"Over grown military establishments are under any form of government inauspicious to liberty, and are to be regarded as particularly hostile to republican liberty." -George Washington
"Every war when it comes, or before it comes, is represented not as a war but as an act of self-defense against a homicidal maniac." -George Orwell
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Keep Your Molokhiya WET!!
A heads up to anyone growing it for the first time...it wants WET soil and LOVES nitrogen. I grow mine only in Water Wise Container Gardens, or in large pots I can set into a tray of standing water. For big tender leaves give it lots of nitrogen like from horse manure tea, fish emulsion, human urine, etc. I've been selling plants to folks from The Philippines, Egypt etc. where it is familiar hot weather crop. In good conditions the growth rate is phenomenal, with 6-8 feet in height by midsummer likely IF it is given oodles of water.I love the leaves raw in salads, sandwiches or in omelets and stir fry dishes. John
Friday, May 27, 2011
Fixing a Hose
Today I fixed a wasteful leak in my back yard hose cheaply, quickly and easily with a plastic hose mender from Home Depot, a kitchen knife, boiling water and a Phillips screwdriver. I used the knife to cut out about 5 inches of the hose where the split occured, slipped the mender collar over the hose, then brought a quart of water to a boil. I inserted both cut ends of the hose into the boiling water in a pot for about 90 seconds to expand and soften the hose. The mender insert slipped easily into each hot, pliable end of the hose cut.....natural cooling alone helps to insure a tight mend even without the collar tightened easily with a Phillips screw driver. (Who was Phillips anyway?). My hose was fixed quickly and cheaply and easily. John
Barter List With Local Readers
I can swap a wide assortment of edible plants and crops seeds, plus my services as a landscape consultant here since 1984, for the following goodies I'd enjoy getting:
1. stainless steel sauce pan or two
2. old fashioned wok
3. above ground swimming pool kit in the box
4. Red Mulbery Tree 'Pakistan'
5. dry pet kibble disliked by a pet to use as poultry food
Thanks! John
1. stainless steel sauce pan or two
2. old fashioned wok
3. above ground swimming pool kit in the box
4. Red Mulbery Tree 'Pakistan'
5. dry pet kibble disliked by a pet to use as poultry food
Thanks! John
'Super Poop" News
Yesterday I flung 2 four gallon buckets of it atop a new layer of oak leaves and woody yard waste to build up the soil in a fenced off area that last winter grew 'Bonar' and 'Barnapoli' rapes for me and the poultry, and that is now home to a 4 foot tall loquat that Mary Jo gave me. Before I did that I planted a few sprouted chunks of two kinds of sweet potatoes for cooling edible groudcover plus tubers next winter. I just now got in from the gym (across the street from my stables) with three more buckets that will go around citrus trees before I indulge them in a rare deep watering during this harsh spring drought. Work on my pecs then come home with free "Super Poop".....hey, life is good! John
Thursday, May 26, 2011
My June Classes
HOME MADE FERMENTED FOODS 101 6-18-2011
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, kombucha, 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 June 18, 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! John
COOKING WHAT YOU GROW 6-25-2011
Many of us grew up on" fast food" and processed foods, and so don't know easy frugal ways to transform the produce from our gardens into quick and easy yet satisfyingly savory meals for our family and friends. LOVE to cook for friends by using what my urban farm is bearing at the moment at the catalyst for "cooking by the seat of your pants". You'll learn key basic spicing themes for ethnic cuisines that can you can tweak and mix per your creative cooking spirit and your gardens' production. In this class we will together harvest many key ingredients from my urban farm and whip up a delicious entree we will then share. This fun yet informative class costs $20 and takes place on June 25th from 11 AM until 1 PM. at 3212 West Paxton Avenue in south Tampa. Call me, John Starnes, at 813 839 0881 to confirm your attendance. Thank You! John
BASICS OF FRUGAL BACKYARD POLUTRY RAISING 6-4-2011
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. See also the ease of raising Muscovy ducks. I am teaching this well-received class again on June 4, 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
WATER WISE CONTAINER GARDENING 6-11-2011
The spring drought is here and the soil is SO dry. 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. My March 2011 water bill was $3.84.
