urban farm, my June 2009 water use bill was just $1.35! Most months my water use bill is below $10 despite all the food and Old Roses I grow here.
This class teaches you how to make your own from free recycled plastic containers, how to create a great soil mix for it, and easy ways to maintain and sustain yours using cheap and/or dumpster-dived supplies. This simple design avoids the problems that many have experienced with others often described as "self watering containers" and that can cost $100. You'll see several of mine in differing styles and stages of growth to help you decide what works best for you and your space and budget.
I love how they use VERY little water vs. my growing the same crops, including my beloved Old Roses, in my in-ground gardens. Growing food crops in this manner can also allow a gardener to avoid using Tampa's and St. Pete's reclaimed water that has caused severe difficulties for many folks due to the very high levels of salts and chlorides. Plus one is not supposed to eat raw veggies grown with reclaimed water, which rules out growing fresh salads and herbs from one's own garden!
Special attention will be paid to the very common problem of nitrogen deficiency often encountered in container gardening whether one makes one's own soil as I do, or purchases it in bulk or bagged.
You will get two packs of very hard to get vegetable seeds that will thrive all summer long in your Water Wise Container Gardens. The cost of the class is $20 per person. This class has been very well received, so I am teaching it again on March 20, from 11 AM until 1 PM, with a 30 minute Q & A session following.
My address is 3212 West Paxton Avenue, Tampa FL 33611. Phone is 813 839 0881 RSVP is not required but helpful in my planning each class. Come learn how to grow your own organic produce for a fraction of what you pay in the stores while slashing your water use and bill and avoiding the toxic-to-plants reclaimed water.
Happy Gardening! John Starnes
http://www.johnstarnesurbanfarm.blogspot.com/
GROWING FOOD, CULTIVATING FREEDOM AND HARVESTING JOY 3-27-2011
Growing and raising much of your own food can free you from an unsatisfying job and addiction to the New Serfdom of endless debt as a "consumer". Learn three basics of successful gardening in central Florida, see the ease of a few backyard chickens for fresh eggs, plus get two handouts with 30 key techniques, attitude shifts, and resources that can allow us to discover what we REALLY want out of life, how to live frugally, and ways to shed old, restrictive habits and replace them with pleasurable, expansive ones to create a self-perpetuating positive feedback loop of habitual joy and gratitude. People say my trippy livingroom exemplifies "thinking outside of the box that the box came in" so most of the class will be held in there after we tour my urban farm. I feel that happiness is a choice we can make daily, and that we can create our lives vs. them just happening to us, with productive gardening as the key. This class will be taught again on March 27, from 11 AM until 1 PM here at 3212 West Paxton Avenue, Tampa, FL 33611 813 839 0881 to RSVP. Please park on the south side of Paxton. The cost is $20 per student. Each student will receive 1 free packet of easy-to-grow seeds with instructions on their culture and harvest and use. See you then! John
http://www.johnstarnesurbanfarm.blogspot.com/
HOT WEATHER CROPS FOR SUMMER BOUNTY FROM YOUR GARDEN 3-5-2011 3-26-2011
There is an unfortunate, widespread myth that summers are too hot, muggy and buggy in Florida to grow a successful organic garden here, but nothing could be further from the truth. Healthy soil and choosing subtropical and tropical crops that LOVE the heat is the key to fresh abundance from your yard for that long hot half of the year when so many folks let their gardens go barren and weedy.
In this class you will receive a handout with a long list of heat-loving crops, plus I will give you seeds of two kinds that utterly thrive each summer here. Be sure to bring a pad and pen as folks tell me my classes are information-dense. Growing these summer crops organically is easy in good soil and full sun, as very few pests attack them, but we will cover those few possible problems and how to deal with them cheaply and without using poisons. The class will be offered twice in March, on the 5th and 26th. The cost is $20 per student, and my address is: 3212 West Paxton Avenue Tampa FL 33611 813 839 0881 JohnAStarnes @msn.com
RSVP is helpful in my planning how to best teach this class. Just think....as your winter garden fizzles out each spring, you can phase in six more months of productivity with a whole new range of tastes, textures and nutrition! See you then. John
http://www.johnstarnesurbanfarm.blogspot.com/
SUPER-FRUGAL TRULY CREATIVE INDOOR DECORATING 3-6-2011
The interior of our homes can be a palate for our truest level of self expression, each room a personal work of art. In my home the livingroom, which has a mirror floor, is a trippy Pee Wee Hermanesque excercise in psychedelic tacky excess I call "Gay Trailer Trash on Acid"....my bathroom is a no-holds-barred Undersea Fantasy, my bedroom is the inside of Thurston Howell III and Lovey's hut on Gilligan's Island, and my reading and workout room is a lusty over-the-top Victorian Old Roses theme. Learn how to tap into your own creative wellspring and how to use cheap/recycled/dumpster-dived materials to bring your vision to life. Hey, we only live once.....why not cut loose in our homes and please OURSELVES vs. what "fashion" dictates?!! To me, half the fun is turning each room into a creative expression free or super-cheap...why spend $1,800 on a couch when that amount could treat you to a life-changing trip to Costa Rica?!
