John Starnes' Urban Farm

'San Ho Giant' Mustard

2012-02-10T18:42:00.000-08:00

I am liking this new-to-me crop more and more.....crunchy wide rib stems and mild leaves if eaten raw, lovely in a stir fry. They are thriving in a large black plastic commercial tree pot turned into a Restricted Drainage Container Garden by drawing a used plastic shopping bag halfway through each and every drainage hole, then filling it with home made soil. I am almost certain I got the seeds from a company I've liked for years:

www.evergreenseeds.com

'San Ho Giant' reminds me both of a heading Chinese Cabbage and Wong Bok.....a wonderful cold hardy brassica for central Florida gardens from fall through spring.

Looks Like Rain Is Coming.....

2012-02-10T06:51:00.000-08:00

So off to sow seeds, feed roses and citrus and papayas, spread horse stall sweepings and weed.

Old Seeds

2012-02-10T00:24:00.000-08:00

Quite the long shot but today I sowed into four inch pots seeds of varying calabaza pumpkins dating back as far as 2005. Only one was purchased seeds; the rest are seeds from very desirable calabazas that evolved in my gardens from apparent cross-pollinations of kabocha and Seminole Pumpkin. One envelope of seeds was from a round calabaza that Dad and I spotted roadside some years back on one of our road trips to the Keys. My intent is to grow calabazas this summer in the large, formerly messy west bed where the new bee hive is and that I am turning slowly into a sunny food forest boasting citrus, Pig Chaya, cassava, Filipino White Sweet Potato, and many papayas. Once it is made chicken-free with the last of that 4 foot tall galvanized goat fencing a wonderful blog reader gave me a new roll of (thanks again!) I will grow various Vigna "beans" on it for food and additional privacy for my outdoor 1 gallon solar rainwater showers.

In a few days, after they dry a bit more, I will sow seeds of a striped long necked calabaza from Bolivia that I bought at Publix. In an effort to again have calabaza as a staple in my diet I this year will relent a bit on my obsessive water conservation and weekly give the area a deep watering with my hose and sprinkler.

A Well Produced Video of The Recent March to MacDill AFB...

2012-02-09T14:09:00.000-08:00

that I and about 70 other folks took part in.....a shame that hundreds or even thousands did not join us with a new contrived war close at hand.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1EpfUiFcDk

2012-02-08T06:51:00.001-08:00

My class this Saturday: Home Made Probiotic Fermented Foods 11 AM until 1 PM, $20 asked per student. We will cover: kombucha, kefir, dairy kefir grains, kimchee, natto, cheese, bortago and tempeh. 3212 West Paxton Avenue Tampa FL 33611 813 839 0881

My February Classes

2012-02-07T14:31:00.000-08:00

My classes this month, all $20 per student, 11 AM until 1 PM, 3212 West Paxton Avenue Tampa FL 33611

Feb. 11 Home Made Probiotic Fermented Foods
Feb. 12 Frugal Ethnic Cuisine
Feb. 18 Urban Farmsteading 101
Feb. 19 Back Yard Chickens and Ducks 101
Feb. 25 Hot Weather Crops for Summer Bounty
Feb. 26 Creative Re-Purposing of Scavenged Objects to Help Your Budget

For questions and answers call me at 813 839 0881

2012-02-07T09:28:00.000-08:00

My newest batch of cheese, this time made with unsalted curds of dairy kefir grains, has matured quickly and has a hearty savory taste that reminds me of a blend of bleu cheese and limburger. Delicious!!

Spring is springing here!

2012-02-06T16:45:00.000-08:00

So many signs of life in south Tampa..... green shoots emerging from amaryllis bulbs, those first few tentative buds on citrus trees, azalea and gardenia bushes escalating their show daily, neighborhood red buds and tabebuias in bloom, with my roses boasting ever more buds and blooms and vibrant new foliar growth.. Today as Patricia and Dave and I chatted in my back yard, the first flock of robins zoomed overhead. The increasing day lengths have prodded the chickens into laying more eggs....within six weeks each bird might be laying daily. I am planting food and flower crops daily. I hope you enjoy these pics from previous years.

I love living in south Tampa despite our perennial rain shadow!

A Nice Sunday.....

2012-02-05T15:24:00.000-08:00

With the help of a strapping 24 year old guy I got all the bags of leaves out front moved first to the east side of the house, then dumped over the goat fence into the newly revamped, now-chicken-proof east bed out back that sees tons of veggies thriving in Restricted Drainage Container Gardens made from various scavenged plastic containers. That bed looks SO good with those leaves all spread out in a 4 inch thick mulch! For some badly needed color in my back yard I last week sowed seeds of Sulphur Cosmos all along the inside of the new goat fencing. As soon as my Scarlet Runner Bean seeds arrive I will plant many in that same stretch of soil to draw hummers with the bright red flowers followed by the tender pods. Today I ordered from England via E-Bay two packets of a cultivar called 'Butler' that bears TEN INCH long STRINGLESS pods for just $3.23 including shipping. All that remains to do in that bed is finish cutting down and chopping up branches from the Brazillian Pepper tree hanging over from an abandoned home that foreclosed two years ago. In the midst of that mini-Hugelkultur mound I will plant a Filipino White Sweet Potato as an attractive ground cover this summer whose leaves are delicious and nutritious raw or cooked.IOnce the tuber is planted that whole area will also get a nice thick leaf mulching. By August that whole area of my backyard will look tidier and more colorful than it ever has while being MUCH more productive. Thanks again to my wonderfully generous blog reader who gave me that NEW 50 foot roll of sturdy, galvanized goat fencing that made this project possible! AT LAST...chickens can't get in there and wreak havoc!

