John Starnes' Urban Farm

My Universe Wish List

2012-01-28T17:35:00.000-08:00

I'd love to swap seeds and plants or class for these items you may no longer want or have surplus of:

1. Rolls of unused poultry, goat or hog wire
2. A bunch of used big cottage cheese and yogurt tubs for me to freeze food in.
3. Potent 420
4. Bags of dry cat or dog food your pets refuse for me to use as poultry food.
5. Bags of oak leaves
6. Gallon jugs of just-expired milk for me to make cheese with.
7. Did I mention potent 420? lol!
8. A "nuc" of Italian Domestic honeybees
9. A division of dwarf yellow canna
10.An own root Nagami kumquat and/or Dancy Tangerine tree.

Thanks! John

Down On The Farm.....

2012-01-28T17:21:00.000-08:00

With the revamp of the now chicken proof back east bed nearly done I yesterday began the revamp of the horribly messy west bed. The damaged plastic pots are all out, and the good pots now gathered together behind shrubs at the north end of that bed for later sorting. I have now planted a passion fruit vine in a buried 5 gallon Water Wise Container Garden by the fence, and today planted a Pig Chaya and a Mystery citrus seedling just to see what fruit it makes a few years from now. I've pulled up most of the carpet I laid down in there to kill the sod of Bahia grass and weeds and am using the pieces beneath the hammock and clothesline to choke out weeds the chickens won't eat, and to lift now and then to let them feast on hiding bugs. Next I move and redesign and rebuild the Top Bar hive that has been empty a few years now...since I've had bad luck with bees purchased from two unscrupulous bee men, I will try to lure a swarm with daily trays of sugar water. Then I will bury a 55 gallon Water Wise Container Garden and plant in it the Dwarf Cavendish banana that Jon and Debbie Butts gave me. Once this is all done I will feed the soil, scatter many seeds of Dwarf Essex Kale, deep water then lightly mulch the entire area to provide greens for me and the poultry. To protect all this I will erect what remains of that roll of goat wire my wonderful blog reader gave me recently, then plant at its base seeds of Scarlet Runner Beans for vibrant color and fresh tender pods. Life is good!

2012-01-26T11:43:00.000-08:00

This beautiful bird flew into my home office and got trapped there, freaked out by my windows and mini-blinds AND my chasing it. I finally caught it (STRONG little thing!) and released it apparently unharmed.

Long Shot For Tampa But What The Heck!

2012-01-26T11:33:00.001-08:00

I got the seeds from the last meeting of the Tampa Rare Fruit Council....since upper 20s can happen in Tampa some winters it will be risky here but I will try in pots at first as I am intrigued.

http://www.backyardnature.net/mexnat/cow-okra.htm

Monsanto Knows NO Limits.....

2012-01-25T20:01:00.001-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axU9ngbTxKw&feature=share

I better feed the rest of my citrus and papayas and some roses tomorrow!

2012-01-25T18:30:00.001-08:00

http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?CityName=Tampa&state=FL&site=TBW&lat=27.959&lon=-82.4821

Spring is here....

2012-01-25T17:42:00.000-08:00

When I rode my bike today to the gym at Joe Abraham's Fitness Center at Ballast Point Park, the red buds were JUST starting to bloom. And the color of Tampa Bay is shifting away from its dark winter tones. I think we hit 82....and due to an approaching cold front, Friday looks to be offering a good chance for rain.

Good News Bad News

2012-01-24T09:06:00.000-08:00

The good is that the 'San Ho Giant' mustard and daikon radishes in large, restricted drainage tree pots are healing quickly since I rendered the area chicken proof, plus emerging seedlings in other container gardens are safe. The bad news is that some chickens once again got into an east bed due north and two Black Sex Links drowned in a 4 foot deep pond made from a buried fiberglass barrel, just as 2 did last year in a similar pond in the same bed I'd since kept covered with plastic mesh. Wasted eggs and wasted meat. Here they have a HUGE area to run including a massive west bed with weeds and bugs yet they INSIST on very persistently getting into two east beds that are NOT easy to get into!

Spring Fever!

2012-01-24T07:07:00.000-08:00

The east bed revamp, which will likely include a hugelkultur zone at the south end to help process trash tree saplings I am cutting down in the back yard, is largely done, getting mulched with oak leaves, with crops actively growing in restricted drainage container gardens now that the chickens can no longer get in. Today I take the new pound of curds from dairy kefir grains that hung and dripped overnight and place a 5 lb. gym weight for a 24 hour pressing before aging a few months in the fridge. Past cheeses were dry due to a 2-3 press with more weight.....I want this cheese to have a texture more like Brie. Today I plant a few dozen more seedlings of Allium fistulosum in the 6 foot diameter kiddy pool that Tim gave me in my quest for onion self sufficiency since it is a perennial that divides and self sows...in essence a giant perennial scallion. Chickens are now daily getting into the SOUTH bed and have ruined papaya seedlings and the general tidiness I had finally established, so today I will consider two methods for keeping them out so they will forage in the west bed I WANT them to frequent!

The folks at Black Kow a few years back paid me to write them an article for a pamphlet they distribute across the southeast U.S. and might be commissioning two more! Their sales rep Steve sent me a box with two new all organic fertilizers whose ingredients impress me for me to test......two 5 lb. bags of 'Dynamite Plant Food' and 'Dynamite Mater Magic'....I am impressed by the ingredients of both and will be sharing them with a couple gardening friends to evaluate in their gardens. They might be commissioning two more articles from me, one about roses and one about tomatoes since I wrote often about both in my St. Pete Times column for eight years.

Sure sign of spring yesterday.....I saw my first azalea blooms of the year while riding my bike to the gym. Any time now my Meyer's Lemons should begin flowering and an early species amaryllis emerging would not surprise me. Thank heavens I escaped Denver in November 2002 as spring there is still a VERY long way away. So much to do this time of year....good thing I like to be busy. I've begun a weight loss and fitness regimen which will surely boost my energy levels as I get back into shape and get the gardens into shape.

Oh how I love spring fever!

