Croatian Fruit Spirits

     "The recipe that I use is one that has been in my family dating back close to 200 yrs. (of course there have been slight modifications over the years...we now use boughten yeasts instead of wild yeasts and we buy tomato paste instead of making it). This recipe is for a 5 gallon mash. I take 20lbs. of the biggest stickiest grapes we can pick, and I freeze them.(it is easier to de-stem them when they are frozen). Then I pull them off of their stems and put them in a 3 gallon stockpot and add enough water to cover the grapes a few inches. Then I bring them to a boil and mash them with a potato masher untill ALL the grapes are mashed pretty good. Then I add 5 lbs. of white granulated sugar and a 6oz can of tomato paste and stir until it is disolved. Next, I pour it all into a 6 or 7 gallon bucket and fill it to 5 gallons with cold water, squeeze the juice of 1/2 lemon and cover it. When the temp is down to about 78-80 degrees F is when I get my yeast started. I have used baker's yeast and it works fine, but lately I have been using Red Star's champagne yeast.(very similar to ec-1118). I take 3-5, 5gram packets and put them in a pitcher that is 1/2 full of the mash from the bucket. I stir it well, and leave it sit over night. The next morning, I skim off whatever is floating off the top of the bucket and discard it. Then I SLOWLY pour the yeast pitcher into the mash stirring it gently. Then I cover it with a couple layers of plastic wrap and a rubber band (I poke some holes in the plastic with a pin). Every morning, I skim whatever is floating off the top and stir vigorously, and stir again 3-5 times a day. After about 3 days of this, I slowly pour the contents into a new bucket. The grape seeds will be on the bottom of the bucket (I save them and plant them later) you can discard them. Top the bucket with water to 5 gallons, cover it again. I will stir it vigorously 3-5 times a day until it stops fermenting. (usually about 2 weeks) when it is done fermenting, it is still a thick juice that contains alcohol, and does not resemble wine at all. NOW it is ready to run. We have always run in a pot-still. 1st run. FAST, collect everything until the distillate coming out is about 20-25%abv. 2nd run. SLOW, discard the first 150ml. we collect in 250ml increments, and add them together to taste. we stop collecting at about 30%abv. The finished product has a little bit of a grape aroma and after flavor. We usually age it in natural uncharred oak, and sometimes we add about a half cup of raisins to age it with.
     This is how we have made ALL of our fruit spirits for as long as anyone can remember. Although, when we make our heritage slivovitz, we use wild yeast only, and NO sugar, and we also use a bit more fruit. This is the traditional Croatian method of making Slivovitz that my family and others have used for around 200 years."

Home Distiller

Prickly Pear, Opuntia vulgaris

Newly  planted rooted leaf pad.

Uses : Food, Liquor, Forage, Firewood, Fencing. Native to Mexico.
     The prickly pear cactus is an amazing little survivor. It is a true cactus and is grown all over the world in dry climates for the leaves and fruit. It has naturalized itself to the scrub forests of West Florida and is as good as native. Ever so slowly it can grow with no care on your part whatsoever.
     Spreading prickly pear (Opuntia humufusa), has many, if not all of the same good qualities as the more common prickly pear, but is a native of the pine forests here in Florida. It is a low-growing perennial, bane of hikers not watching their footing. It rarely gets even half a meter in height, and is able to reproduce vegetatively when leaf pads that become detached from the parent root themselves.
     The leaf pads can be eaten by people once the spines are removed. Typically the young pads are selected for human consumption before the spines harden. It is usually sliced into strips and cooked as you would a green bean.
     Later, the leaf pads can be used as cattle forage if the spines are burned away or otherwise removed. This has helped farmers in Mexico when lack of rainfall browns the fields. The leaf pads are quite high in moisture which will also help sustain cattle. Prickly pear can be used to create a natural hedge which will keep cattle fenced, as they do not wander through the thick spiny pads.
     The little red fruits can be eaten raw after skinning and are usually served chilled. Many cultures worldwide distill prickly pear fruit juice into a liquor. The juice can also be used to ferment into a wine, known as colonche.
     The process for making colonche has changed very little over the centuries. The fruit is harvested, peeled, crushed, the juice collected and boiled for two or three hours. Then the juice is allowed to ferment for several days. Sometimes other colonche is added as a starter. After primary fermentation it can be served.
     In Mexico the cactus are raised as a fodder for an insect known as cochineals, which create a natural red dye that has some trade value.
     Four Ways to Preserve Prickly Pear Pads