This fun class will be held here on March 6, and the cost is $20 per person. There will be a handout but be sure to bring a note pad and pen.
Check out my livingroom....looks AWESOME at night! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWkLijEwcAM
Tightwad Gardening and Landscaping 3-12-2011
Times are tough for lots of folks these days, plus many are trying to break their dependence on fiat currency, endless debt, store bought corporate-produced food, and soul-draining jobs. But if one is not careful, starting a food garden to “save money” can quickly result in a tomato that has $47 in hidden costs (just an exaggeration but you get my point). Plus one can spend a fortune on basic landscape and yard care supplies. But a lifetime of pathological frugality has taught me MANY ways to grow organic produce for VERY close to free, and to spruce up a tired landscape for next to nothing with free mulches and soil foods, plus low cost edgings, bird baths and more. I will use my back yard as a classroom to teach these tightwad techniques and ideas, plus I will have a handout listing many freebies to be had from our wasteful culture. My free range chickens may walk in and out of the “classroom”. I have some cool garden-related dumpster treasures to share too. I learned a lot of cool things during the 19 years I ran my organic landscaping business here and in Denver, "THE GARDEN DOCTOR". The class will be held here, 3212 West Paxton Avenue, Tampa FL 33611 (813 839 0881) on March 12, from 11 AM until 1 PM. To get you in the spirit of “tightwad gardening” I will have free seeds and horse poop. You can park on the mulched area hugging the street, behind my white Dodge Caravan, or across the street where the white picket fence is, or the yard east of me on my side of Paxton. The cost is $20 per student. This class should very quickly begin paying for itself many times over so you can pay down debt and save up for a rainy day AND end up with a lush and productive landscape and gardens.Happy Gardening! John Starnes
http://www.johnstarnesurbanfarm.blogspot.com/
Many folks these days are considering, or have followed through on, pursuing a long time desire to raise backyard chickens for fresh eggs or even meat they know the origins of. I've had chickens on and off since the mid 90s, and can share how to raise happy, healthy, antibiotic-free chickens and eggs VERY frugally. I am teaching this well-received class again on March 13, on the 16th, from 11 AM until 1 PM, with a 30 minute Q & A session after. My address is: 3212 West Paxton Avenue, Tampa FL 33611, about 6 blocks south of Gandy and 1 1/2 blocks west of MacDill, jungly yard on the south side. Please park on my side of Paxton off of neighbors' lawns. The cost is $20 per student. Please bring a note pad and pen as we will cover many points. You will receive a pack of winter greens seeds to sow next fall to provide raw green plant matter VITAL to having healthy backyard chickens. 813 839 0881 or e-mail to RSVP. See you then! John Starnes
BASICS OF URBAN FARMSTEADING AND FOOD SELF SUFFICIENCY FOR BEGINNERS 3-19-2011
There is wonderful security and satisfaction in being able to prepare many of our meals from abundant gardens around our homes. Imagine FRESH omelets and meat from a backyard henhouse, or expensive "exotic" crops such as arugula, Barbados Cherry, cassava, chaya, papaya, many herbs and staple crops for Thai and other ethnic cuisines fresh your own yard. But where to start if you have a "normal" yard of high maintenance lawn and ornamental shrubs? Organic landscape consultant and garden writer John Starnes (St. Pete Times, Fine Gardening, Florida Gardening) shows how to make the transition in stages based on your time, temperament, budget and goals, using his jungly south Tampa "urban farm" as the classroom.
Learn the ease of "sheet composting" vs. buying an expensive compost bin, using household graywater to nourish your crops and cut your water bill, cheap and easy organic pest control, plus a very effective, low-labor method for killing lawn areas in place and turning them into productive gardens. You will receive a detailed class handout, but be sure to bring a notepad and pen, and, if you wish, a camera, as people tell me that my classes are very information dense.
I will be teaching this class again on March 19th from 11 AM until 1 PM, from 11 AM until 1 PM followed by a 30 minute Q & A session. The cost is $20 per person. My address is: 3212 West Paxton Avenue Tampa 33611, which about 6 blocks south of Gandy and 1 1/2 blocks west of MacDill Avenue. I hope to help folks eager to transform their yards into sources of sustenance, personal independence, and spiritual satisfaction.
Come see how little the freezes affected my food supply, and enjoy fresh raw nibbles as we walk amongst the free range chickens. John
Water Wise Container Gardening 3-20-2011
Hopefully, we are all making wise water use a central focus in our lives as Florida's population continues to boom. Water is scarce and expensive, so I've invented an alternative method of making home made container gardens that grows food and flower crops well with much less water, and that can be made for free to just $10. As a result, despite my yard being an urban farm, my June 2009 water use bill was just $1.35! Most months my water use bill is below $10 despite all the food and Old Roses I grow here.