The 1%

2012-01-22T16:43:00.000-08:00

Waste Not Want Not

2012-01-22T15:46:00.000-08:00

Trading fresh herbs and veggies and edible flowers with the newly opened Wimauma Restaurant on south MacDill Avenue in Tampa is working out great for both of us....Gary the chef gets FRESH arugula and nasturtium leaves and blooms, thornless opuntia cactus pads (nopales) and other great things from my gardens to use in his creations, and I get 2-4 buckets daily of kitchen scraps to feed my flocks of chickens and ducks with. And the surplus goes into my three vermiculture barrels. A true win-win situation!

Today's Class at 11 AM until 1 PM: Dumpster Diving 101

2012-01-21T05:34:00.000-08:00

$10 class fee, we meet behind the south side of Britton Plaza facing Lowe's....look for my white 1998 Dodge Caravan. Here are shots from when the crew of Animal Planet's 'Most Extreme' series and I shot a segment about dumpster diving at that location in 2003 or 2004. We had a blast. Check out the cute swarthy director jokingly practicing diving into the dumpster....he's in the middle of my space couch....a real hottie. The sound man on the left of my couch a few weeks later won on Oscar for his work in 'Lord of The Rings'. We will visit this very same wold famous dumpster today! See you then!

2012-01-19T14:05:00.000-08:00

I would love to swap plants/seeds/eggs for a panel or two of white PVC latticework to make a privacy screen. Am also seeking a "nuc" of Italian Domestic honeybees to restock my Top Bar hive. Thanks in advance! John

No Fluoride!

2012-01-18T12:22:00.001-08:00

PLUS it displaces vital iodine in our bodies!

http://naturalsociety.com/breaking-fluoride-linked-to-1-cause-of-death-in-new-research/

Fingers Crossed I Get SOAKED after Sowing So Many Seeds!

2012-01-18T10:03:00.003-08:00

http://www.baynews9.com/weather/klystron9

Fingers Crossed I Get SOAKED after Sowing So Many Seeds!

2012-01-18T10:03:00.001-08:00

http://www.baynews9.com/weather/klystron9

A Natural High

2012-01-17T12:05:00.001-08:00

No wonder we love to garden!

http://permaculture.com.au/online/articles/why-gardening-makes-you-happy-and-cures-depression

I Don't Have Any BIG South Windows But May Try To Build One Of These!

2012-01-17T09:54:00.000-08:00

http://www.greenoptimistic.com/2008/12/03/air-maze-room-heater/

Occupy Your Yard!

2012-01-17T08:09:00.001-08:00

http://northeastcobb.patch.com/articles/letter-to-the-editor-zoning-ordinances-should-not-ban-the-right-to-grow

Home Made Cheeses

2012-01-16T07:41:00.000-08:00

I've now tasted two batches of cheese I made using curds made from dairy kefir grains strained overnight in a clean pillowcase then pressed for two days before aging in the fridge a few months. One I salted the curds before pressing...its taste and texture remind me of a smooth textured feta. The other was not salted and I tasted it yesterday before wrapping it deeply in clean fabric that will let it breathe while aging further...it is a few weeks old and the taste reminded me of Brie with a touch of Limburger. Both are yummy already despite being young cheeses. I am fermenting a new batch this week, will likely salt it lightly and maybe inoculate it with a bit of Limburger. I am skipping the usual 130 heating of the fermented milk as I want to preserve all the beneficial critters. I once again will try to barter for expired milk from stores to make the cheeses virtually free.

My Friend Ryan Is A Dynamo Of Social Activism and Innovation

2012-01-15T19:09:00.001-08:00

http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/economicdevelopment/the-locavore-lifestyle-grows-in-tampa/1210453

Down On The Farm.....

2012-01-14T17:13:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I scored two 5 gallon buckets of scraps from the new Wimauma restaurant several blocks north of Gandy on the west side of MacDill Avenue, and half of a 7 gallon bucket from Artifacts a couple blocks south of Gandy on the east side of MacDill Avenue. So my ducks and chickens were well fed yesterday and today. In turn I give both chefs cool fresh herbs and veggies to help them fashion unique meals based on their needs. Win win for all.

I am enjoying vigorous growth of a new-to-me Chinese brassica, a mustard called 'San Ho Giant' in a large, restricted-drainage tree pot, with a mild sweet crisp center rib to each mild, tender leaf. Unfortunately, today some chickens got over the fence and nibbled all around the edges of it and a nearby, similarly grown pot of Daikon radish. I will thin the San Ho Giant and sell them in 1 gallons cheaply so that that remaining ones stands a better chance of making a "Chinese Cabbage" head.

Delayed freeze damage showing up more and more on yams. But, oddly, so far the Jamaican Cherry and Katuk and Chaya seem barely effected. Of course the Cassava plants are defoliating although the stems seem intact. The Paper Mulberry runners from my neighbor's yard that I've fighting for a decade are defoliating, a reminder to me to cut them down and put a few pounds of animal feed grade urea to the stumps to kill then digest them. I TRIED to see this FAST growing tree as a source of biomass but I still want to eradicate it. And I will.

A few days ago I dug up a few BIG chunks of a HUGE yam growing just outside my bedroom (in summer the vines consume a re-bar structure to shade an outdoor room that cool the air that the box fan in my bedroom window draws in all night...in winter the vines die, signalling harvest). I'd thought it was an African Yellow Yam (Dioscorea cayenensis) but once I saw the white flesh I realized it was a Caribbean White Yam (Dioscorea rotunda). I gave the top half to my friend Mary Jo to eat the lower portion of and plant the top) and cut off two big "steaks" from the large, crispy, slimy tuber and cut off the skins quickly. Into the wok went some coconut oil, roasted sesame oil, and African palm oil (SUPER rich in beta-carotenes so adds a lovely yellow color to foods).

I fried the two yam slabs, slowly, and covered, to trap the steam heat to insure deep cooking as the outsides browned slowly. Next I added sea salt and garlic powder and red peppers, then flipped them to brown again. I spaced out taking them to Roosevelt 2.0 to share with friends...bummer! So they instead helped to feed me the next day. The texture is like a very good baked Idado potato but denser and, to me, more satisfying. That okra-like slime when raw is very nutritious, but slow deep cooking transforms it into a savory delight that one friend says is like an excellent French Fry. No wonder the true yams (Dioscorea species) have been staples in the tropics and sub-tropics for many centuries.

