My Backyard Garden

My Backyard Florida Garden

In an attempt to live more in the Nexus, I've started something I've been wanting to do for years: growing my own food. Living in cities and traveling over the past decade have not allowed me to have my own green space. I don't have much of a yard now, but I wanted to give my green thumb a try. 

Step one: Clearing the land

Our yard is small and covered with "weeds," i.e. mini oak trees from our neighbors over-hanging tree. I foolishly thought I could clear the land by hand in an afternoon. I was sorely mistaken, no pun intended.

Original plot covered with mini Oak trees

After hours and hours of labor, it wasn't looking much better

Too many roots

So I decided to try another section of the lawn.

It's actually a bit to the left of this, as I forgot to take a good before photo

This section proved to be much better

My hands were not happy at the end of the day.

Yes I wore gloves.

Literally took 2 weeks to heal

Step 2: A Raised Bed

After a little research I decided a raised bed was the way to go. I ordered one off Amazon, made from recycled materials, that wasn't too expensive. 

"Greenland Gardener 6-Inch Raised Bed Garden Kit $23.44 Made from recycled plastic and wood. Product does not require any tools to assemble, assembles in minutes."

Amazon Prime 2 day delivery

Patented corner system: a snap to assemble (yeah, I like puns)

Requires 480 quarts of soil

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009IAOH0C/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Step 3: Planting the Garden 

I bought sprouting plants from the garden center: 2 varieties of tomatoes, chiles, cucumber, zucchini and eggplant. All Paleo of course!

February 16th 

Back row (in Sun): Eggplant, tomato, zucchini
Front row (in shade): Chilies, tomato, cucumber

Step 5: Water and Wait

Feb 23rd

Zucchini not doing well

March 11th 

Definitely seeing some growth

We have chiles!

We have tomatoes!

April 21st

I had to add tomato cages because the plants are getting so big!

Cucumber not looking great

Lots of tomatoes

Chilies galore!

Maybe a zucchini coming in?

Eggplant flowering

May 1st

The whole garden

So many chilies, a couple just starting to turn red

A couple tomatoes starting to ripen

Lots of success with my yellow tomatoes, I had actually picked about a dozen the day before - delicious!

We have an eggplant

Cucumber doing slightly better

Pitiful zucchini

In order to get my zucchini and cucumber in better shape, I've ordered this climbing trellis. Will hopefully be able to add them before I leave on Friday.

WINGOFFLY DIY Garden Plant Pot Mini Climbing Trellis Plant Support(6 Pack)

3.9 out of 5 stars    13 customer reviews

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That's all for this semester. I hope my mom can take care of my garden while I'm gone and we can enjoy an abundance of homegrown organic produce!

Strategies to Increase Organic, Hydroponic, or Local Food, or Sustainable Seafood in Tourism

Strategies to Increase Sustainability in Tourism: 

Education and Responsibility  

IDS6237.001S18 

Ecotourism Sustainable Tourism Management

After our recent trip to the Historic Cortez fishing village on Anna Maria island, it has become obvious, that with enough innovation, leadership and community effort, adopting more sustainable practices, is not only possible, but has economic as well as environmental incentives. Ed Chiles has worked with the local community to make Pine Avenue "the Greenest Little Main Street in America." The community strives to source local organic ingredients, generate power through solar, compost organic waste, and reuse rain water. Anna Maria Island was named #3 Best Island by TripAdvisor in 2014, with more and more tourists arriving annually. It can be used as a perfect example of how communities can combine tourism with sustainability, particularly in relation to the beach. 

In order to increase sustainability, the message must be spread through education. Unfortunately, many people are either ignorant of the problems, or even more likely, unaware of strategies to solve them. Sustainability should be being taught in public school systems as related to public health. Children must be learning about the mistakes made by past generations, without losing hope for the future.  Popular tourism communities can start doing their part now. Different venues, such as restaurants, museums, shops, farms and government organizations can host fun seminars with sustainability at the forefront. These activities should be designed to gain attention from a variety of ages and lifestyles, ensuring that all tourists can get involved. An incentive for local businesses to present such events would also be brand value. Greener practices are becoming trendier, and numerous consumers are seeking out brands that are known for their sustainability efforts. 

In addition to consumer responsibility, we must also look to the wholesale suppliers/purchasers. Farms should aim to reduce their fertilizers and practice more natural cycle farming. Restaurants must refuse unsustainable seafood, and rather work with local fishermen who are practicing sustainable methods. They should seek out local, organic, native fruits and vegetables, hydroponically grown if possible.  Shops should purchase products that are more environmentally friendly to offer to their customers. With greener options on the menu and in the shops, tourists will have a much higher likelihood to purchase these options. With increased sales of such products, more farms and companies will get on board with producing this items. 

