Groundwork Farmstead

Raise your hand if you’ve ever planted seeds, waited weeks, and found yourself staring at a mystery seedling thinking…

“Is that a baby mimosa? Maybe a poinciana?! Please don’t be a w**d…” 😆🙋‍♀️

I’ve been there more times than I can count.

Sorry to burst your bubble… but if it has tiny leaflets with little rows of seed capsules tucked beneath the branches, you’re probably looking at Chamberbitter (Phyllanthus urinaria). 🙈😅

🌱 Chamberbitter is a very common warm-season annual w**d in Florida. It loves disturbed soil, pops up after rain, and spreads quickly by producing hundreds of seeds. Despite being considered a nuisance in gardens, it’s been used traditionally in herbal medicine around the world for liver, kidney, and urinary health.

Now… don’t give up hope just yet!

If that mystery seedling keeps getting taller and starts looking more like a small shrub, you might have something much more exciting: Coffeew**d (Sesbania herbacea)!

💚 This fast-growing Florida native is a legume, meaning it partners with soil bacteria to convert nitrogen from the air into a form plants can use, naturally enriching the soil. Its bright yellow flowers attract pollinators, and it’s a great pioneer plant for restoring poor or disturbed soils.

⚠️ A word of caution: Despite its many ecological benefits, Coffeew**d is considered toxic to livestock, especially when consumed in large amounts or in seed form. It’s best appreciated in natural areas or managed landscapes where grazing animals don’t have access to it.

Sometimes the mystery plant really is worth waiting for. 🌿

💙 Help Keep Boop Safe 🐮

Tomorrow is a big day for Boop. We need to raise $300 for his castration—an important step that will allow him to remain here at Groundwork Farmstead as a lifelong sanctuary animal.

Early castration helps keep bulls gentle and manageable, giving Boop the best chance to stay with his mama and continue living safely here instead of facing an uncertain future.

If you’d like to help, please:
💚 Click the link in our bio to donate through Zeffy, or
💚 Send a Zelle donation to [email protected]

Every dollar helps us keep our promise to this sweet little guy. Thank you for being part of his story. 🐮💙

Just a little reminder for anyone who’s been looking for a way to support what we do here at Groundwork Farmstead. 💚

We offer monthly memberships through Zeffy, and because we’re a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, every donation is 100% tax-deductible.

Your support helps me say yes.
🌱 Yes to giving away more free plants through the Giving Garden.
🦋 Yes to free environmental education, service-learning opportunities, and community service projects.
🐴 Yes to caring for the rescued and resident animals who call this farm home.
🌿 Yes to creating more opportunities for our community to connect with nature.

I don’t ask often, but please don’t mistake that for not needing the help. I’m simply a stay-at-home mom trying to build something meaningful for our community. Every membership helps ease the financial burden on my family and allows me to keep saying “yes” when opportunities to serve arise.

If Groundwork Farmstead has ever inspired you, taught you something, connected you with nature, or simply brightened your day, I’d be incredibly grateful if you’d consider becoming a member.

I’ll post the Zeffy link in the comments (or bio). Thank you for believing in this little farm, our mission, and the community we’re growing together. 💚🌻

🍃 Quick question…

What’s one thing you’ve learned from following this page?

Maybe it’s:
🦋 A butterfly host plant you didn’t know about.
🐞 The difference between a beneficial insect and a garden pest.
🌱 A new plant you’ve added to your yard.
🐴 Something about caring for farm animals.
💚 Or maybe you’ve just found a little more appreciation for the natural world.

I’d genuinely love to know. Your comments help me decide what to share next, and it’s always encouraging to hear what sticks with people.

Thank you for being part of this little corner of the internet. Every like, comment, share, and visit helps support our nonprofit’s mission of environmental education, pollinator conservation, our Giving Garden, and the animals who call Groundwork Farmstead home. 🌿

💬 Share one thing you’ve learned—or one topic you’d love to learn more about!

