Freedom Gardening

Farmers Sue USDA Over Monsanto

2011-03-27T08:28:00.002-04:00

And Monsanto is in the news once again...

Other countries protect their people against GM crops

2011-03-23T13:34:00.000-04:00

Other countries across Europe are acting to protect their people and environments against GM crops, but sadly not the US.

Monsanto in the news

2011-02-26T08:29:00.000-05:00

Jeez, I've been coming across a ton of stories regarding Monsanto lately.

Today I read this article about Monsanto Alfalfa being USDA approved just weeks after a senior soil scientist alerted them to a pathogen found in the soil of Round Up Ready corn and soy that they think could be linked to infertility in livestock and disease in crops.

"For the past 40 years, I have been a scientist in the professional and military agencies that evaluate and prepare for natural and manmade biological threats, including germ warfare and disease outbreaks," Huber wrote in his January 16 letter to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack. "Based on this experience, I believe the threat we are facing from this pathogen is unique and of a high risk status. In layman's terms, it should be treated as an emergency."

Read the article here.

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This article is from 2008, but I have read similar things in 2010, so the issue continues.

So Shankara became one of an estimated 125,000 farmers to take their own life as a result of the ruthless drive to use India as a testing ground for genetically modified crops.

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And this article addresses "Why Monsanto Always Wins".

Back in 2003, USDA officials were concerned about "deficiencies" in Monsanto's original petition to deregulate the GE alfalfa seeds, so they drafted a letter with about 90 questions for Monsanto. In several emails, officials working with the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) asked Monsanto officials to comment and "suggest improvements" on at least three drafts of the "deficiency letter." Monsanto was happy to redraft the letter point by point.

and

The increased reliance on glyphosate-based herbicides like Roundup has caused weeds to develop their own tolerance to the chemical. Herbicide-resistant weeds, sometimes called "superweeds," now infest millions of acres of cropland. Farmers now combat the weeds with cocktails of herbicides like 2,4 D - an ingredient in Agent Orange - that are know to be more toxic than glyphosate. In all, farmers have used at least 318 million more pounds of herbicides and pesticides in the past 13 years as a result of planting GE crop seeds like Roundup Ready corn and soy.

Check it out!

Monsanto may be connected to birth defects

2010-11-12T08:10:00.000-05:00

And yet another article on the dirty deeds of Monsanto. This one outlines a possible connection between Monsanto crops and birth defects in chickens. I know I've been seeing more stories coming out of other countries regarding chicks born with extra sets of legs and such. There may be a connection to Monsanto.

GMO crops have escaped into the wild...

2010-08-12T21:19:00.004-04:00

I've griped about Monsanto for years, their seed-patenting, toxic Round-Up products, and GMO crops. Now genetically engineered canola is popping up in the wild, and may become an uncontrollable weed, since they are herbicide resistant. Read the story here.

Down with Monsanto

2010-07-27T21:47:00.004-04:00

I've written in the past about Monsanto, their unethical and heavy-handed business practices, and the negative impact they are having on agriculture. I found another article today regarding them, this time on the Survivalist Seeds website. I tracked it down to an article written by P.J. Huffstutter of the LA Times. Read it here, and be aware.

Tomato Blight Plight?

2010-05-25T20:41:00.004-04:00

I have something going on with my Roma tomatoes. It begins on green, developing fruit. First the blossom will hold on rather than fall off...

I have to pull the blossoms off. After pulling this one off, this is what the blossom end looks like...

Is that Blossom End Rot? I'm confused, because there are several things that are very similar. Blight, Blossom End Rot, Buckeye Rot. And they mostly seem to be caused by soil splashing up and contaminating the fruit, but my fruit is high up and should be free of soil.

Today I plucked my first ripe tomato...

...and you can see how the blossom end rotted away.

This is going on with ALL of the fruit coming in.

What's the deal? And is this some fungus that is going to affect my grape tomatoes starting to blossom nearby? Do I just need to destroy all of this fruit, and the new fruit coming in will be fine? Maybe the first tomato was affected by blight or something, and it has spread it to the other fruit? So maybe if I destroy all those affected and start fresh, the new fruit will be okay.

My Green Thumb Grows!

2010-05-21T19:36:00.011-04:00

The garden is coming along. I haven't killed everything...yet. The tomato plants are getting big! They grow day-by-day, and every morning I am amazed at how much bigger they are than the day before.

This little tomato is a little odd!

There are lots of tomaters just waiting to taunt my imagination with future meals!

And this little guy is even showing me a little color...

The mangoes continue to develop...

Today I found this on my eggplant...

Looks like an assassin bug of some sort, and is very reminiscent of this monster that Woodrow picked up the other day when we were at my aunt's house...

I also have lots of these little garden protectors...
Lizards are all over the place down here. I love them.

One thing I am not as fond of are the lubbers. I have TONS of lubbers that hatched this year. I'm not sure why. Maybe it was related to the wet dry season that we had this year. I don't know. All I do know is that they are everywhere, in all sizes.

I've worried about my vegetable garden, but so far there haven't been any problems. I've seen damage to my sheffelera, but I intend to get rid of that anyway. So I'm okay with that. But the last couple of days, I have found that something seems to be taken with my cucumber plant.

And I've been noticing lately that my loquat is getting eaten up, but wasn't sure what was doing it...
Well, the other day I finally spotted the culprits.
That would be three Little Leaf Notcher Weevils stacked on top of one another. These guys are really eating up my loquat.

I'm trying to do an organic yard without the use of pesticides, but I may wind up having to do something here.

The veggies are growing well. Remember this shot? This was taken when I first planted the garden on May 2 (19 days ago).
Boy how my garden grows! (Just call me Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary!)

The cantaloupe is taking over...

I see now why you are supposed to plant them with perhaps 4-6 feet between them and other plants...

