Wednesday, March 30, 2011
My April Classes
Come see the my first ever clutch of baby Muscovy ducks that hatched yesterday! John
Basics of Frugal Backyard Chicken Raising 4-3-2011
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 April 3, 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 4-17-2011
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 April 17th 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 4-9-2011 4-24-2011
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 April 9th and the 24th, 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
GROWING FOOD, CULTIVATING FREEDOM AND HARVESTING JOY 4-16-2011
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 April 16, 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
HOT WEATHER CROPS FOR SUMMER BOUNTY FROM YOUR GARDEN 4-2-2011 4-23-2011
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 April 2 and the 23rd. 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
Fermented Foods 101 4-30-2011
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 April 30, 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!
Non-toxic "Green" Pest and Disease Control 4-10-2011
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. I shared some of these techniques with my readers for the eight years I had a gardening column in The St. Pete Times. All of these control methods are VERY inexpensive (hey, I’m a lifelong pathologically cheap tightwad!) and easy to acquire or make at home. 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 April 10, 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
"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
Basics of Frugal Backyard Chicken Raising 4-3-2011
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 April 3, 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 4-17-2011
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 April 17th 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 4-9-2011 4-24-2011
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 April 9th and the 24th, 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
GROWING FOOD, CULTIVATING FREEDOM AND HARVESTING JOY 4-16-2011
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 April 16, 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
HOT WEATHER CROPS FOR SUMMER BOUNTY FROM YOUR GARDEN 4-2-2011 4-23-2011
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 April 2 and the 23rd. 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
Fermented Foods 101 4-30-2011
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 April 30, 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!
Non-toxic "Green" Pest and Disease Control 4-10-2011
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. I shared some of these techniques with my readers for the eight years I had a gardening column in The St. Pete Times. All of these control methods are VERY inexpensive (hey, I’m a lifelong pathologically cheap tightwad!) and easy to acquire or make at home. 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 April 10, 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
"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
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Once again it is clear.....
....deforestation has negative consequences, including drought. My native Florida was "too wet" up until the 1970s.....by now, here in 2011 my native state has been tragically scalped of forests, and for six years now, drought has become a new norm I could have never imagined in my teens and twenties here. And it looks to be happening yet again, this time in South America. Humans MUST stop spoiling their own nests by breeding responsibly else the planet will end up a ravaged, polluted, and diminished sad shadow of its former self. John
http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/NASA_Satellites_Detect_Extensive_Drought_Impact_On_Amazon_999.html
http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/NASA_Satellites_Detect_Extensive_Drought_Impact_On_Amazon_999.html
Monday, March 28, 2011
My "Gay Trailer Trash on Acid" livingroom art project
Just like most objects in my landscape and gardens, almost everything used here is scavenged or donated by folks who suspect that I could use their "trash" in it. The perfect place to play and enjoy my favorite song of all time. John
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4bg8rZcYqk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4bg8rZcYqk
Molokhiya: Leafy Green for Hot Humid Summers
Sunday, March 27, 2011
A Wonderfully Creative Positive Music Video
I am so thankful to a guy in the cars forum I have enjoyed for years ( http://www.gminsidenews.com/ ) who had noted my fondness for the trippy, psychedelic aspects of life and so sent me privately a link to a wonderful video called 'Fall' by the 1980s Australian women's group 'Single Gun Theory', a wonderful video I relish several times each time I get altered on cannabis and a few drinks. He said he loved it back then when he still indulged in cannabis and felt sure I'd like it too. He could have not been more correct. I love how they fashioned so many of their songs around women from other cultures singing and chanting traditional songs. This one, 'I Am What I See', for me, exudes a hopeful, positive expansiveness made all the more vibrant by the very impressive, trippy shifting visuals they achieved way back then with 80s technology. Enjoy, John
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8Z6nCOY8UM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8Z6nCOY8UM
An Edible Flower I Grew in Denver
In 1988 when I was new to Denver I fell in love with Malva sylvestris after seeing various forms at The Denver Botanic Gardens and they let me gather seeds. It hails from cold areas of Europe and self sows so heavily in Denver it can almost be a weed...but a lovely one. The leaves are delightful raw added to salads or can be cooked, though are slightly mucilaginous. The flowers look beautiful atop a salad or as a plate garnish. This relative of the hollyhock and hibiscus and okra and cotton surprised and pleased me this winter when seedlings appeared in my pathways as I revamped my front yard ruined by drought and the Rose-From-Hell 'Mermaid' that kept me out of there for a year and a half. I transplanted them to beds by the street where they thrived despite the freezes and are now blooming like crazy as heat returns.....I will be SURE to gather the tan seed capsules to sow this October. The selected form 'Zebrina' has purple stripes against a white background and is just as reliable as a summer flower/vegetable in areas with cold, snowy winters. Here is a pic of one a few days ago. John
A Wet Week Coming?