I LOVE surprises! 💜🍠
Apparently someone gifted me purple sweet potatoes! I was cleaning up the garden today and pulled this beauty out. Best kind of surprise! 🤩

If anyone wants a slip or a sweet potato to get started, let me know! I’m sure I can dig up another. 🤗🌿

I got SO excited when I spotted an assassin bug in the garden the other day! 🤩

For the longest time, I assumed they were something to avoid (probably because of the name 😅), but assassin bugs are actually incredible beneficial insects. They use their sharp, piercing mouthparts (photo 1) to capture and feed on other insects—including many common garden pests. They’re like tiny garden bodyguards. 🪲⚔️

Then I noticed what I thought were dozens more all over my yard long beans… jackpot, right?

Nope. 😑

Those were leaf-footed bug nymphs (photo 2). While they can look surprisingly similar at first glance, there are a few key differences:

🪲 Assassin bug nymphs
• Thick, curved piercing beak tucked beneath the head
• Long, slender legs built for hunting
• Predators that help control pest populations

🫘 Leaf-footed bug nymphs
• Straight feeding mouthparts used to suck juices from plants
• Different leg arrangement and body shape
• Plant feeders that damage fruits, vegetables, and seed pods

Unfortunately, these guys have been taking a toll on the beans I grow for our rescue Sulcata tortoise, Scooter. 🐢💚 Beans are one of his favorite treats, so they’re definitely not welcome guests.

I’d really like to avoid pesticides, since I work so hard to support pollinators and beneficial insects. My concern is that encouraging predators to eat the leaf-footed bugs could also put my assassin bugs at risk.

So I’m leaning toward hand-picking and removing the leaf-footed bugs and their egg masses instead.

🌿 Fellow gardeners—what has worked best for you? Have you found an effective, pollinator-friendly way to manage leaf-footed bugs without harming beneficial insects?

I’ll admit it… I flinched. 😂🐛

At first glance, I was convinced this fuzzy little guy was about to light me up with a painful sting. But this is actually a Saltmarsh Moth caterpillar (Estigmene acrea), and despite its intimidating appearance, it’s harmless to people.

Those shaggy hairs are simply a defense mechanism, making birds and other predators think twice before taking a bite.

Even cooler? I found this one on maypop (Passiflora incarnata), our native passionflower. Saltmarsh Moth caterpillars aren’t picky eaters—they feed on hundreds of different plants—so finding one on maypop is just another reminder of how many species a diverse garden can support.

The more I garden, the more I realize that nature loves proving my first impressions wrong. 🌿🦋

A little disclaimer before I begin: These love letters are exactly what they sound like—love letters to the farm. But like any good love letter, they’re also about the relationship. The farm has become the backdrop for my memories, lessons, grief, gratitude, and growth. Through these letters, I’m not just telling the story of this land—I’m telling the story of the life we’ve built together. 🌿💚

⸻

Dear Farm,

When I was a child, I used to hide.

Not because I wanted to be alone, but because I wanted to know if my absence would leave a space behind.

I’d sit in barn rafters, beneath playground slides, or even on the neighbor’s roof, quietly waiting to hear my name. Waiting to see if anyone noticed I was gone.

For years, I thought I was looking for attention.

Now I think I was looking for belonging.

For a place where silence wasn’t loneliness.
Where being alone didn’t mean being forgotten.
Where I could exist without performing, explaining, or competing for a place at the table.

And somehow, after all this time, I found that place here.

In the rhythm of chores. In gardens that need tending. In animals that greet me each morning. In a piece of land that asks nothing of me except that I show up.

You never asked me to be louder.

You never asked me to be more social.

As the years pass, I realize more and more that I’m not hiding here.

I’m rooted here.

Maybe that’s what the little girl in the rafters was searching for all along—not to be found, but to find home.

Love always,
Whitney 🌿💚

P.S. To my readers: In this photo, you’ll find the front gate to my childhood farm. My mom had the Amish weld vertical bars onto it because I kept climbing over. 🙈😅

Belonging