This class teaches you how to make your own from free recycled plastic containers, how to create a great soil mix for it, and easy ways to maintain and sustain yours using cheap and/or dumpster-dived supplies. This simple design avoids the problems that many have experienced with others often described as "self watering containers" and that can cost $100. You'll see several of mine in differing styles and stages of growth to help you decide what works best for you and your space and budget.
I love how they use VERY little water vs. my growing the same crops, including my beloved Old Roses, in my in-ground gardens. Growing food crops in this manner can also allow a gardener to avoid using Tampa's and St. Pete's reclaimed water that has caused severe difficulties for many folks due to the very high levels of salts and chlorides. Plus one is not supposed to eat raw veggies grown with reclaimed water, which rules out growing fresh salads and herbs from one's own garden!
Special attention will be paid to the very common problem of nitrogen deficiency often encountered in container gardening whether one makes one's own soil as I do, or purchases it in bulk or bagged.
You will get two packs of very hard to get vegetable seeds that will thrive all summer long in your Water Wise Container Gardens. The cost of the class is $20 per person. This class has been very well received, so I am teaching it again on March 20, from 11 AM until 1 PM, with a 30 minute Q & A session following.
My address is 3212 West Paxton Avenue, Tampa FL 33611. Phone is 813 839 0881 RSVP is not required but helpful in my planning each class. Come learn how to grow your own organic produce for a fraction of what you pay in the stores while slashing your water use and bill and avoiding the toxic-to-plants reclaimed water.
Happy Gardening! John Starnes
http://www.johnstarnesurbanfarm.blogspot.com/
GROWING FOOD, CULTIVATING FREEDOM AND HARVESTING JOY 3-27-2011
Growing and raising much of your own food can free you from an unsatisfying job and addiction to the New Serfdom of endless debt as a "consumer". Learn three basics of successful gardening in central Florida, see the ease of a few backyard chickens for fresh eggs, plus get two handouts with 30 key techniques, attitude shifts, and resources that can allow us to discover what we REALLY want out of life, how to live frugally, and ways to shed old, restrictive habits and replace them with pleasurable, expansive ones to create a self-perpetuating positive feedback loop of habitual joy and gratitude. People say my trippy livingroom exemplifies "thinking outside of the box that the box came in" so most of the class will be held in there after we tour my urban farm. I feel that happiness is a choice we can make daily, and that we can create our lives vs. them just happening to us, with productive gardening as the key. This class will be taught again on March 27, from 11 AM until 1 PM here at 3212 West Paxton Avenue, Tampa, FL 33611 813 839 0881 to RSVP. Please park on the south side of Paxton. The cost is $20 per student. Each student will receive 1 free packet of easy-to-grow seeds with instructions on their culture and harvest and use. See you then! John
http://www.johnstarnesurbanfarm.blogspot.com/
HOT WEATHER CROPS FOR SUMMER BOUNTY FROM YOUR GARDEN 3-5-2011 3-26-2011
There is an unfortunate, widespread myth that summers are too hot, muggy and buggy in Florida to grow a successful organic garden here, but nothing could be further from the truth. Healthy soil and choosing subtropical and tropical crops that LOVE the heat is the key to fresh abundance from your yard for that long hot half of the year when so many folks let their gardens go barren and weedy.
In this class you will receive a handout with a long list of heat-loving crops, plus I will give you seeds of two kinds that utterly thrive each summer here. Be sure to bring a pad and pen as folks tell me my classes are information-dense. Growing these summer crops organically is easy in good soil and full sun, as very few pests attack them, but we will cover those few possible problems and how to deal with them cheaply and without using poisons. The class will be offered twice in March, on the 5th and 26th. The cost is $20 per student, and my address is: 3212 West Paxton Avenue Tampa FL 33611 813 839 0881 JohnAStarnes @msn.com
RSVP is helpful in my planning how to best teach this class. Just think....as your winter garden fizzles out each spring, you can phase in six more months of productivity with a whole new range of tastes, textures and nutrition! See you then. John
http://www.johnstarnesurbanfarm.blogspot.com/
SUPER-FRUGAL TRULY CREATIVE INDOOR DECORATING 3-6-2011
The interior of our homes can be a palate for our truest level of self expression, each room a personal work of art. In my home the livingroom, which has a mirror floor, is a trippy Pee Wee Hermanesque excercise in psychedelic tacky excess I call "Gay Trailer Trash on Acid"....my bathroom is a no-holds-barred Undersea Fantasy, my bedroom is the inside of Thurston Howell III and Lovey's hut on Gilligan's Island, and my reading and workout room is a lusty over-the-top Victorian Old Roses theme. Learn how to tap into your own creative wellspring and how to use cheap/recycled/dumpster-dived materials to bring your vision to life. Hey, we only live once.....why not cut loose in our homes and please OURSELVES vs. what "fashion" dictates?!! To me, half the fun is turning each room into a creative expression free or super-cheap...why spend $1,800 on a couch when that amount could treat you to a life-changing trip to Costa Rica?!
This fun class will be held here on March 6, and the cost is $20 per person. There will be a handout but be sure to bring a note pad and pen.
