Taro Farm

Taro is a swamp crop that used to grow in my gardens back when we had so many hurricanes and I had a WET  yard...back then I had 21 colonies of 16 kinds of bananas too! But years of drought have me now gardening mostly in varying versions of my Water Wise Container Gardens. I was delighted to get before the garbage man this VERY substantial tub.....I was on my bicycle and getting it home was quite a struggle. But no way was I NOT getting it! I have no idea what it actually is, but it had one small hole in one corner on the bottom, which I filled with silicone glue and duct tape. Since taro wants truly soggy soil I will drill the drainage holes about 8 inches from the bottom vs. the usual 3. To protect the plastic from sunlight to make it last for many years I will bury it, likely in the newly revamped east bed. To introduce an element of hugelkultur to it I will put in 1-2 sections of log before adding layers of rich soil from the chicken path and wood mulch. I will buy the  taro tubers from south Tampa's wonderful DoBond market...hopefully they will have my favorite variety...'Lila'.

Free is good!


 I so miss making Thai taro leaf soup and look forward to it this summer.