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 June 11 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
TURNING SAND INTO HEALTHY SOIL 6-5-2011
Trying to grow crops in this sandy joke some call "soil" can make us give up gardening altogether. Garden writer John Starnes (St. Pete Times, Florida Gardening, Fine Gardening) grew his first veggie garden here in 1967 when he was 14, and has been growing much of his own food since 1984 both here and in Denver. Learn the basics of frugally transforming your sand into humus-rich actual soil teeming with beneficial microbes and loaded with all the nutrients that plants need to be vibrantly healthy and thrive. There is a nice handout for the class but DO bring a notebook and pen. You will receive one free envelope of an easy-to-grow unusual food crop seeds to help get you started right away. The class runs from 11 AM until 1 PM on June 5, 2011 at 3212 West Paxton Avenue Tampa FL 33611. Call to confirm attendance. John Starnes 813 839 0881
HOT WEATHER CROPS FOR SUMMER BOUNTY FROM YOUR GARDEN 6-12-2011
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 again on June 12 from 11 AM until 1 PM. 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
GROWING FOOD HARVESTING JOY AND CULTIVATING FREEDOM 6-19-2011
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". You will 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 June 19, 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
"GREEN" LEAST TOXIC PEST CONTROL INDOORS AND OUT 6-26-2011
Many homeowners and gardeners and pet lovers alike think we MUST use toxic pesticides to control plant-ravaging bugs and diseases, plus swarms of fleas and roaches and mosquitos that can make make life miserable for us and our animal companions, and poultry mites in our henhouses biting us AND the birds. This class will teach you a great many natural, non-or-least toxic methods of controlling and eliminating those scourges, including biological methods that need be purchased just once from mail order or local sources. All of these control methods are VERY inexpensive (hey, I’m a lifelong pathologically cheap tightwad!) and easy to acquire or make at home. Several were shared in the gardening column I wrote for The St. Pete Times for eight years. Food self sufficiency gardeners like me CAN enjoy fresh produce all year long by defeating pests without poisoning those crops or the environment. A detailed handout, complimented by the notes you take (bring a pad and pen please) will let you begin right away winning the “battle against bugs and fungus” all year long. I am teaching this class again on June 26, from 11 AM until 1 PM. 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. To RSVP call: 813 839 0881 Happy Gardening! John
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, kombucha, 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 June 18, 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! John
COOKING WHAT YOU GROW 6-25-2011
Many of us grew up on" fast food" and processed foods, and so don't know easy frugal ways to transform the produce from our gardens into quick and easy yet satisfyingly savory meals for our family and friends. LOVE to cook for friends by using what my urban farm is bearing at the moment at the catalyst for "cooking by the seat of your pants". You'll learn key basic spicing themes for ethnic cuisines that can you can tweak and mix per your creative cooking spirit and your gardens' production. In this class we will together harvest many key ingredients from my urban farm and whip up a delicious entree we will then share. This fun yet informative class costs $20 and takes place on June 25th from 11 AM until 1 PM. at 3212 West Paxton Avenue in south Tampa. Call me, John Starnes, at 813 839 0881 to confirm your attendance. Thank You! John
BASICS OF FRUGAL BACKYARD POLUTRY RAISING 6-4-2011
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. See also the ease of raising Muscovy ducks. I am teaching this well-received class again on June 4, 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
WATER WISE CONTAINER GARDENING 6-11-2011
The spring drought is here and the soil is SO dry. 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. My March 2011 water bill was $3.84.