...as the cantaloupe is latching on and strangling my pepper plants and eggplants surrounding it.

The zucchini plant is really growing.

The leaves on it are HUGE!

And it has tons of blossoms coming in.

The cucumber also has blooms...

I got a strawberry off of my strawberry plant from last year.

One tiny little berry...

I said that if it was really sweet and good, I would have to buy more plants to grow more berries...

...I think I'll pass on the strawberries for now.

Vegetable Garden Update

2010-05-16T20:42:00.009-04:00

An update on the status of my vegetables:

My garden has an infestation of lubbers of all sizes and stages. This one is one of the largest so far this season. It was probably 2 1/2 - 3 inches.

So, of course, I've worried about my plants. So far, there haven't been any signs of trouble, but today I noticed a couple of holes in one leaf.

Perhaps this can be attributed to the lubbers, but maybe it is something else. It's actually become a daily thing for me to go to water the garden in the morning, and have a couple of lubbers running away from my garden-- but I've never seen them *in* the garden. Then the other day I found four or five of them around the compost bin, which is located near the garden. So I have to wonder whether it is actually the compost that attracts the lubbers, and not my garden after all.

I potted a couple of red bell pepper plants recently. Within a couple of days, I noticed one of them had wilted.

I figured maybe I didn't pot it well, and left some "empty space" around the root ball. Then Saturday I forgot to water the garden before we headed out to do some things, and by the time I watered it late in the afternoon, I found my potted plants had all wilted. So far, the other red bell pepper hasn't revived. So I may have lost them both. Dang it!

My roma tomato is doing great! It keeps growing by leaps and bounds, and there are blossoms everywhere!

I have one little pepper on my old plant from last summer.

If memory serves me, this is a yellow bell pepper.

My catnip is gone. Whatever got at it (presumably a neighboring cat?) completely destroyed it.

I have a couple of strawberries, and a couple more blossoms on my old strawberry plants from last year.

I have my first eggplant bloom...

...and a number of future eggplant blossoms just waiting. We'll see what happens with them. I was told that you need two plants to get fruiting. So that's what I did.

I have my first cucumber blossom...

...and a number of zucchini blossoms coming in.

Here is a shot of the cucumber in front, with the watermelon and zucchini behind.

And here we have the three peppers (poblano, jalapeno and green bell pepper) in front, with the cantaloupe in back on the left and one of the eggplants on the right.

These have all grown nicely since first planted a couple of weeks ago.

My cantaloupe is really doing well, with tons of blossoms...

And some of the peppers are about to blossom...

So far I've counted 3 mangoes on the tree. Small harvest this year, and they are all so high up I'll have to wait for them to fall on their own!

And what's this? A lone cauliflower plant that survived from last summer. After I found out that cauliflower is almost impossible to bring to fruition this far south, I used most of the leaves in a sausage-potato soup.
So, for the most part, the veggies are doing quite well. My experimental test garden is going well so far!

More veggies added!

2010-05-09T08:49:00.004-04:00

Today I potted a couple more plants. I got a grape tomato plant...

...and two red bell pepper.

So I've now got a portion of the raised garden bed planted, as well as some buckets and pots.

When I moved one pot yesterday in order to get rid of the old plant from last year and repot it with the new tomato, I found a nest of carpenter ants underneath.
The resident lizards were very excited to see what I had uncovered for them! They moved on in for dinner! I posted video on my Weedy Garden blog regarding the ants. A little gross, but fascinating!

Catnip and Cantaloupes

2010-05-07T21:39:00.006-04:00

I've got something sneaking into my garden at night-- perhaps a cat-- that is really enjoying the catnip I potted in my herb pot. I noticed the other day that two branches of catnip or snapped in half...

Today I noticed that my catnip burglar had even ripped off some leaves, leaving them chewed up around the herb pot (which is really a Lowe's bucket!)

Hmmmm. Maybe I'll figure out what it is one of these days.

I also noticed this morning that my cantaloupe is blooming...

If I can keep that up, and bring these to fruition (despite the 3 inch grasshopper that was walking away from my garden as I watered it this morning), then that right there is three cantaloupe (pronounced can-ta-lope-ehs in my house) that I can expect in the upcoming months!

My First Vegetable Garden

2010-05-06T20:30:00.003-04:00

Well, I've got me a little garden going! A few months ago, I mentioned that I was covering the raised bed with a tarp in hopes of killing the weeds and weed seeds. Well, it did a pretty good job. We scooped up the dead grass from the top of the bed and threw it in the compost heap and horticulture bin.

Then we scooped out a bunch of the top layer in a quarter section of the bed, so that I could plant a small vegetable garden. We mixed in compost, potting soil and top soil. I planted a poblano pepper, jalapeno pepper, green bell pepper, cucumber, watermelon, zucchini, 2 eggplant and cantaloupe.

So far, everything is looking good.

I also potted an herb bucket, and I planted a Rome tomato plant and sweet basil in another bucket.
My tomato is growing like gangbusters, and already has a small tomato coming in.

And there are tons of new blooms that foretell of more tomatoes to come.

I noticed the other day that the strawberry pot that I had last summer has a couple of plants still going in it, and one has even sprung up a couple of little strawberries.

I also had an old pepper plant from last year that I had given up on and forgotten over the winter, and just noticed the other day that it has 3 peppers coming in on it.

Even my mango tree is trying to put out a little something, despite the freezes that hit it hard this winter. I've spotted 3 small mangoes so far.

So that's my small attempt right now at growing my own food. I'm just sort of testing the waters right now. We'll see how it goes, and I'll share what I may learn.

Have You Seen This?

2010-01-23T08:35:00.003-05:00

Have you seen the movie Food, Inc.? Everyone should watch this movie! Amazing! You would not believe the corruption that fills our food industry. They have government in their pocket just the same as big tobacco. This movie made me madder and more determined than any movie within the last few years, and it reaffirmed once more why I dislike Monsanto so much.

