Florida's Department of Making Water Gardeners Sad

On this list, all the plants are illegal.

These species can only be grown in licensed, permitted, and inspected nurseries which have taken measures to ensure no possibility of escape for these plants.

     While some of these plants are unfamiliar, others are sources of human and animal nutrition that should not be disallowed in non-tender areas. For example, non-native water hyacinth is a favorite food of manatees and is reported to be well-received by cattle, goats, and rabbits. It's one of the main plants that I wanted for my pond, since it has beautiful tropical flowers and is edible. A few other plants of making people sad are water chestnuts, water spinach, and water lettuce.

Spiderwort, Tradescantia spp., Asparagus of the South

Uses : Edible, Forage, Xeriscaping. Native to : Eastern North America.
     There are several Tradescantia members that look similar, notably T. virginiana and T. ohiensis. The good news is that they are both edible. The bad news is that when anyone thinks of Tradescantia, they usually think of the striped (Wandering Jew) or purple (Purple Heart, Moses in a Boat), which are inedible.
     These purple beauties will bloom all spring, but each flower  is only open for a day or so. They are very successful, some might even say invasive, and can survive some mowing. The best practice is to relocate these hardy perennials to a flower bed in the full sun.
     Rabbits do enjoy eating them, along with some humans. Green Deane says:

     "Its leaves do not change in flavor as the plant ages. The leaves are good for salads as well, or in soup and stews but they are mucilaginous. The stems can be braised like asparagus. The flowers, at one time favorites for candying, make very pretty blue additions to back yard salads." 

   

Innovative Intensive Farming for the Humid Tropics

     I really enjoy this diagram for a self-sufficient farm in the semi-tropics. This particular plan calls for a large crop of sugar cane, which is processed into juice to feed the ducks and pigs. Perennial nitrogen-fixing forage trees are chopped to feed sheep, and azolla is cultivated to feed fish, sheep, ducks, and pigs.
     All the wastes are managed and recycled into the system to fertilize and prevent erosion. When done on a large enough scale, the meat and vegetable production could be great enough to take to market.
     This particular system could easily be modified for Florida by not changing a thing. Sugar cane grows well in most parts of the state, as does azolla and duckweed. The system might slow down in our cool winter, but should restart without any troubles in our warm spring. The daily chores would involve collecting food for the animals and managing livestock and manures. Like on any farm or homestead, the family's vegetable garden would need periodic tending. Overall, it looks like a balanced system with minimal outside inputs.
     The full description can be found here.
   

Survival Gardening in Florida, Part 2

     As far as growing carbohydrates, nothing really jumps out at me beyond sweet potatoes, cassava, sugarcane, the safe yams, and coontie, which are all very nutritious and pack a good deal of fiber as well. Also, kids like them. The leaves of all but coontie can be eaten or used as fodder. White potatoes are great too, if you are really good at growing them. Some grains that do well in Florida include amaranth and sorghum. Sorghum can be made into a tasty molasses if a person desired it. There are a ton of fruits that grow very well in Florida, the most well-loved being citrus, which can, with choosing proper varieties, be available for picking fresh about half the year. Canna, carrots, lilies, and cassava roots are all loaded with vitamins and nutrition. Sugarcane grows very well through most of the state. Bees love it here too.
     As far as growing fats, that's going to be a tough one. This might be a good time to mention micro-livestock like rabbits, guinea pigs, or chickens. Quail are great, but need an extremely high-protein feed as they naturally eat insects. Rabbits can live almost completely on grass and weeds. Chickens can live on almost completely grains and bugs. Fish can be raised in ponds or containers and fed things like azolla, duckweed, or garden worms.
     If I had to choose just three plants to grow to survive on, it would be cowpeas, cannas, and sweet potatoes. Cowpeas are a nitrogen-fixing legume that grow very well in poor soil and can be grown twice a year. The beans are high in protein and fiber, while the plant is high in protein for the rabbits. Cannas, aside from being beautiful and able to handle our hot, humid weather, can yield a starchy root and the leaves are high in vitamins for the rabbits. Sweet potatoes are a nutrient-dense starch, with very excellent tasting leaves which are high in protein. The leaves from all three plants can be eaten raw or cooked.
     Areas of the property which are not actively gardened can be, over time, landscaped with perennials that produce nutrition, fodder, or both. My favorite useful perennial is probably the wild rose bush. They don't have much of a smell, but make large, beautiful flowers that turn into rose hips - very nutritious. The leaves are good fodder and the thorns make the plant valuable for fencing. Thorned or thornless prickly pears are also a wonderful perennial, as the leaves are edible and the fruit is delicious. Plant those with an asiatic lily in between each bush and you will have created lush, flowery nutrition.
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Actual Survival Gardening, Part 1

