Summary: 2017 was a surprising year for Eden Barter Garden. The biggest surprise was our Asian eggplant—a real bumper crop that didn’t stop producing until the snow arrived in December. And our Moringa Oleifera grew like crazy—we couldn’t keep ’em below ten feet tall—and planting the tops produced even more trees! Our overall production has doubled year-over-year since our inception—mainly due to the lessons we’ve learned—from the bug wars to the weather battles. Most of all, we learned not to fight the frustration threshold, and to change direction for easier and more successful harvests.
Meet Howdy Salsa 011017
We met 14-year-old Logan Gonzales at a local Farmer’s Market. Impressed that he had started a business at such a young age, we stopped for a chat. Later, we posted the following article in Issue #4 of the EDEN Barter Garden Newsletter on March 10, 2017.
Ever since I was a young boy I can remember my father making salsa. It took him years of trial and error to get it just right, but he finally perfected the recipe while stationed in Guam for the US Navy. He made it with care every time, and always from the freshest ingredients. Our family would eat anything, as long as it had a touch of Dad’s salsa in it, or on it! Growing up we always had fresh salsa to enjoy and share with our friends and family. His inspiration and passion probably had a lot to do with his own childhood in Southern California, but I think he mainly did it because his salsa made people happy. My Dad taught me to make his fresh homemade salsa as soon as I was tall enough to reach the counter, and I’ve been making it ever since.
My Dad had a huge personality, a welcoming smile and an infectious laugh that always filled our home. Instead of greeting people with a simple ‘hello’ or ‘hi’, my Dad always welcomed folks with a heartfelt ‘Howdy!’. A few days before Thanksgiving in 2015 we lost him suddenly and far too soon. After some thought and careful consideration we decided to honor him by sharing his gift with the world. Howdy Salsa was born in 2016, and in our first sales event we sold out by 11am, even with our handmade sign! The feedback has been very positive with lots of repeat customers, people simply love the flavor and can’t get enough of it. I think my Dad would love to know that we are sharing his life’s passion and making new people happy with every new customer. We are working on a plan to share our salsa with the world, but for now please visit us and many more at the Santa Rosa Farmers Market located at 4587 Woodbine Road, Milton FL 32571. We’re there every Saturday, 9am-1pm in the winter and 8am-1pm in the summer.
— Logan Gonzalez
Please visit our website: www.howdysalsa.weebly.com. And on Facebook: @howdysalsa. And we now have an instagram page: www.instagram.com/howdysalsa
Hope to see you all soon! Logan Gonzales, President Howdy Salsa
Topping the Beds 021517 (link)
Replenishing the compost in each of the raised beds is a yearly springtime chore that’s handled manually. With more than a dozen raised beds, this task is always a workout. Thankfully, compost is much lighter than wet sand. True story: Though I use the wheelbarrow often (almost daily), the tire remained flat for almost twenty years. I never replaced it because the axle was welded into place and I couldn’t get to the tire to replace it (and the tube). And I didn’t mind the extra effort of hauling a load around (work is work). Finally, I decided to replace the darn thing. After several hours of cutting and welding, a new tire was installed. Wow! What a difference!
Read more about EBG’s Raised Garden Beds (including the Bottom Line).
New Raised Bed #12 021717 (link)
Our largest raised bed (#12) took almost a week to construct and fill with compost. It’s not easy to level the blocks and square the bed, but we have lots of practice! Tunneling under the driveway to extend a water line with a pressure nozzle only took a few hours, as we have become quite good at that task. The new pressure line to deliver rainwater to the new raised bed is shown here (above right).
The hard part of laying out a raised bed is squaring the corners. If they’re not square, one side will be longer than the other and you’ll end up with an unsightly gap in the long wall. Tip: Use stakes and string to layout the bed before you install the blocks.
The only thing harder than squaring the corners is levelling the blocks all the way around the perimeter. Sounds easy, right! After lots of do-overs, I developed a trick: Put down a perimeter of 2″x10″ pressure-treated boards and then stack the blocks on top of the boards. To build a bed that’s 10’x6′ long, lay down two 2″x10″x10′ boards and 2 2″x10″x4′ boards. You still need to level the boards, but that’s much easier than levelling the blocks.
Read more about EBG’s Raised Garden Beds (including the Bottom Line).
Romaine Lettuce 022817
Mustard greens, lettuce, and other green-leafy veggies grow best in the cold weather of early Spring. This crop in Raised Bed #4 is ready for harvest.
EBG Newsletter #4 Published 031017
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Issue #4 of the EBG Newsletter was distributed on this date to all of our friends.
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New Ridge Pole for Tank #1 060117 (link)
A hard rain on a hot summer day can be a welcome break in the weather. Unfortunately, this event often caused the PVC supports of our hydrotank rain covers to collapse. This problem has been solved by installing a steel ridge pipe to support the PVC bows.
Read more about EBG’s Hydroponic Tanks (including the Bottom Line).
Dwarf Lemon Trees 060117
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Purchased online from a Florida supplier, we had poor luck with these dwarf Valencia Lemon trees.
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EDEN Garden Photos 061617
Raised Beds #1 through #9 are shown bordering the West driveway (left). All of these beds have removable steel frames that have been equipped with plastic trellis panels. All of these beds are planted in long beans, bitter melon, flowers, and green onions.
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Raised Beds #10, #11, and #12 are planted in purple sweet potato and Moringa Oleifera (below).
Friends are always welcome!
Raised Bed #10 and #11 (above).
Raised Bed #12 (above right), now heavily planted with okra, jute, Asian eggplant, and a fast-growing sweet loquat tree. Note the Mexican petunia and Philodendron in large pots (both are exceptionally hardy and require little care).