If you have Netflix, please be sure to put this one on your list. Or just go to their official website to watch it...

Official Food, Inc. Movie Site - Hungry For Change? - Trailer and Photos

Stay Tuned

2010-01-15T12:55:00.002-05:00

I know I've been dormant, but I should be out of hibernation eventually. I still haven't planted my vegetable garden, but hope to do so in a month or two. I still have a raised bed full of weeds and grass. However I hope soon to try a technique that involves covering the bed in plastic and leaving it to sit for six weeks or so in an attempt to create an environment that will kill most of the weed seeds in the soil of the bed.

Did you know?...

2009-08-01T15:59:00.004-04:00

Did you know that you apparently need TWO eggplant plants in order to produce? I've had an eggplant for awhile now, and while I get blooms nothing ever comes to fruition. However Tina from Garden Goose recently informed me that the problem is that I need a second plant. That's important to know. I'll know better next time.

Top 10 Edibles for Florida

2009-06-21T09:53:00.005-04:00

Here is a list of the top 10 edible plants to grow in Florida, as outlined in Sunset's Florida Top 10 Garden Guide. According to the zone map in the Sunset book, I live in zone 25, which is the warmest zone in Florida. Most of Florida is zone 26, with northern Florida mainly being zone 28.

Green and Lima Beans: Peak season is late winter through late fall in warmer areas of the state; May through October in cooler areas. Bush Blue Lake and Contender varieties are the two overall best bush beans for Florida's climate and soils. Others that grow well here are: Cherokee Was, October Glory, Purple Bush and Roma II. Fordhook 242 is the preferred lima for this area. The preferred pole beans are Kentucky Wonder (deemed the best snap variety), with Dade and Blue Lake as close seconds. Florida Butter is a good pole lima bean. Plant them with other warm-season vegetables, such as tomatoes, cantaloupe, collards, okra, eggplant, cucumbers and peppers.

Blackberries: Peak season is May and June. Best thornless is Apache, Arapaho, and Navajo. Chester is cold hardy. Best thorny blackberry is Chicksaw. Plant blackberries towards the back of a vegetable garden, or wherever they have space. To expand your fresh fruit options consider combining blackberries with fruits such as peaches, nectarines, pears, blueberries, and grapes. (Not for zone 25)

Blueberries: Harvest season for rabbiteye blueberries extends May to July. The harvest season for highbush blueberries is April through May. Emerald is the best for areas from Ocala to Sebring. Jewel grows well in mild-winter regions. Millennia is one of the most widely-planted varieties in north-central Florida. Beckyblue, Bonita and Climax are three early-season "Rabbiteye" varieties. Equally good but later-ripening cultivars include Brightwell, Powderblue, Tifblue and Woodard. Blueberries are typically used in the landscape as hedges for screening, but can also be used in cluster plantings or as single specimens. (Not for zone 25)

Broccoli: Peak season is October through April, withstanding freezing down to 25 degrees. Favorite varieties for Florida include Waltham 29, Packman, Green Comet, Spartan Early, Atlantic, Green Sprouting, DeCicco, and Green Duke. Plant with other cold-tolerant vegetables, such as carrots, cauliflower, collards, onions, kohlrabi, and cabbage, and with herbs such as thyme, cilantro and rosemary.

Cabbage: Peak season is fall to spring. Best varieties are Chieftan Savoy, Copenhagen Early, Early Jersey Wakefield and Red Acre. Plant with other cold-tolerant vegetables such as kohlrabi, collards, onions, cauliflower, bok choi, mustard and carrots, and with herbs such as thyme and cilantro.

Lettuce: Peak season is fall to spring. Best butterhead is Buttercrunch, but other good choices are Deer's Tongue and Tom Thumb. Best head lettuce is Great Lakes. Best leaf lettuces are Black Seeded Simpson, Oak Leaf, Red Salad Bowl and Red Sails. Best romaine is Parris Island Cos, Valmaine and Dark Green Cos. Grow lettuce with cool-weather vegetables, such as carrots, broccoli, turnips, mustard, collards, kohlrabi, onions, cauliflower and cabbage.

Muscadine Grapes: Peak season is fall. Fry is a bronze grape that is large and very sweet. Nesbitt is black, medium sized, and high-yielding. Southern Home is black-fruited. Summit is an outstanding bronze selection for the home garden. Plant grapevines with other fruits, including blueberries, blackberries, nectarines, plumes, peaches and pears. (Not for zone 25)

Onions: Peak season is spring. Lisbon is the best bunching onion for Florida, and Red Baron is a bright red. For bulbing onions, Candy is extra-sweet, Copra is the best storage onion, and Mars stores well and has a little color. Plant onions with other cool-weather vegetables, such as carrots, cauliflower, collards, kohlrabi and cabbage, and with herbs such as thyme and cilantro.

Strawberries: Peak season is spring. Florida 90 is an older variety, Florida Belle is good for its disease resistance, and Tioga is large and vigorous. Plant strawberries with other cold-hardy vegetables, including broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, beets, Swiss chard, kohlrabi, lettuce and onions.

Tomatoes: Peak season is summer and fall. Best varieties include Better Boy, Bonnie Best (best in northern Florida), and Manalucie. Other large-fruited varieties are Floramerica, Celebrity and Flora-Dade. Other small-fruited varieties are Red Cherry, Sweet Chelsea, Sweet 100, Floragold, Patio and Roma. Plant tomatoes with other warm-season vegetables, such as beans, corn, cucumbers, eggplants, okra, peppers and squash.

