We’ve had gardens in the past. I’d been successful in raising things in the north and my significant other had success growing edibles in Florida. If we could merge our experiences we might do well. Since I would be doing most of the digging and initial preparation I applied my preference for well designed and (in my opinion) manageable beds defined by recovered and repurposed wood, mostly 4x4s and 2x4s. Awareness of the vagaries of north central Florida’s climate and knowledge of what grows well and what doesn’t is my partner’s area, so she made choices of the most logical things to plant.
In the north I lived on a low-lying island that flooded annually making the soil extremely rich; adding amenities was not necessary. Such was not true of the natural condition of the soil we have for use where clay predominates and nutrients are minimal. We knew that one useful was to improve the soil was to add compost. One of the better ways to improve soil quality is to add decayed and decaying organic matter. My partner’s family had always composted vegetable scraps so it was easy to continue the process after we made some significant adjustments to the process.
A common way to compost is to use welded wire fencing to make cylinders into which compostable material is dropped. To deter varmints the cylinders are covered with a second piece of wire fitted to cover the opening and held in place with a weight. Such cylinders are adequate, but turning of the compost to hasten the decomposition process is difficult. Our approach was to repurposed concrete blocks into a two bin composting station. We had forty full-size and six half blocks and turned them into a three block high rectangle. Later, we were able to add a fourth row which made the better. To close the top and front we repurposed a long unused chicken corral which are adequate to keep out most critters.
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Having a place to toss your vegetable scraps is only part of the process. To avoid creation of a playground for flies of all sorts each addition of scraps has to be covered adequately. A pile of the same leaves that can be used as mulch served the purpose of organic cover very well. It takes some time to develop a efficient routine, but having two easily accessible bins makes adding, turning and using easier. The wire cylinders work well as the place to put well decomposed but not yet ready as compost material until it is ready for use. They also work well for clippings that will take much longer to decompose. Because we are retired and have time to spare gardening is not as difficult as it’d be if we had to keep regular working hours. The garden is a place to get lost in doing something creative and useful . . . and the results are tastier than any grocery store produce section can offer.
We’ve learned many things and some are worth sharing so we’ll do this again soon and offer the useful things.