How to Grow Grass in Just Sand in Florida

     Before you fall into the process of growing grass, consider why you are interested in grass in the first place. There are many beautiful groundcovers that provide much more for you than grass ever will.
     Many people just love that green carpet that only grass provides. Perhaps the area where you live requires grass only on the easement as mine does. Perhaps you already have grass but want to fill in a bare patch.
     Just plain sand is very white. Not pure white like beach sand, but a bright grayish white. If your sand is darker then you're in luck, it means you have some organic matter in your sand which will help it retain moisture.
     The first step is to prep the area. The goal here is to get some organic matter into that soil as best you can. Getting some mulch from the municipal drop site or even buying some mulch to throw down would be great. Toss the mulch in a thin layer over the entire area. Let the weather break down this mulch as you do your research into what type of grass you desire.
     The extension service here in West Florida would recommend Zoysia or Bahia grass for this area. Both need watering to be green during the dry season. If you had only a smaller patch to fill it, it might be cheaper to dig up clumps from a more vigorous area of the yard and use that as a homemade sod plug. Florida has at least half a dozen kinds of grass that are native but unavailable at the store.
     Broadcast your seed evenly throughout the area. Then water, water, water. Seeds don't use fertilizer and it could kill them.
     Watering is by far the most critical factor in the success of grasses in Florida. It might be worthwhile to start your seeds in the beginning of the rainy season, though they can also be started in the spring and summer as well. Seeds will have to be watered every day, then tapering off to every other day to twice a week, then weekly.
     South West Florida Water Management District has recently lifted the ban on watering lawns, but be prepared for them to reinstate the ban at any time. They advocate perennials and groundcovers to save on groundwater pumping, which causes sinkholes. The restrictions do usually allow residents to handwater or use sprinklers once a week.
     Pull weeds as you see them, you will gain nothing by letting them go to seed. Play in the new grass!