38 tonight so the $5 mattress warmer is on for a delicious entry into bed later after I "alter" and enjoy music and videos and Facebook a while to celebrate my extreme good fortune.

Happy Gardening.

Wonderful Ways To Recycle Pallets

2012-01-14T16:06:00.000-08:00

I turned off the irritating music then enjoyed the parade of creations.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFGaW2FdKB4&feature=context&context=G2056b59RVAAAAAAAAAA

This Man Is So Inspiring!

2012-01-13T05:32:00.001-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97dD69BzCCg

Make A Pond!

2012-01-11T12:17:00.001-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Clvg0hedu_E

2012-01-11T09:38:00.001-08:00

My January Classes, all from 11 until 1 PM, each $20 except $10 for Dumpster Diving 101 (that class held at the dumpsters behind Britton Plaza facing Lowe's) 3212 West Paxton Avenue Tampa FL 33611

Dumpster Diving 101- January 7 and 21
Water Wise Container Gardening- January 8
Fermented Foods 202- January 14
Ethnic Cooking With Your Homegrown Foods- January 15
Urban Farm Steading- January 22
Basics of Organic Cold Hardy Veggie Growing- January 29

San Ho Giant

2012-01-11T07:36:00.000-08:00

I am very pleased with the vigor and flavor of this Brassica I am growing for the first time. It is thriving in a scavenged,large, drainage-restricted tree planter.Plus I love Evergreen Seeds.

http://www.evergreenseeds.com/muschinsangi.html

A good reason for me to pot seedlings and feed plants and other chores today

2012-01-10T05:54:00.001-08:00

I hope we get SOAKED!

http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?CityName=Tampa&state=FL&site=TBW&lat=27.959&lon=-82.4821

A great human interest feature about a woman and Spanish Moss....

2012-01-09T16:23:00.001-08:00

http://www.tampabay.com/features/humaninterest/article968162.ece

I love this! I hope they compost their coffee grounds too!

2012-01-09T07:41:00.001-08:00

http://inhabitat.com/starbucks-opens-new-reclamation-drive-thru-made-from-recycled-shipping-containers/

Food Is Power...Power To The People....Grow A Garden!

2012-01-08T17:41:00.000-08:00

http://healthimpactnews.com/2011/food-sovereignty-law-passed-in-small-maine-town-to-allow-sale-of-locally-produced-food-without-interference-of-regulators/

Iodine Supplementation

2012-01-08T15:56:00.001-08:00

My friend Pat sent me this encouraging link.

http://www.plantlab.sssup.it/iodine-in-plants

Waste Not Want Not!

2012-01-08T09:18:00.001-08:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/27/dining/thats-not-trash-thats-dinner.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all

This Is Appalling!

2012-01-07T10:49:00.001-08:00

http://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=129823687134718&id=1176977364

2012-01-06T06:23:00.001-08:00

A special thanks to my delightful farm blog reader who today came all the way from St. Pete to give me: SEVEN lovely near-mature Black Sex Link hens, 2 chicken waterers, a BIG bag each of chicken food and oyster shell grit AND a brand new 50 foot long roll of heavy gauge, galvanized 4 foot tall goat fencing! She had to get rid of her girls due to a pesky neighbor and so made this very generous donation to my urban farm! Thank you kind woman! Pics soon.

2012-01-05T11:25:00.001-08:00

Pig Butchery

2012-01-04T14:44:00.001-08:00

http://vimeo.com/32367993

2012-01-04T12:03:00.001-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHkuuHjP_c8&context=C38f3e09ADOEgsToPDskILbFOp3qmxmg6f7WmrFsNc

A Superb Piece By My Friend Ryan

2012-01-04T09:39:00.000-08:00

He is a true dynamo of positive energy social activism. At his age I was SO conflicted and riddled with self doubt and still somewhat inclined towards depression.....I am both proud and envious of him.

http://www.facebook.com/notes/ryan-iacovacci/some-thoughts-on-occupying-things/10151095847920401

I've Thought About Trying This For Some Time Now.....

2012-01-04T08:16:00.001-08:00

http://www.takepart.com/article/2011/12/28/true-story-roadkill-cook

Sweet Victory Over Anal Bureaucrats

2012-01-04T08:10:00.001-08:00

http://www.takepart.com/article/2011/12/28/famous-forager-enjoys-victory

Freeze Tonight

2012-01-03T14:35:00.000-08:00

It did not take long to bring indoors my most cold sensitive potted plants, or to cover my neighbor's nasturtium and tropicals beds. Next I drag in a 5 foot tall guava in a 10 gallon pot when I close the hen house. I will almost feel guilty for putting the 2 roosters in their sound-insulated sleeping boxes in the shed vs. snuggling with their warm hens. This freeze should nuke mosquitoes and kill annual weeds but I suspect that there will be lot of damage to many favored crops and ornamentals.

Even Colder!

2012-01-03T05:40:00.000-08:00

The forecast for tonight has worsened...and this is MY zip code with the bay on three sides of me! I think folks north and east of me will get hammered. BUSY day ahead of me. Weather like this makes me wish I had a boyfriend! Instead I will fire up my wonderful $5 mattress warmer an hour before I hit the sack. I will be curious to see if tonight is calm or breezy like now. I so hope my many bed sheets can save my huge beds of flowering nasturtiums! I am taking great lengths to protect my huge, fruit laden papaya out front, and my beloved super-tropical Jamaican Cherry out back that I took 7 years to get. Stay warm all!

http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?CityName=Tampa&state=FL&site=TBW&lat=27.959&lon=-82.4821

Freeze Coming.....Phukkin BBRRRR!