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 June 11 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
TURNING SAND INTO HEALTHY SOIL 6-5-2011
Trying to grow crops in this sandy joke some call "soil" can make us give up gardening altogether. Garden writer John Starnes (St. Pete Times, Florida Gardening, Fine Gardening) grew his first veggie garden here in 1967 when he was 14, and has been growing much of his own food since 1984 both here and in Denver. Learn the basics of frugally transforming your sand into humus-rich actual soil teeming with beneficial microbes and loaded with all the nutrients that plants need to be vibrantly healthy and thrive. There is a nice handout for the class but DO bring a notebook and pen. You will receive one free envelope of an easy-to-grow unusual food crop seeds to help get you started right away. The class runs from 11 AM until 1 PM on June 5, 2011 at 3212 West Paxton Avenue Tampa FL 33611. Call to confirm attendance. John Starnes 813 839 0881
HOT WEATHER CROPS FOR SUMMER BOUNTY FROM YOUR GARDEN 6-12-2011
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 again on June 12 from 11 AM until 1 PM. 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
GROWING FOOD HARVESTING JOY AND CULTIVATING FREEDOM 6-19-2011
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". You will 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 June 19, 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
"GREEN" LEAST TOXIC PEST CONTROL INDOORS AND OUT 6-26-2011
Many homeowners and gardeners and pet lovers alike think we MUST use toxic pesticides to control plant-ravaging bugs and diseases, plus swarms of fleas and roaches and mosquitos that can make make life miserable for us and our animal companions, and poultry mites in our henhouses biting us AND the birds. This class will teach you a great many natural, non-or-least toxic methods of controlling and eliminating those scourges, including biological methods that need be purchased just once from mail order or local sources. All of these control methods are VERY inexpensive (hey, I’m a lifelong pathologically cheap tightwad!) and easy to acquire or make at home. Several were shared in the gardening column I wrote for The St. Pete Times for eight years. Food self sufficiency gardeners like me CAN enjoy fresh produce all year long by defeating pests without poisoning those crops or the environment. A detailed handout, complimented by the notes you take (bring a pad and pen please) will let you begin right away winning the “battle against bugs and fungus” all year long. I am teaching this class again on June 26, from 11 AM until 1 PM. 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. To RSVP call: 813 839 0881 Happy Gardening! John
A June Class Offering
Fermented Foods 101 6-18-2011
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, kombucha, 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 June 18, 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! John
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, kombucha, 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 June 18, 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! John
Probiotic Gardening 101
Just as 70% of our bodies' immune system is comprised of trillions of beneficial bacteria residing inside us, a healthy organic garden is one that teems with a vast array and number of micro and macro organisms that prevent and control disease and insect problems FOR us. This approach is all-natural, completely organic and is very lost cost. Learn how to work WITH nature to create and sustain a probiotically vibrant garden ecosystem that blesses you with vibrant, pesticide-free fruits, veggies and herbs, even in the summer months. The cost is $20 per student, and the class is on May 29 from 11 AM until 1 PM. There will be a nice handout but please bring a notepad and pen. My address is: 3212 West Paxton Avenue, Tampa 33611 To ask questions or to confirm your attendance, feel free to call me at:
813 839 0881 Thanks, John
813 839 0881 Thanks, John
Fermented Foods 101 5-28-2011
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, kombucha, bartago 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 May 28, 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. John
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, kombucha, bartago 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 May 28, 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. John
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
My Dad's Watermelon Patch
Dad is also growing African Jack Beans, Dow Gauk Thai Long Beans, Molokhiya and "Clay" Vigna beans I gave him seeds of, plus has started a new watermelon patch. Dad has always grown things and I am sure that he and my Great Aunt Ella with her incredible gardens in Charlevoix, Michigan are why I began gardening as a child and have ever since.
John
Monday, May 23, 2011
'Why' By Yoko Ono
I would not be the man I am had I never heard this deliciously raw, and unrelentingly emphatic "punk" rock/disco song in the fall of 1970 with my highschool friend Michael Harvey in the 'Yellow Bird Record Store' there in south Tampa's Britton Plaza. To this day it inspires and as always energizes me...I am sure I have played it a few thousand times since 1970. John
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCb0TsSIqI0&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCb0TsSIqI0&feature=related
Water Wise Container Gardens
Water Wise Container Gardening 6-11-2011
The spring drought is here and the soil is SO dry. 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. My March 2011 water bill was $3.84.
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 June 11 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
The spring drought is here and the soil is SO dry. 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. My March 2011 water bill was $3.84.
