Purveyor of Poo

Last week, at the weekly farmer's market, I noticed a booth selling worm composters, worm castings, worm tea, etc.  Of course, I had to hustle over to see what was going on.  That's when I met Adina Lehrman, the Compost Gardener, otherwise known as the Purveyor of Poo.  What a priviledge!  Adina is a human treasure chest of information regarding composting and gardening.  We talked for quite a while about various ways of composting, the best method for specific situations, and her own personal composting experiences.  I could have talked to Adina for hours! 

As it happened, Adina had sold out of "Bunny Blessings".  However, she was very kind to invite me to her home so my garden wouldn't miss any time.  When my family and I arrived, Adina met us with a smile and happily showed us about her lush property.  We started in the driveway, surrounded by huge mature trees covered with bromelaids and undergrowth, proceded to the fantastic (and yummy) vegetable and fruit garden, which led to the bunny cages and composting piles, and finally to the water gardens that line Adina's front entry.  My head was spinning with the wealth of information and wonderful sites I was encountering!  This is my excuse for my extremely poor photography...most of my photos suffer from poor lighting (it was evening) and fuzzy details (I didn't take time to stop moving when I shot the pics...I was moving on so I wouldn't miss a thing!).  Lucky for me, Adina has an AWESOME website that I link to throughout this post so you can view her photos as well as read to your heart's content about her gardens and composting!

The first stop was the vegetable and fruit garden where we viewed the healthy plants and tasted their FANTASTIC produce.  My SON even ate raw veggies and liked it!!!  This is a big deal, just so you know!

Adina shows us her Amaranth and shares some with us to munch on.  It was wonderfully tastey!! 

Here's a long bean, but it's not that long, compared to...

........this red LOOOOOOOOONG bean!

My son couldn't eat enough of these!

This is the last stages of a Dragon Cactus bloom that will give way to Dragon Fruit!!!

Some of the other vegetables that Adina's summer garden houses is brocolli, asparagus, sweet potato, spinach, and eggplant.  Beautiful color!!

Some of the fruits in Adina's garden include loquat, passion fruit

blueberries and mango

 Acerola cherry, and pineapple.

Adina posts about her garden, what to grow, pests, etc. at length. 

You can read and see more at her website under the In the Garden category.

We moved on to the Rabbits.  Adina's rabbits are the generous hosts of "bunny blessings". 

They were also graciously rescued by Adina.  Cool, huh? 

This is where they live.

Of course, you can read more about Adina's bunnies at Manure Depot.

Obviously, the component that creates such a lush, successful garden is the compost that Adina adds to her soil.  There are several ways to compost, which Adina discusses on her website.  She also discusses the No Till No Dig way of gardening as well as lasagna layering.  You can add compost material directly to the top of your garden (i.e. mulch, straw, pine needles, banana peels, grass cuttings, etc.) or create compost.  Here's a few examples of Adina's compost bins...

 

This is what feeds Adina's soil!  She's one of the few Floridians without sandy soil,

thus her garden is rich and produces healthy, vitamin-rich vegetables.

It's not all work and no fun, though!  Adina has beautiful water gardens that line her front entry.  I took photos, but only one came out.  Luckily, Adina's website shows off her

 water gardens and beautiful golden Koi fish!

This is an example of one of the many fountains Adina created in her water gardens.  The moss covers the rock, naturally, and is at least an inch thich!  It's really cool!!!

Now, I'm not a vegetable gardener...yet!!  I love flowers. 

There were plenty to make me happy in Adina's landscape.

Here's one of the numerous epidendrum orchids Adina graciously gave to me.

And the bloom of the Chenille plant she sent home to grace my garden.

She also gave me some umbrella plant / papyrus cuttings.

More good news...Adina offers consulting services, which I may need in a month or so when I embark on my winter vegetable garden!  Although, ultimately, I strive to have rich dark soil like Adina's throughout my property.  As I continue to decrease the amount of lawn space and increase my garden/landscape space, I hope to layer in compost and nutrients that will transform my sandy corner into a rich, lush, tropical paradise!!

I was sincerely impresses and blessed by my visit with Adina!  She's an educated, kind, generous person who has a clear and sincere passion for her garden, composting, sustainable living, and , as her blog description says, "Embracing Our Independence With Nature"!  I hope you'll check out Adina's blog and leave her a message.  As for me, I'm happy to have met a new friend!