2012-01-02T15:36:00.000-08:00

Am DEEP mulching my beloved Jamaican Cherry (Mutingia calabura) I sought for 7 years that THRIVED this year in the evolving south end food forest in a buried 7 gallon Water Wise Container Garden as the few others I knew of in the bay area froze fatally the last 2 winters. It is VERY tropical and VERY difficult to propagate so today I piled about 8 inches of garden soil around the trunk. Tomorrow I will add 2 feet of mulch, then DEEP water, then before I hit the sack will fill a metal can that Mary Jo dropped off today with charcoal briquettes and light them and set the can beneath the crown.

I've been taking selenium intermittently since my early 30s.....

2012-01-02T12:32:00.001-08:00

I think I will take it more routinely.

http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/selenium

A Powerful Ayurvedic Herb I Will Grow in 2012

2012-01-02T11:46:00.000-08:00

I have 100 seeds coming for about $7 after shipping, will be selling plants as a cash crop, giving some to friends, and growing it for my use in boggy Water Wise Container Gardens. A special thanks to Andy Firk for sharing about this potent herb on Facebook. It needs humid heat so I will likely sow some seeds in late April to test.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eclipta_alba

28 degree freeze coming tomorrow night!

2012-01-02T08:44:00.000-08:00

I will bring in potted tropicals and tomatoes and peppers, cover the nasturtium beds with sheets, do a DEEP watering of the beds to add latent heat to the soil, deep mulch my katuk and Jamaican Cherry shrubs, and I will place a concrete block on its side beneath
my giant bearing papaya, fill the holes with free dumpster dived charcoal briquettes and
light them an hour before going to bed.

Fracking News

2012-01-01T15:45:00.000-08:00

http://ecowatch.org/2012/breaking-ohio-govenor-halts-four-more-fracking-wastewater-injection-wells-after-yesterdays-quake/

So much to be thankful for.....

2012-01-01T11:30:00.001-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXDMoiEkyuQ&feature=youtu.be

Ceviche Recipe

2011-12-31T14:43:00.000-08:00

My gardening and fishing friend Pat catches big fish out in the Gulf and he and his buddies are not fond of amberjack so recently gave me three BIG ones. He offered more today but I declined as the freezers are full (!!!). But I just now looked up this recipe as I DO have room in my fridge....I should have said "YES!". This sounds yummy though I will likely substitute Myer's Lemon juice for the grapefruit juice. Happy New Year!

http://www.2coolfishing.com/ttmbforum/showthread.php?t=77056

Class Today

2011-12-31T06:16:00.001-08:00

Today's class: Probiotic Gardening 101: Creating and sustaining cheaply a complex hence stable community of macro and micro organisms in the vegetable or roses garden to control or prevent disease and pest problems. $20 per student, 11 AM until 1 PM. There is a good handout but bring a notepad and pen as this is an information-dense class. 3212 West Paxton Avenue Tampa FL 33611

Rain approaching from the Gulf

2011-12-27T08:02:00.000-08:00

I hope it is a soaker for both my garden plants and containerized ones, plus it could set me up for new sowings of winter brassicas not currently growing. The south end rain barrel is empty so the dinghy boat cover is back on top, held in place with a heavy brick, to act as a funnel....I've been spoiled by having water way back by the south fence. The dinghy itself is my moveable duck pond, and both were scavenged road side a few years back. The barrels come from my friend Tim and his beverage business. Free is good!

This is such a cool practice!

2011-12-26T13:40:00.000-08:00

Since the late 1980s I've been tossing rhizomes of native aquatic irises into retention ponds in Tampa and in the rivers in the Rockies west of Denver, so I applaud BIG time this innovative form of guerilla gardening! Wonderfully innovative yet frugal.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103129515

Love Wasabi As I Do?

2011-12-26T12:56:00.000-08:00

Grow these cool season "Face Blaster" mustards in fall through spring in central Florida, spring and summer in colder climates. Cooked they are mild and tender, but shove a whole raw leaf into your mouth and chew and say goodbye to your sinuses! Great for head colds. In Denver the neighborhood kids would ring my doorbell each summer to ask for leaves of "face blaster" so they could play chicken...see who could eat the biggest piece and NOT blow it out of their little red faces!

http://sustainableseedco.com/Green-Wave-Mustard-Seed.html

http://www.evergreenseeds.com/musjapredgia.html

Cool! Guerilla Grafters!

2011-12-25T00:50:00.001-08:00

http://www.grist.org/list/2011-12-23-guerilla-grafters-make-ornamental-plants-bear-fruit

2011-12-24T15:04:00.000-08:00

Today I had six eager-to-learn students attend my class on 'Water Wise Container Gardening' during which we addressed key basics of successful organic gardening in central Florida. They liked it so much they applauded at the end! Thanks for coming folks. John

The Shift

2011-12-24T14:54:00.001-08:00

http://www.theshiftmovie.com/

Down on the farm....

2011-12-24T05:59:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I began pressing my second pound of raw cheese made from dairy kefir grains though I salted the curds of this batch before pouring them into the corner of a pillowcase now topped by a gym weight. In the front yard I finally reached the west fence bed LONG consumed by weeds and two MUCH too aggressive flowering vines, Ipomoea acuminata and Pandorea vine. Both are beautiful but put kudzu to shame.....I regret having planted them! But it is a delight to have my two rambling roses there, 'Leontine Gervais' and 'Seagull', largely uncovered as I paint the concrete edgings a fresh bright white. Two days ago I gave that long narrow bed a DEEP watering, its first in easily two years, so I expect to see both roses leap happily into vigorous growth. Next I put more roses into 5 and 7 gallon buckets turned into Water Wise Container Gardens....Mary Jo gave me an electric drill so that will speed up progress vs. borrowing my neighbor's drill now and then. Then each gets buried. I am pretty sure I am going to bury the 'Hansa' bucket on the south side of 'Marechal Niel' for contrast.

My friend :Pat gave me some sand perches he caught plus the carcasses of the large fish he filleted.....this morning I offered them to the Muscovy ducks since they are such omnivores....if they refuse them they go into one of the two new 55 gallon compost barrels now almost full.

It looks like I have 6 students attending today's class on 'Water Wise Container Gardening' so I need to spruce up the back porch after Cracker dug a hole next to the path and scattered dirt EVERYWHERE!