Top 10 Fruit Trees for Florida

2009-05-23T22:06:00.003-04:00

According to Sunset's Florida Top 10 Garden Guide, these are the top 10 fruit trees for Florida:

Banana (Musa)

Carambola, Star Fruit (Averrhoa carambola)

Citrus (Citrus)

Fig(Ficus carica)-- Not for zone 25, where I live

Jaboticaba (Myrciaria cauliflora)

Loquat (Eriobotrya japonica)

Mango (Mangifera indica)

Papaya (Carica papaya)

Persimmon (Diospyros kaki)-- not for zone 25, where I live

Sapodilla (Manikara zapota)

Big Heirloom Seed Win

2009-05-21T20:21:00.000-04:00

I won an awesome giveaway for heirloom seeds! I received the seed stash today, and can I just say WOW! Look at this haul:

Now just because I don't think that you can really appreciate from that image just how many packets there are, here they are.

There's pumpkin and eggplant and flowers...

...various kinds of peppers and some peas...

...okra, corn and tomato...

...all kinds of lettuce, including one called "Drunken Woman"...

...and tons of beans.

Is that an awesome haul, or what? I can't wait to try my hand at growing some of these puppies come fall/spring. Maybe I can try some beans this summer.

Thanks again to Tina of the Victory Garden!

The World According to Monsanto

2009-05-18T10:59:00.002-04:00

For anyone who is already familiar with the workings of Monsanto, or for those who are interested in learning how Monsanto is threatening our global food supply, check out these videos on Twilight Earth. No need for me to say anything further. These videos speak for themselves.

Win Free Heirloom Seeds

2009-05-09T23:12:00.005-04:00

Go to The Victory Gardener for your chance to win a bunch of heirloom seeds. Enter for your chance to win a variety of at least 20 different types of seeds from My Victory Garden etsy shop. Lettuce, beans, tomatoes, flowers-- all sorts of heirloom seeds. The giveaway runs through May 16th.

Happy Earth Day and a Great Giveaway!

2009-04-22T16:29:00.002-04:00

Happy Earth Day to everyone! And in the spirit of being kinder to the earth, check out this giveaway! I've been thinking about how I could bike around more to avoid driving my car. But I've wondered how I would be able to get groceries on my current bike. Well this thing would be great for it!

It would also be great for going to the flea market or the farmer's market, or a local plant nursery. So many great uses for it!

What about you? What are you doing to try to be "kinder to the earth"?

A Seedless Future?

2009-03-25T19:57:00.004-04:00

Am I the only person getting concerned with the possibility of our government controlling our food supply to the point of not allowing people to grow their own food, or licensing whether food is grown or not?

I've written on here about Monsanto and how they have patented seeds, so you cannot save seeds from produce grown from their patented seeds. So you have to basically "license" to use their seeds.

Last night my boyfriend went to the grocery store, and got some produce. First I learned of his seedless oranges that he'd bought, and there are seedless watermelons and grapes. Now last night he cut open a green pepper to find that it was seedless.

I understand that this started for reasons of convenience. It is so much nicer to eat a piece of watermelon and not have to spit out a ton of seeds in the process.

But is anyone else concerned of the potential abuses? Seeds patented, licensed and controlled. The inability to grow produce that contain seeds. The threat of having to continually pay for more seeds to continue growing produce? The threat to our right to just "grow". To lose our right to trade seeds, save seeds, to grow heirloom vegetables.

I'm really not a conspiracy theorist. Honest! I'm usually trying to be the "voice of reason" with my friends who ARE conspiracy theorists. But I'm just saying...

Is anyone else concerned?

Florida Friendly Landscaping

2009-02-22T08:03:00.006-05:00

I wrote last night on my Snoop Dogg blog about our day at the Burrowing Owl festival. There were lots of great vendors and display booths, and I learned a lot.

I've also written on my Weedy Garden blog about how I hope to xeriscape my yard and make it a water-friendly and environmentally friendly yard.

So the festival yesterday reminded me about my desires for my yard and garden. I was reminded how I hope to make my yard "Florida friendly", and that those same principles apply pretty much everywhere. So I thought that I would take a moment to share those principles.

There are nine principles to Florida-Friendly Yards and Neighborhoods:

Right Plant, Right Place: Plants should be selected to suit a specific site, and should require minimal amounts of water, fertilizer and pesticides. Decide how the yard area will be used, and plant for that specific use and location, and the given environmental conditions.
Water Efficiently: Water only when your yard needs water. Efficient watering conserves water, and makes healthier and stronger plants with deeper roots. Don't cut grass too short. Leaving it longer allows it to hold more water, helps to shade the roots and creates deeper-growing roots.
Fertilize Appropriately: Less fertilization is often best. Over-fertilization can be hazardous to your yard and the surrounding environment.
Mulch: Maintaining a 3" layer of mulch will help retain soil moisture, keep the plants roots cool, prevent erosion and suppress weeds.
Attract Wildlife: Incorporate plants that provide food, water and shelter for wildlife.
Manage Yard Pests Responsibly: Use pesticides sparingly and wisely to protect people, animals, the environment, and beneficial insects.
Recycle: Grass clippings, leaves and yard trimmings should be recycled in your yard as compost or mulch to add nutrients to the soil and reduce waste disposal.
Reduce Stormwater Runoff: Water running off from your yard can carry pollutants such as soil, debris, fertilizer and pesticides into our water supply.
Protect the Waterfront: Waterfront property, whether on a bay, river, canal, stream or beach, is very fragile and should be carefully protected to maintain our freshwater and marine ecosystems.

