Welcome to TBO.com. Skip directly to: our Keyword Search, Section Navigation, Content.

TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

TBO.com - Tampa Bay Online

Penny Carnathan

Penny’s a Nurture And Hold (NAH): Nah, I won’t pull that out yet, it’s still got a green shoot. She likes dragonflies, lady bugs and new stuff only after weeding, pruning and fertilizing.

Kim Franke-Folstad

Kim’s a Want It Now (WIN): Everything pretty, everything now. She will resort to full-spectrum insecticides in desperate situations, and believes it’s her duty and right to buy new plants every weekend.

Both advocate Plant Choice (SOMEthing besides crotons. Please!), lots of color and low maintenance. We don’t agree on everything, but we’re smart enough to learn from each other - and from you.

@TheDirtTBO
The Dirt
Camera icon Post your garden photos
Bay area nuseries
Gardening calendar
Planting guide

Most Recent Entries

Monthly Archives

The Shoehorn Garden at the Back o’ the Shack—tips from a trailer park extravaganza

Posted Dec 27, 2009 by Loren Omoto

Updated Dec 27, 2009 at 11:33 PM

Chip Fulp and Diane Schramm are great Friends of The Dirt, whose amazing garden I’d seen only in photos—till last weekend.

When I visited, Diane was out Christmas shopping. But this is definitely a couple’s effort. Chip and Diane live in a mobile home park near Bearss and Nebraska avenues in North Tampa, and they have only 27 by 42 feet of growing space. They’ve almost always got something ready to harvest—broccoli, cauliflower, peas, tomatoes, peppers, corn—which requires meticulous planning, both space-wise and timing-wise.

“Diane maps out the beds to the inch,” Chip says. “If I put something off by just a little bit, ‘Hell hath no fury ... ’ ”

Here’s the Back o’ the Shack.

In the middle, where you see red flowers and an angel sculpture, is their beloved garden cat Pam’s resting place. It’s a heart-shaped bed; Chip forms his garden beds with cardboard covered with weed fabric.

He uses old boxes to create T-shaped frames, with the top of the T buried a few inches in the ground. He covers them with weed fabric. They help make for more gardening space, he says, and because they’re malleable, he can create any shape he wants. They also hold up pretty well. Some he’s had for going on two years.

You can get a better idea of his frames by looking closely at the following photos.

The first bed I saw was full of HUGE brussels sprouts. They’re so big, they busted right through Chip and Diane’s cable TV line (which is why you see the little orange flag marking the route for the new line.)

Baby brussels! (I used to hate Brussel’s sprouts. My husband makes them delicious by steaming with bacon and butter. I think I’d like cat poop with bacon and butter.)

For each veggie bed, Chip digs down about a foot deep. He throws in compost from his barrels and tops it with chicken manure from feed stores like Shell’s.

“I love puttin’ chicken poop on top,” he says. “It cooks off the weeds and gets things percolating.”

But be warned—don’t ever put it directly on plants. It’ll burn them.

He tops the whole mess with newspaper, which helps keep down weeds. (And the newspaper—only The Tampa Tribune, I’m sure—composts, too.) Do this all a couple weeks before planting.

Next thing you know, you might have cauliflower!

You see the little baby cauliflower in there? Too cute!

Chip and Diane (well, Diane) plans the planting so well, they plant rows within rows. These strawberry plants were put in between rows of corn, which were already tall when strawberry planting time came around. That meant Chip had to crawl between the corn rows to plant the strawberries. Very hard on the knees!

But the payoff?

A few more tips for aspiring organic veggie gardeners: Chip is a huge believer in Superthrive as a fertilizer—“It brings back the dead”—cheap dish soap (NOT degreaser soap) with every watering, and cheap mouthwash mixed with water for preventing and killing mold and fungus. He fertilizes monthly with Superthrive and fish emulsion.

(Sorry, if you want Superthrive, ask Chip where he gets it. Not seeing that in my notes!)

Chip gave me tons of good information and I have lots more pix, so you’ll be seeing more from the Shoehorn Garden here and in The Trib. In the meantime, I’m sending lots of good thoughts out to Chip and Diane. They’re both THE nicest, and dealing with the loss of a loved one just before Christmas and an upcoming surgery—just after Chip’s having surgery!

Thank God they’ve got a garden. It helps. As do our good thoughts.

Reader Comments

Posted by (Iluvpumpkins) on December 27, 2009

Chip and Diane, Your garden is amazing!!!!!!!!! I really want to start a vegetable garden at the school this really has inspired me to plant one. When I was a kid my neighbor had the best vegetable garden and he used chicken poop too. Pumpkin

Posted by (Iluvpumpkins) on December 27, 2009

Penny, Actually I thought I was loosing my mind, after I posted I saw more of the blog. Thank you for letting me know I am still sane for today. Pumpkin

Posted by (kgardens) on December 28, 2009

That’s a very inspiring garden you have there Chip and Diane. Gives me hope for my little container garden area. Good advice too on Superthrive and soap and mouthwash. I’ll have to try those. Where do we buy Superthrive? Kay

Posted by (Janna) on December 28, 2009

Chip and Diane, your garden is incredible! The two of you obviously make a great team. You have so many good tips and tricks. I’m curious - how long have you been gardening?

Sounds like you’ve had some difficult times recently - my thoughts and prayers are with you.