Slight overcast so I expect my solar shower today might be a bit chilly! So that soon-to-be hot turkey barley soup will be appreciated. After class I must pot up many seedlings include Purple Lemon Mint, allium fistulosum and "Filipino Mexican Tree Pepper", then I'll start seed trays of two types of primrose (Oenethera) I grew in Denver to see if they can adapt to here. I especially hope the Showy Primrose grows.

Pickings at the restaurant have been slim the last few days and the poultry flocks are hungry...here's hoping that I come home today with a full bucket of scraps AND that I get a big haul at the pizza buffet as I've fed them nearly all of the too-strong-to-eat arugula that self sowed in the heat!

2011-12-23T17:37:00.001-08:00

http://www.thenation.com/article/165240/thank-you-anarchists

An inspiring thoughtful guy....and a cutie

2011-12-23T16:04:00.001-08:00

http://vimeo.com/29339022

New Batch Of Cheese From Milk Kefir Grains

2011-12-22T11:45:00.001-08:00

As with the first, I am skipping the usual heating to 130 degrees in salted water as I wish to preserve the beneficial microbes, but I AM working in a few spoons of fine sea salt before pressing a day or so. John

Down on the farm today....

2011-12-20T15:49:00.000-08:00

Late yesterday I drained the last of the old duck water from the dinghy boat onto my Persian lime, then moved it into the main center bed where most of the Muscovy ducks live. I filled it with the hose and today BOY did I have some happy ducks, especially the females! I shot a video and plan on posting it soon. Just as I'd read before getting Muscovies, they are very inclined to foul their own water, drinking OR swimming. So I placed the dinghy close to where I can bail the nutrient-laden water onto a new Moringa tree and a Dwarf Cavendish banana from Jon and Debbie Butts I will be planting in a buried 55 gallon Water Wise Container Garden.

After weeks of eggs being laid randomly within the large pen the other ducks are confined in (they won't let me catch them to move them into the semi-free range area), one female has at last made an egg-filled nest of her breast feathers inside the large plastic igloo-style dog house I scavenged years ago and built the duck pen around. I have a high ratio of male ducks and since they are starting to clash AND might kill the ducklings when they hatch in a month I really need to "man up" and do my first of several needed male duck slaughters to roast and freeze. I suspect that they will very likely attack the ducklings.

Today out front I began pulling perennial morning glory (Ipomoea acuminata) from the west bed.....which means I am closing in on the finish line of reclaiming my yard from years of drought, and being CONSUMED by the giant rose 'Mermaid'. Once THOSE concrete edgings are exposed, guess who is painting them white?! I was delighted to see that the Wichuraiana Rambler 'Leontine Gervais' had in fact survived that two year hell and was today sending out a nice basal shoot. I am giving that whole west bed a DEEP watering, its first in easily two years, then a deep feeding of home made fish emulsion and chicken poop tea. I love the color and form of 'Leontine Gervais' but for some reason it affects my roses allergy very quickly and potently, usually minutes after I foolishly take a hit of its delightful perfume.

Oddly, despite the date, I am getting 3-4 eggs daily from 9 hens vs. the usual winter shut down. Today when I got the kitchen scraps from Artifacts Restaurant a few blocks from here, their bartender Kristen told me she LOVED the eggs I gave her, her first ever fresh, free range eggs. She was amazed by the differences.

Anyone who knows me will confirm that my genes lack the "tidy chromosome" that most gay men seem to have...invariably I'd rather create than clean. And it shows! Pretty scary I gather. So....I am taking the advice of folks who've suggested that I barter my classes/eggs/plants for house cleaning with folks who actually enjoy house cleaning. I tend to live in my mind and the projects I joyfully nurture there, so trading my skills with people who take tidiness for granted seems like a cool solution. I can only imagine what a 2 hour cleaning of my gnarly kitchen traded for one of my two hour classes would result in!

If you like wasabi with your sushi, and live in central or south Florida, now is a great time to sow the seeds of what my friends and I call "face blaster" mustards. Eaten raw, they duplicate that food masochism bliss of wasabi when it feels like your sinuses and nose will just fucking explode...then it shuts off with no lingering heat as with hot peppers. 'Green Wave', 'Osaka Purple' and 'Giant Red' are ones I love. Interestingly they lose ALL heat when cooked and become mild in stir fry or soups.

John

I've done this on a very small scale for years but in pits...did not know it had a name.

2011-12-20T11:18:00.001-08:00

http://www.richsoil.com/hugelkultur/

Urban Foraging

2011-12-20T06:37:00.001-08:00

Wonderfully ripe sea grapes at Picnic Island Beach.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Li7-8Fn7nR4&list=UUF2ipf7C4MXZdkOild9DOcA&index=1&feature=plcp

Chicken Grit and Beach Fun

2011-12-20T05:53:00.001-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKqcOpwVMOU&feature=bf_prev&list=UUF2ipf7C4MXZdkOild9DOcA&lf=plcp

Native Crops Video

2011-12-18T05:36:00.001-08:00

Cool to learn of new ones!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlNtuxBkR4M&feature=youtu.be

2011-12-17T16:19:00.000-08:00

This incredibly trippy, nicely dance-able, evocative remix by someone somewhere blows my mind.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooUco-yFeOI&feature=related

Occupy Your Heart! Occupy Your Garden!

2011-12-17T15:12:00.000-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=QXISGHLT0Og#!

My Classes This Weekend

2011-12-16T10:26:00.001-08:00

Classes this weekend here: Urban Farmsteading 101 Saturday and Basics of Successful Organic Veggies and Herbs Gardening on Sunday, $20 per person, 11 AM until 1 PM, 2 packs of unusual free seeds, handouts for each but DO bring a notebook and pen. 3212 West Paxton Avenue Tampa FL 33611 813 839 0881 with questions or to RSVP.