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 June 11 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
Class: Turning Sand Into Soil
Trying to grow crops in this sandy joke some call "soil" can make us give up gardening altogether. Garden writer John Starnes (St. Pete Times, Florida Gardening, Fine Gardening) grew his first veggie garden here in 1967 when he was 14, and has been growing much of his own food since 1984 both here and in Denver. Learn the basics of frugally transforming your sand into humus-rich actual soil teeming with beneficial microbes and loaded with all the nutrients that plants need to be vibrantly healthy and thrive. There is a nice handout for the class but DO bring a notebook and pen. You will receive one free envelope of an easy-to-grow unusual food crop seeds to help get you started right away. The class runs from 11 AM until 1 PM on June 5, 2011 at 3212 West Paxton Avenue Tampa FL 33611. Call to confirm attendance. John Starnes 813 839 0881
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Egyptian Summer Veggie 'Molokhiya' Plants for Sale
FOUR AVAILABLE as of Sunday, May 22, 2011 (since the world didn't end!)
This is now one of my very favorite summer veggies as I love the mild tender leaves added to summer salads or used raw on sandwiches, plus used in stir fry and omelets and stews. It is a heat loving annual that LOVES damp rich soil in full sun...if you have a low-lying wet area grow it there. It NEEDS heat and can quickly reach 6-8 feet tall in good conditions and thus can provide hundreds of the nutritious leaves all summer. You can grow it in a 5 gallon capacity pot kept in a tray of water to keep the soil damp if you have no drainage ditch or air conditioner drip areas. It is the most widely eaten leafy veggie in Egypt and is grown in India and Pakistan and other hot humid areas. Its stems are the centuries old source of jute fiber, and the seed pods that form in the fall contain seeds that are an amazing blue-green malachite color! (be sure to save some for the next season). The flowers are small and yellow and inconspicuous, and if you look REAL closely you'll notice the similarity to okra blooms but on a TEENSY scale. (It is distantly related to okra). This year I am trying some traditional Egyptian recipes for molokhiya soups and stews. It is a VERY fast grower as heat and humidity increase.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jute
I have currently have 4 plants, each about 12-15 inches tall, grown in home made soil with no pesticides in 1 gallon pots for $4 each on glass tables near my front porch along with other edible plants, all labelled and priced, including African Jack Bean, Filipino Purple Yam Ube, and Blue Pea Vine.. Just use my Honor System to slip your cash through the payment slot in my red office door on my front patio. The 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 south side of Paxton. Please avoid parking on my north neighbors' lawns. Thanks and Happy Gardening! John Starnes
This is now one of my very favorite summer veggies as I love the mild tender leaves added to summer salads or used raw on sandwiches, plus used in stir fry and omelets and stews. It is a heat loving annual that LOVES damp rich soil in full sun...if you have a low-lying wet area grow it there. It NEEDS heat and can quickly reach 6-8 feet tall in good conditions and thus can provide hundreds of the nutritious leaves all summer. You can grow it in a 5 gallon capacity pot kept in a tray of water to keep the soil damp if you have no drainage ditch or air conditioner drip areas. It is the most widely eaten leafy veggie in Egypt and is grown in India and Pakistan and other hot humid areas. Its stems are the centuries old source of jute fiber, and the seed pods that form in the fall contain seeds that are an amazing blue-green malachite color! (be sure to save some for the next season). The flowers are small and yellow and inconspicuous, and if you look REAL closely you'll notice the similarity to okra blooms but on a TEENSY scale. (It is distantly related to okra). This year I am trying some traditional Egyptian recipes for molokhiya soups and stews. It is a VERY fast grower as heat and humidity increase.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jute
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Blog Less, Earn More John!
As much as I love working on all three of my blogs, it is time I pay more attention to boosting attendance to my classes and my plant sales that actually pay my bills. So instead of 1-2 blog posts daily, I will wean myself to 1-2 per week as I must increase my income to avoid depleting my retirement savings. Some blogs make their creators wildly wealthy, but mine have generated just a tiny trickle of income.....$20 plus some very nice gifts to date! So time for me to be a realist and get my financial house in order. But it HAS been fun. John
Friday, May 20, 2011
Waste Not Want Not
I've gotten cited twice this spring by Tampa's code people for my front fence line being overgrown......I'd agree as regards the perennial morning glory Ipomomea acuminata that has become fucking kudzu here in my fertile soil (I can't believe I BOUGHT that damned thing mail order for QUITE the price!), though I liked the husky roses 'Barfield White Climber' and 'Marechal Niel' on the same trellis. I continue my battle against a weed I truly loathe....Bidens a.k.a "Spanish Needle", a member of the Daisy family.....I feed nearly all I pull (cussing and grunting as I yank the SOBs) to my chickens and ducks. If I could wriggle my nose like Samantha in 'Bewitched' I'd make it extinct in my yard even others love it as a veggie plus butterfly plant. The code guy seems happy since he sees that despite my cracked ribs I've scaled back those two roses, plus eliminated completely that scary morning perennial morning glory and am clearly clearing my lot for better order and productivity. Plus I rebuilt the front rebar roses trellis.
