Organic Methods For Vegetable Gardening In Florida

How to grow delicious produce in your own backyard In this guide, expert botanist Ginny Stibolt and Master Gardener Melissa Markham provide simple and accessible advice for successful vegetable gardening in Florida, where soil types vary and cool-weather crops are grown right through the mild winters. They offer advice on what to do with over-abundant harvests, strategies for developing a community garden, and suggestions for opportunities beyond the home garden. They also address integrated pest management, appropriate raised bed types, irrigation, seed saving, just-in-time harvesting, and food safety. This second edition is updated with the latest scientific knowledge and growing techniques; new crops for growers to try; more detail in the growing calendars separated by north, central, and south Florida regions; and color photos and illustrations throughout the text. Readers will appreciate this reliable resource that will help them and their families become more resilient by controlling some of their food from seed to table.

A starter guide to cultivating plants that flourish in Florida Ideal for gardeners new to Florida and residents who want to try their hands at gardening for the first time, this starter guide helps readers learn to grow plants in the state’s unique natural environment. Botanist and lifelong gardener Ginny Stibolt shares helpful stories, advice, and tips from her own experience moving to Florida, where she discovered that the rules she had followed did not apply. Stibolt tells readers what they can do to avoid the beginner mistakes she made and dispels common misconceptions about which plants to grow and how to grow them in Florida. Introducing Florida’s water features, natural areas, and native plant communities, Stibolt shows what a “Real Florida” landscape looks like and explains how working with this knowledge makes gardening easier and more successful. She explores useful topics including gardening for birds and butterflies, growing food, composting, and stormwater management. Stibolt also points to resources for digging deeper into these and related subjects based on the reader’s needs and location within the state. Full of friendly, reliable, and commonsense expertise, Adventures of a Transplanted Gardener sets aspiring growers on the fast track to cultivating plants that flourish in Florida. This book is the perfect resource for anyone interested in the challenges, rewards, and beauty of gardening in the Sunshine State.

If you want to grow healthy vegetables at home, but have hesitated because it seems too hard and time consuming, Organic Gardening for Everyone is your perfect hands-on guide—an “if I can do it, you can do it” case study that addresses your concerns and gets you started. Loaded with practical advice and step-by-step guidance, Organic Gardening for Everyone takes a very personal and friendly approach to a subject that can be intimidating. It is a first-class primer on organic vegetable gardening, and an inspirational story about how anyone can balance the rigors of gardening with the demands of a modern, family-oriented lifestyle. In 2012, a California mom decided to start an organic vegetable garden. But she went about it in an unusual way: she crowdsourced it by launching a YouTube channel under the name "CaliKim" and asking for help. And then she started planting. As questions came up, she turned to her viewers and subscribers and they replied with answers and advice. As she learned, her garden grew successfully—even in the hot, harsh California climate. Her expertise also grew, and now she answers many more questions than she asks and has become a very accomplished home gardener. And CaliKim has a great story to tell: growing healthy organic vegetables for your family is not difficult, even for today’s time-challenged lifestyles. She provides complete step-by-step information on growing the most popular edibles organically, and also gives sound advice on how to take on the challenges of balancing a hectic lifestyle with successful growing—and how to involve the whole family in the process. You'll be rewarded for your effort every time you place a plate of natural, organic vegetables on the family dinner table knowing exactly what they are, what is in them, and where they came from.

Organic gardening is the wave of the future that takes a page from the past. It involves going back to our roots and gardening the way our grandparents and great-grandparents did. It means reclaiming our agricultural heritage from the big companies and bringing it back to basics. The key to succeeding at organic gardening right from the start is taking the time to plan out how the different pieces of your garden system will work together to produce optimal results. Each garden is only as strong as the weakest part of its system. This means that taking the time to test and amend the soil matters as much as picking the right plants or using only organically-safe pesticides and herbicides. This guide provides all the information you need to get on board with organic gardening practices and plan the organic vegetable garden you have been dreaming about. It provides a concise look at the essential elements of organic gardening, walks you through the process of planning your own organic vegetable garden, and encourages you to embrace organic-friendly concepts like companion planting and the need for beneficial insects. You will learn: • Why compost is important and how it helps organic gardens, plus how to make your own with the proper ratios • How to select the best plants for your family and your garden space • How to use companion planting, and why you really want to • Why you need to attract beneficial insects and how to do it • Why crop rotation is important and how to set your garden up on a 4 year plan to ensure optimal productivity • How to make your own organic-safe herbicide and pesticide, no more spending a ton of money at the garden shop for this one • How to plan out your garden to meet your needs, and the needs of the plants By the end of the book you will have a solid understanding of what organic gardening is, why people do it, and how gardeners use specific techniques and methods to get stellar results without synthetic chemicals. You will know how to compost your kitchen and yard scraps, figure out which plants suit your climate, and know how to group plants together by the benefits they provide to each other.

A comprehensive book on organic gardening covering everything from soil preparation, selecting fruit varieties to pruning and propagating.

The Low-Tech, No-Grow-Lights Approach to Abundant Harvest Year-Round Indoor Salad Gardening offers good news: with nothing more than a cupboard and a windowsill, you can grow all the fresh salad greens you need for the winter months (or throughout the entire year) with no lights, no pumps, and no greenhouse. Longtime gardener Peter Burke was tired of the growing season ending with the first frost, but due to his busy work schedule and family life, didn't have the time or interest in high-input grow lights or greenhouses. Most techniques for growing what are commonly referred to as "microgreens" left him feeling overwhelmed and uninterested. There had to be a simpler way to grow greens for his family indoors. After some research and diligent experimenting, Burke discovered he was right--there was a way! And it was even easier than he ever could have hoped, and the greens more nutrient packed. He didn't even need a south-facing window, and he already had most of the needed supplies just sitting in his pantry. The result: healthy, homegrown salad greens at a fraction of the cost of buying them at the market. The secret: start them in the dark. Growing "Soil Sprouts"--Burke's own descriptive term for sprouted seeds grown in soil as opposed to in jars--employs a method that encourages a long stem without expansive roots, and provides delicious salad greens in just seven to ten days, way earlier than any other method, with much less work. Indeed, of all the ways to grow immature greens, this is the easiest and most productive technique. Forget about grow lights and heat lamps! This book is a revolutionary and inviting guide for both first-time and experienced gardeners in rural or urban environments. All you need is a windowsill or two. In fact, Burke has grown up to six pounds of greens per day using just the windowsills in his kitchen! Year-Round Indoor Salad Gardening offers detailed step-by-step instructions to mastering this method (hint: it's impossible not to succeed, it's so easy!), tools and accessories to have on hand, seeds and greens varieties, soil and compost, trays and planters, shelving, harvest and storage, recipes, scaling up to serve local markets, and much more.

Have you ever wanted to try your hand at gardening? If so, then this is the book for you. Sometimes, when you don't have a lot of space, it makes it difficult to find out how you can use your space wisely and the most efficiently. Fortunately, this book is going to help you find out how you can discover all the ways that you can garden in a small amount space. This method is called vertical gardening, and you won't be able to believe just how useful it can be.Growing your own vegetables and edibles like herbs is one of the most rewarding things you can do. It will save you a lot of money in the long run, and be well worth the time and effort. Not only is gardening useful, but it can be fun and therapeutic as well.