    Survival gardening is a phrase that has been thrown about and equated with permaculture, which it is not. Permaculture is lasting plantings of perennials which give abundantly year after year, while survival gardening is active gardening with a care to provide all of a person's nutritional needs.
     All nutritional needs. Fats, carbohydrates, proteins, fibers, trace minerals, and vitamins.
     There is a lot of debate as to how much land it would take to provide for all nutritional needs. Some people might say one acre per person, others more. Would all nutritional needs include meat and fish? what about the healthy fats that are in avocado and olives? So everyone is going to have their own opinion on land consumption, particularly in regards to climate and use, for example, like bio-intensive agriculture.
     I think as far as growing protein the first thing that jumps to mind is nut trees, and the first one that really jumps to mind is pecans. They grow really well in most parts of Florida, where other nuts fail. The rumors of a pecan blight exist, though I have not seen it for myself yet. Then there are bean plants, which are low-growing, sun-loving herbaceous protein factories. Peanuts, cowpeas, and green beans all do well here. Probably the best part about growing beans is that the plant stalk and leaves make great fodder for livestock once the beans are harvested. Sprouted grains are reputedly high in protein and vitamins.
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Perennial Vegetables for the South

     Ever since I found this list I have been returning to it whenever I might be going to a plant sale or nursery. There are many plant sales in the spring and fall, so here's a great list of plants that produce food and grow well here in Florida.
     Most, if not all, of these plants can also be fed to the rabbits, except for maybe taro.                                        

Perennial in all of the Hot and Humid zone:

Allium ampeloprasum perennial sweet leek

Allium cepa aggregatum shallot

Allium cepa aggregatum potato onion

Allium cepa proliferum walking onion

Allium fistulosum Welsh onion

Allium tuberosum garlic chives

Apios americana groundnut

Aralia cordata udo

Arundinaria gigantean canebrake bamboo

Asparagus officinalis asparagus

Asphodeline lutea yellow asphodel

Atriplex halimus saltbush

Bambusa spp. clumping bamboos

Brassica oleracea acephala tropical tree kale

Bunias orientalis Turkish rocket

Camassia scillioides wild hyacinth

Canna edulis achira

Cedrella sinensis fragrant spring tree

Cnidoscolus spp. bull nettles

Colocasia esculenta ‘Celery Stem’ taro

Colocasia esculenta taro, cocoyam, eddo, dasheen

Cynara cardunculus cardoon

Cynara scolymus ‘Purple Sicilian’ globe artichoke

Cyperus esculentus sativa chufa

Dioscorea bulbifera air potato

Dioscorea japonica jinenjo

Dioscorea opposita Chinese yam

Diplotaxis spp. sylvetta arugula

Helianthus tuberosa sunchoke

Hemerocallis daylily

Malva moschata musk mallow

Nasturtium officinale watercress

Nelumbo nucifera water lotus

Oenanthe javanica water celery

Opuntia spp. spineless nopale cactus

Petasites japonicus fuki

Phyllostachys spp. running bamboos

Phytolacca americana pokeweed

Polygonatum biflorum canaliculatum giant Solomon’s seal

Qiongzhuea tumidissinoda running bamboo

Rumex acetosa French sorrel

Rumex acetosa ‘Profusion’ sorrel

Rumex acetosella sheep sorrel

Rumex scutatus silver shield sorrel

Sagittaria latifolia arrowhead

Sagittaria sinensis Chinese arrowhead

Sasa kurilensis chishima-zasa bamboo

Scorzonera hispanica scorzonera

Semiarundinaria fastuosa temple bamboo

Stachys sieboldii Chinese artichoke

Taraxacum officinale dandelion

Tilia spp. linden

Perennial in colder parts of the Hot and Humid zone:

Allium tricoccum ramps

Chenopodium bonus-henricus good king Henry

Cicorium intybus chicory

Crambe maritima sea kale

Laportaea canadensis wood nettle

Levisticum officinale lovage

Matteuccia struthiopteris ostrich fern

Urtica dioica nettles

Perennial in warmer parts of the Hot and Humid zone, or perennial with protection. Most of these species can also be grown as annuals in the colder parts of this zone.

Abelmoschus manihot edible hibiscus (as dieback perennial)

Alternanthera sissoo sissoo spinach

Arracacia xanthorhiza arracacha

Basella alba Malabar spinach

Brassica oleracea wild cabbage

Brassica oleracea acephala ‘Western Front’ perennial kale

Brassica oleracea acephala ‘Tree Collards’, ‘Walking Stick Kale’

Brassica oleracea alboglabra gai lon

Brassica oleracea botrytis perennial broccoli, including ‘9 Star’

Brassica oleracea ramosa branching bush kale, including ‘Dorbentons’

Capsicum annum ‘Perennial Capsicum’ sweet pepper

Carica papaya papaya

Coccinia grandis ‘Sterile’ perennial cucumber (probably as dieback perennial in colder parts)

Cnodoscilus chayamansa chaya (as dieback perennial)

Cucurbita ficifolia Malabar gourd

Dendrocalamus spp. clumping bamboos (probably as dieback perennial even in warmest parts)

Dioscorea alata white yam

Dioscorea esculenta asiatic lesser yam

Dioscorea trifida cush cush yam

Dolichos lablab hyacinth bean

Eleocharis dulcis water chestnut

Gigantochloa spp. clumping bamboos (probably as dieback perennial in bad winters)