Dairy Kefir Grains

2011-12-15T11:26:00.000-08:00

I am using my first ever batch to make cheese vs. drink after doing a 3 day ferment that gave me VERY firm curds. I've saved starter to share with friends...thanks Pat for my starter! I am psyched by the flavor and texture and ESPECIALLY the incredible number of beneficial microbes vs. the 12 in my usual bacterial starter! Special thanks to Dianne for turning me on to the concept. Phukinay! John

http://www.culturesforhealth.com/milk-kefir-grains-composition-bacteria-yeast

I've Been Peeing On My Soil For Twenty Years To Feed It AND Save VAST Amounts Of Water

2011-12-14T13:34:00.000-08:00

Why flush?

http://www.theecologist.org/green_green_living/gardening/605742/urine_the_ultimate_organic_fertiliser.html

Free Nesting Material For My Chickens and Ducks

2011-12-14T13:13:00.000-08:00

Here is a fraction of the "wood wool" I dumpster dived a few weeks ago from shipping crates next to a dumpster. The birds love it and quickly made nests of it....far easier for them to work with the long pine needles I usually give them. Free is good!

A gorgeous hawk in my neighbor's yard

2011-12-14T09:07:00.000-08:00

It's been years since I lost a hen to a hawk due to my rebars with blue bottles blocking their dive paths.

Occupy Flash Mob!

2011-12-14T07:58:00.001-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXISGHLT0Og

Macro Photos of Plants

2011-12-14T07:34:00.000-08:00

Camellia

Grapefruit

Mermaid rose

Beauty Berry

Wood Violet Louisiana Iris

2011-12-14T07:13:00.001-08:00

"The master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his information and his recreation, his love and his religion. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence at whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him he is always doing both." -- James Michener

Fluoride IS Dangerous To Our Health

2011-12-14T05:52:00.000-08:00

I supplement with iodine to in part displace fluoride in my tissues, filter my drinking water, shower with rainwater and will now seek out fluoride-free toothpastes or make my own.

http://www.naturalnews.com/034399_fluoride_brain_damage_water_supply.html

Pickled Fish Recipe

2011-12-14T01:58:00.000-08:00

I've smoked mullets, and boiled/salted/dried many hundreds of greenbacks, so would like to try this recipe the next time I get a good haul of cast netted mullets. I suspect it would also make nice pickled eggs, which I have not made in quite a while.

http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0%2c1617%2c153174-227196%2c00.html

Papalo Seeds For Sale

2011-12-14T01:17:00.000-08:00

Thrives in summer and considered a hot weather substitute for cilantro though the flavor can be said to have a touch of arugula and oregano. VERY easy from seeds year round in Tampa though grows best in spring and summer. A summer crop in colder climates. One pinch of fluff is approx. 50 seeds: $2 plus a self addressed stamped envelope mailed to: John Starnes 3212 West Paxton Avenue Tampa FL 33611 Thanks!

http://www.fireflyforest.com/flowers/3167/porophyllum-ruderale-yerba-porosa/

This is so inspiring!

2011-12-14T00:14:00.001-08:00

http://wakeup-world.com/2011/12/14/a-deliciously-resourceful-town-aims-for-total-food-self-sufficiency-within-7-years/

Avatar trailer

2011-12-13T16:02:00.000-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRdxXPV9GNQ

Universe Wish List

2011-12-13T12:44:00.000-08:00

To aid in the evolution and maintenance of my urban farm in south Tampa, I'd love to trade plants, eggs, art or my gardening classes for these items:

1. Rhode Island Red chicks
2. A washing machine
3. A new back wood back door measuring 27.5 X 74 inches or slightly larger to allow for trimming
4. Some potent 420
5. A clump of dwarf yellow canna rhizomes
6. Bulk frozen mullet roe
7. Raw local cow milk
8. A sparkly sequin gown to use to make a throw pillow for my Space Couch
9. Some potent 420.......
10.Glass blocks
11.A lot of red clay house bricks to finish up my driveway
12. Local raw honey

Thank you! John

Mega-Arugula

2011-12-13T10:50:00.000-08:00

Oddly, late this spring a LOT of fallen arugula seeds from the winter crop germinated in a front rose bed and is STILL growing very vigorously. BUT...even though I have a bitter palate and love arugula, this crop is SO in-your-face I can eat only small nibbles before going into bitter-overload. So I am going to begin pulling it to feed to the chickens and ducks so I can train the roses in there it has been competing with. I have not grown lettuce in years so might grow 'Paris Cos' romaine plus winter annual flowers in that bed. John

Simply UNbelievable!

2011-12-13T09:17:00.001-08:00

Occupy Your Yard!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3keUTEwev-o&feature=share

Stop "Stealing" That Rainwater!!!

2011-12-10T23:03:00.001-08:00

http://www.naturalnews.com/029286_rainwater_collection_water.html

Rocket Stove Update

2011-12-10T15:43:00.001-08:00

http://www.chilakootbowhunters.org/rocketstove5.htm

Bless This Man! On Faux News no less!

2011-12-10T14:31:00.001-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4yDCUJJm_U&feature=share

Rocket Stove Update

2011-12-08T08:33:00.000-08:00

I fired it up a third time today to heat up some turkey soup on this chilly. It was very smoky at first but then I learned that freeze-killed Bolivian Sunflower (Tithonia diversifolia) stalks from last winter were great tinder and fuel as they helped to ignite wood scraps. I have two OLD pallets out front hidden behind a giant rose...I will move them to the red brick fire pit patio out back and break them up to make LOTS of fuel for future uses of the Rocket Stove. Shower water now heating in the solar dish.... I love my urban farm! Attached is a video of the second run of the stove, and a pic of my solar heating dish making 4 gallons of CHEAP home made laundry soap. Today the top two bricks lay on their sides, and atop them was a steel rack from a small roasting pan to better support the soup pot. John

http://www.youtube.com/user/johnstarnes?feature=mhee#p/u/7/7PYQp74cUP8

'Sunn Hemp' cover crop

2011-12-07T14:12:00.000-08:00

Except for my Old Roses, I am usually a food crops man. But I am enamored with the lovely FRAGRANT blooms of this selected form of Crotalaria lutea (?) grown as a soil nitrifier and nematode suppressant. I have just a few plants but anticipate a lot of seeds so I can grow it in masses next year both to improve my soil and for the beauty. A stunning 8 footer out front was snapped in half by winds about 10 days ago. The sweet perfume stuns people! The blooms last for days in a bouquet. John

Farmers Occupy Wall Street!

