pnbrown, Texas Dolomite is from ancient seabed limestone which I believe they said it has the traces of the ancient ocean greenery deposited in it as it was formed. Another good source of minerals is Greensand because it supplies marine potash, silica, iron oxide, magnesia, lime, phosphoric acid and 22 trace minerals. It's a boon for tomato lovers, because it has the 'vitamins and minerals' that tomato plants need to produce abundant, intensely flavored fruit With my having been a prospector, I'm fortunate to still have(in many buckets in my barn)the pebbly sand left over after processing for gold and silver which I also use in my potting soil mixtures. This pebbly sand comes from stream bottoms and diggings that I've prospected all over this country adding many minerals not found in Florida soils. Aw heck... now the secret of my potting soil is disclosed. Lou

Bamboo, I put it in one of the biggest pots that I could find at Lukas, but the problem was that it didn't have a flat bottom and was not draining properly. When I took it out the roots were all the way in the soil, that is why I am saying even a dwarf fig tree needs room to grow and a pot it is not the best environment. When I got the tree it was probably in a gallon but the Negronne which was smaller in size grew so fast! it did look like a strong variety. They said that the best time to take cuttings are in the fall, I will keep a cutting for you and I am going to grow at least one more for myself being small size I can find a space some place. When there is a will, there is a way.:) Your VDB looks very healthy and soon you will be tasting some good figs. Here is the guilty pot where I had the fig Silvia

UniqueEnigma, Welcome to Florida and welcome to the Forum! You will receive lots of ideas, inspiration and support here. But I don't think you received exactly the response you were looking for - someone to come to your place and help you build your raised beds. I want to explain a couple things so you don't think people aren't being helpful. I'm not being critical of your post - I just want you to understand since you are so new. First of all, you just signed on to GardenWeb a couple days ago; you don't have a history here, so we don't know you or anything about your personality. We've had a couple issues with members who turned out to be (how should I say this...) 'stranger' than we expected them to be. Give this a little time, get to know people and let them get to know you. Maybe come to a swap or two. After that it will be a better time to invite people to come work in your yard. But even then I'm not sure this is the right place to be looking to hire a garden helper. We don't do business on this forum and I think that's one of the things GardenWeb discourages. Like I said, I'm not being critical of your post - I just want you to understand since you are so new. We often recommend that new residents - even experienced gardeners - take some time to get to know their yard, to understand growing conditions and the seasons in Florida, and to really think about what they want from their yard before they start building their gardens. Many of us who have moved here from other regions have been overwhelmed by the amount of time and work a garden takes in Florida. We try to save new residents some anguish by preaching a slow and cautious start! All that being said, I'm sure you'll love gardening in this state and you'll enjoy this forum, too. Lots of great and very knowledgeable people here, willing to share ideas and support whenever you need them. Kate

"Where in FM can i get manure ?? And where can i find Seagrape ?? Dose it stink a lot when using manure ? Shoutd it be covered with soil or something ? How about some old fruits ? they should be perfect food for plants. Just like milk for humans. Also, i know guys who cut grass and trim palms , got to pay to dump that somewhere. I wonder where they dump it. Maybe i should make deal with some of them and start shreading they garbage for myself too. That rurbo in your screen name anyhow related to cars ?" Hi Lehigh. Sorry for losing track of this thread. My girl has two horses that she keeps at a stable in S. Ft. Myers. I know there are several stables around our area and most of them are near I-75 or a little East. Most don't seem to mind if you take the used stable bedding home. One thing about the stuff though; It has a lot of wood shavings in it so it takes some time to get it composted enough to use in your planters. I run it all through my shredder and then water it and turn and re-wet the piles every few days to let it heat. After three or four heating cycles it is good to use as a top mulch. The "potting soil" that I make with it takes a year to finish off while stored in trash cans. No strong odor to it even when it's fresh but once you turn and heat it a few times there is only an earthy smell to it. Seagrape trees are common around here. I have one on my lot that I gaether leaves from. Every year or two I put the pole saw to it bringing it down to size and I get lots of wonderful wood mulch after running the limbs through the chipper. I use everything at hand including fruits for composting. Sometimes a neighbor might have a few hundred citrus fruits that they didn't use and I just toss them in the shredder hopper and it all comes out a spray of good nutrients which soak into my leaf and stable bedding compost piles. One idea for trellis building that I haven't seen mentioned is the use of bamboo. I have a friend with a large clump bamboo plant and he begs me to take the dead stuff out of it each year, This stuff is huge and it is very strong. I built a large trellis from the stuff for my climbing crops. I also run countless lengths of it through the chipper for the organic compost material. The "Turbo" in my name does indeed have to do with a car. I have a 1987 factory slant nose 930 turbo cabriolet in tripple black. Only 78 were built so it is a special little beast. The "Capt" part of the name is from what I do for a living as a charter boat Capt. Best of luck with your gardening efforts. I look forward to seeing further posts from you to see how things are going for you as the Winter gardening season continues. CaptTurbo.