I'm an IT guy in Orlando who is about to have a yard for the first time and i am SUPER excited that i found all this. All your videos are great and super informative and easy to follow.
I just subscribed to your channel. I am thrilled that I found you. I live in the Tampa Bay area and have been gardening for a while now. I have a large raised bed garden and last year for the first time we had a grub infiltration. I did not spray, my husband and I started to let our chickens into the garden and have them go to town. Of course, they didn't get all the grubs because it seemed they were deep into the soil, so we tilled the soil as much as we could. We left our fall season and cleaned out the plants, except our pepper plants. The pests and grubs seem to ignore the pepper plants. We started to take out the soil in the garden and throw it down under our big oak tree. We then started to pull soil from out chicken coup run, which we were surprised to see that it was mostly sand with the wood chip shavings. We haven't replaced all the soil in the garden, it is quite BIG job. Do you recommend us completely replacing all the garden soil? We had the worse growing season last year because of the grubs and possible other pests. I hate to redo the soil, because it would be a lot. Is there a way to build up the soil without pest control? Any thoughts? Thank you!!!! Also, where do you recommend getting bulk soil? I do not have enough compost to full my garden. Thank you!!!! Krissy :-)
I think digging it out so the chickens can work deeper is an excellent idea for in house management though as you said very time intensive. Have you identified the grub? There could be a targeted approach to handling them like nematodes, a bacteria, etc. Florida Organic Solutions sells certified organic soil bulk: www.flaorganic.com/
Hi. I'm really enjoying your channel. Your little trainee is so cute! I live in zone 5b Pennsylvania. Last frost May 30. We are semi rural with 1/2 acre. Our number of growing days last year went from 120 to 100. I extend the season at both ends but the cruciferous veg don't get enough of a cool portion (for a few years now) so I will try container gardening some this year for Fall through early winter. Question. I have fish meal to include in refreshing my raised beds and container dirt. Will this be as good as the kelp? I do have a powdered kelp. Another question: Last year husband mowed part of an empty field. Owners no longer live here and it is early stages of going back to woodland. This was put in our compost. I don't know why but we didn't get the usual amount of leaves we normally do which has been our brown. Probably the crazy wind we get now. I saw a video where a gardener (The Rusted Gardener on YT) title video How to Make Compost from Inexpensive Wood Pellets & Alfalfa Pellets in 30-60 Days: Full Experiment! I added the wood pellets to increase the brown. In the long term, should this make a healthy soil? Thanks so much.
Fish meal is great for calcium plus nitrogen and phosphorus, kelp has plant growth hormones and lots of other micronutrients. Both are great but do different things. The grass decomposes pretty quickly but should make a fine compost over time. I would add more grass than you would other browns to compensate for that.
thnx 4 this vid, very informative. I'm a newbie, but studliest. I live in Miami and would love 2 meet other like minded folks.Any suggestions? Stay safe and mindfully in peace. Jose
I have a seed club and there are quite a few members from your area. Ill reach out to them and see if they have any suggestions. I would start with a gardening club search or permaculture search for your area.
So interesting! I live in the North West Florida area (Pensacola) what would you say would grow good here with all the heat!!!!! ☀️ was wondering about turnip greens 🥬 tomatoes 🍅 cucumber 🥒 peppers 🌶 (red, yellow or green) onions 🧅 etc. thanks for your help!
Those probably would have been good for you being in northern florida a few months ago. Now we are shifting into our summer crops (which are not what most of the country grows over the summer). Here are a few videos on growing in summer that will give you some ideas... ua-cam.com/play/PLXaHDuLes4F8RUk3WCxecV0Qe0xazv6E9.html
I have since replaced these beds, with Hopkins Homestead and it is who I recommend. www.hopkinshomesteadstore.com/ If interested you can use code, urbanharvest to save 5% off each time.
It varies a bit by where you are in the state. Here in central Florida where I grow the transition months are May & June. South Florida is a month earlier, north Florida is a month later.
I would spread on top as a top dressing like in this video, the video is on castings but it applies to any fertilizer. ua-cam.com/video/DwtjwZYOjJw/v-deo.html
Do you have more tips on dealing with nematodes? Or is the crab stuff sufficient enough? I’ve been planting nematode deters (sorghum, pinkeye purple hill, velvet bean, French marigolds) 2 seasons now and tried solarizing last year. Still pulled out a couple tomatoes and okra with rotten knotted up roots:(
They live in the top 6 inches of soil. If you can bury them below that level (easy to do with tomatoes) you can avoid it affecting the plants as much. Nematodes are a constant battle here. Crop rotation is really important as well. Hope this helps!
I choose to garden year round so yes I planted the beds with summer crops. If you are going to let it rest I would suggest utilizing a cover crop over the summer and amending just like this come fall.
I usually leave it out for a day or two in the corner of my yard and either rinse it or let the rain do it but its not typically necessary. The small amounts of salt aren't generally enough to build up in the soil to the point of causing any issues.
If you add enough quality compost, especially if there are lots of worms, then no you don't need to. The castings are more "concentrated" than even good compost with worms but you could easily just save the money and let it take care of itself over time.