2011-12-07T06:11:00.001-08:00

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1h10HQ/www.grist.org/food/2011-12-06-farmers-come-to-wall-street

Congrats!

2011-12-07T06:10:00.001-08:00

http://suncoastpasco.tbo.com/content/2011/dec/07/PWNEWSO1-backyard-farms/news/

"Blue Pea Vine" Seeds For Sale

2011-12-06T08:30:00.000-08:00

Clitoria terneata ("Blue Pea Vine") is a perennial vine that thrives in summer in Florida. In colder climates it will be a heat-loving summer annual that can be overwintered in a COZY greenhouse. It looks lovely on a mailbox and the blooms, along with yellow and orange nasturtium flowers, are tasty in salads. Three pods (about 6 seeds each) are $3 plus a Self Addressed Stamped Envelope sent to: John Starnes 3212 West Paxton Avenue Tampa FL 33611 About 10% of the seedlings will be the double flowered form.

2011-12-02T05:50:00.001-08:00

Due to a family emergency I am cancelling my planned classes this weekend. John

Jesus

2011-12-01T17:26:00.000-08:00

My guess is that were he here now he'd be part of OWS, with Fox "News" talking heads making sneering, dismissal, condescending comments about "this Jesus guy". I don't embrace the Christian model of reality due to its long history of large scale violence, and because Hubble has revealed this is a BIG fucking Universe, and I am hardly qualified to claim to know how it works. But if somehow one brand or another of Christianity IS how the Universe works, I suspect that a vast number of self-described Christians, including George Bush, Newt Gingrich, Rush Limbaugh, Michelle Bachman, Sarah Palin and Cain just might be in for a rude awakening after death and meet their "God" since they seem to warmly embrace the Pharisees instead of Jesus.

More Monsters By Monsanto

2011-11-30T15:02:00.001-08:00

http://wakeup-world.com/2011/08/28/super-beetle-destroying-entire-monsanto-gm-bt-corn-crops/

Great Presentation On Window Gardening!

2011-11-30T06:58:00.001-08:00

http://www.ted.com/talks/britta_riley_a_garden_in_my_apartment.html#.TtY144lr-tQ.facebook

2011-11-30T01:45:00.000-08:00

BURT THE BIRD

One morning in early May, 1992, a fierce thunderstorm whipped through my northeast Denver neighborhood as I landscaped a home beside the foothills several miles to the west. That afternoon I returned to see that my yard, the streets, the whole neighborhood, was rain-soaked and littered with wind blown twigs and green leaves torn from trees. Two grackles paced nervously side by side on my roof, squawking hysterically. Moments later I found two dead baby birds (mauled by a cat, likely mine) on the ground below my cedar tree where a week before a friend had pointed out a nestful of cheeping hatchlings near the pinnacle.

But from directly below where the parent birds made such a fuss, in a flower garden, came the frantic “cheeps” of a survivor. There, huddled between red poppies and purple iris, was a soaked, shivering, sorry-looking baby grackle. I took him inside, and quickly rigged up an incubator using a clear plastic bulk food bin from a grocery store dumpster, a soft towel, and a 40 watt bulb in a reading lamp. Soon his feathers were dry and fluffy and he no longer shivered, nestled in the towel and basking in the warmth. I named him “Burt, the Bird”.

Since re-arriving in Denver two weeks before, I had been barely functioning, on automatic pilot, nearly paralyzed by shock and grief over the violent suicide of my old friend Renee’ Ashley, which occurred as I migrated back from Tampa and learned of less than an hour after unlocking my dormant house. But Burt was simply too hungry too often for me to slip further into numbing grief as I struggled to devise a diet for him. I’d always heard that feeding orphaned birds a food slurry with an eyedropper can get it into their tiny lungs, leading to fatal pneumonia.

So I soaked little pellets of dry dog food in a weak solution of warm water and liquid baby vitamins until they softened and swelled. When I offered them to this tiny but incredibly loud baby bird he sucked them up like a black hole, making a hilarious gurgling sound as he continued to scream through a throat full of wet nuggets! Each feeding he’d wolf down seven or eight of them till his neck filled up, and wash them down with an eyedropper full of baby vitamin water, then quickly fall asleep in the warm glow of the bulb or in my hands. An hour later his screams for more food would echo through the house once again, and I’d obey. Umpteen times a day Burt screamed and I fed him. It became a Pavlovian response for me, even when dead asleep. I had instantly fallen in love with this infant eating machine. And Sergeant, “The World’s Best Dog”, didn’t seem jealous, only curious.

Burt grew like something in a 50’s sci-fi movie, and soon his fuzzy baby feathers fell out as wave after wave of flight feathers emerged from his translucent grayish-pink skin. All this growth and change was fueled by vast amounts of watermelon, slugs, raw corn-on-the-cob, peeled grapes, cereal, oatmeal (cooked or dry), raw beans, citrus, bananas, cherries, cottage cheese, and his favorite.....some of Sergeant’s ‘Prime Cuts’ canned dog food. Like me, he was a voracious garbage gut!

Burt had bonded to me on day one, always wanting to be with me, perched on my head (and pooping indiscriminately) as I typed, washed dishes or worked in my gardens. We were buddies. If he was elsewhere in the yard or house and I called out his name, he would invariably answer me with a loud singular chirp. One heartbreaking day though, as he sat drying on a tall squash trellis after a dip in the bird bath, he fell about four feet as I gardened beside him and landed skull first on the corner of a pane of glass at the back of the henhouse. Already filled with horror and sadness over Renee’s death, I saw him bounce sickeningly to the ground, legs painfully stiffening, eyes closed then he lay motionless. I felt guilty for putting him up there too wet too glide, certain he was dead.

But he was still breathing! So I put him on the hay on the floor of his little sunning cage atop the hen house, begging him not to die, my eyes filling up, a big lump in my throat, pretty well maxxed-out with negative life events. I stayed with him, softly calling out his name, watching his breathing. Soon he sat up, head waggling dizzily and unable to stand without falling over. But within the hour he was almost back to normal and screaming for food. Whew!

