Dave Bross

Biting off more than I can chew.

As I get older (70s) I don't have the energy to keep up with things the way I used to.

What I learned is that I need to start thinking about more permanent lower input food crops like fruit trees and not to try to push and do everything, taking the enjoyment out of what I'm doing.

Another good one was realizing the Bidens Alba weeds that almost overwhelmed everything make a great cover crop. They were 6 feet tall.
After getting them cut down before they set too many of their seeds ( that stick to you with little barbs ) I realized they made a LOT of biomass and I didn't even have to plant or buy anything.  

Here's what I've got for zone 9, near Gainesville FL.

Kale would do it here too. I have yet to try the perennial ones  but red russian is a staple until the summer heat burns it down.
In brassicas I have tried tree collards and the only survivors were in the shade. Limited success there so not exactly pumping out food.
Chard does well here in the winter. Not so well with the heat.

Sweet potatoes if you don't mind waiting 200 or more days to get them. The heat here delays tuber formation until the ground temps drop down around 70F in Sept./Oct. then first freeze is usually late November and you have to dig them then or slightly before.  They will volunteer from leftover bits of roots and missed tubers but they do better here if planted in a different place every year. The leaves are edible so that prolongs food availability. I grow them in containers and they seem to like that.

Walking onions won't survive summers here. I'm working on getting a similar Florida heirloom multiplier  onion called a Finley redistributed to as many folks here as possible. Those things are a set it and forget it for the winter, which is our onion season.  They're so willing tp grow that ones accidentally dropped on the ground will set roots and grow. Some of the local seed suppliers are working to save these too, like Hoss up in Georgia.

My most productive crop is  living room lettuce. This is leaf cutting lettuce  grown indoors on bakers wire racks  in 10 x 20 nursery trays Kratky hydroponic style with grow lights. This goes year round non stop, seeding new trays every 15 days on the first and fifteenth of the month. This keeps me and a few friends in all the lettuce we would ever want.

Regular potatoes have two seasons here, planting in Jan./Feb. and again in August. They struggle a bit with the heat but almost always come through with some potatoes.

Cowpeas in the summer.

Daikon radishes love it here. Tasty seed pods on them too.

Mulberries grow and produce like crazy. Edible leaves on those also.

For a lot more good info on what works here check out Melissa DeSa and working food in Gainesville FL. Much good work happening there.

https://workingfood.org/seeds

Cody Cove would be another.

https://codycovefarm.com

Very often, if your washing machine fails, usually while full of water, the lid safety switch has failed.
This switch won't let the drum spin if the lid/door is open.
They fail by going open circuit.

You can unplug the washer and bypass the switch with a jumper wire terminal to terminal on the plug for the switch with the understanding that the drum can spin with the lid/door open and hurt you.
The bypass can solve the problem until you get a switch or, I just leave it bypassed and be careful.

There is amazing online parts availability for appliances.

Best small washer dryers I know of are the over/under apartment washer dryers with the dryer "stacked" on top of the washer, Usually the same machine is sold by different manufacturers under their brand name.
They're still all mechanical, not digital, and that's a good thing.

I love going barefoot but hookworms became an issue from a lot of local cats.

After going to the doctor the first time ,and suffering through their oral ivermectin and antibiotic regimen, some old always barefoot friends told me their fix, which is the ivermectin horse paste put on the skin lumps over the worms, and that worked like  a charm.

As far as fire ant bites, DMSO on them can provide quick relief.  DMSO can do lots more too. Search "A Midwestern Doctor, the forgotten side of medicine DMSO" for all that.

Hay has high danger of persistent herbicides.

Every hay producer in my area except one uses them.

you can test for them but then you still have a bunch of contaminated hay to deal with if contaminated.

At least locally, the price of hay has gone to the sky...as in $7 - 8 being the best you'll do on price.
Not sure on the current price of rolls.

I lost my gardens for years a while back due to this, with it taking about 3 years to wash through my sandy soil.

This may not be popular here, but for me the fastest, most bulletproof way to getting food almost for sure, hydroponics wins hands down.
Or at least what I do as sort of hydroponics.

People always ask if the produce is organic, which I explain that nutrients are nutrients, regardless of the source, and I'm eating this stuff  too, so no possibly contaminated nutrients get used and no toxics get sprayed.

It takes a lot of plastic to do this. Hydroponics never really took off until cheap plastic replaced expensive/labor intensive steel pipe and concrete in the 1960s, I suspect given hard times or supply chain problems/nonexistence we could go back to more difficult/primitive methods.


What I do is not so much the high tech versions but more towards simple like the Kratky method.