Composting in Place

     Here in the deep south we are blessed by a good deal of rainfall in the wet season and humidity almost every day the rest of the year. This natural abundance of moisture promotes vigorous microbial activity even in the dry season. The activities of insects should not be overlooked either. The much vilified ants and roaches break down larger pieces of organic matter into smaller pieces the bacteria can handle.
     Traditional gardeners in the more temperate climates north of us frequently create compost piles, which not only cleans up the garden area but also concentrates all that microbial activity in one spot to rapidly decompose plant matter. I can say that I have not really seen a compost pile here ever, because organic matter breaks down so quickly it kind of seems pointless. We get to practice what northern gardeners cannot, composting in place.
     Any waste plant matter an be used to create compost, which people around here frequently call mulch. The two terms are used almost interchangeably because even the big woody store-bought mulch will break down within one rainy season to produce the humusy compost that northerners recognize. That humus becomes washed into the sand, providing nutrition for even more beneficial microorgnisms like worms.
     Most cleared land here in west Florida quickly loses its topsoil. Many a new homeowner has been perturbed by the ide that the builders laid sod down on straight sand and they now need to constantly water and fertilize in order to grow the easiest of plants, grass. In the time between the land was cleared and the builders finished they house was all the rain and wind needed to remove that layer of humus from that property. In the older neighborhoods where grass has been cultured for years, simply lift the roots and see for yourself. The grass will pull out easily if the ground is dry and you will find the bare, pale sand.
     Small particles break down more easily. This is why cedar mulch decays faster than pine bark nuggets. If you want the soil to quickly make compost then chopping, slicing, and shredding are your friends. That being said, I did throw last year's pumpkins outside and in a month all that was left was a thin, waxy, papery shell. Coffee grounds will be invisible after one good rain. Orange peels and vegetable remains also disappear quickly as long as they are cut into small pieces.
     Leaves break down fairly quickly, but you may be better served by using them as an easy mulch. In the fall sometimes I rake under the oak tree in the front yard to get up some of the leaves so the place looks good. Once the trash barrel is full its placed out on the curb on yard waste collection day. From there the leaves and twigs are taken to a municipal collection site, what I like to call, The Dump. All yard waste is collected, shredded, then placed into huge piles for people to collect for their gardens. The mulch is part humus and part small sticks. It will blow away in the wind if you let it. Bring that home and put at least a two or three inch layer underneath every plant. It will block weeds and give all the benefits of mulch, while releasing humus into your soil. And its free.
     Another item I compost in place is all the waste from the parrot cages. The mulch from the dump lines the cages, and every week I go in and scrub the bars and collect the droppings and food bits. Used mulch is then placed directly on the plants. It is said that bird waste should never be placed directly on plants because of the high ammonium concentration burning the plants roots. However, I have never experienced that. Perhaps it is because the pooped-up mulch is exposed to the sun and elements before the ammonias ever reach the roots. It does seem wise to forego putting bird waste in containers for plants.
     Someone might ask me what I would do with dog doo, and here it is... Flush it. Collect it up frequently and flush it down the toilet if you have many dogs on a small piece of property. It would be the safest way to remove any pathogens or medications if that applies to you. Another thing I might try if I had one or two dogs is to collect it into a pile away from the house and mix the waste with mulch or shredded leaves. Allow to decompose and spread onto plant beds that you will not be eating the leaves from, like the obligatory hibiscus or crepe myrtle every house seems to have. Make sure it is well buried with even more mulch to keep flies and smell down. If you did that twice a year you would have no problems. Another thing might be to try spraying the doo into the grass while its still fresh. I would probably not do that since it would be so much work.
     We compost in place coffee grounds, contents from tea bags, banana peels, egg shells, fruit skins or cores, vegetable pieces, pineapple rind and cores, and more. Stale bread or leftover meat gets run through the birds or cats.

Century Plant, Agave americana

Hasn't been watered in ten years.

Useful for : Xeriscaping, Shelter Thatching , Wine, Liquor. Inedible. Non-foragable. Native to : Mexico.
     This large succulent is extremely drought tolerant and can handle full sun. It could be a good plant for a sandy ridgeline where other plants fail to thrive due to low moisture conditions. It has no animal habitat, and nothing seems to thrive on it.
     It is said to bloom only once in its long life, which can be longer than 30 years. After blooming it will produce pups which can be separated and replanted elsewhere. Very slow growing.
     The nectar can be harvested to make a white, fermented alcoholic drink called pulque, and a singly distilled liquor called mezcal, not to be confused with tequila which is made from blue agave. When the century plant matures enough to produce a flower (about 12 years), the flower is cut off and sap is collected to ferment into pulque. A single plant can continue producing sap for up to a year. Mezcal production requires the agave heart to be harvested, roasted, pulled, boiled, fermented, then distilled. Both drinks are largely both produced and consumed within Mexico.
     The leaves can be harvested to make thatching for shelters. Some people harvest the leaves for fibers. Century plant produces pita hemp, while another agave makes the more well-known sisal. Leaves are frequently used in Mexico to make barbeque by lining the roasting pits.