Looking good in this DRY DRY winter-to-spring transition! John
http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?CityName=Tampa&state=FL&site=TBW&lat=27.959&lon=-82.4821
http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?CityName=Tampa&state=FL&site=TBW&lat=27.959&lon=-82.4821
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Time for an Apollo Moon Landing Style Program to Switch to Thorium Reactors
I've been an advocate of this remarkable technology for years that India has worked with extenstively, and hope that unfolding events in Japan are a catalyst for the whole world to embrace it. This is TRULY sustainable energy! John
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWUeBSoEnRk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWUeBSoEnRk
Kombu Seaweed
Today on the way back home from the Sustainable Living Conference in Plant City with my friend Pat I stopped at the wonderful Chinese Oceanic Market in downtown Tampa and bought several packages of the dried kombu (kelp) seaweed that not only adds natural iodine to my diet, but is also indispensable to my making really good miso soup and Vietnamese dipping sauces for springrolls. It is harvested right off the coast of Japan and in view of the radioactive soup pouring into the sea from the damaged reactors, I will be hesitant for quite some time to buy kombu harvested since the incident. It keeps well dry in a cupboard but CAN get moths if stored a long time, so these packages are going into my big freezer.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Snake Gourd
The two times I've tried this summer crop I failed, and I now have fresh seeds but THIS season will sow them in a 5 gallon Water Wise Container Garden I buried last year next to a tall trellis in the center of the sweet potato patch. John
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trichosanthes_cucumerina
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trichosanthes_cucumerina
I Am The Eggman.....
Muscovy Duck Hen Breasts - Frozen
Well, one of my new chickens hatched from an egg produced here has JUST begun to lay...look how cutely tiny her eggs are!
And my other female Muscovy duck has laid a BIG clutch of eggs.....I am AMAZED how many one duck can hold! Since past clutches were plagued by predation or very poor hatch rates either in the nest or the incubator, I risked attack from the utterly vicious male now heroically protecting TWO nests ( I swear he NEVER sleeps...maybe that's one reason he is SO grumpy and mean!) and took two of the new eggs the day after they were laid. Bigger and rounder than chicken eggs with MUCH harder shells that I REALLY had to whack to crack open. I cooked them in olive oil with garlic and seasalt...very pleasant. The yolks were stronger flavored, and the whites much firmer, than chicken eggs. I may well do this in the future with new clutches...eat a few, leave the rest in hopes they hatch as I like the idea of an occasional roasted duck, especially if I perfect the solar oven I am casually thinking up.
Fresh Muscovy Duck Eggs
John
Well, one of my new chickens hatched from an egg produced here has JUST begun to lay...look how cutely tiny her eggs are!
And my other female Muscovy duck has laid a BIG clutch of eggs.....I am AMAZED how many one duck can hold! Since past clutches were plagued by predation or very poor hatch rates either in the nest or the incubator, I risked attack from the utterly vicious male now heroically protecting TWO nests ( I swear he NEVER sleeps...maybe that's one reason he is SO grumpy and mean!) and took two of the new eggs the day after they were laid. Bigger and rounder than chicken eggs with MUCH harder shells that I REALLY had to whack to crack open. I cooked them in olive oil with garlic and seasalt...very pleasant. The yolks were stronger flavored, and the whites much firmer, than chicken eggs. I may well do this in the future with new clutches...eat a few, leave the rest in hopes they hatch as I like the idea of an occasional roasted duck, especially if I perfect the solar oven I am casually thinking up.
