How to Start and Maintain Your SoFlo Garden: A Beginners Guide

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Garden Momma

How to Start and Maintain Your SoFlo Garden:
A Beginners Guide

Being a Miami native, I’m unphased by the mad rush for supplies when an impending natural disaster lurks (i.e. hurricanes). Covid-19 is a whole new ball game. It has been 100 years since the Spanish Flu pandemic, and a lot has changed since then. It didn’t immediately hit me that supermarkets would literally run out of food, farmers would be forced to let crops rot because they couldn’t get the help to harvest them, and crops that were harvested may spoil before they even make it to the supermarket due to shipping delays … and then when they did get to a supermarket, they might sell out within a few hours of opening. This went on for weeks… where are people putting all of this food?!

With there being so many unknowns, we, like most, didn’t know what the heck was going to happen. Were supermarkets going to literally shut down at some point? How were we going to get food consistently and reliably? I’m sure you can all relate! This is when we decided to grow our own food. Matt has lots of experience gardening, but to be honest, between work and family, doesn’t have the time to maintain a garden. It was up to me to lead this project. Now, this was a mighty feat on my behalf, as I can barely remember to water my own indoor plants!

I reached out to Little River Cooperative. Little River Coop is an annual vegetable and culinary herb nursery started by Muriel and Tiffany. These women do a lot! During South Florida’s main growing season (October-May) they grow and harvest several fruits, vegetables, and herbs which they sell out of their nursery and at local farmers markets. They have several years of experience and are well suited to help others grow their own herbs and vegetables. They install 4’x8’x10″ wooden raised garden beds complete with the proper soil and plants too! Installation costs $725 and includes the following:

 

Raised bed constructed of pine

Woven root liner

Organic fertilizer
1 cubic yard of their custom soil blend
Seasonal plants
Plant tags
Installation

Initially we had just one raised bed installed. We felt so empowered after harvesting and eating our amaranth greens (surprisingly delicious and highly nutritious) that we decided to have two additional beds installed! They’ve really streamlined the process for the novice gardener, and are a great resource for what will and will not work in Miami by season.  FYI – just because they sell it at Home Depot in May doesn’t mean it will actually grow and bear fruit in your garden as these selections are made on a national level and often do not take into consideration the unique SoFlo weather. We’re growing everglades cherry tomatoes, burgundy okra, a bunch of longevity spinach, Japanese sweet potatoes, papaya, cucamelon, green bell peppers to name a few! BTW, there are many “better than the supermarket” varieties that are great for a home garden but don’t produce enough to be grown commercially and cost effectively.  So, don’t be afraid to try some new things that you haven’t heard of as they are often better than what you are used to!

What was initially an act of survival has turned into an enjoyable, relaxing, and rewarding new hobby. I absolutely plan to continue gardening after this pandemic passes (hopefully sooner than later). Tending to the garden has been a great stress reliever and I’m able to learn alongside Sammy, who has developed quite the green thumb! Being able to provide healthy, fresh food for our family is the most rewarding of all. It’s true “farm to table” in our household! It has also made our family far more waste conscious. Since we moved into our apartment, we stopped composting as it was “convenient” for us. Well, we’re back at it. Saving all our fruit and vegetable scraps, egg shells, coffee grounds, etc. and giving it all back to our soil. This has served as the absolute best fertilizer for our garden!

As you can imagine, there is quite a bit to learn, so here are some essential tools to include in your arsenal when starting and maintaining your own garden as a newbie!

Garden Newbie Essentials:

Hand trowel, Transplant trowel, Cultivator Hand Rake These will serve for a variety of garden tasks including: digging, weeding, loosening soil, aerating, transplanting, etc. This is an excellent set. They’re made from cast aluminum, so there shouldn’t be any problem with rust or corrosion and are designed with soft rubberized non-slip ergonomic handles for a good sturdy grip.
Pruning Shears Get yourself a good set of shears . Don’t skimp out on these and get cheap ones. They’ll mostly likely fail when you need them most. Invest in some sturdy shears and save yourself the trouble later. You may need more than one size, depending on what you’re pruning.
Garden Hat It sure can get hot out here in South Florida! Help cool yourself off with a good outdoor hat for shade. A straw hat will do or get an outdoor UV protection hat made of vinyl. Some of these come with mesh on the sides to let some breeze in.
Hose Nozzel with different spray patterns. This is a must have and will be used daily to water your garden. It has a thumb level flow control and a swivel hose connector to reduce kinking.
Neem oil With the trend and benefits of going natural and organic, you’re going to want to avoid pesticides. How does one rid their garden of unwanted pests? I can’t speak to all those pesky little pests, but I have used neem oil mixed with water to ward off mites from our Thai Chili leaves! After a few days of consistently spraying the plants, the leaves started to look better… and so long mites! This is an absolute necessity in your gardener arsenal for a natural way to deter pests on your plants.  Spray Bottle This BPA free, eco friendly spray bottle will be used when treating your plants with neem oil for example. You may need to purchase spray bottles of varying sizes.

Apart from being Sammy’s momma, growing food in our garden has been one of the most fulfilling things I’ve done in a while. There’s been a ton of learning and it’s been something our whole family has enjoyed and benefited from. Pandemic or not, I can’t encourage you enough to start growing your own food!

Youtube & Instagram Resources

There are countless resources for garden tips online. I’ve found the following profiles very helpful.

The Mocha Gardener
https://www.instagram.com/the.mocha.gardener
This chick really knows her stuff and backs everything up with science!

Epic Gardening
https://www.youtube.com/user/EpicGardening
He approaches each of his videos very pragmatically and clearly. His YouTube Channel and blog are incredible resources.

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