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Anyone else let their garden get a weed bit crazy over the summer?
I did! Or at least some of the beds. But its time to slowly start preparing for fall right now. A few things you might want to consider doing right would be clearing any weeds, adding some compost or soil amendments, and turning in cover crops to decompose before fall planting. You should also be starting some of your more cold sensitive fall crops in trays or pots so they are ready to go straight in the ground next month.
If you need a little help with what to start, how much to start, and figuring out where to put it all, join me this Sunday 8/23 from 2:30 to 5:00pm for a fall garden planning workshop. We will discuss some important considerations for fall veggie gardening, lay out a plan for your specific garden, and have you leave class ready to plant your garden! We will also have plenty of time to answer all of your personal questions. Tickets are $39, loom.ly/slX12Wo .
Did you know that luffa gourd is edible?!
It tastes and cooks like a zucchini but has a crunchier skin/exterior similar to okra.
If your growing luffa this summer or plan on it for next summer, check out my latest video which shares what size to harvest them at for food and how to prepare this ridiculously easy to grow summer veggie.
My mammoth sunflower fell over during the rain the other day after leaning precariously into the garden path for a week or two so I decided to harvest it.
The largest flower was bigger than my munchkin farmer!
I’m drying the seed to make roasted and salted sunflower seeds when they are ready. Do you use your sunflowers for cut flowers, food, or wildlife forage?
My garden may not look as lush as my winter one in these dog days of summer but I’m still managing reasonable production.
I harvested 12 different leafy greens for this salad the other night. I’m also overloaded with herbs and luffa gourd and am harvesting eggplant and okra. My beans, peppers, and squash will all be producing again soon.
Picking plants and varieties that work for our climate and planting it at the right time is probably the most important thing you can learn when gardening in Florida.
If you’d like seasonal veggie starts that do just that and have been lovingly started from seed by a local grower (for the same price as home depot) make sure to check out our plant availability list now. Place your orders by tonight to get your garden growing!
Fall seedlings popping up to say hello (just 4 days after they were planted)!
PSA: August & September are when you need to start a LOT of your fall veggies if your planting from seed!
Not sure where to start? I’ve got two classes coming up to get you growing!
Intro to gardening in Florida class 8/13 at 8pm – Free
loom.ly/8mH4L5U
Plan your fall garden workshop 8/23 2:30pm – $39
loom.ly/Hggar6c
Find Out More Here From Our Blog
Cultural Exchange
We got to spend two weeks total at Vinita Farm in Pelequen, Chile. Of our entire trip so far it was by far the most authentic experience we got to do. The town the farm is just outside of is so small they don’t have taxis and it’s primarily a mix of agricultural and artisan workers who make curaguilla grain brooms for all of Chile (at least they used to, the young people of the town do not want to bother with physical jobs anymore and thus the craft is dwindling as fields are turned to more
The Simple Life
We spent this past week on a family farm, Granja La Vinita, in Pelequen Chile. It’s been a wonderful opportunity to get out of the big cities and see smaller towns that many tourists would pass by. We found the farm through World Wide Organization of Organic Farms (WWOOF) which is a network of small scale farmers who need volunteers on their farms. You help on their farm in exchange for board and meals. As a bonus (for those like myself who LOVE farming and gardening) you get to learn their
It’s not about the destination.
I sat at the computer last week trying to write a blog about our week in Santiago but struggled to get anywhere. Not because Santiago wasn’t great, because it was, we thoroughly enjoyed our time there and were very impressed with the city and its people. I was struggling because I felt like I was typing an entry for Wikipedia. Santiago is the most modern city in all of Latin and South America, it has the seventh busiest metro in the world, etc. Anybody reading this blog can research a city. So
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elise.pickett@theurbanharvest.com
Saint Petersburg, Florida
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