First Egg
Fresh Muscovy Duck Eggs
John
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
One More Use for My Solar Shower Water Heater
John
One More Reason to Grow Our Own Fermented Foods
Kefir, water kefir, tempeh, natto, kimchee, kombucha and more all naturally provide our bodies natural bacterial allies that can comprise 70% of our total immune system. My Dad sent me this great link about probiotics...ever since Lifeway Kefir brought his LONG TIME acid reflux and GERDS under total control, he is such a believer in probiotics he won't let the doctors and dentist give him antibiotics! Dad may be 80 but he sure is hip. John
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/03/110321162001.htm
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/03/110321162001.htm
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
My Classes This Weekend
My Saturday class on Hot Weather Crops for Summer is cancelled so I can give a talk on Urban Gardening at 1 PM at the Sustainable Living Conference, which I look forward to attending. John
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
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
Solar Room Heating
This concept looks VERY intriguing to me, but rather than all those steps to convert the cardboard box, I will keep my eyes peeled while dumpster diving for pre-existing box-like structures that I can simply make black inside then afix a pane of scrounged glass or plexi-glass to trap the heat. Several of these would have been great in my Denver days, but even here in Tampa we get 30s, even 20s each winter, with some days topping out in the 50s, so one for each of my south side windows might do a lot to keep my home cozy....for free. Enjoy this great video. John
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zT1qO9OE9tc&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zT1qO9OE9tc&feature=related
Monday, March 21, 2011
Friday, March 18, 2011
Fennel Cubes for Summer Sauces
Years ago when I was a strict vegetarian I learned a cool trick...add sage and fennel to spaghetti sauce to partially replicate the taste of Italian sausage....it works! I have been an omnivore for years now for health reasons (I am sickly as vegan and vegetarian) but due to my cheapness I rarely splurge on Italian sausage, so often rely on those two herbs. Here in Tampa fennel is a winter annual that succumbs to spring heat...my plants growing in a large Water Wise Container Garden in my kitchen garden have just begun to bolt. So today I will buzz the tender foliage and buds with water in my blender, then pour the anisey green puree into ice cube trays to freeze. Tomorrow I will pop the fennel cubes into a plastic bag in my big freezer so I can indulge in that taste treat on the hottest of summer days this year. In Denver I did this in summer using basil leaves.
John
Thursday, March 17, 2011
My Classes This Weekend
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
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
Home Made "Capers" From Green Nasturtium Seeds
I've heard of this for years so will finally give it a try as I love capers...and I have OODLES of nasturtiums growing! John
http://www.plantea.com/nasturtium.htm
http://www.plantea.com/nasturtium.htm
Monday, March 14, 2011
Ethiopian Kale
'Green Acres'
I have loved this show ever since it came out when I was in 7th grade in Homestead, Florida. In college here in Tampa, some days I'd smoke a joint and watch reruns on my tiny dumpster TV. The casting is absolutely perfect! Mr. Haney, the amoral conniving huckster,.....Frank Kimball, the forgetful ag agent, the Ziffel family (including Arnold the pig), Lisa Douglas both luxurious and airheaded, and more, with Mr. Douglas as the sane guy baffled and exhasperated by them all daily.. A few years ago I got an EXTREMELY good deal on-line for both seasons on DVD....I think $5 plus shipping! But there are many clips from this iconic comedy series on YouTube and I think Hulu.
