WEBVTT 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 you think critically, think rationally, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 think differently about the world, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and my hope is to really reconnect you 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 with the basis of life, and try to live in a 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 way that is more fulfulling, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 full of happiness, health, a world 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 that is more enviromentally friendly 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and less environmentally destructive. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Today we are talking about gardening. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 So a lot of you probably saw my project. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 i spent a year growing and foraging. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 100% of my food, no grocery store, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 no restaurant, nothing processed, or packaged, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 nothing shipped long distance. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Litterally everything that I ate the entire year 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 came from my gardens and the idea now is not 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to get anyone of you to grow and forage 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 100% of your food, the idea was to get you 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to think, to rethink your food, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 question your food and grow a little bit 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 of your own food. Even if it's just some 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 tomatoes in your backyard, on your balcony 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 or some herbs in your window sills or 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 joining a community garden or going 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 volunteering at a farm , my goal through 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 this project and all of this projects is 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to reconnect you with your food. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 But you have to start where you are so 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 today we are going to go through 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 some basics and give tips on helping you 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to get started. So this is really geared 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 towards beginner gardening. However some 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 of the things that we are going to discuss 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 are going to be useful for people who have already 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 been gardening for some time as well. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 And I am going to go through maybe 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 15 or 12 minutes of suggestions and some 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 tips and then I am going to take questions 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and I might take some questions throughtout 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 as well but mostly I ll take the questions 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 towards the end. So I am going to go ahead 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and get started. First, one of my number 1 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 suggestion for beginner gardeners is start 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 small. Now, some of you are going to want 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to start really really big, you want to change 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 your life drastically, you are done with 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the grocery stores, you want to grow all of your own food. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 That's great and if you feel confident that you can do that 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 go for it but if you are worried, if you feel like 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 you have a black thumb and everything dies 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and you just feel overwhelmed, maybe lost, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 one of my number 1 tips is to start small. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 it takes time to learn and in some ways gardening 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 is easy but in some ways it's also very challenging. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Specially compared to going to the grocery store and 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 buying all of your food. So what I really recommend 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 is starting small, don't feel like you are not being 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 successful if you just have some pots on your balcony 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 or you have a small raised bed that's 3 feet by 4 feet, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 your front of backyard. Start small and then 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 as you have success, than you can expand and each season 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 or each year you can grow more and more and more. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 So to start small and along the lines of starting small 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I recommend making a plan so like for most things in life 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 if you make more of a plan, it is more likely to be successful with it, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 if you know what you are doing going into it 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 So before jumping into it, think about it, have a plan 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 make a plan, and yeah, the next thing to go along with 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 starting small is to keep a journal. So a lot of things 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in gardening is if you know when you planted something or when you 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 can't plant it, it's going to help you be a lot more organized 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and a lot more successful with gardening. Just in your garden 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 journal keep track of the basic things like when you planted 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 something, when you transplant it, keep track of weather 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and this is also a beautiful way to connect as well, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to be able to go back and look at things and then 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in future years this will help you as well. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 So make a plan and keeping a garden journal 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 are just some basics to go along with starting small. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Now one of my big things is really about seeking local 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 ressources. A lot of people when they first start to garden, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 their plan is to go to the big buck store like Home Depot or 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Walmart and buy their seeds and their plants, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 but that is not my suggestion. My suggestion is to seek 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 local ressources if you can. And now you might seek that Walmart 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 or Home Depot is local because it is in your city, but it is not local 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 because those materials are being shipped in by elsewhere 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and it is not really focused on your particular region. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 So in permaculture, one of the basic idea is to work with the Earth 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 rather than against it. Working with the Earth means working 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 within the region or around you not the entire Earth. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 When you start working with plants, you have to work 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 with the plants that are growing in your area, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 so seeking out local ressources, one big one is joining 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 a community garden if you especially are just getting 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 started and not feeling confident, joining a 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 community garden is really one of the most beautiful thing 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and one of the most helpful thing you can do because 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 you will be surrounded by community, most community gardens 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 have veteran gardners there that you can learn from 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 that can share resources, you can see what's growing well in other 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 people's plots, you can feel supported, so join a community 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 garden. Along with that, find other gardeners 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 you don't have to feel lost, most anywhere you go in the United States, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 around the world, there are people growing food. You might 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 not know it because you haven't been paying attention but 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 then when you start to open your eyes, you will see 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 that there are people growing food all over. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 So one great way to do this is drive biycles, walk, drive around 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 our community and find gardens and don't be afraid 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to just knock on that front door and say hey I see that you 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 are going nice vegetables and fruits, I so badly want to learn, could 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 you volunteer with you in your garden and help you with weeding 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in exchange for you taking me under your wing a little bit, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 for you teaching me? And this is a great way 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to get involved and learn from someone who is local 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and has local knowledge. Another way to do this is 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to go to a local nursery and you know most local nurseries 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 are run by people who love plants, have been gardening 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 for a long time, for decades and so local nurseries can be a really great 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 ressource. And finding local classes, universities and extension 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 can be a really great introduction to beginner gardening. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 So find out if your local university has an extension 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 program which this exists in all 50 states across the United States. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 This is what I am particularly referring to with this. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 But there are many ways to find classes so 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 check to see if there are classes in your area that focus on local. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 And then another great thing to do is volunteer at a local farm. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 So many small farms need help and are 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 also passionate about teaching as well so see if there is 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 any farm in your area that you can go to, you can 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 volunteer, you can learn how to grow foor organically 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 at these organic farms and you can get involved in the 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 community. A great way to do that is through Wwoof Inc. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Wordwide Opportunites on Organic Farms and that's Wwoof dot net. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 And you could do this in your area or you can go all over 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the world and how it works is that in exchange for 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 you working on the farm generally it is 5 days a week for 5 hours 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 so 25 hours a week you get your lodging covered and you get 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 you food covered and you get to learn how to grow food. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 This can be a really good experience if 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 you have the time and the energy 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and flexibility to be able to be all to do that 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 And then also local books. So when I leaved in 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in Florida I started my year of gardeniing 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and foraging, I was pretty clueless. I had grown 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 very little food before. I didn't know how much 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 water a carrot needed, how much sun I needed 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in my garden. I didn't know any of these things. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 So I was feeling pretty lost and what I did is 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I went to the internet and I was just searching every 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 question I had on the internet. How much 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 water for a carrot, how far apart ro plant 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 carrots, how much sun does my garden need, I was 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 looking up all these individual questions and 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 after a few weeks, I found a book that was written 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 by someone who lived in Florida 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I think It was called Food and vegetable gardening 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in Centrla Florida by Robert Bowden. This book was...he was 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 a 25 year-veteran of growing food and it had all 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the information that I needed, not just for growing 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 food, but particularly for growing food in my region. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 So seek out books that are written for your region 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and if you can't find one written for your 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 particular area, find books that are written for the greater 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 region, for example if you are in New Hampshire, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 maybe you can't find one for New Hampshire but 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 there are definitely books that are focused on the North East 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and these books can be just your absolute best friend 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 for your garden because when it comes to 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 beginner gardening, these books can answer most of 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 your questions. Today I won't be able to go 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 over 99% of what you might want to know but these books 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 can have all of that right there in one place. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 So seeking out books and the library is a great 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 place to check, check your library whether it's at 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the public library, the school library and see 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 if there are books that you can check out. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I want to talk a little bit about of where 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to place your garden. Where do you put it? 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 So if you have very minimal space don't let 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 that deter you. If you just have a balcony you can put 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 pots on there, you can use 5 gallon buckets, any 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 container that can hold soil can be used to 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 grow food on your balconies and I have seen some 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 very impressive balconies producing tomotoes 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 peppers and all sort of herbs and greens and eggplants, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 you can grow a lot on a balcony. And you can grow 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 on your window seals. If you have neither of those 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 but a roof that's flat, you can grow a lot of food 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 on your roof, for example an apartment complex. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 But some basic tips on where to place your garden 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 first of all where it is easily accessible 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 where you are easily able to get to 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 if your garden is 10 miles away and there 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 is also these obstacles to get to it 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 it's unlikely you will get to it and it will 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 not get the care it needs. If it's located 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in a place that's really obscure on our property, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 far away, if you have a larger property, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 probably your are not going to get to it. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 The key is to put it in the most easily accessible place 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 ideally where you walk passed it every day 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 so that you even when you are not thiking 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 about it, you see it and you know that you should 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 get in it. So an easily accessible place, also where 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 there is easy water. Whatever gardening you are doing 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 there needs to be water. So having an easy access 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to water. And especially for beginners full sun. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 So again when I started I didn't know the basics 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 of how much sun and things like that, but generally 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 you want to have full sun and in colder climates 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 like in the North East or the Great Lakes region, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 you know most of these areas, full sun is 6 to 8 hours 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 of sun per day on your garden location and 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in Orlando Florida, that is very hot, we could do with less 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 hours of sun or maybe 5 hours per day. So you do want 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 full sun for, especially for beginner gardening. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 The more experience you get there are plants 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 you can work with that don't need full sun 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 but with beginner gardening, I would recommend 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 full sun. So, let's see, one of my biggest tips is to 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 start with the food that grows very easily. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 What I dont recommend doing is walking down 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the grocery store aisle and say: oh I love pasta 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 so I want to grow wheat, anb I love blueberries 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and I love mangoes...don't think about what it is 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 that you love the most, instead figure out what grows 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 so easily in your area that even someone with 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 a "black thumb" will be successful. So talk to 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 those local gardeners and ask them: what is the most 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 successful crop? what grows well every year? 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 what produces so much that you could never 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 eat all of it? For example, a lot of people, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I see this with zucchinis, I see people, it's so 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 common, these giant zucchinis, and I remember 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 when I was in Port Townsend, WA, there were 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 jokes about how people would have to leave 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 their zucchinis at other people's doors to 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 try to get rid of them but nobody wanted them 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 because everybody all had so much. So some beginner 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 plants to start with, raddishes are one of the easiest ones 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and also they produce the fatest so a lot of raddishes 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 produce in just about 30 days. So It really can 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 be beneficial to have these fast producing ones 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to give you that boost of energy and feeling of 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 success. Greens can be very easy so kale, collards and lettuces. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Greens can be a very easy place to start and they are very nutrient 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 dense. So I highly recommend starting with greens. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Peppers are also often considered 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 a beginner plant to grow , hot peppers I have had 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 easier time with them than bell peppers 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 but peppers can be a really easy one 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and then herbs, now and easy way to start is buying 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 herbs in small pots at the store and then planting 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 them and letting them grow much larger 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 so some herbs can be hard to start with seeds 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 but some are very easy to start from seeds 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 cilantro for example is an easy one to start from 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 seed. But herbs can be easy to grow, you can 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 use them at every single meal, they can add a lot 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 of value to your life, so really some of my best 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 suggestions for starting are greens and herbs, peppers 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and than tomatoes. But there is always you know 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 differences depending on where you are as I read 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 ealier people watching us now you are tuning in 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 from all over the world and all across the United States 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 so it's going to be different areas, Florida where I grew, for example 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 large tomatoes didn't grow so well because it was so hot 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and so humid that they were more likely to get blite or pest 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 so we had to grow really small tomatoes 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and the variety that I grew in Central Florida 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 was called Everblade tomato and they did 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 extremely well. Let's see...okay...so the next tip 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 is to plant at the right time so what you can do 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 is you can find a regional planting schedule and you 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 may have the questions: oh..and the other really 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 easy one I want to say is raddishes, I grew Daikon 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 raddishes that grow really big, zucchinis can be really 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 easy as well. Those are just a handfull of easier plants. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 But the big one is planting at the right time. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 If you plant kale in the middle of the winter, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 you are going to have a hard time with it. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 In Florida, if you plant kale in July when it's so hot 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 you are going to have problems with it. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 So the key is to plant at the right time.