Rosemary Court Garden
APRIL 10, 2008: ROSEMARY COURT INSTALLS DEMONSTRATION GARDEN
Jon Sheintal used to be an avid gardener, but when he purchased Rosemary Court and began coming downtown every day to manage the center, his personal garden withered from inattention. When tenants and customers at Rosemary Court began suggesting to Jon that an unused portion of the 
front yard could be used for a garden, he jumped at the chance to rekindle his passion. The result is a demonstration garden that incorporates hydroponic planters, a raised-bed organic garden, self-watering windowsill Earth Boxes, and a mushroom garden.
Along the front fence are the hydroponic planters, pots stacked in vertical towers that are filled with an inert soil-free medium composed of ground coconut shells and perlite. 
Here, basil, leaf lettuce, chives, cherry tomatoes, kale, lemongrass, parsley, cilantro, mint, and dill have been planted. Three times per day, the planters are watered with an enriched nutrient solution. Although hydroponic gardens are not organic because they contain no soil, this form of gardening is considered to be sustainable because the nutrient solution is contained, thus it does not harm our environment, as does runoff from fertilized soil. Additionally, very little water is lost to evaporation in a hydroponic system, which is beneficial in drought stricken areas.
Aside the hydroponic towers, a raised bed organic garden filled with a manure and straw mixture and covered with a layer of mineral-free sand awaits decomposition from the heat of the sun. Once the manure has decomposed, topsoil will be added and the bedding materials will be thoroughly mixed prior to planting. Unlike the hydroponic planters, the raised bed has enough depth to allow the planting of root vegetables and other deep-root plants.
A third aspect of the demonstration garden is the self-watering Earth Boxes lining the windowsills of Rosemary Court’s Birthing Center. These unique boxes are watered through a two-inch vertical pipe in one corner, which diverts the water to a bottom tray. The planter box is perforated, allowing some soil to seep through to the bottom tray, which then acts as a wicking agent, carrying the water up from the tray into the planter box.
The final phase will be a mushroom garden, consisting of freshly cut winter oak logs that will be scattered around the shadiest spots on the property. Shitake mushroom spores will be inserted into dozens of holes drilled into these logs. “The logs will produce so many Shitake mushrooms that we’ll probably need to dry and sell them,” Sheintal says.
The community is invited to stop by in person to see the demonstration garden and volunteers are especially welcome. Rosemary Court is located at 810 Central Avenue in the historic Rosemary District, just north of downtown Sarasota.