I bet this series helped to shape my then-young mind to savor both gardening and a style of layered humor in some ways reminiscent of that on "The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show". Nothing like watching Mr. Douglas deal with the Monroe Brothers and their never-ending "remodelling" of his home, like the bedroom closet open to the outdoors, plus the door slides out its track every time. Delicious humor, but the farming and poultry raising episodes are true gems. Enjoy, John
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mbk81X6WHA4&feature=related
I bet this series helped to shape my then-young mind to savor both gardening and a style of layered humor in some ways reminiscent of that on "The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show". Nothing like watching Mr. Douglas deal with the Monroe Brothers and their never-ending "remodelling" of his home, like the bedroom closet open to the outdoors, plus the door slides out its track every time. Delicious humor, but the farming and poultry raising episodes are true gems. Enjoy, John
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mbk81X6WHA4&feature=related
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Iodine Question from a Gardening Forum I Belong To....
"John,
I have looked into iodine myself as I have hypothyroidism. Where is a reputable place to purchase iodine pills from? I have managed to find every option out there that promises wonders, but none seem reputable. I am interested in trying it to see if it will get me off my thyroid meds that I have a really hard time taking. The side effects of hot flashes and sweats are not much fun in the dead of summer here in Florida.
Thanks John!!!!
Roz"
For over a hundred years many people have taken Lugol's Solution. Others simply swab the tincture on a 2 inch square on their thigh or forearm weekly to be absorbed as needed. Many take Iodoral tablets....I often take the 12.5 mg ones but usually take 32.5 mg. potassium iodide tablets from Source Naturals. I daily add a few drops of the tincture to my food and my pets' food....the skull and crossbones on that bottle our Moms treated our cuts with got put there about 70 years ago by big pharm bribing congressman as people were too successful self treating many medical problems with it and/or Lugol's Solution. For a wonderful overview of the many benefits of iodine supplementation go to the Linus Pauling Institute website; click on Minerals then Iodine, though I disagree with their agreeing with the Fed's RDA of 120 MICROGRAMS daily as most developed nations have an RDA for iodine 83-100 times higher than that. Coastal Japanese who eat the old way of kelp and seafood daily average 42 MILLIGRAMS daily and have stellar health. Young Japanese reject that way of eating and want crappy fast food so the Japanese gov't mandates that iodine be added to chicken feed so that the eggs and meat act as a substitute for kelp, etc. In the late 1800s mainstream doctors called iodine "The Master Nutrient"....and I agree. I've met SO many women who've cured their thyroid issues with iodine after years of doctors failing to with meds, surgery and threats of killing their thyroids with radiation. I'm not a doctor, just a curious man interested in the basis of sound health, hence growing most of my own food, and I encourage people to do their own personal research before beginning iodine supplementation. I will take 13 more of the 130 mg. Life Extension tabs over the next 13 days in case one or more Japanese reactors release radiation plumes. John
I have looked into iodine myself as I have hypothyroidism. Where is a reputable place to purchase iodine pills from? I have managed to find every option out there that promises wonders, but none seem reputable. I am interested in trying it to see if it will get me off my thyroid meds that I have a really hard time taking. The side effects of hot flashes and sweats are not much fun in the dead of summer here in Florida.
Thanks John!!!!
Roz"
For over a hundred years many people have taken Lugol's Solution. Others simply swab the tincture on a 2 inch square on their thigh or forearm weekly to be absorbed as needed. Many take Iodoral tablets....I often take the 12.5 mg ones but usually take 32.5 mg. potassium iodide tablets from Source Naturals. I daily add a few drops of the tincture to my food and my pets' food....the skull and crossbones on that bottle our Moms treated our cuts with got put there about 70 years ago by big pharm bribing congressman as people were too successful self treating many medical problems with it and/or Lugol's Solution. For a wonderful overview of the many benefits of iodine supplementation go to the Linus Pauling Institute website; click on Minerals then Iodine, though I disagree with their agreeing with the Fed's RDA of 120 MICROGRAMS daily as most developed nations have an RDA for iodine 83-100 times higher than that. Coastal Japanese who eat the old way of kelp and seafood daily average 42 MILLIGRAMS daily and have stellar health. Young Japanese reject that way of eating and want crappy fast food so the Japanese gov't mandates that iodine be added to chicken feed so that the eggs and meat act as a substitute for kelp, etc. In the late 1800s mainstream doctors called iodine "The Master Nutrient"....and I agree. I've met SO many women who've cured their thyroid issues with iodine after years of doctors failing to with meds, surgery and threats of killing their thyroids with radiation. I'm not a doctor, just a curious man interested in the basis of sound health, hence growing most of my own food, and I encourage people to do their own personal research before beginning iodine supplementation. I will take 13 more of the 130 mg. Life Extension tabs over the next 13 days in case one or more Japanese reactors release radiation plumes. John
Iodine Followup from a Gardening Forum I Belong to.....
