The Community Garden is still growing three years after it was started behind May Sands School on United and Leon Streets by Green Living and Eneregy Education and the school district.
I went by to see how they cope with beginning of the hot season but there's a padlock on the gate which I suppose is a measure of the garden's success. If I lived in town I would be glad to have this knowledge at my beck and call because growing stuff in the Keys is not easy.
When I was sailing through the Bahamas I came across a government scheme (damn those socialists!) whereby locally grown vegetables were sold by the box at Government docks on each island that produced any. Farming in the Bahamas in the old days was a matter of finding holes in the limestone rocks where leaves and organic material had drifted and composted and settlers started planting. I mention it because with similar topography the Keys also don't have enough dirt for widespread growing though God knows they tried really hard when first emigrants settled in these islands.
I have found self watering Earthboxes to be very effective for my scale of growing but the season is about over and because seasons are backwards in the Keys it is about time to pack up the dirt and turn one's thoughts to salt water and swimming. Next year I must plant some sunflowers as they are my wife's favorite.
The locavore movement swapping the United States is not an easy one to keep up when living in the Keys. South Florida farms participate in Community Supported Agriculture and will send boxes of food south but we haven't yet latched onto a program that works for us. 
That the GLEE garden works at May Sands School is testament to the fact that no mater how unpromising the soil some seed will grow anywhere with enough care!
http://www.keysglee.com/
I went by to see how they cope with beginning of the hot season but there's a padlock on the gate which I suppose is a measure of the garden's success. If I lived in town I would be glad to have this knowledge at my beck and call because growing stuff in the Keys is not easy.
When I was sailing through the Bahamas I came across a government scheme (damn those socialists!) whereby locally grown vegetables were sold by the box at Government docks on each island that produced any. Farming in the Bahamas in the old days was a matter of finding holes in the limestone rocks where leaves and organic material had drifted and composted and settlers started planting. I mention it because with similar topography the Keys also don't have enough dirt for widespread growing though God knows they tried really hard when first emigrants settled in these islands.I have found self watering Earthboxes to be very effective for my scale of growing but the season is about over and because seasons are backwards in the Keys it is about time to pack up the dirt and turn one's thoughts to salt water and swimming. Next year I must plant some sunflowers as they are my wife's favorite.The locavore movement swapping the United States is not an easy one to keep up when living in the Keys. South Florida farms participate in Community Supported Agriculture and will send boxes of food south but we haven't yet latched onto a program that works for us. 
That the GLEE garden works at May Sands School is testament to the fact that no mater how unpromising the soil some seed will grow anywhere with enough care!http://www.keysglee.com/
http://www.keywestgardenclub.com/
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