Author: Beclecto

Categories
Gardening

Crazy Garden Recipe That Works

A while back a good friend of mine, John Starnes, told me about this great way to get garden areas amended and ready for planting.  Its a crazy method but I’ve used it and it works.  I’m getting ready to try it again in my new house.You’ll get a lot of crazy looks but you cant argue with success.  Florida soil is very sandy.  The “recipe” fixes that!

Here’s the recipe for a 10×10 garden plot.

1 50 lb bag of cheap dog food

1 50 lb bag of alfalfa pellets

40  lbs of unscented, non clumping cheap cat litter.

1 bale of hay

enough cardboard to cover the entire area.  It can be in pieces, just tile the area with cardboard after performing the following steps.

Add the dog food, alfalfa pellets and cat litter to the area and distribute evenly with a rake.  Water it until evenly moist. Tile the entire area with the cardboard. Water cardboard.  Cover the cardboard with the hay.  Water again until the hay lays down a little.

Keep it moist and wait at least 2 months before you plant.  The cardboard should have disintegrated,  And you plant your veggies right in the soil that remains.  Leave what ever is left of the hay for mulch.

This method works fantastic for tomatos, beans, peppers, melons and more!

If you want to add more compost fine but not really necessary.  You can turn it a bit when ready to plant or not..   It works like a dream.  Will add pictures when i’m done with the project!

Categories
Family Florida Living Travel Uncategorized

Ginnie Springs: Don’t Go Without Earplugs

Kalle and I wanted to reinforce the efforts of whoever had the courage to drive over there and tell them to turn it down and we both screamed something refined, in unison like ” YES ASSSHOLLLLLES  ITS TOOO LOUD!!!”

Arriving at the privately owned  campground  at Ginnie Springs is a bit overwhelming. Ginnie Springs Outdoors LLC operates this privately owned nature park, with over 200 acres of pure woodsy Florida located on the Santa Fe River.  It is a very popular north Florida destination for campers, divers, tubers, and folks with all night partying on their mind.  Checking in on a weekend involves lines to the check in area inside a well appointed dive shop, filling out forms and signing away your right to sue the owners for any possible mishap.

Security is high.  Sneaking into Ginnie Springs will probably not be an option unless you are in someone’s trunk.  You can’t even leave Ginnie Springs park without driving past a guard.

The 7 dramatic crystal clear springs located on the property, make the park popular with scuba divers, snorklers and cave divers. All springs feed the Santa Fe River and tubing down the river from one end of the park to the other is popular pastime. Certified Cave divers can explore over 30,000 feet of passageways in the Devil’s Eye and Devil’s Ear cave system.

Fees are a bit steep.  Campers pay a per day per person charge and must also pay a per day per person charge for use of the park.  Our party, 2 adults and one child were charged over 150.00 for a 3 night stay.  In return, you are turned loose in the campground to choose from a huge plethora of campsites, plenty located directly on the river.  It probably doesn’t matter what time you arrive.. there will still be an acceptable campsite at Ginnie  Springs.  While there are a lot of sites on the river there are still more in the woods surrounding.  You will find a suitable site just about on any weekend  There is much property, all wooded all with primitive campsites set up.

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Categories
fishing kayaks

Kayak Anglers: New Fishing Paddle!

I love million dollar ideas that work! Check out this new paddle for kayak anglers! Its called the ” hand paddle” made by Backwater Paddles.  The Kayak Anglers Dream I discovered these little gems today after writing an article about choosing the right kayak for fishing on  my hub page,check it out here!

I was amazed by this paddle!  I’d just been out kayaking and fishing yesterday in a tight spot surrounded by mangroves. With the hand paddle you just stow your big paddle in your paddle keeper and use the hand paddle to maneuver in tight spots. I admit I dont have one yet but i will very soon i can promise you that!   Check out the video below on how it’s used.  The hook on the paddle is very cool because it serves as a boat hook when you want to reach out and grab a dock or that mangrove that caught your lure.  In the mean time you use it to make those minor corrections that almost always need to be done right after you’ve made the perfect cast.  Its almost impossible to stay positioned without getting the big ole paddle out of your lap and trying to move your boat around.. the hand paddle is the answer!  Read more about the Piranha and Predator at NativePaddler.com.  You can even buy them there!

Categories
Dining Family Florida Living Travel Uncategorized

The Island of Cayo Costa, Unspoiled Florida Beauty

The Florida State Park of Cayo Costa is located right across Boca Grande Pass to the South and is accessible only by boat or ferry. It had been almost 15 years since I’d visited and I suggested it for a 3 night family getaway right before Thanksgiving.   Cayo Costa has both camping cabins and a tent area, but even in cabins, it is rustic, primitive camping experience.  There is no electricity on Cayo Costa. No water at your cabin or campsite.  There are bathrooms and water is available there.

We decided we’d take the parents 17 foot Scout to the island, traveling from their home in  Englewood.   Loading the truck was a chore with a huge cooler, giant tent, a load of firewood, fishing stuff, clothes for three, cooking gear and “W” the nickname we applied to wine.  This was one vacation where everything was lugged.  We lugged the stuff outa the truck to the dock at Jim and Faye’s, staging it for loading the boat in the morning.  In the morning, we lugged everything to the boat and loaded it carefully so that it wouldn’t sink. Finally, we were set to run to CayoCosta, about an hour away by boat..

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Categories
Art Travel

View From Sadie’s Retreat in Lake Lure NC

North Carolina is always alluring to Floridians. It beckons us with visions of mountain vistas, cool waterfalls, rushing rivers.  Sounded like just the right trip.  We searched online for cabins, and settled on our cabin “Sadie’s Retreat.”   We left Lutz at 6 am, arriving just before the sun set over the mountains in full view from the front porch of our new home away from home.   We were thrilled!   We spent almost all evenings cooking on the grill and watching the sunset which inspired my vacation painting below.

Porch View From Sadie's Retreat
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