Gynura crepioides Okinawa spinach

Hibiscus acetosella cranberry hibiscus

Ipomoea aquatica water spinach

Ipomoea batatas sweet potato

Momordica charantia bitter gourd

Manihot esculenta cassava

Moringa spp. moringa (as dieback perennial)

Musa x paradisica ‘Rajapuri’ banana (warmest parts, with long season protection)

Nastus elatus clumping bamboo

Oxalis tuberosa oca

Phaseolus coccineus runner bean

Phaseolus lunatus Lima bean

Phaseolus polysantus cache bean

Physalis pruinosa ground cherry

Psophocarpus tetragonobolus ‘Day Length Neutral’ winged bean

Psophocarpus tetragonobolus winged bean

Saccharum edule pitpit

Sauropus androgynous katuk (as dieback perennial)

Sechium edule chayote

Smallianthus sonchifolia yacon

Solanum tuberosum & spp. potato

Tetragonia tetragonioides New Zealand spinach

Trichostigma octandrum basket vine (as dieback perennial)

Xanthosoma brasiliense belembe

Xanthosoma saggitifolium tannier, yautia, malanga (roots need long season)

Xanthosoma violaceum violet-stem taro (roots need long season)

Scrub Trees for Survival Fodder

     There has been a growing movement for farmers to seek additional feed sources for drought seasons and winter. Traditionally farmers would set aside dry feed or silage for the winter, but many have found themselves unprepared for warm seasons of extreme drought. This, like everything else, makes pastured meat more expensive.

     The Australians have really been looking into this problem, and they have suggested planting trees for fodder during drought. If done with alley-cropping techniques, this can actually increase pasture production thanks to the windbreaks and shade the trees will produce.

     If your animals are having trouble accepting the survival fodder, or you aren't sure what to feed them, more information is here. Rabbits can eat anything horses can eat, and I think goats and cattle as well. 

     Some of the best agricultural information is coming from the tropics these days.

Once fodder trees began to be planted on-farm, the 

technology spread rapidly throughout the region, as

farmers quickly realized the nutritional benefits of 

feeding fresh leaves to their cows.

Benefits vs. Arguments for Guerrilla Gardening

     Guerilla gardening is in full swing during the warmer months all across the United States. Likely a reaction to cooped-up urbanites retaliation against metropolitan space waste, guerrilla gardeners plant flowers and vegetables in areas that are otherwise laying fallow or abandoned.
     Some people aren't happy with guerrilla gardeners. Recently in Washington DC, the city removed hundreds of red, white, and blue flowering plants that had been placed by a guerrilla gardener on a sloping embankment, claiming that his climbing could lead to falling, which would incur liability for the taxpayers. They also claimed that there was no money in their budget for the upkeep of the plantings.
     Another recent article in the New York Times paints urban guerrilla gardeners in a negative light by supposing that a landscape of nothing but edibles will be a landscape without pollinators. This, of course, is untrue. I also emailed the author, Mariellé Anzelone, about her error concerning sassafrass. Her solution is not to avoid planting up the urban landscape, but to plant native wildflowers to promote diverse pollinators.

   "Urban activists should celebrate the indigenous wildflowers that sustain our pollinators beyond the short life span of fruit tree blossoms. In addition, we should incorporate native edibles into the planting palette. Blueberries, Juneberries and beach plums feed more species than just us humans."

     Anzelone and I agree on one thing, which is that native plants should be incorporated into any plan for regreening an urban zone. All too often city planners try to beautify by planting non-useful non-natives, like crepe myrtle and oleander. WE, the citizens, should be greening with natives and edibles like oak trees and others that were once found here in a time before pretty little homes.
     She neglects to point out that done properly, a neighborhood or area planted with nothing but edibles would still attract pollinators because the garden planners would want great diversity in their plantings. Anyone with a bit of gardening knowledge knows to plant more than one type of vegetable, or a time will come when you will be hungry. Does she think guerrilla gardeners are greening their cities with nothing but Irish potatoes, the nation's most popular vegetable? Or nothing but red delicious apples?
     As any permie can tell you, diversity in plantings is what promotes resistance to disease and pests. Planting a good deal of wildflowers will bring in butterflies and bees, but also bring in caterpillars and grasshoppers. You have to pick and choose your battles, and better to have a wide variety of edible or useful plantings than a lot of space wasted on toxics that attract plant-eaters. With the internet making distant knowledge available, and international shipping being how it is, there is no reason every abandoned easement can't be planted with useful edibles, or native edibles, or just native plants. Sweet potatoes from Japan, climbing beans from Germany, sugarcane from the Dominican Republic, the possibilities are endless. For some ideas for diverse edibles for Florida, check out my site and this site.
     For example, a maple tree might be useful in several ways, and is native. Native cottage roses are the same way. Both can be edible to humans and urban livestock and provide beauty. Roses attract pollinators. Maples provide shade and windbreaks, and can provide firewood. Almost any plant can be rated according to some simple points like these, and as long as plantings remain diverse, urban gardeners will do well with it.