@@TheUrbanHarvest it turned out I don't have worms I have black solider larva lol. I'm reading mixed opinions about using that compost or I should let them die first and then use it ? Do you have any suggestions about that?
I use for fertilizer : ash (Sonny"s)....coffee (Starbuks).....sea weeds (Atlantic ocean) .....Horse manure (local stable) ....Epsom salt (Dollar store).....
I was looking for the Down to Earth brand, got the info from Simple Living in Alaska, they have used that brand and really like it. I started my romaine lettuce from the base of what I bought at the store ( I have a brown thumb most days) and surprisingly it is growing as well as celery in water. I'm going to transfer to containers and was looking to see what dirt I need to get as well as plant food.
Both of those are cooler weather crops, not sure what your space looks like but they may do better kept in pots on a sunny windowsill than outside. That transition can be a bit of a shock for them so make sure to keep the soil moist the first few days. Then slowly back it off. That will be more important than anything else.
Fantastic information!! Thank you for talking through it all🙂
You are so welcome!
Local Floridian (Orlando & north Florida).
Just stumbled across your channel, enjoying it so far. 👨🌾
Great! Enjoy!
I'm an IT guy in Orlando who is about to have a yard for the first time and i am SUPER excited that i found all this. All your videos are great and super informative and easy to follow.
oh great! it can be such a fun process!
So helpful. Your daughter is so cuuuute.
😊 thank you
I had NO idea some places stopped selling fertilizer! That was extremely helpful! Thank you!
You bet!
Your daughter is so adorable! She adds to your video 💖😊💕
Aw thanks : ) Shes my little garden helper!
Awesome helper!
I didn’t see when you added the kelp?
Do you do the same amending for the winter?
Just added worm castings and compost to my beds today :) I love the reminder to refresh your beds after they settle!
That is awesome! The plants get hungry!
Just what I needed! Thanks
You bet!
I just subscribed to your channel. I am thrilled that I found you. I live in the Tampa Bay area and have been gardening for a while now. I have a large raised bed garden and last year for the first time we had a grub infiltration. I did not spray, my husband and I started to let our chickens into the garden and have them go to town. Of course, they didn't get all the grubs because it seemed they were deep into the soil, so we tilled the soil as much as we could. We left our fall season and cleaned out the plants, except our pepper plants. The pests and grubs seem to ignore the pepper plants. We started to take out the soil in the garden and throw it down under our big oak tree. We then started to pull soil from out chicken coup run, which we were surprised to see that it was mostly sand with the wood chip shavings. We haven't replaced all the soil in the garden, it is quite BIG job. Do you recommend us completely replacing all the garden soil? We had the worse growing season last year because of the grubs and possible other pests. I hate to redo the soil, because it would be a lot. Is there a way to build up the soil without pest control? Any thoughts? Thank you!!!! Also, where do you recommend getting bulk soil? I do not have enough compost to full my garden. Thank you!!!! Krissy :-)
I think digging it out so the chickens can work deeper is an excellent idea for in house management though as you said very time intensive. Have you identified the grub? There could be a targeted approach to handling them like nematodes, a bacteria, etc. Florida Organic Solutions sells certified organic soil bulk: www.flaorganic.com/
so on the amendments do you do all three, or either/or?
Kelp has high amounts of arcenic in it. So be carefu about the amount you put in your garden.
Thank you ! I did the same !
Yes its a good time for pick me up in between seasonal changes.
Hey Elise, how long did those metal beds last you. I know you upgrade it. But I just wanted to know.
a friend in need took them and is still using them without issue.
Hi. I'm really enjoying your channel. Your little trainee is so cute!
I live in zone 5b Pennsylvania. Last frost May 30. We are semi rural with 1/2 acre. Our number of growing days last year went from 120 to 100. I extend the season at both ends but the cruciferous veg don't get enough of a cool portion (for a few years now) so I will try container gardening some this year for Fall through early winter.
Question. I have fish meal to include in refreshing my raised beds and container dirt. Will this be as good as the kelp? I do have a powdered kelp.
Another question: Last year husband mowed part of an empty field. Owners no longer live here and it is early stages of going back to woodland. This was put in our compost. I don't know why but we didn't get the usual amount of leaves we normally do which has been our brown. Probably the crazy wind we get now. I saw a video where a gardener (The Rusted Gardener on YT) title video How to Make Compost from Inexpensive Wood Pellets & Alfalfa Pellets in 30-60 Days: Full Experiment!
I added the wood pellets to increase the brown. In the long term, should this make a healthy soil?
Thanks so much.
Fish meal is great for calcium plus nitrogen and phosphorus, kelp has plant growth hormones and lots of other micronutrients. Both are great but do different things. The grass decomposes pretty quickly but should make a fine compost over time. I would add more grass than you would other browns to compensate for that.
Hey hello this angel am from Florida to I was yes watching one of your videos and I yes need your help to start my raised bed what I need
ua-cam.com/video/hRL5jqotF2c/v-deo.html
ua-cam.com/video/ppZEmECbQt0/v-deo.html
ua-cam.com/video/idtyWIRSCEY/v-deo.html
thnx 4 this vid, very informative. I'm a newbie, but studliest. I live in Miami and would love 2 meet other like minded folks.Any suggestions? Stay safe and mindfully in peace. Jose
I have a seed club and there are quite a few members from your area. Ill reach out to them and see if they have any suggestions. I would start with a gardening club search or permaculture search for your area.