New Water Transfer Pump 062517
When you have hydroponic tanks, there’s always a need to move water around, from one tank to another, or simply to empty a tank for cleaning. Needless to say, we’ve amassed quite a collection of special-purpose pumps. This pump is used to empty our tanks. The splitter on the outlet port lets us dump the water in two different locations at the same time.
Cycling Raised Beds #5 and #6 101017
At the end of a harvest, the steel frame is tilted off of a raised bed and the trellises (and bed) are cleaned. The compost is replenished, the frame is tilted back into place, and the bed is replanted. The large rolling bins are used to haul the leftover stems and roots to the compost pile.
Read more about EBG’s Raised Garden Beds (including the Bottom Line).
The Pegroit Garden 071017
This beautiful system (from our friends P&EP) combines ebb and flow hydroponics with insulated fish tanks. Constructed from IBCs, the fish tanks can be seen below (left photo).
This remarkable garden combines old world European charm with the latest in growing technology. We can’t wait to learn more from their experience and designs. Consummate hosts with a magnificent garden, P&EP set a regal table with meals that are best described as exquisite.
Eden Garden Photos 081117
Ten-foot Moringa Oliefera
Moringa really does grow about a foot per month. Although I like to top them out to create 4′ bushes, the boss said to let ’em grow, and grow they did, as shown here in Raised Bed #11.
Raised Beds #1 through #4
Installed to reclaim a mow strip along the West fence line, Raised Beds #1 through #4 have proved very productive.
The Bitter Melon Cave and Coaster
The bitter melon trellis in the back rear garden is heavily overgrown (above). Note the aluminum extension ladder mounted atop the trellis frame. A wheeled dolly traverses the ladder, allowing the rider to harvest the fruits that can only be reached from above. Though fun at harvest time, the arrangement proved dangerous and impractical and was thus removed.
The EBG Hydroponic Tanks (link)
Shown here after two years of operation, all four tanks are equipped with string-reinforced rain covers. These will later be replaced with billboard vinyl. The small tank on the right is a gen-1 tank (constructed from our original design). The other three are gen-2 tanks (lightweight and more efficient).
Read more about EBG’s Hydroponic Tanks (including the Bottom Line).
West Trellis Heat Shield 090117
Designed as a heat shield on the (hot) West side of the house, this 12’x22′ trellis proved to be too tall to handle a heavy wind load. It came down in the winter of 2017 and had to be re-constructed at 6′ tall. This trellis is constructed of 2″ PVC uprights that are set into 3″ sockets (that are buried in the ground).
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Front Patio Cover Cutout 091717
The front patio shows sunlight streaming through the winter cutout that was designed into the front patio covers. This cutout allows lots of light (but little heat) to penetrate the South side of the house. Additionally, the patio covers (and carport) provide shelter for potted plants in the Winter season.
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DM’s Elegant Solution 091417
This rainwater capture solution from our friend DM is artfully accomplished.
The white barrel beneath the gutter serves as a first flush and sediment filter that also helps to regulate the flow into the IBC storage tanks.
Tunneling for a New Soaker System 100717 (links)
The hardest part of installing a new soaker system is adding the new plumbing—especially when you need to tunnel under a driveway. Thankfully, we have lots of practice! We used a 30′ water boring pipe (below) to tunnel under the driveways. With practice, the tunneling task only takes about an hour. Note the new 1″ pressure-line (attached to the fence above the raised beds) installed to feed the soaker hoses in each bed.
We chose a soaker system over a drip system because it’s cheaper, easier to maintain, and easy to reconfigure. To provide an even amount of water to the bed, each soaker hose should be less than 50′ long; anything longer results in dry spots in the middle of the hose run. Our 1-hp water pump produces about 55 pounds of pressure and allows us to supply rainwater to 9 beds (40 sqft each) simultaneously in 30-40 minutes. To anchor the hoses in the beds, we made 10″ ground stakes from medium guage wire for about 8 cents each. We added quick-connect hose spigots to each bed so that we can attach a short hose for hand watering.
Update: Though we kept the quick-connect hose spigots (on the pressure line), we abandoned the soaker system in 2018. Why, because it uses twice as much water as hand-watering, and the (above-ground) pressure line is difficult to maintain. Tip: Hand-watering allows us to continually monitor the health of our plants on a daily basis. Any blight or bug problems are spotted quickly, before they have a chance to spread!
Read more about EBG’s Hydroponic Tanks (including the Bottom Line).
Read more about EBG’s Raised Garden Beds (including the Bottom Line).
A Custom Residential Hurricane Shelter 101118 (link)
Why install a Storm Shelter? I spent a memorable portion of my youth dodging storms in Tornado Alley. I learned that our home could blow away at any time, but anything stored in our underground shelter (including us) would surely be right where we left it after the storm was over. Now, as an adult with 3S (semi-self-sufficient) tendencies, a storm shelter just makes good sense. And I’ve heard horror stories about evacuation experiences: stuck on the freeway for days without food, toilets, or gas. No thanks!
EBG Winter Images 111117
After a mighty struggle to propagate Japanese Ashitaba (aka tomorrow’s leaf), the end is near (above right). Starting with forty plants, we lose an average of 50% per year, due to bugs and heat.
First Snow 120717
While waiting for the new greenhouse to arrive, we stuffed lots of plants in the garage, and we used grow lights to provide heat.
The first hard freeze in several years almost wiped us out. Though we tried every trick we knew, we lost many citrus trees.
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Greenhouse Arrival 121017
The new greenhouse arrived on the third day of our first hard freeze. We worked hard to fill it with plants! Click here to watch a movie of the arrival of our greenhouse.
Winter Covers 123117
Blanketed for a hard freeze at the end of the year, the front garden looks very different than it did two weeks previously. At this point, all we can do is hope that our Moringa trees survive.
Next up, Year 5 (2018).