     Eight Points for Identifying Useful Plants

     Edible to humans

     Edible to urban livestock

     Edible to urban wildlife

     Attract pollinators

     Provide beauty

     Provide shade and windbreaks

     Provide textiles or firewood for humans

     Provide habitat for urban animals

Covert Urban Homesteading, Part 2: Animals

   Without animals, your urban homestead is really just a super-nice garden. To really maximize your land use, you will want to get some small herbivores to convert your kitchen waste and yard refuse into instant fertilizer and protein. It should be noted that since you have a homestead here, and not an urban farm, you should be trying to provide as much of your animal feed as possible yourself. Buying feed is not what homesteaders do, it's what urbanites do, right?
     Every one of these animals will need their human caregivers to protect them from human and animal threats in addition to providing quality feed and water, and a clean living environment. Urban homesteaders here in Florida will have numerous pests such as weasels, hawks, cranes, cats, dogs, snakes, raccoons, teenagers, homeless, and the odd code enforcement official to contend with.

     Rabbits are by far my favorite outside animal. They can live on a completely home-grown diet of grasses and weeds, or planted vegetation. Larger operations will probably appreciate he convenience of pellet, which is not prohibitively expensive. The meat and manure are high quality, and extra stock can be sold as pets.

     Chickens are hilarious little birds. I've read that a combination of cat food and day-old bread, supplemented with egg shells, can be enough food for them, though I've never tried it.

     Quail need an extremely high protein diet as naturally they would eat nothing but insects. I've heard that they thrive in areas high in cockroaches, so...

     Guinea Pigs, also called cuys, are good eats in parts of South America. Think of them as slightly smaller rabbits.

     Mice/Hamsters. I'm considering raising them just for their cat and dog food value, since they will eat rabbit pellet and kitchen scraps and be fine with that. Maybe ground hamster could become the next big chicken or fish feed additive?

     Pigeons, especially homing pigeons, are popular outdoor pets in West Florida. I've heard that they can free-range and return home very well. They eat similar feed as chickens.

     Fish can be kept in aquariums as pets, raised for meat value, or raised for their plant fertilization value (think Aquaponics). Crawdads, catfish, and tilapia are all raised successfully here in Florida. Perhaps one of the most covert urban animal operations could involve a decorative "koi" pond filled with catfish or tilapia (Guess what I'm building in my back yard!).

     Bees live very well here in Florida, the main consideration being the location and disguise of your hive(s). After all, no one can complain you have bees if they can't see the hives. Most urban and suburban areas of Florida have decorative flowering plants and trees, that produce year-round blooms.

The (Draft) Safe Plant List for Florida Rabbits

     There is a large conversation taking up bits of internet as more people worldwide work on safe, natural diets to feed rabbits. There is so much information out there, but most is for climates that have plants that do not grow well here in Central Florida.

     The nutritional makeup up a rabbit's complete diet is a large subject best explored here (Rabbit Nutrition: The Numbers). This is meant to be just a list of safe plants, along with a list of common but unsafe plants. Starred items I have personally fed my rabbits with no ill effects.

Grassy Types 

     Banana leaves*

     Rye*

     Bamboo*

     Yellow Nutsedge*

     Bahia*

     Plantain*

     Sunflower

     Sorghum*

     Pampas Grass*

     Fountain Grass

     Kenaf
Papyrus*

Legume Types

     Cowpea leaves*

     Peanut leaves and shells*

     Black Turtle bean leaves*

     Green runner bean leaves*

     Desmodium spp. leaves*

Herb Types

     Spanish Needle (Bidens alba, Bidens pilosa)*

     Soap Ginger*

     Cardamom Ginger

     Purslane*

     Sweet potato leaves*

     All Rosaceae family, including blackberry*, raspberry, pears*, and roses

     Sycamore*

     Maple*

     Hibiscus*

     Mulberry

     Citrus leaves*

     Persimmon leaves*

     Canna leaves*

     Squash spp.*

     Carrot leaves*

     Cilantro*

     Rosemary

     Basil

     Parsley*

     Lemongrass

     Oregano

     Sage

     Prickly Pear (spines removed)

     Pusley, Brazilian* and Floridian*

     Violet Woodsorrel*
Palmetto*
Spanish Dagger*
Cabbage*
Spiderwort*
Loquat*

Unsafe but common plants

     Crinum

     Century plant

     All Prunus species including Cherry Laurel (fruit may be safe, pits are not)

     Chinaberry Tree

     4 O'Clocks

     Taro, Dasheen, Elephant Ear

     Caladium

     Amaryllis

     Gladiolus

     White Potato Greens

     Oleander

     Tomato plants

     Crape Myrtle

     Lantana

     Privet

     Frangipani

     Rhoeo spathacea Steam (syn. R. discolor Hance)

     Oyster plant

     Moses-in-a-Boat (Purple Heart)

     Rain lily
Asthma Weed, Spurge

Unknown Toxicity Status

     Heliconia

     Ixora
Oak trees and acorns

     Hydrangea

     Ferns

     Bromeliads

     Cabbage Palm

     Crepe Myrtle

     Fig

     Pine needles

     Stargazer or Daylily

     Kiwi

     Muscadine grape

     Orange Honeysuckle

     Mexican Creeper

     Passionflower

     Magnolia

     Allamanda

     Confederate Jasmine

     Wisteria

     Dog Fennel

     Liriope

     Peace Lily

     Periwinkle

     Mexican Petunia

     Air Potato, Diascorea spp.