Check out my livingroom....looks AWESOME at night! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWkLijEwcAM
Tightwad Gardening and Landscaping 3-12-2011
Times are tough for lots of folks these days, plus many are trying to break their dependence on fiat currency, endless debt, store bought corporate-produced food, and soul-draining jobs. But if one is not careful, starting a food garden to “save money” can quickly result in a tomato that has $47 in hidden costs (just an exaggeration but you get my point). Plus one can spend a fortune on basic landscape and yard care supplies. But a lifetime of pathological frugality has taught me MANY ways to grow organic produce for VERY close to free, and to spruce up a tired landscape for next to nothing with free mulches and soil foods, plus low cost edgings, bird baths and more. I will use my back yard as a classroom to teach these tightwad techniques and ideas, plus I will have a handout listing many freebies to be had from our wasteful culture. My free range chickens may walk in and out of the “classroom”. I have some cool garden-related dumpster treasures to share too. I learned a lot of cool things during the 19 years I ran my organic landscaping business here and in Denver, "THE GARDEN DOCTOR". The class will be held here, 3212 West Paxton Avenue, Tampa FL 33611 (813 839 0881) on March 12, from 11 AM until 1 PM. To get you in the spirit of “tightwad gardening” I will have free seeds and horse poop. You can park on the mulched area hugging the street, behind my white Dodge Caravan, or across the street where the white picket fence is, or the yard east of me on my side of Paxton. The cost is $20 per student. This class should very quickly begin paying for itself many times over so you can pay down debt and save up for a rainy day AND end up with a lush and productive landscape and gardens.Happy Gardening! John Starnes
http://www.johnstarnesurbanfarm.blogspot.com/
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
There were some Wacky Hats Indeed!
Monday, February 21, 2011
Thanks for the kind words Tom at Barefoot Gardeners! John
Last night I stopped by John Starnes place for the first time - and I
have never seen a more remarkable demonstration of sustainability and
sufficiency in one tiny urban location like he has created. My only
regret was that it was in the evening with limited light and in the
midst of his Wacky Hat party, a social occasion, limited opportunity to
even begin to absorb all he has there. Even so, John is a non-stop fount
of information about plants, environments, his eclectic synthesis of
resources and approaches to living .. There is no mistaking his intense
focus and application of so many things that reflect the effortlessness
of living with respect and awareness and cooperation with nature.
At one point I was talking about coming back for his classes and someone
commented asking, "Oh so far (from Plant City) just for a class?" I
gotta tell ya, an opportunity to learn from John is not going to be
*just any class * ..
My hat is off to you John - I ain't stroking you, I'm just holding up
your example of what is so important for us fulfilling our lives with
balance, understanding nature.
I'll be back!
Tom
have never seen a more remarkable demonstration of sustainability and
sufficiency in one tiny urban location like he has created. My only
regret was that it was in the evening with limited light and in the
midst of his Wacky Hat party, a social occasion, limited opportunity to
even begin to absorb all he has there. Even so, John is a non-stop fount
of information about plants, environments, his eclectic synthesis of
resources and approaches to living .. There is no mistaking his intense
focus and application of so many things that reflect the effortlessness
of living with respect and awareness and cooperation with nature.
At one point I was talking about coming back for his classes and someone
commented asking, "Oh so far (from Plant City) just for a class?" I
gotta tell ya, an opportunity to learn from John is not going to be
*just any class * ..
My hat is off to you John - I ain't stroking you, I'm just holding up
your example of what is so important for us fulfilling our lives with
balance, understanding nature.
I'll be back!
Tom
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Organic Landscaping and Urban Farmsteading Consultations $145
Tired of your vegetable and ornamental gardens and landscapes failing to thrive? Looking to add color and get away from chemical-based yard care? Organic gardening columnist John Starnes ('Florida Gardening' magazine, 'Heirloom Gardener', 'Sunset Magazine', 'Colorado Gardener', 'The Rocky Mountain News', 'Sustainable Rose Gardening', 'The St. Pete Times') continues to offer wide ranging consultations that address ongoing problems in landscapes, and that also explore untapped potentials. For 19 years John nurtured many bay area and Colorado landscapes with his one man business THE GARDEN DOCTOR . Special focuses include Water Wise Container Gardening, reducing landscape water use, curing lawn problems, choosing plants that can survive Tampa's toxic-to-plants reclaimed water, incorporating low-care Old Roses into gardens for color and fragrance, growing much of one's own food in the landscape and without pesticides by relying on both annual and perennial crops, creating or rectifying no-filter low-care goldfish ponds, plus special concerns one might have such as growing colorful plants in shady or soggy areas, backyard poultry raising and more. About 2-3 hours is required, as is note-taking by the client to enhance those I will provide. Where needed, I will create quick sketches to demonstrate possible garden design options to consider implementing. The $145 price has remained the same for 13 years now, but a travel charge to areas outside of Tampa is possible.
Please feel free to contact me with questions you might have about this service.
Thank you and happy gardening! John Starnes
813 839 0881
Please feel free to contact me with questions you might have about this service.
