Welcome to Ready-to-Grow Gardens!  We are an edible garden company that helps others grow organic vegetables, herbs and fruits all year in Miami and South Florida.

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We help others grow produce as locally as possible by designing, installing and maintaining edible gardens for homes, schools, businesses, and communities.  We specialize in raised bed gardens and food forests.

A great way to grow fresh organic vegetables and herbs is with our raised bed garden packages. These include everything needed to start, including:

  • a beautiful extra-durable frame built from reclaimed wood (greenheart)
  • our rich soil blend
  • organically grown vegetable and herb plants (seen here)
  • organic fertilizer
  • organic pesticides
  • trellises (for vining plants)
  • and mulch

There are many advantages of growing edible plants in raised bed gardens. Raised beds help to keep the soil from eroding, are easier to weed and make gardening easier on the back.  Since one usually doesn’t walk inside of them, not only is there less soil compaction, but every square foot can be used for planting plants instead of devoting large amounts of planting area for paths like one sees in traditional row gardens.

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Our gardens are built out of an extremely durable and attractive reclaimed wood called “Greenheart” that lasts much longer than the lumber raised beds are usually built from.  These boards are milled from the pilings used to hold up docks in the ocean.  Also, since the wood we use is reclaimed, our garden beds aren’t contributing to deforestation!

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For more information on our raised bed garden packages visit our raised bed garden page.

We also provide a wide range of  supplies you might need for your garden, including soil/compost, organic fertilizer, organic pesticides, mulch, and an excellent selection of organically grown fruit, vegetable, and herb plants.  Other services include food forests, garden makeovers, and regular garden maintenance services.   Being in our unique South Florida climate, one can grow tasty edible plants all year long.

For more information about our edible garden services or to set up an installation or consultation contact Dylan Terry at dylan@ready-to-grow.com, or 786-436-7703. Consultations are usually $50 (depending on location) but fee can be used as credit towards a purchase of $750 or more.

 

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It is time for Food Forests!

With the advent of our hot and rainy season many gardeners become frustrated in their inability to grow cool-weather vegetables well. I’ll keep it short and sweet, stop trying, they aren’t meant to grow here now.  Now is the time for planting fruit trees, heat tolerant edible perennials/annuals and cover crops (plants that improve the fertility of soil).  When these are planted together in a way that mimics the ways plants are found in nature, what you get are “food forests”.  Food forests are great in that once they are established, they require little maintenance and are a very productive way to grow food in South Florida.  More information on food forests and our food forest packages can be seen here.

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Greening Up: South Florida’s Young Farmers

Great new video on South Florida’s Local Food Movement by Carmen Rodriguez and Lucila Aguiar!

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Enjoy the cool weather while it is here!

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Substantial tomato harvest with a kohlrabi

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Harvest from the collaborative garden with The Dome Restaurant and the culinary dept. at Coral Gables Senior High.

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Cabbage – “Savoy”

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“Purple Cherokee” tomatoes that will ripen soon

There is a window of cool weather left for more planting and lots of harvesting of cool weather vegetables and herbs in Miami and South Florida area.  Enjoy it while we have it, because soon the focus of people gardening will be growing tropical fruit trees and heat-tolerant vegetables and herbs.

We’ve posted below some of our favorite close-ups of our spring’s abundance.

Feel free to email photos of your garden and harvest to dylan@ready-to-grow.com or post them on our facebook page.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Tatsoi with Red Komatsuna

 

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Endive – “Frisee”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Cauliflower – “Romanesco”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Red Komatsuna

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Dinosaur Kale with other brassicas

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Cauliflower – “Purple Graffiti”

 

 

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Garden to Table: As local as food gets

IMG_4794Though the “garden to table” concept isn’t new, it is one recently introduced to the arena of South Florida restaurants.  If managed properly, a restaurant having its own garden on-site can have many positive benefits, including:

  • The freshest produce possible.  Having the garden a few steps away enables the restaurant to harvest on its own schedule, as needed.
  • Reduced storage needs.  By having a garden so close, there is a reduced need to refrigerate produce for days or weeks in addition to less waste. Continue reading
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Cool-weather veggies and herbs ready for planting!

 

Fall is now here and we have been preparing intensely for a great planting season with the construction of new hoophouses and planting a great selection of veggies and herbs from seed or cutting.  If you’d like to purchase any for your garden, let us know.  Also, if you’d like help replanting your garden or would like to schedule an installation, the sooner you let us know the better!  Seedlings will be for sale this Saturday October 6th at Miami Beach Botanical Garden and October 20th and 21st at Fairchild Tropical Garden’s Edible Garden Festival.  Our current fall plant selection is as follows:

 

Veggies:

 

 

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Ready for Fall Planting?

The cooler weather is just around the corner.  Pretty soon, starting mid to late September it will be time for fall planting of cool weather crops.  Remember to check on the condition of your soil and add compost and/or organic fertilizer as needed.  We also recommend to usually mulch around plants after planting to inhibit the growth of weeds and to conserve moisture in the soil.

If you are growing your own seedlings we recommend starting most of them in a location protected from hard rain with filtered light.  Larger seeds are an exception (beans, cucumber, etc) and should be planted directly in the garden.

If anyone would like help with planting for fall, remember that Ready-to-Grow Gardens has a lot to offer.  This includes veggie and herb starter plants, compost, mulch, organic fertilizer in addition to the services of installing or replanting edible gardens for fall.  We are also available to answer questions anyone has and give our advice on all matters involving growing vegetables, fruit and herbs in South Florida.

For more information or to schedule an appointment email dylan@ready-to-grow.com or call 786-436-7703.

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Plant tropical fruits & vegetables before it is too late!

Remember this hot and steamy part of the year is the best time for planting tropical fruits and vegetables. Once the cool weather sets in, it won’t be as optimal for planting them.

If any of you need help with ideas of how to start growing a wide variety of tropical fruits and vegetables, check out our food forest packages.

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Ready-to-Grow Gardens lecturing at Flamingo Gardens this Saturday

This Saturday, August 18, 1-3pm Dylan Terry and Chris French of Ready-to-Grow Gardens will be giving the class Growing Food All Year in South Florida at Flamingo Gardens in Davie. The class will include a discussion of design, installation and maintenance of sustainable edible landscaping in South Florida.

Other topics include:

  • Best vegetables, herbs and fruits for South Florida’s climate*
  • When and where to plant
  • Soil building
  • rainwater harvesting and irrigation
  • Organic pest management and more!

* Plants will be available to purchase

 

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Planning, installing and maintaining your edible garden

Planning an edible garden:

Many gardeners jump right into gardening without a clear plan for their garden.  This can be ok for some, and beginner’s luck is a phenomenon that exists in certain gardening situations, but by and large it is helpful to generate some sort of plan, even if it isn’t a plan executed at once.  Developing the right plan for your edible garden depends on the amount of space (soil, sun exposure, proximity to kitchen, etc) and the amount of work that you want to invest into its installation and maintenance.

Summer is an excellent time to improve your soil and have it ready for fall planting.  I recommend doing this by adding compost, mulch and planting cover crops like buckwheat, sunn hemp and pigeon pea.  Also, summer is the best time to plant fruit trees, so if you want to include fruit trees in your edible landscape consider planting them while we have the rain and warmth of our summer weather.

Consider having a your bed(s) for annual vegetables and herbs in an area close to your kitchen door, or for Continue reading

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