So how do you incorporate all of these principles into your yard? What exactly can you do? Here are some ideas:

Buy or build a compost bin.
Create a wildlife habitat. This can be as simple as putting around shrubs to offer shelter and cover for small birds and animals, planting food plants like Barbados Cherry, providing bird baths and ponds for water sources, and housing like bird houses, bat houses and toad homes.
Make your yard practical and useable.
If you live on the beach, create a buffer between your yard and the shoreline.
Use trees to shade the southern and western sides of your home.
Mulch your plant beds.
Use a rain barrel.
Use swales to keep rainwater where it falls.
Use porous surfaces, such as brick driveways and mulch paths, to allow water to soak into the ground instead of runoff.
Protect butterfly larvae (aka caterpillars) and provide them with the food and shelter that they need. Not only do butterflies add beauty and interest to the yard, but they also are great pollinators.
Learn about the insects in your yards, so that you can distinguish the good from the bad. The fact is, less than 1% of all insects are harmful.
When you determine that you do have an insect problem, first try non-chemical approaches. Then try the safest pesticides possible, such as insecticidal soaps, horticultural oils and Bt products. Also choose to spot-treat instead of broad treatment, and learn to be tolerant of small amounts of damage. Learn to love seeing the chewed leaves that are evidence of caterpillars and the fact that your garden is working as it should be!
Recyle yard waste. Leave grass clippings on the lawn or in the compost bin. Use fallen leaves and pine needles as mulch under trees and shrubs.
Use native plants in your landscaping, and get rid of exotic invasives.
Replace sod with more environmentally-friendly ground covers like sunshine mimosa, perennial peanut, blue porterweed, pennyroyal or Creeping Charlie.

Check out www.floridayards.org for more information and ideas. You can also try to attend one of the Introductory FYN classes that are periodically held. The next one in Lee County will be March 14th. The cost is $5, held at Rutenberg Park Eco-Living Center in Fort Myers, and you can register by calling 239-533-4327.

Mason Bee Hive Giveaway

2009-02-20T10:58:00.004-05:00

There is a great little giveaway for gardeners going on over at GreenEarthJourney. They are giving away a Mason Bee Hive from Andrew's Reclaimed.

Awesome! I want my garden filled with bee hives and butterfly and toad homes and bat houses. Check it out!

Annual Fruit Tree Sale

2009-02-15T10:28:00.001-05:00

To see what I picked up at the fruit tree sale that I've been harping about, check out my Weedy Garden. Goodness Gracious!

ECHO Farm Day 2009

2009-02-12T19:21:00.004-05:00

Farm Day 2009
March 14, 2009 - 9 a.m. until 3 p.m.

ECHO (Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization) is holding their annual Farm Day on March 14, 2009.

Their online announcement states:

Come explore ECHO's Global Farm during this once-a-year event! Experience behind-the-scenes tours and demonstrations and sample some of the amazing varieties of tropical fruit on ECHO's Farm.

Learn first-hand how ECHO provides extraordinary solutions for those working with the poor overseas.

Admission for adults is $3 in advance and $5 at the door. Admission for children is FREE. Tickets can be purchased at ECHO's Global Bookstore from February 1 - March 13, 2009.

Invite your co-workers, church or other group. Download a printable flyer here

ECHO has been networking with others since 1981 to help fight world hunger. They are located at 17391 Durrance Road, North Fort Myers, Florida 33917.

Florida Freeze

2009-02-05T08:20:00.000-05:00

It is frigid in Florida this morning! See my Weedy Garden blog for more about our local freeze.

Kootsac

2009-02-03T10:12:00.002-05:00

GreenEarth Journey is giving away some Kootsac reusable food bags. I think that these things look like they would be great for food storage. Do you dry your own beans? Have nut trees? Dry your own fruits and veggies? Kootsac might be just what you need! After all, Freedom Gardening is about sustainable living, and there is nothing "sustainable" about plastic bags used for storage. Check them out!

How To Deal With Problem Raccoons

2009-01-19T08:10:00.006-05:00

There has recently been a discussion on our gardening forum about how to deal with problem raccoons. There are plenty of gardeners who feel that the only good raccoon is a dead raccoon. Now I know that (at least in Florida) there is an over-abundance of raccoons, so many feel that the best thing to do is to kill any problem raccoons that they encounter. As long as someone has compassion and consideration for the animal and makes sure that it has a quick and painless death, and it doesn't suffer undue stress (too many people don't consider that causing an animal fear is cruelty in itself), then I will turn my head and say, "To each his own."

When I worked in my past job in property management, I dealt with many employees and residents who complained about raccoons getting into their garbage. I heard horror stories of residents trapping raccoons, and then drowning them in the lakes. I told more than one that you can't say that raccoons are just stupid, valueless creatures that deserve no consideration and to which you can do anything you wish, and yet say that they are so smart that there is nothing that you can do to prevent them from getting into your garbage and to protect your garden. You can't have it both ways-- it's one or the other. You have to be smarter than them.

For those who wish to take a more patient and understanding approach, here are some suggestions for handling raccoon issues. These suggestions come from the book Total Critter Control.