"Be cautious with iodine; many people have bad reactions to such a high dose. In order to protect your thyroid from the radioactivity you must completely saturate the thyroid with iodine. I believe the dose would be a whole bottle of high potency pills. The body only normally needs iodine in parts per billion, so please be very cautious!
Marla"
My intent was to get the word out about an option that protected millions of people in Poland with VERY few negative reactions, so that folks can then look into the matter and decide for themselves. I have researched iodine HEAVILY for a few years now and have seen amazing benefits for pets and people, including full reversal of hypothyroidism, Hashimoto's, diabetes, breast and uterine cysts, heart palpitations and more. Iodine is a CRUCIAL human nutrient...the endocrine system can not function correctly without it. Doctors are very poorly trained in nutrition; for one to tell us we are "allergic" to iodine is equivalent to telling us we are allergic to vitamin C or oxygen. I have friends told this by doctors...... one DEVELOPED hypothyroidism DUE to following the doc's advice to avoid ALL iodine...of course he's made a fortune "treating" her and giving her T3 and T4 tests. Turns out my friends are allergic to SHRIMP, LOBSTER and CRABS due to proteins in them, not the iodine. I've looked into this matter and over and over I see it is compounds associated WITH the iodine that causes the allergy, NOT the iodine itself. Again my hope is that in case a radioactive plume crosses the Pacific, people know how Poland benefited from these tabs that Japan is now giving its people as we sit here in case they choose to protect themselves and their loved ones similarly. John
Marla"
My intent was to get the word out about an option that protected millions of people in Poland with VERY few negative reactions, so that folks can then look into the matter and decide for themselves. I have researched iodine HEAVILY for a few years now and have seen amazing benefits for pets and people, including full reversal of hypothyroidism, Hashimoto's, diabetes, breast and uterine cysts, heart palpitations and more. Iodine is a CRUCIAL human nutrient...the endocrine system can not function correctly without it. Doctors are very poorly trained in nutrition; for one to tell us we are "allergic" to iodine is equivalent to telling us we are allergic to vitamin C or oxygen. I have friends told this by doctors...... one DEVELOPED hypothyroidism DUE to following the doc's advice to avoid ALL iodine...of course he's made a fortune "treating" her and giving her T3 and T4 tests. Turns out my friends are allergic to SHRIMP, LOBSTER and CRABS due to proteins in them, not the iodine. I've looked into this matter and over and over I see it is compounds associated WITH the iodine that causes the allergy, NOT the iodine itself. Again my hope is that in case a radioactive plume crosses the Pacific, people know how Poland benefited from these tabs that Japan is now giving its people as we sit here in case they choose to protect themselves and their loved ones similarly. John
Oral iodine in case of radioactive plume from Japan
Hey folks,
The horror in Japan just might lead to a wind-driven radioactive plume heading east from at least one nuclear reactor, with the U.S. a likely early landfall, then Europe then the Middle East. So I thought I'd share this data I learned of about three years ago.
Poland gave their citizens tabs of 130 mg. iodine RIGHT after the Chernobyl nuclear reactor meltdown...the Soviet Union did not.....Soviet citizens have since seen HUGE increases in thyroid and other cancers, but not the Polish. I and friends some years back stocked up on Life Extension brand of these 130 mg. iodine tablets in case Bush/Israel attacked Iran....I took my first of 14 daily tabs this morning even though I supplement my diet with iodine due to its many health benefits. My Dad told me he saw on the news yesterday morning that the Japanese gov't has begun distributing iodine to folks within a certain distance of the reactor. Better safe than sorry plus most folks are grossly deficient in iodine anyway. Any excess gets peed out....just pee in your gardens so your crops can absorb it so as to not waste this vital nutrient.