As I clear out my front yard I am using the stalks of Bolivian Sunflower (Tithonia diversifolia) and Cherry Laurel and more to rebuild up a DEEP (goal is 2 feet) mulch layer around each of my bananas in the back yard that have survived 6 years of drought in south Tampa with kitchen graywater and by being pee'd on. Tidying up my front yard (Bidens especially) will as a reward provide live green plant matter for my ducks, chickens and bananas. Winter kill from the 27 degree winter freezes gave me lots of dead cassava stalks to use to recreate ongoing compost heaps around each surviving banana plant, where I am also adding stalks from my aggressive rose out front 'Rosa bracteata', plus my purple odontonema, rotted firewood people set out curbside, bags of leaves similarly rescued curb side, plus branches of the Cherry Laurel and "False Mulberry" that annually, perennially that sends suckers into my yard many feet from the parent plant. I am also dumping quite a bit of that "Super Poop" atop each compost pile I am creating around every banana.
My goal is to buid up 2-3 feet of compost formers around my bananas and, to a lesser extent, my papaya plants in hopes I get a WONDERFULLY wet summer and fall here in south Tampa to help rehydrate our dry sandy soils that we are forced to work with.
Complying with my code violation by eliminating that kudzu-like perennial morning glory while turning cut back roses and tropical flowers into compost via "sheet composting" seems to me a win-win situation regards all parties involved. Oh to have bearing bananas again....back before the drought when we were getting all those hurricanes I had 21 colonies of 16 kinds! John
As I clear out my front yard I am using the stalks of Bolivian Sunflower (Tithonia diversifolia) and Cherry Laurel and more to rebuild up a DEEP (goal is 2 feet) mulch layer around each of my bananas in the back yard that have survived 6 years of drought in south Tampa with kitchen graywater and by being pee'd on. Tidying up my front yard (Bidens especially) will as a reward provide live green plant matter for my ducks, chickens and bananas. Winter kill from the 27 degree winter freezes gave me lots of dead cassava stalks to use to recreate ongoing compost heaps around each surviving banana plant, where I am also adding stalks from my aggressive rose out front 'Rosa bracteata', plus my purple odontonema, rotted firewood people set out curbside, bags of leaves similarly rescued curb side, plus branches of the Cherry Laurel and "False Mulberry" that annually, perennially that sends suckers into my yard many feet from the parent plant. I am also dumping quite a bit of that "Super Poop" atop each compost pile I am creating around every banana.
My goal is to buid up 2-3 feet of compost formers around my bananas and, to a lesser extent, my papaya plants in hopes I get a WONDERFULLY wet summer and fall here in south Tampa to help rehydrate our dry sandy soils that we are forced to work with.
Complying with my code violation by eliminating that kudzu-like perennial morning glory while turning cut back roses and tropical flowers into compost via "sheet composting" seems to me a win-win situation regards all parties involved. Oh to have bearing bananas again....back before the drought when we were getting all those hurricanes I had 21 colonies of 16 kinds! John
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
A Super-Productive Summer Crop Here In Tampa I Am Psyched About
With Mary Jo's and Peggy's help I've completed my mini-obsession on this wonderful summer crop whose origins are tropical equatorial Africa. Turns out what Peggy and I grew and liked a LOT last summer was the Ferry Morse strain "Asparagus Bean" (Dow Gauk), which today I bought two packets of at Home Depot. While at Lowe's to help a neighbor I scored a pack of the oddly named variant that Mary Jo bought called "bean long Zi 28-2" that can bear 26 inch long pods! I'm now pulling up the seedlings of my old beloved Vigna "Clay" as they appear all over the back yard in the heat from seeds dropped last fall, and intend to colonize the back yard anti-chicken fences with these long podded forms of Vigna so the pollen from that short podded one can't boink these long podded ones. I also found in my seeds an older packet of "Chinese Red Noodle" that is maroon when raw, green when cooked....I will sow them in pots to see if they are viable.
