A month ago, I told stories from Florida Theater's stage: stories of family, stories of our backyard farm, stories of where we've been and where we're growing. In the month since then, even as we continue to support others to grow their groceries at home, team Overalls received 95 neighbors & community supports for our Farm (2) Raising, and, together, we built our 2nd "unlimited urban uPick" neighborhood farm. Farm Three is already in the works. It's an exciting moment to be wearing Overalls,...
almost 3 years ago • 9 min read
A month ago, I told stories from Florida Theater's stage: stories of family, stories of our backyard farm, stories of where we've been and where we're growing. In the month since then, even as we continue to support others to grow their groceries at home, team Overalls received 95 neighbors & community supports for our Farm (2) Raising, and, together, we built our 2nd "unlimited urban uPick" neighborhood farm. Farm Three is already in the works. It's an exciting moment to be wearing Overalls,...
almost 3 years ago • 9 min read
"So, I want a garden, but I was wondering if you could build and plant it using the principles of Square Foot Gardening?" Well, "um..." I squirmed. What was Square Foot Gardening? This was back in 2009, just as I was putting on my Overalls. Carol, a friend and the customer asking the question offered, "I've got a copy of the book. I can lend it to you to review, and then when you come tomorrow, you can put it into practice. Does that work?" Sure thing. So, I read it. It took about 6 hours...
over 3 years ago • 4 min read
Hey Reader, Just wanted to send a quick note about watering times. Given the lack of rain lately paired with the intense dry heat we've been experiencing lately, your garden is likely - like my own- quite thirsty. Whether tonight or tomorrow morning, give your soil an extra drink. If you've got an irrigation system, you'll want it to be watering at least about 20minutes every day at this point - perhaps even 25. And if you're hand watering, just make sure you really drench the soil, 2-3...
just now • 1 min read
Reader We've got a freezing night predicted for Saturday night/Sunday morning, which if it was a little earlier in the year, wouldn't matter because a 30 degree night -- especially after all the rain we've gotten-- wouldn't adversely affect cool-season crops at all, but... many of us have already gotten our tomatoes & other frost-tender in the ground. So what to do? Short answer: Water and cover. But, the rain took care of the first, so just get things covered. Any sort of cover will help:...
about 4 years ago • 1 min read
Hello Reader, Could you grow enough food to feed your family if you needed? Could we, as communities, sustain ourselves - even temporarily - if there was some major disruption like a cyber attack, supply chain failure, hyper inflation, economic fall-out, or - God forbid - war? Though I'm a fan of salads & tasty treats like sugar snaps, if you're hungry, those just won't cut it. It comes down to calories and protein. If you were gardening to keep your family alive, what would you grow? This...
about 4 years ago • 5 min read
Hey Reader, With this Arctic blast headed our way, I wanted to send a quick note with a couple resources. Growing Year 'Round - video What To Do When It Freezes (pdf) The main takeaways are: Most cool season crops should be fine; they'll freeze, thaw, and keep growing. It's the warm season crops growing out of season you have to worry about like... tomatoes, peppers... Make sure your soil is good and moist before the freeze; this prevents dehydration burn turn off your irrigation Friday...
about 4 years ago • 1 min read