Posted by (Iluvpumpkins) on December 28, 2009

I looked up Superthrive and found Lowes is the only place around here that sells it. The price is $10.47 for 4 ounces.

Chip and Diane, I know 2009 has been a very difficult year for you guys, so I pray for a special blessing for 2010. Pumpkin

Posted by (Chip) on December 28, 2009

Diane and I started a garden almost as soon as we were a couple. The size has gone up and down depending on how much time we had to spend on it.{when I am working crazy overtime small} Diane is a true expert she was raised on a farm in Indiana she does all the planing that is the hard part and I do the digging and weeding and fertilizing. supper thrive is great and Lowe’s is the only place I have seen it do not let the small size put you off one small bottle will do 55 gallons I use one cap full for 5 gallons. Thank you for all the kind words..“Chip”

Posted by (Susan Gillespie) on December 28, 2009

Yikes, I haven’t been watching the weather since I’ve been under the weather. I am so not ready to cover everything. Looks like this coming Saturday may be more worrisome than tonight. I absolutely hate these freezes taking out my pretty things. I didn’t even realize all the micro-climates in Tampa until I started sharing notes with all you wonderful gardeners. And yes, Riverview seems to get hit with those cold spells every year.

Chip and Diane, your garden and the way you tend it are inspirational. I may try the Thrive next time I fertilize. It’s way cheaper than Osmocote.

I will look forward to the rest of the pics of your garden and wish you and Diane well in the coming year.
Susan

Posted by (kgardens) on December 28, 2009

Thanks for the Superthrive info. I’ll have to make a Lowe’s trip soon. Penny, I may have containers for my tomatoes, but the vines are at least 6 feet tall and all tangled up with the cages. They are not moveable. I still have at least 2 dozen green tomatoes on them so I will cover them. I also have a shooting star clerodenron which I have vowed to keep alive THIS winter. I hope we both can see those blooms. Mine was killed to the ground last year but is back and huge right now. I can see buds all over it so I will definitely be covering it. Other things are going to have to fend for themselves. Kay

Posted by (Chip) on December 28, 2009

I do not think I am going to cover I did water heavy cold weather suck’s the moisture from the ground that stress’s plants so a good soaking before and after is always a good idea. my strawberry’s and blueberry’s both need it to get cold just not freeze I have ripened strawberry’s! how about that. I am going to have to do the apple core and banana peal to get my tomatoes to get with the program they are loaded with green one’s. except for having to worry about freeze’s veg. gardens are easier this time of year than in the spring all you need is good planing and I happen to be married to the best garden planer I have ever meet..“Chip”

Posted by (Chip) on December 29, 2009

I feel like tossing a coin heads cover tails do not I was up at 3am checking on current temp’s so far everything has been ok but last year the freeze took all the talking head’s by surprise so it is a judgment call and a hard one at that. What I do think I am going to do is cover my tomatoes now and wait till the five o’clock report to make up my mind about the rest then…“Chip”

Posted by (Susan Gillespie) on December 29, 2009

I took a little turn in the garden and it looks like minimal damages but I did have some. The 4 o’clocks took a hit and the tips of just a little of the pagoda and fire bush. Definitely the poor little datura and some scorch on some blue sky leaves and a tad of the red passion vine. I’ll know more of what to cover this Sat because of this.

Posted by (Iluvpumpkins) on December 29, 2009

I guess I am lucky living deep in the city, it stays about 5 degrees warmer here. Good luck to you guys. Pumpkin

Posted by (Chip) on December 29, 2009

It was 39 deg. at 3am and that is cold not hurtful cold but close. I started just covering the tomato’s but ended up covering everything we get cold here I think we live in a low spot. I have enough ripe strawberry’s for 10 serving’s of short cakes or enough for one of my grandsons. we took them to an U-pick it place last year and it was a good thing they didn’t weigh them first. I thought they were going to pop they were the reason we are trying strawberry’s this year and I am glad I did keeping them wet the first two week’s was the hardest thing I had to do with them I got 125 starts out of that I lost 4 not bad for a first try…“Chip”

Posted by (Iluvpumpkins) on December 30, 2009

Penny, I said Datura or Devil Trumpets are annuals, but like other annuals in Florida sometime they live for more than one year. I have to start them each year, speaking of that the yellow seed pods are looking very ripe getting ready for seed exchange. Pumpkin

Posted by (Chip) on December 31, 2009

It has been nice today getting out into my garden without pooping out I believe the healthier my plant’s are then they will cope with the cold a lot better. a round of supperthrive and fish emulsion hey even my garden needs a good party on new years eve with a blue moon now that has to be rare! I fertilize on the full moon anyway It is just a easy way to time 30 days of time. I used to write it down put the day I last fertilized on the calendar then a while back I just started using the moon it unlike me never forgets. have a safe and fun new years everyone .....“Chip”

Posted by (Susan Gillespie) on December 31, 2009

I was planting cuttings today until I ran out of pots and dirt. Then improvised with a couple of those red plastic drinking cups and put a hole in the bottom of them. Works for me.

I was actually worried about planting them during a Full Moon. It is traditionally better for harvesting (by the light of the moon) although it does control the flow of water (tides) so it’s not a bad time to plant certain things. My main focus was because the Moon is in the sign of Cancer today and that is a fertile sign. We love fertile.

So happy planting, Penny. And Happy New Year to all of you.

Page 1 of 1 pages