How to Remove Grass for a Garden

I would say the best way to remove grass and prepare for planting is to smother it with cardboard and then put the mulch on top of the cardboard. The cardboard will kill the grass and then decompose and add to the soil. Heres what to do:

1. Mow or weed whack the area

2. Wet the ground or cardboard (optional) maybe we can get a big bucket and soak it in the bucket for a few before laying it down
3. Lay the cardboard down starting at the corner of the garden where the first plots will go, be sure to overlap sides so no grass can peek through

4. Put a 6" layer of mulch on top of the cardboard. Cover all the cardboard with mulch.

This is the technique we will use to prepare the grounds at the new Coytown Community Garden. Join us for our next workday on June 25th. More info at www.coytowngarden.com

Time to Make "Hey" in the Garden

While the rest of the continent hunkers down for another blizzard, we need to take advantage of the early start to our Spring growing season. Taking a prepared risk to plant tomato or pepper seeds while the nights still dip into the 40's is part of our responsibility to the national gardening community. This January's almost 6" of rain is money in the soil bank, so start earning a return on your investment. Like I always say "Make Hey* while the sun is shining"! (*Hey, as in having fun.) http://www.seminolevoice.com/news/2011/jan/26/my-garden-yours/

Make your own Greenhouse

We just made our own greenhouse with two plant stands we got for $100 each. We put a PVC pipe in the top to connect them and then added irrigation with another PVC pipe with misters attached. Once it gets cold enough, I'll put on a piece of plastic to cover. We'll have this on demo and for sale at our next Organic Growers Meeting on Weds Nov. 18th from 7-9pm at Leu Gardens.

Fall gardening season is upon us!

Here in Central Florida we are entering fall gardening season!

This is a very exciting time because in the next couple of months we have an opportunity to plant all sorts of yummy vegetables. At our Econ Farm, we have already planted seeds of tomatoes, peppers, and some brassicas such as broccoli, collards, and cabbage. Now that it is September it is time to plant, plant, plant! Get em in the ground: cucumbers, zuchinni, yellow crookneck squash, green beans, carrots, radishes, sweet peas and so many more. Happy planting:)

Seed planting time!

Today we planted about 500 seeds with volunteers from Simple Living Institute, Inc! This is the last chance to plant warm season veggies like tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant from seed. We planted a couple flats of cucumbers, yellow squash, and zuchinni. I'm gearing up for the fall with lots of collards, broccoli, cabbage, swiss chard, and bok choy. They should be pretty good size in a couple of months and we will be raffling them off at our upcoming growers meetings and selling them at our fall plant sale at the econ farm saturday October 17th.

Welcome simple livers!

Hello all you simple livers out there! We have started this blog to keep you updated on what Simple Living Institute, Inc. is doing and give you tips and direction on how you can live more simply wherever you are at! Please feel free to leave comments and let us know what you think!