Thank you and happy gardening! John Starnes
813 839 0881
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
My Contribution to the Wacky Hat Firepit Potluck Party Menu
Awesome to see the new all-mirror livingroom floor nearing completion....NO tapestry or scatter rug...all mirror! Koo koo ka CHOO!
I am planning on offering a huge mixed greens salad with a citrus juice-olive oil-vinegar-garlic dressing, plus will dig up a Caribbean Yam outside my bedroom window that weighs approx. 30 lbs, cut it into chunks and simmer them with onions and garlic and coconut milk and home-made Jamaican jerk paste and hot peppers.
I look forward to mingling with friends old and new and seeing the Wacky Hats, our sharing the fire and good food, and animated conversations. If you play an instrument, feel free to bring it. John
I am planning on offering a huge mixed greens salad with a citrus juice-olive oil-vinegar-garlic dressing, plus will dig up a Caribbean Yam outside my bedroom window that weighs approx. 30 lbs, cut it into chunks and simmer them with onions and garlic and coconut milk and home-made Jamaican jerk paste and hot peppers.
I look forward to mingling with friends old and new and seeing the Wacky Hats, our sharing the fire and good food, and animated conversations. If you play an instrument, feel free to bring it. John
Monday, February 14, 2011
My Classes This Weekend
Urban Farmsteading Basics 101 2-20-2011
There is no security more reassuring than daily harvesting fresh meals from your front and back yard, just feet from the kitchen, even if just potted arugula or snow peas or cherry tomatoes for starters, or a fresh chicken egg or meat. But don't know where and how to start? Learn easy ways to deeply cut your water use, to insure fresh salads and root crops and fruits year round, a super cheap solar shower, and more. You'll get a lesson sheet of 15 topics to be covered; please be sure to bring a notepad and pen. Feel free to shoot pics and video. You will receive two free packets of cool weather veggie seeds, plus instructions on their culture, harvest and use. I've taught this class many times and folks say it it thorough and intense. It addresses a way of life and a mindset vs. being just a gardening class. I am teaching this class again on February 20, from 11 AM until 1 PM, with a 30 minute Question and Answer session after. My address is: 3212 West Paxton Avenue, Tampa FL 33611, about 6 blocks south of Gandy and 1 1/2 blocks west of MacDill, jungly yard on the south side. Please park on my side of Paxton off of neighbors' lawns. The cost is $20 per student. Happy Gardening! John 813 839 0881
Fermented Foods 101 2-19-2011
Many folks are realizing the wide spectrum of health benefits of eating probiotic fermented foods, but that also they can be very pricey in the health food stores and grocery stores. Garden writer John Starnes (Fine Gardening, St. Pete Times, Florida Gardening) loves to grow and cook and prepare foods for friends and himself, and in this class will show easy very affordable ways to make your own kefir, natto, tempeh, kimchee, and cheese. There will be samples for tasting too. Be sure to bring a note pad and pen to write down the simple steps and ingredients, some of which can come from your own garden. The class will be held on February 19, from 11 AM until 1:30 PM, and the cost is $20 per student. The address is: 3212 West Paxton Avenue Tampa 33611 813 839 0881 Please park along the south side of Paxton to spare the lawns of my neighbors on the north side. Thanks. Come hungry!
There is no security more reassuring than daily harvesting fresh meals from your front and back yard, just feet from the kitchen, even if just potted arugula or snow peas or cherry tomatoes for starters, or a fresh chicken egg or meat. But don't know where and how to start? Learn easy ways to deeply cut your water use, to insure fresh salads and root crops and fruits year round, a super cheap solar shower, and more. You'll get a lesson sheet of 15 topics to be covered; please be sure to bring a notepad and pen. Feel free to shoot pics and video. You will receive two free packets of cool weather veggie seeds, plus instructions on their culture, harvest and use. I've taught this class many times and folks say it it thorough and intense. It addresses a way of life and a mindset vs. being just a gardening class. I am teaching this class again on February 20, from 11 AM until 1 PM, with a 30 minute Question and Answer session after. My address is: 3212 West Paxton Avenue, Tampa FL 33611, about 6 blocks south of Gandy and 1 1/2 blocks west of MacDill, jungly yard on the south side. Please park on my side of Paxton off of neighbors' lawns. The cost is $20 per student. Happy Gardening! John 813 839 0881
Fermented Foods 101 2-19-2011
Many folks are realizing the wide spectrum of health benefits of eating probiotic fermented foods, but that also they can be very pricey in the health food stores and grocery stores. Garden writer John Starnes (Fine Gardening, St. Pete Times, Florida Gardening) loves to grow and cook and prepare foods for friends and himself, and in this class will show easy very affordable ways to make your own kefir, natto, tempeh, kimchee, and cheese. There will be samples for tasting too. Be sure to bring a note pad and pen to write down the simple steps and ingredients, some of which can come from your own garden. The class will be held on February 19, from 11 AM until 1:30 PM, and the cost is $20 per student. The address is: 3212 West Paxton Avenue Tampa 33611 813 839 0881 Please park along the south side of Paxton to spare the lawns of my neighbors on the north side. Thanks. Come hungry!