All that summer most mornings began with taking Burt, perched on my index finger, out to my neighbor’s expansive lawn (vs. my token 10 foot oval of it) for daily flying lessons as I sipped my coffee. I’d launch him with a gentle swing of my hand, but he just controlled his descent. As he got better I’d give him a softball-style underhand toss, and he’d “fly” maybe fifteen or twenty feet. By midsummer Burt was still a poor flyer as dozens of young grackles flew over the house daily. His now nearly adult feathers were a gorgeous shiny gray-black with an iridescent overlay of indigo and violet but the tips of his wing and tail feathers had frayed a little due to rubbing against the bars of his bird cage made vital by my and other cats who’d approach him hungrily. I wondered if he would ever be able to leave home to be with other grackles, even though I’d nearly weaned him from hand feeding by showing him how to catch pill bugs, earthworms, crickets and slugs, and by offering him assorted dry grains and seeds.

Tragedy struck Burt once again one morning during a flying lesson, when he landed on the heat-retaining compost berm on the north side of my house where he spotted and gobbled down a wild mushroom. The next morning the inside of his mouth was a sickly gray, his saliva was gummy, his golden eyes very dilated and his movements slow and jerky. So I gave him fresh water continuously from the eyedropper he had outgrown a few weeks prior to flush him out. He would not eat and seemed very spaced out. Was he tripping? If so it was clearly a bad trip. The next morning he was okay but bonded to me even more, downright affectionate, like a tame parrot. I asked him to recall this lesson about mushrooms when he was off in the wilds as a free bird someday.

A few weeks later, during a practice flight, he proudly surprised me by leaping off my finger and flying straight across my yard and the next two neighbors’ yards in a long, strong but very low flight. But panic filled me as he crossed Ruth’s yard when one of her cats leapt off the front porch and nabbed him in mid-flight with its front paws, pulling him screaming to the ground. Like an hysterical parent I shot forward bellowing my lungs out at the damned feline who was so freaked by the sight of a deranged and angry maniac bolting his way that he released Burt before biting him and fled into the bushes. Walking back to my yard with my heart thumping and Burt perched on my index finger, I noticed the cat saliva on his wings, relieved that this poor cursed bird had once again cheated fate.

October came, the leaves changed to gold and rust, silvery frost coating my gardens each morning and still Burt the Bird barely flew, never again having repeated his Wright Brotheresque performance. I wondered if he’d be migrating to Florida soon but in my truck with Sergeant and Lovely (the World’s Fattest Cat) and my chickens. Suddenly though he was decidedly untame, pecking at my offered finger instead of jumping onto it as usual. One sunny autumn morning, as thousands of grackles oddly swarmed into the tall trees in my neighborhood, their voices filling the air, I coaxed Burt onto my finger and took him out of his big back yard sleeping cage (big to reduce the fraying of his feather tips) for yet one more disappointing practice flight, knowing that winter was closing in. Suddenly he shot up at a forty five degree angle and landed in the dead fifteen foot tall pollarded elm beside my raspberry patch. Convinced it was a fluke he had for the first time ever gained altitude, I climbed up to rescue him once more. With my outstretched hand just inches from him, Burt burst away in a beautiful arcing upward flight to the big apple tree half a block away!

Back on the ground I was filled with conflicting emotions.....pride, joy, relief, uncertainty and a touch of sadness that this might at last be the goodbye I’d hoped for and worked towards all summer. I never wanted Burt to be a pet, just a mature and healthy wild grackle. Parental concern drew me to the apple tree filled with grackles feasting on the red ripe fruits, and I spotted him due to his frayed feather tips right where he’d landed. I called out his name, and as usual he answered back. Without warning there was an explosion of grackles from that tree and towards a distant elm. Grinning and misty-eyed, I spotted one grackle flying lower and slower than the rest of the flock, but damn, he was keeping up!

Back home I read that grackles migrate south each winter too in large gregarious flocks, ending my fears of his freezing to death in Denver, hungry and alone. And all that winter in Florida, whenever grackles flew over making that oh-so-familiar call, I’d check first (usually) to see if anyone was looking then call out “Burt!”, entertaining the fantasy that one would break away from the flock and descend to land in front of me, screaming for ‘Prime Cuts’ and slugs.

I still occasionally wonder where he is, if he is, thankful for the chance to have first saved him then grown to know him. And while I don’t believe in an anthropomorphic God running a cosmic show, I still can’t help but to see Burt as a gift of light and life at a time I was nearly completely filled with pain and darkness. While I will always miss Renee’, Burt’s golden shining eyes reminded me all that sad summer following her death of Life and Love and Innocence.

If that is not a priceless gift, what is?

Free Hose Guards

2011-11-30T01:09:00.000-08:00

My wonderful long time neighbors Jerry and Heather foreclosed on their home, and periodically leave by the curb piles of stuff for scroungers and the garbage man. They recently tossed out these curtain rods, which I scarfed up and stuck into the soil at the corners of a few gardens to act as attractive, effective, FREE hose guards as my front yard evolves toward tidiness and extremely low water use despite many organically grown roses steadily being planted.

Where there was once a GIANT 'Mermaid' rose and a sea of Bidens and Ipomoea acuminata.....

2011-11-30T01:04:00.000-08:00

The revamp of my front yard based on own root roses growing in buried 5-7 gallon Water Wise Container Gardens interplanted with various perennials, papayas, annuals and Louisiana Iris in buried 4 gallon Water Wise Container Gardens is progressing nicely!

My wonderful dog Cracker this morning

2011-11-29T09:11:00.000-08:00

When I got him last February he was skin and bones, TERRIFIED of car rides and my stepping outside even for a second, already having been dumped by three female households....he is now ALMOST over his issue with women. He is incredibly affectionate, giving me easily 300 kisses daily! He likes to CHASE the chickens briefly but never hurts them, and while he was initially very jealous of the cats, meanly so at times, he now accepts them after my yelling at him after a few brutal actions on his part to my 14 year old Angel. He is great with Dad's dogs too and behaves well in hospitals when we visit him. He FINALLY got a permanent home he can trust, and I got ME after a wonderful dog 9 months after Sweety died at 14. John