Make garbage less accessible. Store cans in a secure garage, use bungee cords to secure the lid onto the can.
To further dissuade coons from your garbage, you can also make it less appetizing by spraying the compound like Ropel on the plastic bags. It is foul tasting, is relatively inexpensive, and is harmless to animals and the environment.
Some have found that by offering pet food, they were able to persuade the coons to leave the garden and lawn alone.
Coons like grub worms that infest the lawn. An old remedy to keep them off your lawn is to spray the lawn with a mixture of shampoo and ammonia (Hinder is a liquid concentrate that contains the ammonia soaps of fatty acids. It is approved for use on edibles. It can be obtained through a farm supply store or catalog.)
Also for grub worms (which is what the coons are after), you can apply milky spore to kill the grubs. Or alter the watering of the lawn, as grubs can't survive in dry soil.
Fruit trees: If the tree is isolated so that the coon can't jump from one to another, you can "flash" the tree trunk by putting a collar of slippery metal around the trunk.
Coons love dining at small ponds-- they corral fish into a corner of the pond and then grab them. Keep the pond deeper than 2 1/2 feet deep, and they can't do this.
Another pond solution is to put 16-18 inch pieces of terra-cotta pipe in the bottom of the pond to give the fish somewhere to hide. After the pipe is in the pond for awhile, the pipes become moss-covered and blend right in.
For birdhouses, you can try using a "Bird Guardian", which is a device that is added to the opening of the birdhouse and used to dissuade egg-eaters like coons.
To help prevent a coon from making its den in your yard, get a dog or listen to rock music-- many small animals dislike rock music. An outdoor speaker at their nest site can convince them to move on. And they don't like "unnatural" noises in general.
To keep coons from using your deck as a nesting or play site, spread mothballs on it or douse it with ammonia. Coons don't like strong odors.
If a coon gets in your home, usually you can just leave the windows in the room open, and the coon will find its own way out.
Make sure that chimneys are capped to keep out unwanted guests.
Trapping is a last-ditch effort, when all other avenues have been tried. Sometimes there is only one problem animal, although many may be joining in, and once the one instigator is removed the others move on. (Keep in mind that only about 50% of relocated animals survive. Once they are relocated, they find themselves in some other animals territory, and must suddenly fight for their own territory, seek out new food and water sources in a strange area, and try to find a new den. Many can't survive this.)

I hope that someone may find these suggestions helpful, and maybe it will spare both a raccoon and a homeowner some pain and heartache. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could all learn to coexist?

Trying to avoid Monsanto seeds? Good luck...

2009-01-17T10:00:00.004-05:00

I was checking out Freedom Gardens network, and came across a discussion about Monsanto, which I posted about earlier. They have found that there are a LOT of Monsanto seeds out there being sold under names you are familiar with, like Cook's, Burpee and Spring Hill's.

If you are avoiding Monsanto seeds, you may want to stick with purchasing seeds through Seed Saver's, Seed's of Change or other seed-saving networks.

New Name, Same Goal

2009-01-13T23:47:00.003-05:00

I've renamed the blog from "Survivalist Gardening" to "Freedom Gardening". This blog began because of a forum posting on the GardenWeb that referred to "Survivalist Gardening" and which had a big response by users on the forum. It became apparent that this struck a chord with many users.

However the term never quite fit me. After all, I'm not really a "survivalist"-- at least not the vision that such a term conjures up. I've always been interested in survival techniques and pioneering tactics. As I've grown older and the world has become less stable and secure, I've become quite interested in empowering myself however I can; in making myself less dependent however I can. But survivalist? Not really...

Towards this end, I've become more and more interested in growing my own food and working towards becoming less dependent on modern society. I've been seeking the freedom of independence.

So, in trying to think of a more suitable name for the blog, I came up with "Freedom Gardening" as the term that most suited how I feel about this process.

Then I decided to Google the term, to find out whether this had already become a popular term without my knowledge. Were others feeling the same way that I was?

Sure enough, I found a number of references to it. The most interesting of these was to a website called "Freedom Gardens". No way! There is a whole website full of people who are seeking the same sort of freedom through growing their own food?

Thousands of members from around the world, various groups like Vegetarians and Vegans, Florida Gardeners, Homesteading Newbies and Compost Nuts, as well as a forum. It appears to be relatively young in its growth, but seems to have great potential for the future. I've joined up, and hope that others may follow in my stead.

And, in the immortal words of Mel Gibson as William Wallace in Braveheart: "Freedom!" (through gardening)

Ohio Family Home Raided By Government for Their Food

2009-01-12T07:57:00.003-05:00

An Ohio family who runs a food co-op out of their home has found their home invaded by agriculture officials who confiscated their computers and much of their food supply, including the families own personal food store.

See the full story here and a video made by the homeowners John and Jacqueline Stowers about the incident on the Buckeye Institute blog.

Thanks to Goodness Gracious Acres for turning us on to this story.

Caloosa Rare Fruit Exchange Tree Sale

2009-01-11T21:24:00.003-05:00

The Caloosa Rare Fruit Exchange (CRFE) is holding their annual tree sale on February 14, 2009 at Terry Park off of Palm Beach Blvd in Fort Myers.

The CRFE has monthly meetings on the first Tuesday of every month at 7:30 PM. The group meets in the meeting rooms at the back of the Lee County Extension Office at 3406 Palm Beach Blvd in Terry Park. Parking is in the back.

Meetings consist of speakers on different topics, there is an exchange table for swapping plants with other members, and a tasting table where you can try unusual fruits. The group also goes on tours of nurseries, member's gardens, parks, etc. They also have a monthly newsletter sharing recipes, tips, advice, etc.

Membership dues are $10 per year, plus $5 the first year for your name tag.

If interested in joining or if you have any questions, you may contact the CRFE at 543-9910.

The tree sale will run 9 AM until 3 PM on February 14th. I believe that representatives from ECHO may also be in selling plants at this show.

The Far-Reaching Arms of Monsanto

2009-01-09T12:40:00.003-05:00

You may not be familiar with the name, as I was not, but I'm sure you are familiar with some of their products. Most familiar is their weedkiller Roundup. They also have developed seeds that sprout plants that are unaffected by Roundup, so that farmers can use the product on their crops.

Vanity Fair has done a great article on this company, and their heavy-handed and bullying ways. They trounce upon people's liberties left and right, and it seems they can't be stopped.

It's a long article of about six pages, but it is well worth your time to make yourself aware of this company's business practices. Boycott, boycott, boycott!

Florida Arbor Day

2009-01-07T11:52:00.008-05:00

Florida celebrates Arbor Day the third Friday of January. This year we will be celebrating it on January 16th. We all know of the national Arbor Day that occurs later in the year, but Florida trees need to be protected from the heat during establishment. Therefore Florida celebrates Arbor Day in January, taking advantage of the cooler temps.