Last summer I grew very fond of young Vigna leaves in summer salads, with up to 50% of the volume working for me...lots of protein in the leaves and nice mild flavor. I got some great bleu cheese dressings on sale to help me celebrate
I can share these, or you can look for both at Big Lots and Home Depot. There is an EXCELLENT selection of both Cow Peas and these long Asian variants at Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds www.rareseeds.com
John
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vigna_unguiculata_subsp._sesquipedalis
Last summer I grew very fond of young Vigna leaves in summer salads, with up to 50% of the volume working for me...lots of protein in the leaves and nice mild flavor. I got some great bleu cheese dressings on sale to help me celebrate
I can share these, or you can look for both at Big Lots and Home Depot. There is an EXCELLENT selection of both Cow Peas and these long Asian variants at Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds www.rareseeds.com
John
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vigna_unguiculata_subsp._sesquipedalis
Thanks Jonathan! John
Didn't have one of those blogger logins, so I am sending a comment by
email...
Oxalates reduce the absorption of calcium, but it works the other way
around as well: calcium reduces the absorption of oxalates and lowers
the risk of kidney stones.
"Dietary intake of calcium or dairy products has been shown to decrease
urinary oxalate excretion by limiting its intestinal absorption."
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16217387
"The consumption of dark chocolate induced a significant increase in
mean urinary Oxalate not observed in the milk chocolate group."
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=oxalate%20chocolate%20milk
Cooking high-oxalate foods with milk or cheese seems to be wise.
Spanakopita is one example of a food combination in traditional cuisine
that significantly blunts spinach oxalates (which are also quite
hight)... should work for amaranth as well.
Regards,
Jonathan Byron
email...
Oxalates reduce the absorption of calcium, but it works the other way
around as well: calcium reduces the absorption of oxalates and lowers
the risk of kidney stones.
"Dietary intake of calcium or dairy products has been shown to decrease
urinary oxalate excretion by limiting its intestinal absorption."
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16217387
"The consumption of dark chocolate induced a significant increase in
mean urinary Oxalate not observed in the milk chocolate group."
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=oxalate%20chocolate%20milk
Cooking high-oxalate foods with milk or cheese seems to be wise.
Spanakopita is one example of a food combination in traditional cuisine
that significantly blunts spinach oxalates (which are also quite
hight)... should work for amaranth as well.
Regards,
Jonathan Byron
Super Poop Update
Normally I ride my bike to my gym, the Joe Abrahams Fitness Center, but lately I've been taking the van and three 5 gallon buckets to get the "Super Poop" from the stables across the street, Sail Away Farms. This is not the usual wood shavings based stall sweepings, but pure poop, urine, horse hair and hoof trimmings in large buckets on the concrete grooming platform. Last week I gave most of it to my bananas I am trying to revive despite the drought with deep mulching and an occasional deep watering. Over the weekend I got 1.6 inches of rain from a Gulf storm system, so now I am using the "Super Poop" to brew a potent "tea" in various rain barrels to give to my roses and other plants growing in above ground and buried Water Wise Container Gardens. This is something I will be doing far more often throughout the year from now on to nourish my soil. It takes little time and costs a little gas as the gym and stables are just a few minutes away. John
Monday, May 16, 2011
Thank You George Harrison for 'My Sweet Lord'
And thanks to some one out there for this evocative video....exquisite. John
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3k5Hpa4NVKI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3k5Hpa4NVKI
Calcium oxalates in crops: rhubarb, sorrel, chard, spinach, taro and these too...
