John from http://www.growingyourgreens.com visits The Urban Harvest in Tampa, Florida, a local homestead dedicated to helping people in Southwest Florida grow their own food through gardening education, seed sharing, and edible landscape design. In this episode, you’ll discover how to transform your Florida front yard into a thriving edible garden using native plants, fruit trees, perennial vegetables, and smart composting techniques. John takes you on an in-depth tour of Elise Pickett’s incredible food forest, where she grows year-round without synthetic inputs and shares seeds with her local community. You’ll learn how to grow vegetables in Florida’s hot and humid climate, including Florida-friendly crops like Seminole pumpkin, sissoo spinach, chijimisai tatsoi, and Puerto Rico black beans—plus how to garden successfully through the Florida summer. See how Elise uses raised beds, vertical gardening, worm bins made from cast iron bathtubs, and DIY compost systems to produce an abundance of food right in her suburban yard. You'll also learn how she preserves food scraps, saves seeds, and keeps a well-organized seed shed to support her seasonal gardening efforts. John also highlights her free seed library in St. Petersburg, FL, her quarterly seed club subscription, and her top medicinal and native Florida plants that are ideal for growing in subtropical zones like USDA Zone 9b-10a. Finally, John interviews Elise Pickett, founder of The Urban Harvest, to learn how she got featured on HGTV and Martha Stewart, how she supports tropical gardeners around the world, and her top tips for growing food in Florida successfully—even in small spaces. ⏱️ Jump to the Best Moments in This Episode: 00:00 🌱 Episode Starts – Welcome to Florida’s Urban Food Forest! 00:20 🏡 What is The Urban Harvest in Tampa, FL? 01:34 🚫 “You Can’t Eat Your Lawn!” – Let’s Change That 02:09 🌼 Why Her Food Forest Starts AFTER the Sidewalk 02:45 🌺 Natives, Flowers, Herbs & Fruit – Layered Like Nature 03:42 🌱 Free SEEDS?! Inside Her Community Seed Library 05:49 🥬 Grow These Florida Champions: Seminole Pumpkin & Sisso Spinach 08:34 📦 How to Pick Up Local Seed Orders in St. Pete 09:30 🌿 Front Yard Raised Bed Garden – Yes, it’s LEGIT! 11:10 🌼 Let Your Plants GO TO SEED – Here’s Why 12:20 🧱 Small Space? GROW VERTICALLY Like This! 13:40 🥬 The Ultimate Florida Green: Chijimisai Tatsoi – 9-Month Harvest! 16:23 🔁 DIY Planters Made from Reused Materials – So Smart 17:08 🌵 Prickly Pear & Jicama Growing in Florida 18:08 ♻️ WORM BINS in an Old Bathtub?! Genius Composting Hack 20:12 🪱 How This Worm Bin Actually Works (Step-by-Step) 22:20 🥶 Keep Food Scraps Longer (No Smell!) 23:08 🌴 Backyard Tour – Fruit Trees, Perennials & Surprises 24:29 🗼 Tower Garden IN SOIL?! Vertical Growing Galore 25:25 🍑 Fruit Tree Hedge = Edible Fence Goals 25:50 🍠 Sweet Potato Patch Power! 26:04 🪵 Free Mulch Hack – Wood Chips for Days! 26:30 🥕 Free Food Scraps from Neighbors – She’ll Show You How 27:37 🧺 Her Custom Compost Bins = Airflow Magic 29:50 🔍 Compost Bin Breakdown – The Anatomy of Success 31:10 🔥 She Makes Her Own Biochar – Here’s Why 31:42 🧊 Inside Her SEED SHED – A Gardener’s Dream Store 33:00 🌡️ Store Seeds Right – Temp & Humidity Tips 33:33 📦 Seed Club – Get Hand-Picked Seeds Every Quarter 33:59 🌴 Best Varieties for Southwest Florida – She’s Got You 36:30 🌱 Puerto Rico Black Bean – Grows All Year Long 38:14 🎤 Meet Elise Pickett from The Urban Harvest 38:30 🔗 Visit Her Channel ➜ @TheUrbanHarvest 39:05 🧑‍🍳 How She Ended Up on Martha Stewart & HGTV! 40:10 🌎 Helping Gardeners in the Tropics – Her Mission 41:36 ☀️ Florida’s Off-Season? Not What You Think 43:05 🛑 Don’t Stop Gardening in Summer! (Really!) 43:45 🥵 The BEST Crops for Florida’s Hot Season 46:12 ✅ How to Take the Guesswork Out of Florida Gardening 50:35 🏠 Growing Tons of Food in TINY Spaces (Even Tract Homes) 53:49 🪴 Her Top Native Florida Crops That Actually Thrive 59:05 🌿 Her 2 Favorite Medicinal Plants – Must-Grows 1:00:45 🥕 Her Top 3 Annual Veggies You Should Grow 1:01:45 💌 How to Order Her Tropical Seed Collection 1:03:08 💚 Final Words of Wisdom for Gardeners Everywhere Related Episodes Heart Village in Florida https://youtu.be/SS52v267Oig Underrated Central Florida Gardener that Grows Rare Crops https://youtu.be/I1I6YZHyvlI Amazing Example of Growing Food at Home in South Florida https://youtu.be/Uf2vwpycYSo How I make dinner from a South Florida Urban Homestead https://youtu.be/9qoZnk1qQsQ Echo Ft Myers Florida https://youtu.be/OcNNH_IPq50 Help me get to 1M Subscribers (I am so close!) https://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=growingyourgreens YouTube demonitized me, help me keep making videos and show your support https://www.patreon.com/growingyourgreens/ Connect with Elise and Urban Harvest Web https://theurbanharvest.com/ Youtube https://www.youtube.com/theurbanharvest Instagram https://www.instagram.com/theurbanharvest/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/theurbanharvestllc