The scale of the devastation in Japan is numbing, and my heart goes out to them. Please pass this iodine data on. John
The horror in Japan just might lead to a wind-driven radioactive plume heading east from at least one nuclear reactor, with the U.S. a likely early landfall, then Europe then the Middle East. So I thought I'd share this data I learned of about three years ago.
Poland gave their citizens tabs of 130 mg. iodine RIGHT after the Chernobyl nuclear reactor meltdown...the Soviet Union did not.....Soviet citizens have since seen HUGE increases in thyroid and other cancers, but not the Polish. I and friends some years back stocked up on Life Extension brand of these 130 mg. iodine tablets in case Bush/Israel attacked Iran....I took my first of 14 daily tabs this morning even though I supplement my diet with iodine due to its many health benefits. My Dad told me he saw on the news yesterday morning that the Japanese gov't has begun distributing iodine to folks within a certain distance of the reactor. Better safe than sorry plus most folks are grossly deficient in iodine anyway. Any excess gets peed out....just pee in your gardens so your crops can absorb it so as to not waste this vital nutrient.
The scale of the devastation in Japan is numbing, and my heart goes out to them. Please pass this iodine data on. John
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Super Poop
My south Tampa gym, Joe Abraham's Fitness Center, is right across from a pesticide free stable, Sail Away Farm (813 835 7227) that gives away free horse stall sweepings, of which a LOT has been added to my yard here since 1999. But after today I am also fond of what I have for years called their "Super Poop", scraped right off the concrete grooming platform into big plastic buckets there along with horse hair and hoof trimmings, both pure keratin protein that are very rich, slow release sources of natural nitrogen. Lots of urine too. Over the years I've used it to mainly to brew a potent manure tea in a 55 gallon barrel, but several months ago I alternated layers of it with chipped tree trimming mulch in a 50 gallon plastic drum I scavenged years ago and that has many dozens of holes drilled into the sides. I kept the drum's lid on though at times remembered (not often enough) to remove it before a rain. I've given it a few 5 gallon buckets of kitchen graywater. It has been in full sun all this time beside the henhouse/grape arbor. Today I was DELIGHTED to remove from that barrel a lovely smelling and feeling moist compost teeming with red wrigglers that I used to replace tired old sandy "soil" in a baby pool-based Water Wise Container Garden. I planted some Kentucky Blue bush beans, fairly old seeds.....I am anxious to see the growth of this and subsequent crops over the next year.
Ask your neighborhood stable (you might be surprised to see how many there are!) about their equivalent of "Super Poop" and try one or both of these approaches, plus as a side dress for super hungry plants.
John
Ask your neighborhood stable (you might be surprised to see how many there are!) about their equivalent of "Super Poop" and try one or both of these approaches, plus as a side dress for super hungry plants.
My Class this Sunday
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 13th, 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
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 13th, 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
A Class here this weekend....
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
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
Monday, March 7, 2011
Tell Tampa City Council NO!! to This Ludicrously Punitive $2000 "permit fee" for Community Gardens!!
If you can't attend the hearing call Catherine Jones at 813 274 8131 and ask her to record and pass on to ALL city council members your feelings and wishes on this matter. When I spoke to her this morning (very pleasant woman) I asked her to relate to Council a reminder of the people of Egypt.....folks can be pushed only so far and for so long, and a $2,000 "permit fee" for a neighborhood garden to help build community and feed families wholesome locally grown food during very hard economic times is, to me, SO ludicrous and intrusive a proposal as to make me angry and simply invites healthy civil disobedience on the matter. Since I and many others at past hearings made abundantly clear that there is widespread community opposition to this "permit fee", for it to be proposed again suggests that they WERE NOT LISTENING. Many thanks to Robin for her untiring work to promote community gardening in Tampa and in particular her spearheading the Seminole Heights Community Garden, and for keeping us posted as to the intents of our "public servants". I've been to MANY city council hearings since 2002, and their private parking lot teeming with luxury cars makes me wonder if they can even relate to a blue collar family wanting to join a community garden in order to cut their food bill while trying to make ends meet.....I think that $2,000 is 3-4 monthly lease payments on a Bimmer or Lexus for these folks. John
Hello all!