After having that odd sensation in my throat last week after eating a raw Quail Grass (Celosia argentea aka Lagos Spinach) leaf, I today finally did some Googling and confirmed that it and its close relatives, the Amaranths, DO contain high levels of calcium oxalate, which helps explain why I like neither raw plus why bugs usually leave them alone. Eaten often these oxalates can inhibit calcium absorption plus contribute to kidney stones. Since both thrive in summer here and are very nutritious, I will be blanching mine for a few minutes then discarding the water before adding them to omelets, stir fry, soups, etc. John
Quail grass
Vietnamese Amaranth
Hopi Red Dye Amaranth
Taro (Eddo)
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Thank you to "Tom from Palmetto"
I got an unaddressed envelope from a mysterious blog reader containing two nice things.....a note saying how much he likes my blog and my writings elsewhere ( "you teach me things" ) , and a packet of a kind of hot pepper I've never heard of and will look up....'De Padrone'. Thanks Tom! John
Saturday, May 14, 2011
250 Gallon Totes for Rain Barrels
Mary's very much resemble the ones that Jerry gave me but have a different color base and have no staining of the tanks' interiors as they held water soluble carnauba wax. I think she has 12 available. You can inquire by e-mailing her at: mrydicki@tampabay.rr.com or calling her hubby Richard at: 727-432-1612. As a reminder here is a pic of the ones that Jerry so generously gave me AND delivered. John 
Friday, May 13, 2011
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Indian Dal
I always thought it was spelled 'dahl' plus until Peggy mentioned being served a mung bean dal I thought by definition it was made from yellow split peas. So I Googled 'mung bean dal' and found this very intriguing recipe I will try soon.....the interplay of flavors sounds so delicious. John
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/06/dining/062mrex.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/06/dining/062mrex.html
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Services Barter
I want to get a will drawn up to insure my estate is dispersed per my wishes after I die, and am hoping to barter with a local attorney that service for a thorough landscape consultation for their home or business property. Thanks in advance, John.
Monday, May 9, 2011
Today on the farm...
When I left my gym at the Joe Abraham's Fitness Center at Ballast Point here in south Tampa I went across the street to the stables Sail Away Farms and got three 4 gallon buckets of "Super Poop" from their grooming platform....no sawdust, just pure poop and pee and hoof trimmings and horse hair.....nitrogen heaven. Some of it went to two calabazas in buried 55 gallon Water Wise Container Gardens who then got deeply watered, some to roses out front, some to Quail Grass in a buried storage tub Water Wise Container Garden...the rest gets brewed this week into a tonic tea for my roses inventory. I stopped at south Tampa's restaurant 'Artifacts' later and got my daily bucket of kitchen scraps and left them pads of thornless opuntia cactus and Thai Peppers and Lesbos basil. Tonight I fill an order for Velvet Bean seeds I got in the mail, plus stash in my workout room the beautiful piece of mirror that Jim Porter gave me yesterday after the Rare Fruit Council meeting for me to use on the livingroom floor revamp. The Muscovy ducklings are almost ducks already, so I've Googled duck slaughter as a reluctant omnivore whose soul (but not body) is vegan but who wants to avoid factory farmed meat by raising chickens and ducks in a benign rural farm environment.
I am daily pulling up seedlings of Vigna unguicultata and Velvet Bean emerging in this heat in a new effort to control these very productive food and medicinal crops as they can swallow up papayas and climbing roses and more. The chickens and ducks readily eat them.
I got cited by the city a second time for havinng too much growth on my front fences...if he refers to the perennial morning glory I also loathe vs. my climbing roses I agree and am determined to eliminate the scourge of Ipomaea acuminata from my property. It is a lovely scourge that I now regret having purchased. So I am chopping back hard my freeze-damaged Tithonia diversifolia and my too-lush Rosa Bracteata and using that to deep mulch my bananas after being inspired by attending the Sunday meeting of the Tampa Rare Fruit Council....the informative presentation was about home cultivation of bananas. South Tampa is now MUCH too dry for bananas for years now so guess who will be piling trimmings of everything around his bananas?
Smelly eggs in the incubator suggest that one or more of the boys is shooting blanks.
That one plant I grew this winter of Ethiopian Kale (Brassica carinata) that Mary Jo gave me seeds of that she bought from the good folks at http://www.echonet.org/ today gave me a huge ripe tan seed havest, easily 1/4 cup. Since folks liked the tender mild leaves raw or cooked, I look forward to sharing seedlings with friends this fall.
Now off to enjoy fine music and videos while nicely altered and tending to tasks....
koo koo ka CHOO!
John
I am daily pulling up seedlings of Vigna unguicultata and Velvet Bean emerging in this heat in a new effort to control these very productive food and medicinal crops as they can swallow up papayas and climbing roses and more. The chickens and ducks readily eat them.