     Mimosa

     Acacia spp.

     Begonia spp.

     Cypress spp.

     Pecan leaves

     Prickly sida, Sida spinosa
Monkey Ear Tree leaves

     Here is a quick list of some rabbit-safe forages from Hawaii. It may give some ideas to those who live in South Florida.

Kiawe (mesquite) 

Mulberry 

Plantain (the small green lawn weed type as well as the banana types of plantain)

Sweet potato vines

Sunflower - seeds, leaves and stems 

Grape vines and leaves 

Rosemary (it is said rosemary will make their wool lustrous, however they won't always eat it.) 

Basil 

Lemon balm 

Daikon 

Banana - leaves, skins, fruit and trunk

Corn - husks, leaves and stems - not too much of the grain, though.

Roses - leaves, flowers and stems 

Beet greens  - not too much of the root, but you are supposed to eat that yourself.

Pigeon Pea - leaves and pods

Russian olive - although they may not like the taste

Ti leaves

Guinea grass - although they prefer the young leaves to the old stickery ones.

Dandelions

Carrots, especially the green tops

Nasturiums

Parsley

Alfalfa

Clover

   
Rabbits turn weeds into fertilizer, just think of the possibilities...

Canna Lily (not really a lily at all)

Uses: Edible, Forage, Xeriscaping. Native to : Southeastern United States.

     This popular ornamental plant can be seen blooming everywhere in midsummer, but it is also a valuable part of a survival garden. The leaves and flowers are showy and tropical, shooting up from a rhizome that is loaded with starch.

     They are closely related to ginger, and will do well in any area that ginger does well in. Like ginger, they will freeze to the ground in wintertime and come back next spring. Cannas can handle full sun if planted in well-drained soil with adequate rainfall. Like taro, they do well in fairly damp areas.
     The roots can be dug and cooked like a potato, usually for at least two to five hours. Traditionally the rhizome was cooked then mashed and strained to remove the fibers. The starch is well known for being easily digestible for infants and elderly. In Vietnam, large amounts of canna are grown to make cellophane noodles. 

     If the rhizomes can be used as a potato, it would logically follow that a very enterprising individual could distill liquor from them much as a vodka is made. Perhaps cannas and taro could be a great source for  a southern alcohol bio-fuel?
     The leaves and stems are used as animal feed in some areas, as cannas can grow well on marginal lands with little soil nutrition. The plants are relatively unaffected by pests, which is no surprise considering how well they do here in Florida.

     Ms. Wildcraft from Backyard Food Production put up a great little video about some plants that are useful and can really take the heat. If you want to skip to the part where she talks about cannas, that would be about five minutes into the video.

The Rabbit Manure Garden

     I didn't believe the claim that rabbit manure was garden gold, so I decided to prove it for myself. After all, if a five gallon bucket of this stuff can go for $10 or more, it must be great, right?

    The patch above was the remains of the first pond hole, the hole that had the cable line running through it. I filled it with rabbit manure and planted some seeds, topped with a bit of mulch. (A sunken garden bed). With the watering and excellent spring weather, the squash plants quickly overgrew the beans and peanuts, with the cannas reaching outrageous proportions faster than the cannas elsewhere. I didn't even expect these squash to do much more than sprout, since I have had such dismal luck elsewhere in the yard. They are even larger than my dad's squash plants, and he's a gardening genius who's fond of fertilizer. It would be pretty nifty to get a squash out of this bed, but if I don't, the squash leaves are good rabbit eats.

Same squash plants planted at the same time lacking manure.

     There are wild claims on the internet that rabbit manure is wonderful because it contains no weed seeds. That is true, but only if you feed your rabbits commercially prepared pellet diets and no other food. My rabbit manure has weed seeds from their favorite weeds, and seeds from some of their other foods like strawberries and blackberries. So they poop out more food to eat. Awesome.
     An interesting, but unrelated paper about phosphate.

Can Permaculture sustain us?

     Toby Hemenway is one of the best-known Permaculture advocates available. He is quite knowledgeable on the subject, and gives talks and teaches courses over there on the west coast. An article from his website was probably the best gardening article ever written, which is to say most horticultural information is content-milled. That article really inspired me to find out what is native and useful here, and I can't imagine living anywhere else.

     But can Permaculture really sustain us? Some people think of it as more of a religion rather than an agricultural technique, which is definitely a problem. And the answer, which Mr. Hemenway sidestepped a bit, is that it cannot. Unless we change every aspect of our lives to really coexist with the planet. That would include less future children, and not more. Less fossil fuels, not more. Less air conditioning and heating, and not more. Less can be more with proper design, hence, permaculture.

      It really comes into perspective when you attempt to figure out the acreage it would take for a family to feed itself. More than one acre, for sure. At least one adult working  full-time on that acreage to plant, harvest, and maintain production. Families would be forced to to move to be spread out in order to have that land for use. The surface area of the arable parts of the planet is known and can be calculated. The calculations do not add up to the population numbers that we have now.