Mirror Floor Update
I've wanted a mirror floor since I was an HCC art major in 1977 and rented a home with a fireplace and imagined the ambience such a floor would add. Thankfully, years ago in my last house I can totally trip out I made that dream come true with recycled mirror by taking the advice of a famous mirror company in north Tampa and covering the back of each mirror with contact paper before laying it on the 50s era linoleum floor atop a concrete slad......this adds great tensile strength to each mirror panel and very much delays cracking. Plus it holds shards together if and when cracking occurs. Some visitors enjoy seeing the progress of the crackle patterns, which remind me of raku glazes on a room-sized scale. But that first mirror floor was largely composed of quite small panels connected at their edges with metal duct tape. But I am now pulling up that first effort and laying down MUCH bigger and more numerous thick mirrors I've been accumulating for years now. Plus yesterday Mary Jo brought me long mirror strips that could serve either as "filler" between large panels that don't quite match up, or, more likely, positioned vertically in each room corner to add a new level of trippiness to my "Gay Trailer Trash on Acid Livingroom" made almost entirely from scavenged and donated items. Some weeks ago I set up in my Victorian Roses reading and workout room some of these mirror panels to help me assess the possibilities of fitting them together jig saw puzzle style on the floor. Plus I lucked out and dumpster-dived a BIG brand new roll of contact paper! On some of the mirror panel backs I am applying gray duct tape to see if that also is effective at adding tensile strength while holding shards together if breakage occurs. I am delighted to see that I have MUCH more mirror than I thought and can imagine the floor easily ending up 80% or more mirror! Here are a few pics of mirrors ready for cleaning and contact papering, plus a pic someone sent me years ago....a breathtaking environmental sculpture that art patrons ENTER....a room with 100% mirror floors, walls and ceiling, plus every object in the room is covered completely in mirror, much like an instructional poem I wrote in December 1984....see it below too. The new floor should be ready and pristinely polished in time for this Saturday's Wacky Hat Firepit Potluck Party.
koo koo ka CHOO!
John
Interior III
Completely mirrorize a tiny windowless room......
floor, ceiling, walls.
Release 1,000 fireflies then
turn out the light.
Sit with a friend and watch.
koo koo ka CHOO!
John
Interior III
Completely mirrorize a tiny windowless room......
floor, ceiling, walls.
Release 1,000 fireflies then
turn out the light.
Sit with a friend and watch.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Reminder for the Wacky Hat Firepit Potluck Party February 19, 7 PM until...
Hey Folks,
I have not had a Wacky Hat Party here since I stopped returning to Denver in 2002....I'd say it's time!! Just show up with yummy food and adorned in a ludicrous hat you make, buy or dumpster dive (see samples of hats past!). I will have 4 pounds of "Rocket Fuel" for folks to toss handfuls of onto the hot coals, but I am low on firewood, so feel free to bring wood scraps from your yard you'd like to see burned up....in this chilly La Nina winter I bet we are assured of a cold night that a grand fire would add pleasure and comeraderie to. As usual there is no theme to the food.....I just ask a minimal emphasis on desserts, and keep in mind maybe half here will be omnivores like me and half vegetarian or vegan. I will make a huge salad from the gardens with a vegan dressing. I will also have fried African Yellow Yams. I will also boast my long unused "rotten hilbilly teeth" insert which looks even "better" if I eat a Reese's cup while wearing them.....if no handsome men attempt to kiss me, I will understand why!
Gardeners....feel free to bring seeds and envelopes, plus cuttings/plants you'd like to share in informal swaps throughout the night vs. a structured event. I will have cool seeds to share for sure.
For those who've not been here, my address is: 3212 West Paxton Avenue Tampa FL 33611 Ph. 813 839 0881 I hope this much notice allows lots of folks to plan on attending. Just park all along Paxton Avenue. My Dad gave me a big new fridge some months back so I will have lots of room for beer, wine and food.
I hope to see you (and your Wacky Hats) that evening as we celebrate good food, friends and the approach of spring.
John
'The only normal people are the ones you don't know well'. unknown
p.s. by the night of the party the all-new, greatly improved mirror livingroom floor should be completed, so don't wear a dress!
p.s.p.s. check out the first party invite from January 19 to see pics from previous Wacky Hat Parties here.
I have not had a Wacky Hat Party here since I stopped returning to Denver in 2002....I'd say it's time!! Just show up with yummy food and adorned in a ludicrous hat you make, buy or dumpster dive (see samples of hats past!). I will have 4 pounds of "Rocket Fuel" for folks to toss handfuls of onto the hot coals, but I am low on firewood, so feel free to bring wood scraps from your yard you'd like to see burned up....in this chilly La Nina winter I bet we are assured of a cold night that a grand fire would add pleasure and comeraderie to. As usual there is no theme to the food.....I just ask a minimal emphasis on desserts, and keep in mind maybe half here will be omnivores like me and half vegetarian or vegan. I will make a huge salad from the gardens with a vegan dressing. I will also have fried African Yellow Yams. I will also boast my long unused "rotten hilbilly teeth" insert which looks even "better" if I eat a Reese's cup while wearing them.....if no handsome men attempt to kiss me, I will understand why!
