Eat Your Sand

Saturday, August 6, 2016

Plants for trade for August, 2016

August is shaping up to be a beautiful month for gardening with plenty of frequent rainfall. IFAS says that here in West Florida we should:
- Use seeds for beans and squashes of all kinds and southern peas and okra. Onions and shallots can be planted now.
- Transplant with care - carrots, endive/escarole, tomatoes, and peppers.
I do have some southern pea seeds for trade, called Cowpea. These are fresh from this spring's harvest, less than 3 months old.
The rains and watering have encouraged Eat Your Sand's many edible plants to bloom and reproduce like nobody's business. Here is a little bit of what we are offering for trade this August. All plants are completely organically grown and propagated with love.

We have four New Zealand kits to trade away. These cute little fluff balls would be a great addition to any garden, make a great pet, or make some good eats.

I still have a ton of seeds of Hibiscus Sabdariffa to trade away. They can be planted right now to make some great edible greens, possibly to make some flowers and pods before the end of the year. The greens themselves are well worth the trouble. Hibiscus sabdariffa infusion has recently been found to naturally lower blood pressure with no side effects.

The purple-leaved cannas are growing extremely vigorously right now. I am expecting blooms any day this month.

I trimmed and mulched the lemongrass. The blades were getting too tall for the pots, making weeding completely unmanageable. Needless to say, the rabbits quite enjoyed all those trimmings.

The recent rains have refreshed the perennial sage plants, causing them to bloom again. They have been blooming all summer, except for in July when it was too dry even for them. Butterflies and bees are all over these sages. It is my first choice for an edible to attract bees and butterflies.

The red cannas have put out some strong new growth since the rains resumed. I have mulched them and moved them around to more sheltered areas with more shade now that the heat is really on us.

The 1.5 year old potted Loquats are looking great. If no one wants to adopt these Loquats, I am going to have to make an orchard in my front yard. A tasty orchard!

To Trade

Trading with one another avoids the messy dealings that have to do with money, like for example, owning a nursery license or retail license. I do not sell plants to the public, as I am not licensed to do so, nor can I claim my plants are completely organic as they have not been inspected and certified. The plants and nursery are organic, the only fertilizer used is rabbit manure and the only inputs are rabbit feed. Rabbit manure, sun, sand, and love.

I also want to trade off the rabbit kits, which are great sources of protein for people and their pets. Due to meat laws, I am not allowed to sell or trade butchered meat, so all rabbits and meat are on the hoof. The rabbits are also great sources of fertilizer for your garden. My rabbits are raised on both plants and pellets and are comfortable with either.

So please, use the contact form and send me an email with what you have for trade. I am always looking for edibles and seeds for edibles, and great pond plants, or anything tasty for the rabbits to eat. I would also take flowery plants, if that is what you have, they make great gifts for the family. Or really anything that you might have to trade, we are not picky.

As for the plants, I would prefer to trade, again, for anything you are growing successfully. But if that's not an option, I would ask for about these values (or equivalency in rabbit pellet or gift card to rural king/tractor supply).

$5 Loquat tree seedlings

$4 red canna with green leaves

$6 for red canna purple leaves

$4 yellow canna green leaves

$3 perennial sage red flowers

$3 perennial lemongrass

$2 perennial Spiderwort

$1 for 20 Cowpea seeds

$1 for 20 Hibiscus sabdariffa seeds

I will buy back the nursery pots that the plants are growing in from you for $0.33 each.

I also have organic rabbit manure. It does have fur and grass clippings mixed into it, which fell from the underside of the cages. It also has some odd seeds in it. For example, this spring I inadvertently grew 4 cherry tomato plants from the rabbit manure, and man, they were delicious tomatoes. I am asking $5 for a 5 gallon bucket of rabbit manure, plus the cost of the bucket, or trade buckets with me.