Cortez Fishing Village Field Trip

Jubilee Organic Farm/Cortez Fishing Village Field Trip

Friday March 9th, 2018

IDS6237.001S18 

Ecotourism Sustainable Tourism Management

Jubilee Organic Farm

We started our field trip at Jubilee Organic Farm in Bradenton, Florida. We were lucky to be given a tour by Ryan, who explained their vision.

"The vision was to develop a self sufficient, permaculture based, net zero, farmstead that supplied us with our physical and spiritual food and Jubilee is being birthed. It is an exciting project in every way. The farm has over 10,000 plants, vines and trees that are medicinal, beneficial and edible. We embrace biodiversity and believe in the notion that if you build good soil, it takes care of itself and we don't have to add poison in an attempt to redesign a perfect design." 

https://www.jubileeorganics.org/our-story

Ryan explained that their main job is to grow soil using natural systems, i.e. bugs, wood chips, native plants, etc. They are all about water conservation, so they don't need to use irrigation. They only use greenhouses to start their seedlings. They grow their own green manure: Mexican sunflower is grown for biomass to pair with fakahatchee grass to create a nitrogen silicon-carbon slow-release fertilizer. They cover this with wood-chips to slowly create beds. In turn this "live" soil creates higher yields, in comparison to most commercial agriculture systems with "dead" soil, which require artificial fertilizers and pesticides. He believes this leads to nutrient-lacking food, which in turn spurs the multi-billion dollar supplement business. He also claims commercial food is dehydrated, which is why we must consume so much water. 

Mexican Sunflower

Fakahatchee Grass 

Some species they grow: avocado, fig, moringa, herbs: rosemary, fire bush (native), passion fruit, Barbados cherry, cherry of the Rio Grande, Florida grapes (Dixies), bananas, eucalyptus, coconuts (6-7 varieties), papayas, mangoes, and lowquats.

Moringa: Ryan makes his Rockstar tea with hibiscus and honey; has potential to sustain life

Passionfruit Flower: more beautiful than an orchid

Cherry of the Rio Grande: Brazil Native that grows well in Florida

Chinese Spinach: used for ground cover, as well as edible greens all year round; not available is stores, very nutritious 

Egyptian Spinach: one of Ryan's favorites, thought to have healed a Pharaoh 

One of the 22 varieties of Bananas grown at Jubilee

Although there are no Koala's around, Jubilee grows Eucalyptus (up 40-60 ft tall) to use as a wind break, biomass (chip) and the wood for building.

Florida Dixie grapes: edible, but "not too exciting," more importantly they are grown for biodiversity

Loquat: A Chinese native plant

Palma Sola area is renowned for its mangoes; was one of the biggest commercial production in the country

Papayas : they are not very happy at Jubilee as they prefer a drier atmosphere, so they are working on raising the root ball

The Palma Sola peninsula has created a micro-climate 6-10 degrees warmer than inland, so it is similar to Asian tropical climates. The early settlers realized that, which began the rich history of tropical fruit production in the region. They have an "old lady mango" that is over 150 years old, and the grandma tree of the area. Mangoes can produce fruit for 350 years!

They also have a variety of animals around the farm! 

Pigs

Chickens

PCGS and dogs!

Overall, we had a great time exploring the farm and learning about the natural approach they are taking to create healthful rich food!

Florida Maritime Museum

After Jubilee Farms, we headed to the Florida Maritime Museum. We were given a tour by a local fisherman that grew up in the area. I Facebook lived the tour for our online students.

PCGS at the Florida Maritime Museum

After the Maritime Museum, we met and heard from Ed Chiles. Ed Chiles has worked with the community to make Pine Avenue, “The Greenest Little Main Street in America.” He owns 3 restaurants on Anna Maria as well as the Anna Maria Fishing Company. They produce bottarga from grey-striped mullet that is exported internationally, creating a source of income for the island. Ed Chiles has partnered with the Patel College of Sustainability, and practices many sustainable methods, such as composting, and using farm to table ingredients in his restaurants. 

Ed Chiles on right

Anna Maria Fishing Company

Next, we headed to Anna Maria Fishing Company to take a tour with CEO, Karen Bell. 

Karen Bell

The Beach House 

Finally we ended our day with a delicious meal at The Beach House, one of Ed Chiles restaurants. 

The Beach House

I had the Amber Jack fish and it was incredible!

Jubilee Farms!

We all had a fantastic day and learned so much about our community and sustainability. Ended watching the sunset over the Gulf of Mexico!