Gardeners....feel free to bring seeds and envelopes, plus cuttings/plants you'd like to share in informal swaps throughout the night vs. a structured event. I will have cool seeds to share for sure.
For those who've not been here, my address is: 3212 West Paxton Avenue Tampa FL 33611 Ph. 813 839 0881 I hope this much notice allows lots of folks to plan on attending. Just park all along Paxton Avenue. My Dad gave me a big new fridge some months back so I will have lots of room for beer, wine and food.
I hope to see you (and your Wacky Hats) that evening as we celebrate good food, friends and the approach of spring.
John
'The only normal people are the ones you don't know well'. unknown
p.s. by the night of the party the all-new, greatly improved mirror livingroom floor should be completed, so don't wear a dress!
p.s.p.s. check out the first party invite from January 19 to see pics from previous Wacky Hat Parties here.
Barter with my local blog readers
I've had no luck finding some steel saucepans at local Goodwill type stores so if any of my local blog readers are upgrading their cooking ware I'd love to barter plants and seeds for a few large steel saucepans and/or a steel wok. I do tons of cooking for me and friends and a few large steel saucepans would be helpful.
Also, if you are a south Tampa person tired of taking your bagged leaves to the Manhattan Brush Dump where you have to open and empty each and every bag, feel free to drop them off in my driveway as I use 200-300 bags annually as a crucial part of my ongoing sheet composting effort that over the years has done wonders to transform my original sandy soil. I especially covet maple leaves for making "leaf mould" for potting. My address is:
3212 West Paxton Avenue Tampa FL 33611
Thanks in advance! John
Also, if you are a south Tampa person tired of taking your bagged leaves to the Manhattan Brush Dump where you have to open and empty each and every bag, feel free to drop them off in my driveway as I use 200-300 bags annually as a crucial part of my ongoing sheet composting effort that over the years has done wonders to transform my original sandy soil. I especially covet maple leaves for making "leaf mould" for potting. My address is:
3212 West Paxton Avenue Tampa FL 33611
Thanks in advance! John
Chinese Chives 'Allium tuberosum'
Friday, February 11, 2011
Cheap Decorative Edging for Landscape Beds
Thursday, February 10, 2011
I Found a Life Motto in a Denver Dumpster
One day in Denver in the mid 1990s I found this transparency for an overhead projector presentation on top of the trash when I lifted the lid of the dumpster in the alley behind me at 1684 Willow Street. I immediately resonated with it and ever since I've kept it sandwiched between the two layers of dumpster-dived of glass I use to create my coffee tables to insure that inspiring, evocative call to action message affects me daily. John
Cracker's First Visit to a Nearby Fenced in Field Where He Can Haul Butt
He can run fast loops in my back yard chicken path, but here he can REALLY cut loose if he wants to. John
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaT3X-X3t9A
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaT3X-X3t9A
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Growing Food, Cultivating Freedom and Harvesting Joy 2-13-2011
Growing Food, Cultivating Freedom and Harvesting Joy 2-13-2011
Growing and raising much of your own food can free you from an unsatisfying job and addiction to the New Serfdom of endless debt as a "consumer". Celebrate this new year by taking this class to learn three basics of successful gardening in central Florida, see the ease of a few backyard chickens for fresh eggs, plus, primarily, get two handouts with 30 key techniques, attitude shifts, and resources that can allow us to discover what we REALLY want out of life, how to live frugally, and ways to shed old, restrictive thinking and living habits and replace them with pleasurable, expansive ones to create a self-perpetuating positive feedback loop of habitual joy and gratitude. People say my trippy livingroom exemplifies "thinking outside of the box that the box came in" so most of the class will be held in there after we tour my urban farm. I feel that happiness is a choice we can make daily, and that we can create our lives vs. them just happening to us, with productive gardening as the key. I will offer this class again on February 13, from 11 AM until 1 PM here at 3212 West Paxton Avenue, Tampa, FL 33611 813 839 0881 to RSVP. Please park on the south side of Paxton. The cost is $20 per student. Each student will receive 1 free packet of easy-to-grow seeds with instructions on their culture and harvest and use. See you then! John
Growing and raising much of your own food can free you from an unsatisfying job and addiction to the New Serfdom of endless debt as a "consumer". Celebrate this new year by taking this class to learn three basics of successful gardening in central Florida, see the ease of a few backyard chickens for fresh eggs, plus, primarily, get two handouts with 30 key techniques, attitude shifts, and resources that can allow us to discover what we REALLY want out of life, how to live frugally, and ways to shed old, restrictive thinking and living habits and replace them with pleasurable, expansive ones to create a self-perpetuating positive feedback loop of habitual joy and gratitude. People say my trippy livingroom exemplifies "thinking outside of the box that the box came in" so most of the class will be held in there after we tour my urban farm. I feel that happiness is a choice we can make daily, and that we can create our lives vs. them just happening to us, with productive gardening as the key. I will offer this class again on February 13, from 11 AM until 1 PM here at 3212 West Paxton Avenue, Tampa, FL 33611 813 839 0881 to RSVP. Please park on the south side of Paxton. The cost is $20 per student. Each student will receive 1 free packet of easy-to-grow seeds with instructions on their culture and harvest and use. See you then! John