Legumes for the Sandy Landscape

     Legumes are normal looking plants that have a special kind of bacteria around the roots which are very good at chemically fixing the free-floating nitrogen in the environment. This symbiosis provides nitrogen in form the plant can absorb. Many farmers innoculate legume seeds with beneficial bacteria to be assured off the nitrogen fixation properties, and frequently use legumes as a rotation/cover/forage plants.
     Permaculturists use larger legumes for coppicing, a technique of top pruning a bush or tree to promote root die-back. The premise is that if you greatly reduce the photosynthesis capability of the top off the plant then the roots will die down as well as the plant struggles to remain alive. The dead roots and nitrogen fixing bacteria die off, releasing that nitrogen gathered from the environment. Most leguminous plants are survivors, and coppicing properly done rarely kills the plant. Nature naturally coppices here frequently as storms come through and reshape our forests.
     There are plenty of native and non-native legumes that can be incorporated into the landscape. Following are a few.
Shy leaf (Aeschynomene viscidula), Leadplant (Amorpha fruticosa), Gray nicker (Caesalpinia crista), Partridge pea (Cassia chamaecrista), Bahama cassia (Cassia chapmanii), Sensitive plant (Cassia nictitans), Coffee senna (Cassia occidentalis), Eastern redbud (Cercis canadensis), Rattlebox (Crotalaria pallida), Dalea (Dalea carnea), Globe headed prairie clover (Dalea feayi), Summer farewell (Dalea pinnata), White prairie clover (Dalea pinnata var. adenopoda), Beggar's tick (Desmodium lineatum), Coral bean (Erythrina herbacea), Florida milk pea (Galactia floridana), White milk pea (Galactia elliottii), Sky-blue lupine (Lupinus diffusus), Sundial lupine (Lupinus perennis), Lady lupine (Lupinus villosus), Wild tamarind (Lysiloma bahamense), White sweet clover (Melilotus alba), Sour sweet clover (Melilotus indica), Blackbead (Pithecellobium keyense), Cat claw (Pithecellobium unguis-cati), Necklace pod (Sophora tomentosa), Southern pencil flower (Stylosanthes hamata), Crimson clover (Trifolium incarnatum), White clover (Trifolium repens), Vetch (Vicia acutifolia)

     Some more native legumes : (Rhyncosia reniformis), (Petalostemon pinnatum), (Lespedeza augustifolia).

Some data from Your Florida Backyard

What is a scrubland?

     A Scrubland (pronounced scrub - land) is an area of forest that experiences periodic drought. This type of biodome usually has short trees, bushes, and herbs, without the larger animals that wetter lands can produce. Spring Hill is part of a much larger scrubland forest that covers the west coast of Florida from Pasco County through northern Citrus. Though the area was once dotted with lowlands and lakes, a great deal of urban development and groundwater pumping has changed the landscape to sandy grasslands and thick palmetto forests. The area is an ever changing reminder that humans love change.
     It is a food desert. There are no food production operations near US highway 19, the oldest and most well-known thoroughfare. West of the highway is floodzone with thick forests nd murky sawgrass beaches. East of the highway are houses as far as the eye can see, beyond that lie cattle pastures and privately owned preserve land, some of which are limestone mines.
     It is my wish to investigate, research, plan, culture, cultivate, propagate, and teach growing and foraging practices that can turn this food desert into a bastion of edible and useful plants. Possibly even one plant at a time.

Diets of Forgotten Florida Cultures

    Have you ever heard of the Paleo Diet? It is a modern recreation of what mankind must have been eating before agriculture came into being. It may be an oversimplification to say so, but it is a variety of low Carb. No grains or dairy, just meats, vegetables, herbs, and fruit. There's no salt or processed chemicals either.

     The people that lived here in the scrublands lived primitively in regards to diet, hunting and gathering and fishing. Following are some foods that it is thought they grew or encouraged to grow.
     Maize, Beans, Squash, Pumpkins, Gourds, Citrons, Sunflowers

     Here are plants they foraged for food, medicine, or weaving materials.
Acorns, Hickory nuts, Plums, Blackberries, Elderberries, Peppervine, Ground Cherries, Bristlegrass, Spatterdock, Yucca, Cabbage Palm, Water Lily, Rivercane, Palm berries, Wild Cherries, Persimmons, Blueberries, Huckleberries, Poke Weed, Amaranth, Broomgrass, Cattail, Ache, Morning Glory, Saw Palmetto, Yaupon, Smartweed, Knotted Bullrush, Nut Sedge, Buttonbush, Watershield, Sea Grapes, Coco Plums, Cofontie, Prickley Pear, Sea Oats, Goosefoot

     They ate a wide variety of fish, shellfish, snakes, turtles, small and large game, and birds. These things Florida is flush with, as long as you know where to look.

Data from Ancient Native.