I got cited by the city a second time for havinng too much growth on my front fences...if he refers to the perennial morning glory I also loathe vs. my climbing roses I agree and am determined to eliminate the scourge of Ipomaea acuminata from my property. It is a lovely scourge that I now regret having purchased. So I am chopping back hard my freeze-damaged Tithonia diversifolia and my too-lush Rosa Bracteata and using that to deep mulch my bananas after being inspired by attending the Sunday meeting of the Tampa Rare Fruit Council....the informative presentation was about home cultivation of bananas. South Tampa is now MUCH too dry for bananas for years now so guess who will be piling trimmings of everything around his bananas?
Smelly eggs in the incubator suggest that one or more of the boys is shooting blanks.
That one plant I grew this winter of Ethiopian Kale (Brassica carinata) that Mary Jo gave me seeds of that she bought from the good folks at http://www.echonet.org/ today gave me a huge ripe tan seed havest, easily 1/4 cup. Since folks liked the tender mild leaves raw or cooked, I look forward to sharing seedlings with friends this fall.
Now off to enjoy fine music and videos while nicely altered and tending to tasks....
koo koo ka CHOO!
John
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Greek Columnar 'Lesbos' Basil Plants for Sale
FOUR plants available as of Thursday, May 5
I have a new crop of this unique interspecies hybrid that has unusually potent small leaves in vast numbers on erect growing plants that can reach three feet tall in good soil and full sun, either in a garden or a large pot. It rarely blooms so you do not have to pinch off bud clusters very often....this results in extremely vigorous growth that allows me to make and freeze vast amounts of pesto each summer. The flavor is also perfect for Asian cuisine, such as inside fresh spring rolls. The plants go woody and decline in about one year, so be sure to root a six inch long cutting monthly to insure a permanent supply of this wonderfully pungent herb. A friend in Sulphur Springs says his thrive in a fair amount of shade. Be sure to grow one in a pot to bring in during frosts and freezes.
Friends who have always struggled with basil can't believe their success, plus how easily it roots from cuttings. I have 4 plants in one gallon pots for $4 each, all grown in home made soil with no pesticides.
They are sitting on glass tables, each marked with a section of white miniblind, along with other edible plants, including Ube Filipino Purple Yam, African Jack Beans, Velvet Beans, Blue Pea Vine, Native Swamp Garlic and Molokhiya, right by my front porch: If I am out, just use my honor system to slip your cash through the dryer vent payment slot in my red office door. The address is: 3212 West Paxton Avenue Tampa 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 mulched area to avoid damaging my neighbors' lawns. Thanks in advance and Happy Gardening! John Starnes
Friends who have always struggled with basil can't believe their success, plus how easily it roots from cuttings. I have 4 plants in one gallon pots for $4 each, all grown in home made soil with no pesticides.
They are sitting on glass tables, each marked with a section of white miniblind, along with other edible plants, including Ube Filipino Purple Yam, African Jack Beans, Velvet Beans, Blue Pea Vine, Native Swamp Garlic and Molokhiya, right by my front porch: If I am out, just use my honor system to slip your cash through the dryer vent payment slot in my red office door. The address is: 3212 West Paxton Avenue Tampa 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 mulched area to avoid damaging my neighbors' lawns. Thanks in advance and Happy Gardening! John Starnes
My Classes This Weekend
HOT WEATHER CROPS FOR SUMMER BOUNTY FROM YOUR GARDEN 5-7--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 again on May 7 from 11 AM until 1 PM. 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
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 again on May 7 from 11 AM until 1 PM. 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
My Classes This Weekend
Basics of Frugal Backyard Poultry Raising 5-8-2011
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 May 8, 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. Come see the very successful raising og Muscovy ducks too, including the new ducklings. 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 May 8, 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. Come see the very successful raising og Muscovy ducks too, including the new ducklings. See you then! John Starnes
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Please Help Me Identify This Mystery Tropical Fruit
"Long Hot" Peppers
Monday, May 2, 2011
Garden Porn
Cuban Anoles
Lady Bugs boinking
Anthurium flower
Banana Flower
Japanese Hot Peppers
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