Basics of Frugal Backyard Poultry Raising Class
Basics of Frugal Backyard Chicken Raising 2-12-2011
Many folks these days are considering, or have followed through on, pursuing a long time desire to raise backyard chickens for fresh eggs or even meat they know the origins of. I've had chickens on and off since the mid 90s, and can share how to raise happy, healthy, antibiotic-free chickens and eggs VERY frugally. I am teaching this well-received class again on February 12th, from 11 AM until 1 PM, with a 30 minute Q & A session after. My address is: 3212 West Paxton Avenue, Tampa FL 33611, about 6 blocks south of Gandy and 1 1/2 blocks west of MacDill, jungly yard on the south side. Please park on my side of Paxton off of neighbors' lawns. The cost is $20 per student. Please bring a note pad and pen as we will cover many points. You will receive a pack of winter greens seeds to sow now to provide raw green plant matter VITAL to having healthy backyard chickens. 813 839 0881 or e-mail to RSVP. See you then! John Starnes
Many folks these days are considering, or have followed through on, pursuing a long time desire to raise backyard chickens for fresh eggs or even meat they know the origins of. I've had chickens on and off since the mid 90s, and can share how to raise happy, healthy, antibiotic-free chickens and eggs VERY frugally. I am teaching this well-received class again on February 12th, from 11 AM until 1 PM, with a 30 minute Q & A session after. My address is: 3212 West Paxton Avenue, Tampa FL 33611, about 6 blocks south of Gandy and 1 1/2 blocks west of MacDill, jungly yard on the south side. Please park on my side of Paxton off of neighbors' lawns. The cost is $20 per student. Please bring a note pad and pen as we will cover many points. You will receive a pack of winter greens seeds to sow now to provide raw green plant matter VITAL to having healthy backyard chickens. 813 839 0881 or e-mail to RSVP. See you then! John Starnes
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
My new dog 'Cracker'
Day three with this delightful, bright, energetic, super-affectionate cuddly-kissy pedrigree Australian Shepherd black tri-color I got for free via the "Pets" listing under Community on Craig's List after months of looking via rescue sites and the usual Craig's List page. He is 10 months old, was named 'Flapjack' which I was not wild about so last night after thinking of other ones that would sound similar, then tried 'Cracker' (slang for a Florida native like me and him) and he responded. So 'Cracker ' it is. I found a few poopy and one pee accident in my workout room this morning so will pay more attention to giving him time outdoors on a leash. He wants to be GLUED to me and amazes me by invisibly entering and exiting with me by shadowing my feet. Oddly, his tail is bobbed, which I read on-line might be natural. Like the young woman I got him from says he moves like lightning! He weighs about 15 pounds, strikes me as underfed but now he eats the super-nutritious home made high fiber stews I raised Sweety on that does wonders for general health while preventing anal gland problems so in a month he should be plumped up a little. Next to find a cheap place to get him fixed. Based on his feet I THINK he may get a little bigger but not much. His eyebrows and white line on the bridge of his nose are adorable. Today for the first time he BOLTED across the street to the McMansion as I unpacked a big roses shipment and he briefly ignored my telling him to come back, so I will be very cautious about the front door as we have a couple asshole speeders in this neighborhood. (no grieving on my part if they fatally encounter a telephone pole as there are readily visible young kids on this street yet they persist).
Angel and Luvyu are SLOWLY warming up to him, especially Luvyu who ADORED Sweety from the moment they met 12 years ago. Sweety died May 11...this is the longest I've been dogless, with just one month passing between my previous dogs. So it is a joy to have such an adorable pooch in my house again. I can't believe how much he wants to cuddle when I wake up in the morning! I look forward to folks meeting him at the Wacky Hat Firepit Potluck the 19th. He has NO desire to chase or hurt the chickens, which I told the young woman that day would be the litmus test for my taking him...whew!
John
p.s. attached is a pic of 42 pound Sweety taken here not long after I bought this house in November of 1998 when she was a little over 2 years old. She was SUCH a sweet dog.
John
p.s. attached is a pic of 42 pound Sweety taken here not long after I bought this house in November of 1998 when she was a little over 2 years old. She was SUCH a sweet dog.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Thursday, February 3, 2011
My first "solo" flight of my home-made radio-controlled plane with the help of Peggy and Lynn. Lesson learned: CHARGE YOUE PLANE'S BATTERY first. John
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byrkPCDHo1U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byrkPCDHo1U
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Pesto alternative
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