I wanted to ask a favor of all of you to help in garnering public support for a lower permit fee for community gardens.
City Council will have the 1st of two public hearings on the ordinance itself, this Thursday, March 10th at 5pm and will be voting on a resolution to the ordinance to lower the $2,000 permit fee to $200. We need tons of public support for community gardens and for this lower permit fee.
One of the reasons the ordinance has changed is because a handful of people have said that they want a public hearing process put in place. This made the permit fee jump to $2,000. It also now requires city staff, City Council and the people trying to start a garden to do a lot of, what I believe is overly burdensome work, some of which could require community gardens to spend even more money. I believe we could show a lot more people supporting a simple application process. We should mention what a burden this is on city staff, city council AND the taxpayers because now their money is going towards a relatively unnecessary, excessively burdensome process for all of us.
Community Gardens are for growing community - not to create a negative impact. They have been proven in a host of studies to improve community relations, increase property values and decrease crime rates. Not to mention improve people's health and nutritional intakes. Using these examples and testimonials in your letters and public comments to city council will hopefully foster enough support of the $200 permit fee.
I have attached 2 different files for you to utilize to send out to your friends and other groups that could assist us in proving community support by getting petitions signed and letters sent in. Please contact your neighborhood associations, civic associations and crime watch groups as well. Also use facebook and any other communication network you might be a part of.
Please ask that everyone who will be attending the City Council meeting to wear their garden shirts or something green.
Please have all email letters and written letters in to City Council no later than Wednesday, March 9th. Please send your petitions to me, Robin Milcowitz at 914 E. Hamilton Ave., Tampa, FL 33604 by March 8th.
Thank you all for helping us with this very important campaign. It will not only help shed light on the how burdensome the process has become for Community Gardens but, community gardens themselves. And THAT is always our goal - to reach out to people and grow a little food on the side.
Please let me know if you have any questions. robin@greenerpixels.com
Thank you!
Robin Milcowitz
Seminole Heights Community Gardens
(813) 298-5518
Reduced-Fee-Flyer2.jpg
Fee%20Reduction%20Petition.pdf
Visit Seminole Heights Community Gardens at: http://seminoleheightscg.ning.com/?xg_source=msg_mes_network
Hello all!
I wanted to ask a favor of all of you to help in garnering public support for a lower permit fee for community gardens.
City Council will have the 1st of two public hearings on the ordinance itself, this Thursday, March 10th at 5pm and will be voting on a resolution to the ordinance to lower the $2,000 permit fee to $200. We need tons of public support for community gardens and for this lower permit fee.
One of the reasons the ordinance has changed is because a handful of people have said that they want a public hearing process put in place. This made the permit fee jump to $2,000. It also now requires city staff, City Council and the people trying to start a garden to do a lot of, what I believe is overly burdensome work, some of which could require community gardens to spend even more money. I believe we could show a lot more people supporting a simple application process. We should mention what a burden this is on city staff, city council AND the taxpayers because now their money is going towards a relatively unnecessary, excessively burdensome process for all of us.
Community Gardens are for growing community - not to create a negative impact. They have been proven in a host of studies to improve community relations, increase property values and decrease crime rates. Not to mention improve people's health and nutritional intakes. Using these examples and testimonials in your letters and public comments to city council will hopefully foster enough support of the $200 permit fee.
I have attached 2 different files for you to utilize to send out to your friends and other groups that could assist us in proving community support by getting petitions signed and letters sent in. Please contact your neighborhood associations, civic associations and crime watch groups as well. Also use facebook and any other communication network you might be a part of.
