Like many, the pandemic propelled my prioritization of food, food access and food systems as we, like many families worked through the uncertainties of supply, demand and the sudden need to produce 3-6 nutritious meals per day. I have always had a kitchen garden of sorts, and up until three years ago, a variety of nearby communal spaces for growing and harvesting. Enter Fort Lauderdale. When I moved to Home Beautiful Park, it was partly due to the vast urban farm scattered throughout the five Northwest Gardens rental properties, all closed due to COVID. So, over the past two and half years, the two foot balcony garden has grown into the Two Foot Balcony farm, now boasting a 20+ square foot growing space with three levels and an active compost for clippings and tea bags. I went to visit my former neighbor, Miramar Community Garden last Monday, just to see what was on tap for Earth Day. In return for my visit I was gifted with so many surprises and updates, including a new crop in Prince peaches, Sastuma cherries (which I am certain I found because Ms. Beverly said to look for them) and a fancy little compost bin with red worms, which I barely ever see here in our tropical marine soils!! It inspired me to try to up my apartment balcony compost game, so I'm currently trying out an experiment in renerative soil building using all that paper we tend to go through while fulfilling our fiscal responsibilities at this time of year. The cranberry beans seem to like it. I kept it away from the smaller seed babies though, since I know most printing companies show up on the EPA enviromapper for toxic releases and I'm not sure or whether the plants will absorb it. So, there's your community compost collage and report from here on the Two Foot Balcony Farm in Sunny Fort Laurderdale.
Join me in celebrating the world premiere of my pandemic made short film "Earth • Ecology • Everglades" tomorrow at Palazzo Bembo in San Marco, Venice, Italy 🇮🇹 5 - 8 pm.
#EarthDayinVenice2022
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