So interesting! I live in the North West Florida area (Pensacola) what would you say would grow good here with all the heat!!!!! ☀️ was wondering about turnip greens 🥬 tomatoes 🍅 cucumber 🥒 peppers 🌶 (red, yellow or green) onions 🧅 etc. thanks for your help!
Those probably would have been good for you being in northern florida a few months ago. Now we are shifting into our summer crops (which are not what most of the country grows over the summer). Here are a few videos on growing in summer that will give you some ideas... ua-cam.com/play/PLXaHDuLes4F8RUk3WCxecV0Qe0xazv6E9.html
The Urban Harvest - Organic Florida Gardening thank you so much! I will check these out!
What was good about the crab meal? Kieran?
chitin! sorry im a marine biologist from school so its second nature to me : )
Would you do a worm farm?
Yes, I used to have one at both of my other houses but we just haven't had the time to set one up yet. Its in the works!
Where do you get those raised beds?
I have since replaced these beds, with Hopkins Homestead and it is who I recommend. www.hopkinshomesteadstore.com/ If interested you can use code, urbanharvest to save 5% off each time.
What are the spring months vs summer months in florida?
It varies a bit by where you are in the state. Here in central Florida where I grow the transition months are May & June. South Florida is a month earlier, north Florida is a month later.
If your bed is already finished ,can you just spread the amendments on top or do they need to be worked into the soil ?
I would spread on top as a top dressing like in this video, the video is on castings but it applies to any fertilizer. ua-cam.com/video/DwtjwZYOjJw/v-deo.html
Do you have more tips on dealing with nematodes? Or is the crab stuff sufficient enough? I’ve been planting nematode deters (sorghum, pinkeye purple hill, velvet bean, French marigolds) 2 seasons now and tried solarizing last year. Still pulled out a couple tomatoes and okra with rotten knotted up roots:(
They live in the top 6 inches of soil. If you can bury them below that level (easy to do with tomatoes) you can avoid it affecting the plants as much. Nematodes are a constant battle here. Crop rotation is really important as well. Hope this helps!
so, are you saying that now your bed is ready and you will plant immediately, or let it sit til fall?
I choose to garden year round so yes I planted the beds with summer crops. If you are going to let it rest I would suggest utilizing a cover crop over the summer and amending just like this come fall.
Would kelp tea work as an amendment too?
Absolutely! The tea is basically helping the slow release solids break down into a more bio available form for the plants to take up.
Great videos! I also live on the Florida coast, would you rinse and/or compost kelp before adding to your garden?
I usually leave it out for a day or two in the corner of my yard and either rinse it or let the rain do it but its not typically necessary. The small amounts of salt aren't generally enough to build up in the soil to the point of causing any issues.
I made my own compost and I have a lot of worms in it now! Would I still benefit from worm casting?
If you add enough quality compost, especially if there are lots of worms, then no you don't need to. The castings are more "concentrated" than even good compost with worms but you could easily just save the money and let it take care of itself over time.
@@TheUrbanHarvest Thank you!
@@TheUrbanHarvest it turned out I don't have worms I have black solider larva lol. I'm reading mixed opinions about using that compost or I should let them die first and then use it ? Do you have any suggestions about that?
The link to her vid about soil - ua-cam.com/video/ckRmDhZYGQE/v-deo.html (You're welcome)
Does having a diversity of plants in your raised beds help keep the nematodes away?
I think cover crops and crop rotation will play a bigger role in reducing it it than diversity but everything can contribute in small ways.
I just tried to order organic fertilizer thru Ace Hardware and it said "banned, unable to deliver in Florida" 😳
DirtIsBetter ThanDiamonds wut
I use for fertilizer : ash (Sonny"s)....coffee (Starbuks).....sea weeds (Atlantic ocean) .....Horse manure (local stable) ....Epsom salt (Dollar store).....
Probably due to shipping times. You'll have to venture to the store in person and see if they have any left or perhaps amazon with the prime shipping?
Nice!
I was looking for the Down to Earth brand, got the info from Simple Living in Alaska, they have used that brand and really like it.
I started my romaine lettuce from the base of what I bought at the store ( I have a brown thumb most days) and surprisingly it is growing as well as celery in water. I'm going to transfer to containers and was looking to see what dirt I need to get as well as plant food.
Both of those are cooler weather crops, not sure what your space looks like but they may do better kept in pots on a sunny windowsill than outside. That transition can be a bit of a shock for them so make sure to keep the soil moist the first few days. Then slowly back it off. That will be more important than anything else.
Learn about Guerilla composting . you'd be surprised how much fertilizer you 're actually throwing away and flushing on a daily basis
I've heard of that biz structure before, very useful for those who are unable to compost themselves!
Thanks for this video, cant wait for the next now, great stuff! stay connected! amazing if you get a chance, please check out our garden :)skills!
looks like you got a nice garden going!