The young guy and I also moved into the front yard the last of the logs that are left over from creating the new beds out front.....some will go into my firewood bins, the rest will go into the HUGE swamp garden (used to be my apple snail pond) for a Hugelkultur-based preserve for my guava and jaboticaba trees hanging onto dear life after all this time in pots in NON-swampy soil.

I just set out on the stone shelf to the left of my red office door two dozen fresh TRULY free range chicken eggs, $3 a dozen, and one half dozen Muscovy duck eggs laid in the last 24 hours, also $3. All should be fertile and fully hatchable in an incubator due to all the chicken and duck fucking I witness daily! On the nearby Honor System Plant Sales Tables are a number of edible plants in gallon pots, all labelled and priced, $3-$4 each. Just slip your cash through the white dryer vent below the Thank You sign on my red office door. In a couple of weeks I will have some exciting new plants for sale!

I have six live Muscovy Ducks for sale, male and female, about 9 months old, ready for the table or to start a flock with, $20 each. They do not quack...the males make a low hiss, and the females a gentle cooing sound, so neighbors are not disturbed by an urban flock.

Humidity and warmth is up....the next five days we stand so-so chances for rain....fingers and toes crossed.

Land Of The Free My Ass!

2012-02-04T06:50:00.000-08:00

Add to these shocking raids that the U.S. has THE highest incarceration rate of any country and a huge percentage of the world's prison population. Odd that the FDA rubber stamps ALL of Monsanto's dangerous creations while conducting these raids on natural products.

http://www.naturalnews.com/033280_FDA_raids_timeline.html

The FDA Is A Rubber Stamp For Monsanto!

2012-02-04T06:27:00.001-08:00

http://www.localssupportinglocals.ca/news/neotame-new-neurotoxic-sweetener-fda-says-no-label-needed-not-even-organics

Down on the farm today....

2012-02-03T13:54:00.000-08:00

Many dozens of Allium fistulosum seedlings now grow happily in a Water Wise Container Garden made from a 6 foot diameter kiddy pool that Tim scavenged and gave to me, and a couple dozen more are growing in an old Restricted Drainage Container made from a scavenged plastic mini-shed lying on its back. Moments ago I got from my neighbor Theresa's yard a BIG pile of pine needles I will use as I refresh and replant the back porch kitchen garden. A short time ago I planted 80 yellow onion sets DEEPLY in a rectangular Water Wise Container Garden I made from a discarded plastic planter box.....most I will pull up to eat as scallions but I will leave several to see if they mature into bulb onions.

Thanks to a mixed bouquet and a saucer of sugar water I've filled four times today, a LOT of honeybees are visiting the newly moved and rebuilt Top Bar Hive by my west fence. Since quite a few keep going into the hive that has empty comb drizzled with honey attached to the top bars, I am cautiously hopeful that they are scout bees looking for a new home for a soon-to-be swarm and will move in. Their golden color, docile demeanor and flight path straight to a nearby beekeeper with 122 hives has me hoping that they are Italian Domestics. The suspense is delicious!

Bee Bait

2012-02-03T12:29:00.001-08:00

By adding some yellow Brassica flowers to the bouquet on the newly rebuilt Top Bar Hive I was able to QUICKLY lure bees to the saucer filled with sugar syrup. I've had to refill it twice today. I am pleased to see quite a few bees enter the hive......I am hopeful that at least one is a scout bee trying to locate a new home for a swarm!

Yes!

2012-02-02T19:40:00.000-08:00

http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2012/01/31/3415550.htm

2012-02-02T09:08:00.001-08:00

http://www.nextworldtv.com/videos/growing-food/turning-backyards-into-gardens.html

Top Bar Bee Hive

2012-01-29T12:18:00.000-08:00

I just dismantled its old support tower, then moved and redesigned then re-assembled it, and now making sugar syrup to pour onto the same red saucer in the pics that in the past lured bees here. A seashell and bit of concrete in the syrup act as feeding station "islands" for when the rim gets crowded. Seeing pics from when it was an active hive (I'd wanted one since I knew a beekeeper when I was ten in Michigan) has me determined to revive it this spring.

Nothing Like a Home Grown Home Cooked Meal

2012-01-29T08:25:00.000-08:00

All that was purchased was coconut and roasted sesame oil for frying, salt, the bleu cheese dressing, and the sugar and tea bags to brew the kombucha with. A very satisfying meal indeed of African Yellow Yam, free range eggs, garden salad, "face blaster" mustard that resembles wasabi when raw, edible mustard flower and tart chilled kombucha. I wonder what this feast would cost in an organic restaurant?

Give Pee A Chance!

2012-01-28T18:50:00.001-08:00

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/all-he-is-saying-is-give-pee-a-chance-20120128-1qne5.html

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