Please ask that everyone who will be attending the City Council meeting to wear their garden shirts or something green.
Please have all email letters and written letters in to City Council no later than Wednesday, March 9th. Please send your petitions to me, Robin Milcowitz at 914 E. Hamilton Ave., Tampa, FL 33604 by March 8th.
Thank you all for helping us with this very important campaign. It will not only help shed light on the how burdensome the process has become for Community Gardens but, community gardens themselves. And THAT is always our goal - to reach out to people and grow a little food on the side.
Please let me know if you have any questions. robin@greenerpixels.com
Thank you!
Robin Milcowitz
Seminole Heights Community Gardens
(813) 298-5518
Reduced-Fee-Flyer2.jpg
Fee%20Reduction%20Petition.pdf
Visit Seminole Heights Community Gardens at: http://seminoleheightscg.ning.com/?xg_source=msg_mes_network
Home Made Arugula Pesto
No luck lately finding my preferred pecans on sale so I will seek out cheap almonds. I'd also like to try raw sunflower kernels...IF I can find them way cheap. Hey...did I mention I am a cheap tightwad? John
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tu1oL9Tomp4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tu1oL9Tomp4
Signs of Impending Heat
Sunday, March 6, 2011
I Get By With a Little Help from My Friends
Many thanks to Al Steenson for dropping off this week TWO batches of bags of oak leaves for my annual spring re-mulching of the chicken path and back yard gardens. Thanks too to Pat Lawhead for today bringing me ALL these giant buckets his neighbor was going to throw out that I will turn into Water Wise Container Gardens for roses and larger crops like Molokhiya and Quail Grass and Okra. John
Evening Tour of my Updated 'Gay Trailer Trash on Acid' Livingroom
My reliance on scavenged and recycled discards on my urban farm extends to the interior of my home which is an ongoing art project that will never be finished until I die. Getting altered in this trippy room while luxuriating in all my favorite music is a prime energizer for my happily active mind...plus it is FUN!
koo koo ka CHOO! John
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4bg8rZcYqk
koo koo ka CHOO! John
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4bg8rZcYqk
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Hot Weather Veggie "Quail Grass"
Here is a great overview of the species and its hybrids that farmer Tom Carroll told me about and brought seeds of the wild form to the Wacky Hat Party. He and his wife love the mild tender green leaves the hotter and muggier it gets; his form "quail grass" gets 8 feet tall! I've sown seeds in a tray and will have seedlings to share in about a month. I've started a packet of a feathery colorful hybrid called 'Pampas Plume' from the seed rack at Lowe's I think... hybrid Celosias are very common in seed displays and super-easy to germinate in a tray since they are in the Amaranth Family (which helps to explain why the seeds are leaves are edible and nutritious). Seedlings transplant easily. I love the idea of harvesting summer greens from such pretty plants that I will grow in large numbers this summer once my nasturtiums crap out. John
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celosia_argentea
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celosia_argentea
Friday, March 4, 2011
Super Cheap Revamp of my Solar Shower Water Heater
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Spring is springing down on the farm
Starting off the day with a Seattle-style drizzle that at times became quite nice showers alone was gratifying, but in the course of running errands I bought at Lowe's some seeds by Ferry Morse of cleome (which I have not grown in years), 'Mammoth' sunflower to grow mainly out front to give joy and wonder to my neighbors and passersby, plus Celosia argentea 'Pampas Plume' for its edible leaves and to compare to the wild form that Tom Carroll gave me seeds of at the Wacky Hat Potluck. My east side Meyer's Lemon is blooming like CRAZY so I gave it a lush feeding of home-brewed fish emulsion and horse manure tea, plus a handful each of feed grade urea, 20-20-20 soluble greenhouse fertilizer a friend gave me, and monocalcium phosphate. I used my trusty "shower head sprinkler" (I bought two today for Dad at Lowe's for $3.79 each) to then push those nutrients down into its hungry thirsty root system with a 20 minute soak. John
My Classes This Weekend
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
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
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 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
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
John
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