Notes from the editor on the fall garden and upcoming events
By Michele Miller
What’s What New Port Richey
“The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Oh, so true, I’m thinking as I fell hundreds of baby oak seedlings with my trusty Japanese hand weeder, lobbing them at the roots and slashing the spritely leaves into green compost that will enrich the soil as the earthworms churn them into castings, adding necessary nutrients to what’s to be planted next.
Circle of life.
It has, no doubt, been a banner year for the acorns spawned by two mighty oaks that splayed them over the roof and across the yard and into the garden where they are now competing for space with the eggplant, trailing squash plants, and an array of zinnias, marigolds, and milkweed meant for the pollinators.
The acorns are incredibly pesky, but their parents have an essential purpose in providing welcome shade that helps lower the electric bill and shields the summer crops from the blazing afternoon sun.
Yes, it turns out, you can plant in the shade in Florida.
Learned that.
The backyard food forest is a project in the making. A give-and-take with whatever nature provides, our own foibles, and strokes of dumb luck that, on occasion, have us celebrating an unexpected bumper crop; an ever-evolving learning process that, after several years and many dollars, has finally yielded a provisional resource. Lettuce, tomatoes, herbs, eggplant, beans, chard, turnip, carrots, sweet potatoes, cucumbers, bananas, and Asian greens – nourishment that ended up on our plates these past months.
In the wider “big farm’ picture, it’s a mere drop in the bucket – a harvest for two that we might be starting to break even on.
Maybe.
But it’s all worth it because you know how your food is grown (organically) and where it comes from (mere steps from my door).
For those who know the taste of biting into something you grew from seed, gardening can be a satisfying therapeutic habit that offers an outlet – a healthy distraction, a deterrent for feelings of boredom, sadness, or even rage as you fell those pesky oak seedlings.
It’s also a way to meet like-minded souls as you attain more knowledge.
Evergrowing. 🙂
I’ve sopped up my fair share over the years – as a writer of stories about the local efforts by groups such as FarmNet, the UF/IFAS Pasco Extension Master Gardner program, and private growers such as Tanner Johnson of Theo’s Harvest and his mentor Jim Kovalski, one of the first local growers at the NPR library’s Tasty Tuesday Market, who before moving on, promoted local, urban organic gardening movement and the City of New Port Richey’s compost program to anyone who would listen.
As a transplant from the northeast, at times it felt like starting from scratch, especially in Florida’s unforgiving sandy soil. But then came lessons on soil enrichment and the importance of crop rotation and cover crops, bad and beneficial nematodes, and most of all – learning to embrace what will grow here.
Even if it means giving up on the heirloom beefstakes you used to plant up north and giving okra a try.
No doubt, it is the semi-dormant, dreadfully hot season here.
But things are picking up for those looking to plant a fall and winter garden, including a few gardening events coming up that are hosted by New Port Richey FarmNet.
On Saturday, July 19, the organization, led by NPR Environmental Committee chair, Dell deChant, is hosting a 10th Anniversary Celebration and Open House for the Grand Gardens community garden in downtown New Port Richey. The event promises information on regenerative urban farming and gardening, a variety of heirloom organic seeds and seedlings for purchase, and the opportunity to rent a garden plot or sign up for a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) subscription.
New Port Richey FarmNet and Keep Pasco Beautiful also host an ongoing offering, Plants and Pints, a monthly plant swap and informational meeting held on the third Tuesday of the month at Ordinance One in downtown New Port Richey.
Coming in August is the annual Okra Occasion held at the New Port Richey Library, an event that features how-tos on okra, including some tasty recipes that might get the haters rethinking their position on the oft-maligned vegetable. Other events hosted by FarmNet throughout the year include the Sweet Potato Roundup, Collard Greens Fest, and Loquat Festival.
The UF/IFAS Pasco Extension Master Gardener Program offers a wealth of helpful info regularly through programs and workshops held at the Extension in Dade City, but also at libraries throughout Pasco County. Those who might want to take it further are welcome to take classes to become a certified Master Gardener.
If you’d rather explore online, I heartily recommend checking out YouTube videos produced by Pete Kanaris of Green Dreams Nursery in Spring Hill. I recently accessed a 2023 video on summer vegetable gardening in Florida, which prompted me to try propagating a healthy Mortgage Lifter tomato plant to see how that stacks against seeds I’ll be sowing indoors in August. You’ll also find several videos featuring Jim Kovaleski.
You also might want to follow Theo’s Harvest on Instagram and Facebook, where owner Tanner Johnson provides lovely updates on what he’s doing on his two plots- spreading compost and sowing cover crops. Sign-up for Theo’s Harvest CSA is also open, which is a wonderful way to support the local urban gardening movement if you don’t have the space or desire to garden on your own.
Either way, you’ll know where your food comes from.
Now onward. Peace.
Michele
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