Get your veggie garden growing

With less than $20 and a minimum of labor, you can start your own small organic vegetable garden right now — well, after you finish reading this page.

It probably won't keep you in Insalata Caprese and green bean casserole, but 1 square foot of garden plot should yield at least a half-pound of veggies. So a little 4-by-4-foot garden could put 8 pounds of fresh squash, tomatoes and Brussels sprouts, or whatever you'll actually eat, on the table. You'll know they're safe, and they'll likely taste lots better than store-bought.

Anyone can do it, promises Rick Martinez, Tampa's elder statesman of organic gardening — so dubbed by city Councilwoman Mary Mulhern. He founded Sweetwater Organic Community Farm in Town 'N Country in 1995 with eight members; today, it helps feed 300 families and educates lots more.

"Just try it," he says. "Dig up the grass, add compost, plants, water, and cross your fingers."

An organic garden is a long-term project, he cautions. The first year is the least productive, but every season gets better as the soil grows richer.

Here are his easiest-in-the-world instructions for getting your organic on.

Pick Your Plot

Choose a spot that gets full sun and dig up the grass. (If you had started before now, you just could have covered the grass with black plastic for a couple of weeks.)

Add Compost

Spread a couple of inches of compost, more if you can afford it, and mix in well. Use both mushroom and cow manure composts ($1.37 to $4.97 a bag at Lowe's and Home Depot) if you don't have aged chicken manure, Martinez' preference.

Don't Count On Rain

Plan for watering, but don't plan on reclaimed water — you know where it comes from, right? Well water is good, a rain barrel, or tap water. Mulch with hay or straw (no bark chips or pine needles) to help conserve moisture.

What To Plant?

Some easy-to-grow choices: lettuces, basil, peppers, eggplant and Sun Gold cherry tomatoes. Lowe's carries organic seeds for $2-$3 a packet; Sweetwater Farms sells Sun Golds for $2 a plant. Fertilize, if necessary, by spraying fish emulsion-and-seaweed tea.

They Will Come

When you see bugs, identify them to determine whether they're good or bad; the Internet is helpful. If they're bad, research the least toxic way to get rid of them.

Send It Back

All the scraps from your harvest should go right back to the garden: Start a compost pile with non-meat kitchen scraps, leaves and grass clippings and add the results to your soil.

Tips

Once you get growing, you'll find you want to do a little more a little better — and with a little less time spent shelling out money at the local garden center.

Soil Testing

Soil acidity — the pH — should be about 7.0.

Fish Emulsion-Seaweed Fertilizer Recipe

The popular organic fertilizer is available commercially, but may be hard to find. This simple recipe is being passed around on the Internet. Warning: It may stink, and it may attract cats!

Fill a 5-gallon pot halfway with canned fish such as sardines, including the juice.

Add about half that amount of fresh or dried seaweed (available at Asian food markets or the beach). Rinse the fresh stuff to remove salt, and chop or soak it before adding to the pot.

Add sawdust — about half the amount of the seaweed
2 tablespoons unsulfured molasses
2 tablespoons Epsom salt (added after the tea is ready)

Mix together everything but the Epsom salt. Cover with a screen to keep out bugs and continue to mix well daily. After one to two weeks, when the solution is foamy, add the Epsom salts. Use 1 liter of "tea" diluted in 4 to 5 liters of water and spray on leaves for occasional feeding.

Bugs

These keepers will help control the bad guys. Welcome them!

Ladybug
Green lacewing
Mantis
Dragonfly

Good Stuff For The Bad Guys

To manage garden pests, try these nontoxic tricks from Eileen A. Buss of UF's Department of Entomology and Nematology:

Hot dust: Grind dried homegrown red or chili peppers or dill weed (including seeds) to dust. Sprinkle along seeded rows of vegetables to repel ants. Store-bought black pepper, chili pepper, dill, ginger, paprika and red pepper all contain capsaicin, which repels ants.

Tomato leaf spray: Soak 1 to 2 cups of chopped tomato leaves in 2 cups of water overnight. Strain through cheesecloth, add 2 more cups of water to the strained liquid, and use it to spray plants to protect from sucking insects.

Rodale's all-purpose spray: Chop and grind one garlic bulb and one small onion. Add 1 teaspoon of powdered cayenne pepper and mix with 1 quart of water. Steep one hour, strain through cheesecloth and add 1 tablespoon of liquid diswashing soap to the strained liquid. Mix well and spray plants thoroughly. Kills sucking insects.

Potato starch spray: Mix 2 to 4 tablespoons of potato flour in 1 quart of water, and add 2 to 3 drops of non-detergent liquid soap. Kills sucking insects.

Garlic spray: Blend 1/4-pound of strong garlic for five to 10 minutes with a quart of water and 1tablespoon of Safers or other liquid dishwashing soap. Strain through cheesecloth and collect the liquid. Dilute the solution with one part per 10 parts water before spraying. This solution will last about one month refrigerated. It repels ants, mole crickets and sucking insects.