I don't try to grow things just in water, but in pots full of well draining potting soil composed mostly of pine bark, or straight pine bark for some things.

Pine bark is getting scarce here for some reason, my best guess being that all the local GP plywood mills recently shut down, but still available reasonably with a bit of looking around.
I used to do a lot of this in straight perlite but that was only a few bucks  a bag back then ($30 a barg or more now) and had to be top watered until the roots got long enough to pick up water from whatever it was sitting in.
In a pinch, coarse sand (sandbox sand) would probably work but it's very heavy as a container full and perhaps too fast draining. Combining it with something else like compost could slow that drainage down.

These containers sit in everything  from ...

trenches dug to hold a few inches of water, lined with 9 mil plastic with landscape fabric over that to prevent punctures.

Or....

inexpensive kiddie pools or concrete mixing troughs

Or...

a homemade dutch bucket system in a greenhouse for automated watering.

The essence of all this is to extend the time between watering.

For nutrients I use either Masterblend, a fert specifically formulated for hydro, my own homemade dry fert mix (Steve Solomon's COF) or Tomato Tone/plant tone fertilizer. The dry ferts go into the potting mix in the containers at about the expected root level.
Top dressing with more dry ferts through the season is a good idea.

I'm going more and more with the dry fert added to the containers instead of constantly watering the containers/trenches with Masterblend.
The dutch bucket setup I've stuck with the Masterblend but I really should experiment with using dry fert there, as that's simpler and less expensive...if it works.

One more thought...someone mentioned not bothering with root crops but I would suggest growing them so you'll know what works where you are in case of shortages.

A few thoughts on small fruit ...

Starting with the suggestions for durable fruit trees from Tree Crops by J. Russell Smith, mulberries and persimmons,
If you don't have nematodes then figs (cousin of mulberry). Smith suggests carob trees but they don't do well in our humidity and require male and female.

Ones I'm trying...

Mojo mulberry -  supposedly a super dwarf no higher than 4' but mine are growing way past that. All mulberries grow way bigger than usual here.
So far no multiple crops via repeated pruning but they're young, so maybe will do better on that count down the road.

Fignominal fig - Bred from a sport of Chicago Hardy an alert nursery owner spotted. Supposed to top out at 4'.

Ichi-Ki-Kei-Jiro Persimmon - Supposed to top out 8' - 10' . Getting some this winter to try out.

Sunshine Blue blueberry - 3' - 4'  tall and not liking the sun here in FL. Partial shade seems OK. Like all blueberries, very particular about having very acid soil so maybe best in containers if your soil isn't acidic.

Prolific hardy kiwi - not a dwarf but has both male and female flowers so you don't need a male plant to pollinate, so, space saved there. Many have trouble with the males dying so that's avoided too. Trellis required but taking advantage of vertical space..

Here's the next one I want to try:


https://www.terahgardens.com/2025/02/08/elementor-5626/

Perennial Peanut (Arachis glabrata)
Drought-tolerant – Once established, it rarely needs watering.
Weed-suppressing – Forms a thick mat, shading out weeds.
Bright yellow blooms – Adds a pop of color year-round.
No mowing required!
Perennial peanut is a stunning, low-growing ground cover that thrives in Florida’s heat. It’s a legume, which means it fixes nitrogen into the soil, making it an excellent choice for improving soil fertility. It’s often used as a no-mow lawn alternative or as a living mulch under fruit trees.

https://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/2765/
if edible qualities are to be considered. The yellow flowers add a nutty flavor and crunchy texture to salads and stir fries
If a green cover is desired during the winter months in the northern portions of its range, overseeding with annual ryegrass will achieve the desired effect.
Weed control is important during the establishment period. Afterwards, the thick mat of foliage out-competes all but the toughest and most persistent weeds.
No invasive tendencies have been noted, probably because no seeds are produced that can be transported by birds or other wildlife.

forgot to mention.....

After pushing it down with my foot I have a string tied to one handle with the other end in a loop that goes around my wrist to pull the handles back up.

This way I don't have to bend over on every stroke to retrieve the handles.

Bought an inexpensive one because my soil (sand) is easy to work with.

https://www.zoro.com/bully-tools-broadfork-10-ga-steel-fiberglass-handle-56-x-20-x-525-in-92627/i/G1274321/


It's great for starting and renovating beds.

I'm lazy so I'll push the handles down until I can get a foot on one of them to push down and  flip the dirt.

No dig is great, but a lot of what I grow are root crops, so digging is inevitable.

Seems no dig has you "digging" more than traditional methods, in the sense of having to shovel and move a LOT of compost to make it work.