     That's sad, right? Not really. I can't even tell you all the people that I've met that never want to have kids. They are a product of our industrial society, and they don't want to give up the luxury they would miss out on  if they had to raise children. Then there is also the fear that this industrial society isn't worth living in, that it would be a shame to bring a child into this. Personally I think that's why zombie flicks are so popular, because people secretly long for a less complicated life where the threats to your welfare are clearly visible. Children are an investment no matter what your ethics and religion, of time, energy, even patience.

     But that's just one aspect of how lives must be changed to have a future for our race. Toby Hemenway  forsees a potential future for us that he describes well in this video. What do you forsee?

Citrus in Florida

     Back when people first started moving to Florida in the late 1800's (No AC, what were they thinking?), they tried planting groves of the different trees over the entire state. I'm pretty sure Swingle and Dancy cultivars were created here. Since then, years with freezes have slowly been driving the industry to the areas south of Tampa and Orlando. It's still a multi-billion dollar a year industry, employing thousands of workers.
     Pest pressures, like fungi and insects, make our oranges unsightly, so bland eating oranges usually come from California or Arizona, while Florida's tasty oranges usually go to make juice.
     Here in west central Florida, just north of Tampa, I have been having a lot of success with loquat (sort of a citrus). The other varieties of less cold sensitive citrus are Meyer lemon and tangerine/mandarin. Key limes can't handle the cold. Ugli fruits are even more tender, Americans sometimes import them from Puerto Rico and further south.

     Over the years I have watched my father struggle with trying to grow citrus here. He's tried every variety, all different kinds of planting situations. He's tried planting on slopes. He's tried planting near a pool (heat sink). He's tried planting near a south-facing wall. We've agreed to give up on oranges, particularly since the price of trees has gone up over the last few years to usually at least $35 per tree. Could it have something to do with this?
     The state was found to be at fault for the forced removal of 865,000 residential, dooryard citrus across the southern counties. They have been paying approximate $30 million in damages, to replace the removed trees.

"[Judge Robin Rosenberg] wrote that “exposed citrus trees, which were not determined to be infected with citrus canker but were located within 1,900 feet of another citrus tree determined to be infected with citrus canker, do not present an imminent threat to the public health, safety or welfare, or constitute a public nuisance.”

    There is something to be said for planting the trees in the appropriate microclimate. Sepp Holzer, farming genius, can supposedly grow them in snow. If you use blankets and Christmas lights to keep your tree warm, do be sure they are the old fashioned incandescent type, as LEDs won't make heat for you. My father has used the blankets and lights trick successfully, but in my not-so-humble opinion, it's really not worth the effort. There are so many other kinds of good fruit trees to plant, why try to baby one to keep it alive? Spend electricity on plants? What?
     Always beware that due to pest pressures a lot of citrus are grafted onto root stocks, and a particularly tough freeze cycle may kill your citrus but the root stock may survive to provide you a less than desirable fruit. One of the most common is sour orange, which is actually a pretty nice fruit. Tart like a lemon, but orange flavored. I made sour orange meringue pie one year with it.

Covert Urban Homesteading, Part 1: Plants

Covert - Adjective: Not openly acknowledged or displayed

Homesteading - Noun: an act or instance of establishing a homestead.

     My yard is the nicest place in the neighborhood, the main reason why no one has complained yet about the vegetable garden in the front yard. Of course, it would probably matter more if a person could actually see the vegetables growing in the yard, but since most people do not know what vegetables look like, I haven't heard any complaints about them yet. So I have the vegetables growing in the flower beds that came to me with the house, things like sweet potatoes, cowpeas, sorghum, flax, and sunflowers. Also cannas, which double as a survival food source and more distracting foliage and flower. The vegetables are planted in circles around the bases of trees or in-line with the edges of the circular flower beds, so they don't stick out. Sorghum even looks like an attractive variety of one of those decorative grasses that people are endlessly planting.
     There may come a time where you can grow a garden, but you will have to work within very strict standards for unsightliness. For example, some neighborhoods may not allow rain barrels or compost piles. Both of these can be buried into the ground. It may not be the most desirable thing, but it's better than having no stored water and no compost, right? Also all garden beds should be edged, mulched, and manicured at all times. Covert urban gardening takes more time than regular gardening, and isn't for everyone.
     After the front yard gardens in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Orlando, Florida, made the news, I checked out our county codes to see what they said about front yard gardens, animals, and easements. I won't bother you with the details, but for the most part, pretty lax on gardens but strict on animals, at least for residential areas. It wasn't too much later that a guy in Oregon or somewhere far away got busted for having unlicensed ponds, and just recently a couple in Orlando got busted for a front yard garden. But their front yard garden doesn't look like my front yard garden, which just makes me think they were DOING IT WRONG.

So here are my techniques in five easy steps...

     Step 1: Check your regional municipal codes. Each state, county, city, and suburb probably has its own rules, and don't forget your deed restrictions printed right on your deed! Don't fall into the trap as these unfortunate people have. Know your rights, then use them. Preferably to grow delicious food.

