Summer

Summer is in full swing here in St Pete, FL.  They nights are hot and the days are hotter.  We've only had one or two days of rain in the past 5 months.  The garden is definitely taking a hit.  I can't seem to water enough to keep the soil moist.  The plants shrivel up and die.  I got 3 or 4 bean pods off of my black eyed pea plants before they gave up and died.  Harvests are few and far between, with the few foods I am getting not worth weighing or taking pictures of.  (Really, who wants to see a picture of a TINY strawberry and one cherry tomato?!?!)  This is the time of year I get really discouraged and throw in the towel.  I've decided that instead of focusing on what I can and can't grow right now I am going to primarily focus on improving my soil.

There is always compost to improve soil...and with my compost tumbler I'm hoping to pump out barrel after barrel of rich compost.  I'm also looking into trench composting, biochar, hugelkultur, and vermicomposting.  Even if I had all of these practices in place I imagine it would be a long process to get the garden beds amended enough to provide that beautiful hummus I desire.  Still, ya gotta start somewhere, right?

I hesitate to buy compost because I have been told by the master gardeners in Pinellas County that in order for compost to be effective it must be alive, and bagged compost is dead.  Besides, I'd prefer to make my own compost to know exactly what goes into it.  I'm also looking forward to switching from "affordable" seeds (aka: CHEAP & CRAPPY) to good quality, non-gmo heirloom seeds.  I have all my heirlooms on hand already and can't wait to switch when planting starts up again!

I really want to get moving on creating a community food forest in the front yard!  I've got 1660 sq feet of plantable land out front (that doesn't even include the 5' utility area by the street) and just don't know where to start!  Of course I realize I need to start building my soil out front also, but that's harder said than done.  I've planted a Moringa tree out front and can't decide if I want to pull out the oak tree before it gets big to make space for an edible tree.  (There's a family down the street from me that sells Mango trees and I think I'd like to swap the oak for a mango.)  Ideally I would be able to get the community involved in creating this space because I have no idea how I'd get it done all by myself.   Then I have to think of a name for the community garden.  I'm not great at coming up with happy, clever names for things.  If anyone in St Pete is interested in helping create, establish and maintain a community food forest please let me know!  I'm grateful for any help I can get!