What We Can Learn from the Natives, Part 1

     The indigenous people were bastions of knowledge about the scrublands of West Florida. Not only did they know about the water availability issues we face here, the forest was not food desert to them. We have a good deal to learn about their lives and livelihood.
     For Hernando and Citrus counties it is known that most natives lived near thes springs and ocean. We know their diet consisted largely of fish, and that they traded with other tribes for goods. Shell Mound in Citrus County is a huge remain of their remains. It is thought the dead were entombed in cairns because of flooding and the high water table. Not a lot else is left to be found.
     Water was everything to the natives. They didn't have the technology or knowledge to dig wells for fresh water. One source states that thousands of years ago the people that lived in Florida occupied areas that are now under ocean. The Wisconsin glacier is credited with raising the water level. Buried forests have been found off the coast of the Florida Keys.
     We know that native Americans practiced a form of agriculture foreign to our modern life, called food forestry. It is a subject I am fascinated with, and have been endeavoring to turn my tiny lot into a miniature version of. Breaks in th e tree canopy are utilized to grow sun-loving annuals. Small perennial seeds or nuts are also planted in amongst the annuals. The area is weeded and planted, then the people return months or years later to harvest. Maybe the plants grew or maybe they did not, but it was very little effort for potentially huge returns.

Seeing the Pattern in the Jungle

Earliest Known Evidence of Peanut, Cotton, and Squash Farming Found

Bromeliad 'Painted Fingernails' Neoregelia spectabilis

Useful for : Frog and Insect habitat, deep shade ornamental. Non-edible. Native to Brazil.
     Although not a lot of information can be found on this low growing, shade loving plant, it is still worth mentioning here because it is extremely easy to grow in the right spot. It needs no care or watering beyond planting in a very shady site, as the natural rainfall in Florida is more than enough for this plant. It can be grown epiphytically, or in the trees, by either suspending or attached to a crook in the branches. If grown in the soil it should never need fertilizing, which I am not a big fan of anyway.

A small parent (right) with pup (left) showing signs of moisture stress. Notice the curling inward of the leaves.

     This plant would make a good choice for a shady pond border, as it will benefit from the increased humidity and provide animal habits. A bromeliad suffering from lack of water will curl its leaves, so be wary when purchasing. Neoregelias become deep green with the pink leaf tips very pronounced in the shade, a yellower tinge probably indicates too much sun. Never buy a sunburned plant, as they rarely (never in my experience) recover or produce pups.

Sunburned.

     Bromeliads reproduce vegetatively by producing pups from the larger rootstem a healthy adult will develop. When the pup is about two thirds the height of the parent is a general rule of thumb for division, it helps to break some of the root as well if at all possible. I have had some mild success with root cutting propagation, but the adult plant has to have an exceptionally large and well-developed root to regrow those leaves. It is said they can be grown from seed and seedling reproduction is used by breeders to develop new varieties.
     Conventional bromeliad care would say to plant them in any medium you would grow an orchid in. University of Missouri says bromeliads enjoy any medium that cacti thrive in, which is true in my experience. They do not seem to like potting soil from a bag loaded with peat moss, as the peat holds moisture for too long if that can be believed. Like my parrots, they prefer short misty showers instead of heavy rains which leave the dirt muddy. I grow all my bromeliads in plain garden sand and mulch. No fertilizers, no sterilizing of the soil. Infections and insects really aren't a problem for bromeliads. In containers, I will put some old leaves from outside in the bottom of the pot to cover the drainage hole, then sand, then coffee grounds or used tea minus the bags and filters if I have it, then about 4 inches from the rim nothing but the plants and mulch.

Three of five adult Ladyfingers available for trade

     I have owned many different varieties of bromeliads, and it has been my experience that the thicker-leaved Neoregelias can handle more drought and colder temperatures. As beautiful as the other varieties are, I would only plant a thicker-leaved Neoregelia variety in the yard. Since I am cleaning up my yard to eliminate plants that have no forage value for those that do, I have several bromeliads to trade.
     Also it should be noted that the reason broms are so expensive is because they are very slow growing. One plant may produce one pup a year, if you are lucky, then it will probably take another year for that pup to be large enough to transplant.
     The ASPCA website reports that fingernail plant is nontoxic to dogs and cats. In my experience large dogs may enjoy a cool drink from the water found in the cups. No information can be found about whether animals like rabbits forage on bromeliads.