     Step 2: Check out what other people have in their yards. This serves many purposes. For example, you will get a feel for what grows very well in your climate with little care. Is that a persimmon over there, un-pruned and un-watered? Is that a pear tree? Does that neighbor down the street have a lot of edible native plants? Do you? If everyone has front yard gardens, then you are in the clear. If everyone has vegetables growing in buckets, then either you have a lot of renters or the soil won't grow those vegetables well so the neighbor is using store-bought stuff. If the neighbors all have manicured grasses with expensive, nursery-grown landscaping, it would be safe to say that some jerk will probably be unhappy with your rows of corn.

     Step 3: Do it slowly, and do it right the first time. Put in plants with careful thought as to how it will look once it is growing. No one wants to look at potato plants dying down for the season, but maybe the okra or peanuts will be big enough so no one will be able to see the potato plants.  Leave the plants that need trellising, which is considered unsightly, for the back or side yards, or just don't grow them. If you are starting with bare dirt or open grass, then build largish, circular, raised beds around productive trees. Some people call these plant guilds, or three sisters gardens.

     Step 4: Add Flowers. Since most people don't know what vegetables look like, they will think you are doing a lot with annuals every spring. Encourage that. Also put in attractive, edible perennials, like roses. The leaves are fodder for animals and the rose hips are a good food. Even bulbs like tulips or amaryllis can be cultivated and traded or sold, and they will encourage people to not notice all the other plants you are growing on. There are a ton of easy, edible perennials. Some people call this Permaculture.

     Step 5: Maintain. Mulch like crazy, it's good for the soil, and it looks nice. If you have a lot of foot traffic in a spot so the ground cover turns to dirt, then put some pavers there to keep up the place. Keep the remaining grass well-trimmed, and pick up the litter that floats into your yard. Rake fallen leaves into the flower beds as mulch. Or shred and compost as is your preference. Stagger your plantings so that your front yard has a lot of life in every part of the growing season. Some people call this biointensive farming.

Backyard Foraging

     I may have said it before, but the gentleman over at Eat the Weeds is doing some good work. This particular video is my favorite one yet.

Aquaponics, are we missing the point?

     Aquaponics, the art of using recirculating pumps to provide habitat for fish growth and nutrition for soil-less agriculture, is commonly becoming available to everyday people via the information exchange on the interwebs. It is potentially a viable gardening technique for apartment dwellers and others who don't have access to even a small plot of semi-arable land, but does require electricity.
     After reviewing systems and advice for days on end, I have decided that aquaponics practicioners are completely missing the big picture...that Humanity needs start utilizing other plant sources more effectively, and that using electricity to run pumps to grow tomatoes IS STUPID. Besides, when have Tilapia ever produced an attractive pumpkin? The answer, of course, is never.
     Cattails, on the other hand, are efficient bog plants that have been staples in Native Americans' diets for thousands of years. Managed effectively, Tilapia could probably make some huge cattails, taro, watercress, duckweed, azolla, water chestnuts...and probably dozens of other potentially delicious yet unexplored margin plants. Even without fish farming, more bog plants should be explored as efficient (space and resource) fodder and food sources.
     The electricity and equipment cost of aquaponics is another factor that is best forgotten until afterward, largely because the majority of people that practice aquaponics seem to be aquarium lovers who want to take their fish raising large scale, or hydroponic plant farmers who want to take their nutrition dollars away from store-bought salts. The pumping power to mechanically aerate and filter the highly stocked tanks will never be cheaper than just buying fish meat, expecially when you factor in fish feed and time. And frequent chemical tests. And the possibility of fish disease ruining your whole crop.
     Just think about it.

     There are very few people working on doing this sort of thing sustainably. Perhaps the best and easiest solution would be custom-built ponds with floating plant beds on the surface, with only inexpensive bubblers for aeration and circulation. There is still the fish feed issue, but perhaps it could be lessened with Azolla, Duckweed, Black Soldier Fly Larvae, and Redworms. All of which would need support systems and engineering, but are currently being done well on the small scale. There is still the solids issue. Solids are not really a problem if you have a garden, which everyone who can probably should have anyhow.

     A few (mostly) sustainable residential backyard aquaponics practitioners:
Garden Pool - eggs, tilapia, vegetables. Run on solar power.
Aquaponics HQ - fish, duckweed, rabbits, Black Soldier Fly.

Antique Research on Floridian Rabbit Forages

    A biology research paper, written in 1934, and published in the Journal of Mammalogy in 1936, discusses the diets and habitats of the Florida Marsh Rabbit. Unfortunately the paper is not available for public viewing, but I would like to share with you the information gleaned from the rabbits.
     About 9 rabbits were captured from Newnan's Lake area, east of Gainesville, Florida, and fed plants found in the surrounding habitat. Sixty-four different species of plants were offered. Some were eaten right away, others eaten only when hungry, and others were not even on pain of starvation (yes, bunnies died during this experiment).

Trees and Vines Eaten Readily

French Mulberry (Callicarpa americana)

Dwarf thorn (Craiaegus uniflora)

Blackberry (Rubus betulifolius)

Dewberry (Rubus continentalis)

Sweet gum (Liquidambar styraciflua)

Common elder (Sambucus canadensis)

Red bud (Cercis canadensis)

Ward's willow (Salix longipes)

Yellow jessamine (Gelsemium sempivirens)

Water oak (Quercus nigra)

Groundsel tree (Baccharis halimifolia)

Saw brier, Green brier, wild bamboo, jackson brier, sarsparilla (Smilax spp.)