Arbor Day reminds us of the importance of trees in our environment. Trees are very important in helping to reduce air pollution, conserve energy, regulate climate and beautify.

Trees absorb carbon dioxide (we've all heard the problems with carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and greenhouse gases), and in turn release oxygen into the atmosphere.

They are also very important in regulating rainfall and climate.

So why not do your part and plant a tree or shrub on Florida Arbor Day or Arbor Day weekend? When planting take into consideration:

The eventual size of the tree or shrub. Be careful of planting too close to cement or the home or other trees if it will grow to be a large tree.
The location: Will it get too much sun or too little? Will it be a large shade tree? If so, be sure to place it where you hope to someday have shade. If it is a shade tree, are there other trees nearby that may suffer in coming years under its shade?
Water requirements: Try to go native, or at least plant a tree or shrub that will be drought-resistant. If it needs watering, make sure to plant it near an available water source. Don't plant it in the front yard if there is no hose to water it with!
Root aggressiveness: Be wary of root aggressive trees like ficus benjamina, weeping willow, bamboo and Cypress. They can damage concrete, foundations and septic systems. I found a pretty good article from New York about planting around septic systems. Trees with aggressive roots should be carefully placed.
Deciduous vs. Evergreen: If you are planting a deciduous tree, you may want to plant it around evergreens, to give it more attractive appeal in winter.
Invasive vs. Non-invasive: Avoid planting invasive trees or shrubs, which are harmful to the local environment and native species. Seek out natives or non-invasive species to complement your yard.

If you are, like many of us, working on Arbor Friday, please don't let that stop you. Arbor Day continues through the weekend. Get planning and get planting!

Rain Barrel Workshop

2009-01-06T23:29:00.004-05:00

Are you interested in starting a rain barrel at your place, but aren't quite sure how to get started, or perhaps want some ideas for making your rain barrel a little more "interesting"? Check out your local extension for possible classes. The Lee County extension regularly holds Rain Barrel Workshops. I've added the workshops to the calendar on this website.

If you are unfamiliar with the concept, a rain barrel is just what it sounds like. It is a "barrel" (or some sort of collection system) designed to collect rainwater for use in watering lawns and gardens. A rain barrel can save a homeowner a substantial amount of water use during peak summer months.

Check out Wikipedia for some information on how to build your own, or attend an upcoming workshop to learn more about rain barrels. The next weekend workshop in Lee County will be March 28th. See the calendar for further details.

1st Meeting of the SE Florida Survivalist Gardeners

2009-01-06T23:19:00.003-05:00

Claudia (ibelieve on the GardenWeb) will be hosting the first gathering of the SE FL Survivalist Gardeners (okay, so that isn't necessarily the official name, but it's what I'm calling it) on Sunday, February 1st at her place. There may be someone on hand at the meeting to discuss planting a raised bed.

Please contact Claudia at IBelieveKandC@yahoo.com for further details or directions.

Gardening Calendar

2009-01-02T10:30:00.007-05:00

I just wanted to mention that I put together a gardening calendar for myself, based on the recommendations of the Lee County Extension, and I have shared it on my other blog Weedy Garden. If you have a hard time remembering when to complete certain projects in your garden, maybe my calendar will be helpful. It is based on Zone 10b, but is probably useful to most of South Florida.

The calendar may be found at the lower right-side of the Weedy Garden blog.

Food Swap

2009-01-01T21:19:00.005-05:00

I was thinking about my mango tree, and the possibility that it could produce much more than I could ever eat. I was thinking how great it would be to be able to swap excess food for things that I was lacking. A "food swap", of sorts. A group of people get together, they each bring produce, preserves, plants, crafts, etc., and then they swap. Is there such a thing? Surely there must be?

I did a Google search and did turn up an article about some people in England who did this. A group of 160 people met, all of them bearing foodstuffs of some sort, to trade and barter. Fruit and vegetables, tartlets, beer, chutney, sausage-- all sorts of foodstuffs. No money is permitted at a swap-- it is purely bartering.

A woman is quoted in the article as saying, "“We are trying to find alternative ways of people getting food in a way that fosters a sense of community. Our box scheme is a pick-up scheme, not a delivery one, so people can meet and talk."

Now they've got the right idea! My mouth is watering just thinking about a gathering where everyone has brought homegrown produce and goodies like homemade bread, pickles and preserves. Yum!

I'm all for this idea. If I can become a successful gardener, I'll next be working on my skills of persuasion, and seeing what I can do to convince others of the merits of a food swap. Do I hear a second?

Independence in 2009

2009-01-01T08:30:00.005-05:00

I came across this article on Casaubon's Book, and thought that it was very well written and inspiring. She issues a challenge for herself and everyone to work towards independence, which I think is what my own blog is all about. It is what all "survivalist gardeners" are striving for: independence from supermarkets and waste and modern convenience. To live life with purpose and true freedom.

I came across a quote the other day that I found personally moving and profound.

The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well. Ralph Waldo Emerson

So, while I am going to try my own Independence Days challenge inspired by Casaubon's Book (although my goal is to do one thing at least weekly, as I work full time and don't have a large homestead, and am still unpacking, so daily would be a real strain), I am also extending myself a personal Purpose Challenge: To continually work towards a more purposeful life, a life of honor and compassion, and to live life well. I want to continually work on becoming a "better person": More patient and kind and well-tempered and understanding.

I issue a challenge to myself to not only be independent of modern society, but to be independent of my modern self. To rise above the strife and stress and rushed hours, and stop and think before I speak, to remember that Golden Rule to treat others as I would like to be treated, and to learn the patience that I have lost over years of life's stresses.

And I issue a challenge to everyone to challenge themselves, in whatever way that best suits them. We all have certain "challenges" in life and in our personalities, and I issue each of you a challenge to work towards recognizing them and overcoming them.

Happy New Year, and let's make 2009 a year of purpose and success!

