"On the show, I mentioned 2 books highlighting methods for closer planting distances to grow more food in a small space:"
Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew: Makes planting easy, especially good for beginners. Fringe benefits include teaching real world math skills to kids.
A Simple system that adapts to all levels of experience, physical ability, and geographical location.
Grow all you want and need in only 20% of the space of a conventional row garden.
Save time, water, work and money!
many languages. In my house, we have native speakers of 2 languages, so this is something we can share. GROW BIOINTENSIVE Sustainable Mini-
Farming approach is low-cost and non-polluting. It maximizes agricultural yields, builds soil fertility, and minimizes inputs of water, energy, and nutrients in organic fertilizer form. Ecology
Action has demonstrated results in helping communities in the U.S. and worldwide to grow plentiful and nutritious food without depleting precious natural resources, and by using sophisticated,
yet low-technology approaches to farming and marketing. Ecology Action’s work is centered at its Common Ground Research and Demonstration Garden/Mini-Farm located in Willits in
northern California. The site was chosen due to its difficult growing conditions, including poor soil quality and hilly terrain, to best demonstrate the effectiveness of the GROW BIOINTENSIVE
approach and its adaptability to diverse climates and cultures. The garden serves as one of the oldest, long-term sustainable agriculture research projects in the world.
"Both are good, square foot system is great for beginners who are not sure how closely to plant. Click on the links above to go to
their websites to order books and get lots of free info as well. Just remember that the rules are different here in South Florida.
Our climate is unique, our "soil" is rock with sand. Don't try to grow rhubarb, walnuts, or other plants which are not suited to our
climate. DO grow annual vegetables, nearly all do well here from October through April. DO grow tropical fruits and perennials.
suited to Zone 10. Visit this page for South Florida specific info. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
About what kinds of soil to use in your garden:
On WLRN, I mentioned using "Organic Compost" as a soil or planting medium in your raised-bed vegetable garden. This is sold in
approximately 40-lb. bags at garden
and home store retailers. (Like the big orange one.) Because we think
it is better for people to start
now than to wait for perfection, we
recommend this easily purchased option, which retails for around
$1.85 per bag. Generally, this
works great and no further amendments
are needed for the growing season. I
called the company that makes the "Organic Compost"
mentioned above,
and asked where it comes from. They said it is composted cow manure from
small to medium-sized farms in Georgia.
Yes, it has a carbon
footprint, but a not-so-big one. It also does not come from 20,000
animal CAFOs in the Midwest,which have more problems than a large carbon footprint. There a many ways of doing things: experiment, adapt, find what works best for you.
Other soil or planting media options:
of page.
although now Extension Agent Adrian Hunsberger also recommend the "organic compost" product we use, rather than what she wrote
in the book.)
NOTE: On occasion, you may get a bag of "organic compost" which is not fully finished, which means that the compost will utilize any
nitrogen in the mix to continue breaking down. This will cause a nitrogen deficiency (yellow older leaves and poor growth) in some plants.
Solution: mix in some slow-release, high nitrogen fertilizer. This comes in organic form as blood meal, cottonseed meal, grass clippings,
alfalfa pellets (bunny food), pelleted chicken manure fertilizer and other products. If you decide to use commercial fertilizer, make sure
it is in "slow release" form, like Osmocote, Dynamite, or others. Never use water-soluble powders like the blue Miracle Gro solution.
This leaches out of the soil immediately, and into the water table. Not good.
A few words about compost: Ideally, you would make your own compost, and we hope you are doing that. We make our own, but we use
it for a soil amendment because we just can't make enough of it! Some municipalities have free compost, like the City of Miami, and if it
is available (check first, they do run out), and you can get a truck to go get it, and have shovels to put it in your vehicle,
by all means use it. (Art puts a tarp down in the back of a RAV 4 and shovels it in.)