 

Herbs and Small Plants Eaten Readily

 

Centella (Centella repanda)

Marsh pennywort (Hydrocotyle spp.)

Cattail (Typha latifolia)

Rush (Juncus effusus)

Arrowhead (Sagittaria lancifolia)

Smartweed (Persicaria hirsula)

Ground cherry (Physalis floridana)

Nightshade (Solanum sisymbriifolium)

Water hyacinth (Piaropus crassipes)

Ruellia (Ruellia parviflora)

Golden club (Orontium aquaticus)

Violet (Viola esculenta)

Yellow woodsorrel (Xanthoxalis langloisii)

Sow thistle (Sonchus oleraceus)

Golden fumeroot (Capnoides aereum)

Cinnamon fern (Osmunda cinnamomea)

Bracken (Pteridium aquilinum)

Chain fern (Woodwardia arealata)

 

Eaten when no other food was available : Saw palmetto, Lizard's tail, Hackberry, Cabbage palm, Water starwort, mushroom

Absolutely refused : Papaw, Wild plum, Poison ivy, Persimmon, Magnolia (grandiflora), Holly, Muscadine grape, Red mulberry, Wax myrtle, Gallberry, Deer tongue, Spanish Moss, Bonnets, Pokeweed

Preparing to Raise Rabbits in Florida

     As we try to move toward a more sustainable urban landscape, we will be putting rabbits in the backyard. We decided to try rabbits because fowl are illegal in this suburb. There are a lot of great reasons to raise rabbits though, and a huge one is that eat leafy stuff that we cannot, and turn that leafy waste into very usable fertilizer.
     Not a lot of information can be found about heat stress in rabbits, but the conventional wisdom says that too much heat decreases their productivity and can lead to dying off. We may have to implement a rabbit free summer zone if the heat is too much for them.
     Rabbits need protection from the sun and rain, and should not be allowed to stand on wastes.

     Traditionally rabbits should be given five square feet of cage space. We have turned some sturdy, large dog crates into rabbit cages by lining the floors with a mesh that should provide adequate drainage and feet protection. Chicken wire is not recommended for rabbit cages due to the larger size and feet damage issues, and that rabbits have been known to escape through it. Our cages are tied down to concrete block, for now, and secured with locks to prevent theft (after the break-in a few years ago, I'm not taking any chances).
     At about 5-6 months old the doe can be bred. Conventional rabbit raising call for putting the doe in the bucks cage and then watch the first mating to be assured everything is going well, then afterward to return the does to her pen for an hour. Then let them be together again for another round. This is to ensure ejaculate quality and to prevent territorial fighting.
     Palpate the does 14 days after breeding to check for pregnancy. At 28 days after breeding, provide a nesting box for the little mama.  20” long x 11” wide x 10” high. Wean the kits at 6 weeks old and separate them from their mother. She can be re-bred at this time. At 10 weeks they should be fryer sized, and a few more weeks longer and they should roaster sized, which is not quite full-grown.
     Rabbits need a diet with about 15% protein for adequate growth and to avoid problems during gestation and lactation. Full grown adult rabbits need only about 13% protein. Most pellets provide about  13-18% protein. Rabbits also need long fiber, which is not adequately supplied in pellet form but is provided with the addition of regular grass, which most breeders recommend at about 2 cups per 5 pounds of rabbit per day. Beyond fiber, protein, and vitamins, rabbits do not need the addition of grains or fruits or vegetables, though these are okay to give in small quantities.
     The rabbit manure, which looks like little round pods, is pH neutral and can be applied directly to the garden or mixed into a manure tea. Some raisers use it for vermicomposting.

How to build a nest box out of plywood

Greening the Suburb

Bean seedlings surrounding an Agave near sidewalk in suburban garden.

     Victory Gardens are an important part of our cultural heritage as Americans, though largely unknown nowadays. During World War II, the government encouraged Americans to grow, hunt, and forage as much as they could in order to save domestic supplies for the war effort. Domestic supplies being food and other parts of the gross domestic product. Of course, times are different now. We export and import food like nobody's business, and indeed, people ignore food like it's not their business.
     I live in a food desert, and you probably do too. What would happen if there was no food at the grocery store, or if there was no grocery store? How long would it take for your family to be hungry? What would happen if Florida was cut off from the rest of the USA? How long would it take our population to feed itself, if we even could?

With the beans harvested, nothin' but Sorghum growin' on.

     Food production is a noble endeavor that should be embraced by the 99%. Humanity should take back the wasted space occupied by that unproductive grass and put in some plants more useful to us. Reclaim public grounds. Schoolyards could be growing greens for healthy kid lunches. Grassy pastures at parks and government buildings could be providing food for public food pantries. Prisoners could be providing their own fare and not draining on taxpayers.
     There are ways to do this sustainably without draining the aquifers and the taxpayers. But it has to start with one person at a time. Perhaps with your very own Victory Garden.