Learn Cast Netting

2008-12-31T21:40:00.005-05:00

One "cranky old bachelor" by the forum user name of "brute" has offered to demonstrate how to cast net. He is located on the Myakka River across from North Port.

If you are interested, you may contact him at fiddleharp@yahoo.com.

Good Articles/Blogs

2008-12-30T23:38:00.003-05:00

Here are a few good articles/blogs that I ran across:

Garden Amateur has an entertaining little article on growing green beans.

In My Kitchen Garden is just full of great information and pictures.

Safely Gathered In has lots of information regarding preparing for emergencies.

Scarecrow's Garden includes a section on "Food Gardening for Beginners".

The Gardener's Rake has some tips for how to use your Christmas tree after Christmas.

Simple, Green, Frugal Co-op has an interesting article reflecting on changes they've made in 2008 to be more frugal and self-sufficient.

Composting

2008-12-30T20:44:00.005-05:00

If you haven't already created a compost bin, now would be a good time to start. It doesn't have to be difficult and a compost bin doesn't have to be expensive. It can be as simple as the bin that I created this last weekend out of hardware cloth and wooden stakes and a staple gun. You can check out my new bin on my other blog Weedy Garden.

Also check out The Compost Bin for some information about building a bin.

From what I've learned, it seems some of the biggest things to keep in mind are:

Don't use too much woody material, like branches, twigs or woody shrubs. Fibrous material takes much longer to break down into compost, so only use it if you intend on having slow-"growing" compost.
The same thing goes for things like corn cobs. Try to beat them with a rubber mallet before adding them to the compost bin. They take a long time to decompose.
Coffee grounds are good in moderate doses. Coffee grounds, pine needles and oak leaves are all acidic material, and can make the compost too acidic for earthworms, which are very good for the compost, so you don't want to run them off.
Keep the compost damp, but not overly wet.
Keep a nice balance of "browns" vs "greens". "Browns" are dry and dead plant material. "Greens" are fresh plant materials, kitchen scraps, tea bags and coffee grounds.
Layer the composting materials like leaves and debris and kitchen scraps. You don't want the material to be too dense (you want some aeration), but you also don't want it too airy. You want it to create some heat. Brown material is bulky and promotes aeration, while greens are high in moisture and help keep the compost moist and hot.
There are some really unusual things that you can compost that you might not think of, such as hair, vacuum debris, junk mail and paper napkins, dryer lint, old spices, bird cage cleanings, stale bread, Kleenex tissues, old flower arrangements, old leather gardening gloves, stale potato chips, crab and lobster shells, cooked rice, tofu, pickles, old beer, ivory soap scraps, and urine! See PlantTea for a list of 163 Things You Can Compost.
A pile typically should be at least 3 feet square with lots of mass to help it stay hot for a long period of time, thereby speeding up the composting process.
Yep, as noted above, urine is actually good for a compost heap. It is full of nitrogen, like the "greens" that you add to the compost heap.

Those are just a few things that I have learned that you may want to keep in mind when building your compost bin or heap. Good luck creating your own bundle of black gold!

Lecture "Uncertain Peril: Genetic Engineering and the Future of Seeds"

2008-12-30T19:40:00.006-05:00

miamimami of the FL GardenWeb alerted us to this lecture. The information as she received it is as follows:

Please join us on Wednesday, January 28 at 7pm for Uncertain Peril: Genetic Engineering and the Future of Seeds presented by author Claire Hope Cummings.

RSVP to scrippsinstitute@fau.edu.
Download the invitation at: http://www.ces.fau.edu/scripps/CummingsInvitation.pdf

About the Lecture: An environmental journalist reports on the food system in a time of declining resources, growing populations, and economic and social unrest. Ms Cummings offers a critique of industrial agriculture and asks where we go from here: What do we need to feed ourselves? What do we need to know and what technologies will support sustainability?

About the Author: Claire Hope Cummings is an environmental lawyer, print and broadcast journalist and the author of Uncertain Peril: Genetic Engineering and the Future of Seeds. She is a former U.S. Department of Agriculture attorney and food and farming editor for public radio and writes for national environmental magazines as well as newspapers, online publications and blogs.

There will be a book signing immediately following the lecture on Wednesday. The campus bookstore will have Uncertain Peril: Genetic Engineering and the Future of Seeds available for sale. You may purchase this books in advance by calling the bookstore at 561-799-8538 and they will be available for you when you arrive at the lecture OR you may just purchase after the lecture.

Directions: Take Interstate 95 to Donald Ross Road (exit 83) and go east to the second light. Turn left onto Parkside Drive, then take the second right into the campus parking lot. The auditorium is in the first building you’ll encounter as you leave the lot walking towards campus.

Welcome to Survivalist Gardening

2008-12-30T09:31:00.002-05:00

The term was coined on the FL GardenWeb forum by ibeleive, and it seemed to strike a cord with other forum users. The concept: Become self-sustaining through gardening in these tough economic times.

The world has become a global market over the last decade or two. This is even evidenced by the volatile stock market that we've seen over the last year. Never before has the world economy responded so quickly and dramatically to one country's economic fall from grace.

We are now pulling away from the globalization of everything, and moving back towards a more local economy. People are vacationing closer to home, shopping closer to home, and finding ways to sustain themselves amid the unease of our insecurities.

People are also shifting towards local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), farmer's markets, and growing food in their own backyards.

A movement has begun on the GardenWeb, and I offer this blog as a hub for that movement. I hope that it may be useful in sharing information for like-minded individuals who wish to learn to become self-sustaining, particularly with gardening.

Save this blog to your Favorites and check back often. If anyone has anything that they wish to share on the blog-- dates for meetings, articles about gardening, etc.-- please let me know. You can use the link in the Contact Us box at the top right.

Thanks for stopping by!