Worm Castings+Tampa . UPDATED 4 / 12 / 2024

  Florida Red Wigglers Castings?

 

 Unlike other Worm Casting no worries of Invasive worms from eggs hatching and consuming your roots of the plants. Florida Red Wiggler castings are not invasive and do not eat the roots of plants.

 

 Worm Casting are no better, than what is used to feed them.

 Contrary to what most people  feed the worms, News paper has soy bean ink, the soy bean were spray with round up. Card board has many dangers,( google Card board dangers). Most of all Horse Manure carries a poison from worming the Horses every month. 

  

WE ONLY FEED NON GMO ORGANIC GRAIN, ORGANIC HAY.   PERIOD

At Our Florida Native Red Wiggler Farm only NON Invasive Eco Friendly Worms.

 

Worm  castings provide substances that directly influence healthy plant growth. Research conducted found that Florida Red Wiggler castings enhanced seed germination, plant growth, flowers and fruit production.

Florida Red Wiggler castings are full of organic matter and desirable microorganisms that yield benefits far beyond what fertilizer ratios show. Florida Red Wiggler castings contain low levels of essential plant nutrients, including iron, that are guaranteed not to cause fertilizer burn. The Rich castings don't hint at their origins Its the  rich, earthy texture .

Added to soil or potting mixes, the organic matter in Florida Red Wiggler  castings improves soil structure. With more humus than traditional compost or normal garden soil, castings increase the water retention in soil, improve soil aeration and anchor plant nutrients that would otherwise leach away with water. Organic matter feeds soil microorganisms that produce, store and slowly release plant nutrition. Florida Red Wiggler  castings suit all indoor and outdoor gardens.

Unlike other Worm Casting no worries of Invasive worms from eggs hatching and consuming your roots of the plants. Florida Red Wiggler castings are not invasive and do not eat the roots of plants.

Why Use Florida Red Wigglers Castings?

With the exception of water and sunlight, nothing could be more natural for your garden than earthworm castings. Not steer manure, not chicken manure, not even fish emulsion is as natural for your garden as earthworm castings! After all, when digging in your garden have you ever found a live cow, chicken, or fish? No, what you do find are live worms. Mother Nature created the mighty worm about 570 million years ago to care for her plant life by caring for the soil. As the earthworm eats its way through the soil, it takes in bits of soil and rotting or decaying plants (organic matter).
And what comes out is the richest food your plants will ever find, yet will not burn a plant! Earthworms have the unique ability to increase the amount of nutrients and minerals in the soil by as much as 10 times the value of the plant debris there. These minerals and nutrients are properly conditioned for the best root growth and lush plant growth – plus it’s odor free!
Why Gardeners  Use Worm Casting .
 
One of the biggest challenges they face is trying to identify the perfect plant food. While it's often been overlooked, because it's somewhat difficult to find, worm castings are proving to be the ideal soil supplement for Plants.
Many gardeners  have found that it shortens the germination cycle for new plants, increases yield on their crop overall, and does it all while protecting the plants from disease. As if that wasn't enough, worm castings are also chemical-free. This makes it an especially attractive option for organic growers, specifically.

Worm Compost,Worm Casting. Vermicompost,(Vermicast )Tampa .
  5 Gallon Bucket approx 35 lbs $45.00. .
Google Maps Red Wiggler,Red Worms,Worm Castings. Worm Castings For Sale 
 12212 Morris Bridge Rd
Tampa, FL 33637 
Hours
Mon CLOSED
Tue 10:00 am - 6:00 pm
Wed 10:00 am - 6:00 pm
Thu 10:00 am - 6:00 pm
Fri 10:00 am - 6:00 pm
Sat 10:00 am - 3:00 pm
Sun Closed
 813 770 4794

Worm Castings Tampa+Florida

It takes Years to build true Worm Castings,not a month. Our Worm Castings take 5 years. It is critical what is used in the process. No GMO GRAINS,NO NEWS PAPER,NO CARDBOARD. NO SOURCE THAT HAS Pesticides,Herbicides,or fungicide. NO MANURE FROM ANY SOURCE THAT USE ANY COMMERCIAL FEED,NO HORSE STABLE MANURE ,FOR THEY USE MEDICATION IN WORMING THE HORSES,(WITH ALMOST 99% DO).

GOOGLE CARDBOARD DANGERS 


5 Gallon Buckets approx 35 lbs ,.$45.00
Our Address is 12212 Morris Bridge Rd Tampa Florida 33637. Look for us at I 75 Exit 266 Tampa Worm Castings For Sale In Florida

If you compost with contaminated material toxins build up. Grains ,Lawn clippings,vegetable mater from commercial growing operations or Lawns carry excessive amounts of Pesticides,Herbicides which in turn kill the composting Worms
Contaminated Worm Castings. Toxins might be lurking in that Worm Castings you’re about to buy?
The NOP initially proposed setting a strict upper limit for bifenthrin levels in Worm Castings but abandoned the idea when wider tests revealed that many brands of commercial Worm Castings wouldn’t pass.
We compost material that has not been exposed to pesticides,herbicides,fertilizers,growth Hormones,and animal medications .
Compost from Florida Worm Farm.
What we do not Compost. Grains main concern (Corn ,Soil Beans) from feeds that are GMO. Almost 100% of all corn and soy bean feed is GMO. Roundup, GMOs linked to emergence of deadly new pathogen causing spontaneous abortions among animals.Manures from Grain feed animals. Rabbits,Cows,Chickens,Pigs and Horses .We find that manure from large dairy farms could have antibiotics or growth hormones. Scientists are also concerned about the environmental impacts of hormone residues in cow manure
Cardboard, Great Dangers.It turns out a lot of chemicals are used to manufacture the boxes, from treating the wood pulp, to gluing the paper, and dyeing & bleaching the cardboard. And my "bad" chemical, sulfur, is used in the process. In fact several classes of sulfur are employed in the process. Many of these toxins transfer up thru the plant we consume.

.

Hong Kong WILLIE ARTISTS: HONG KONG WILLIE HONG KONG WILLIE

Hong Kong WILLIE ARTISTS: HONG KONG WILLIE HONG KONG WILLIE

HONG KONG WILLIE.: HIPPIE BAGS

HONG KONG WILLIE.: HIPPIE BAGS

HONG KONG WILLIE.: artreview.com. hong kong willie

HONG KONG WILLIE.: artreview.com. hong kong willie

HONG KONG WILLIE ARTS: KEY WEST ARTISTS

HONG KONG WILLIE ARTS: KEY WEST ARTISTS

ARTIST: HONG KONG WILLIE KEY WEST ARTIST

Hong Kong WILLIE THE ARTIST: HONG KONG WILLIE KEY WEST ARTIST

ARTIST OF THE SEA

Hong Kong WILLIE THE ARTIST: ARTIST OF THE SEA

KEY WEST ARTIST ON FOX TV .updated 6/18/2023

Hong Kong WILLIE THE ARTIST: BUOY SURFING

Hong Kong WILLIE THE ARTIST: BUOY SURFING

Hong Kong WILLIE THE ARTIST: HONG KONG WILLIE IN THE NEWS

Hong Kong WILLIE THE ARTIST: HONG KONG WILLIE IN THE NEWS

HIPPIE BAGS------HIPPIE BAG ..UPDATED 12/26/2020

HIPPIE BAGS,HIPPIE BAG

Hong Kong Willie , HANDBAG,HANDBAGS,HIPPIE BAG,HIPPIE BAGS,GREEN HIPPIE HANDBAG, GREEN HIPPIE BAGS., beach bags, funky handbags, hippy bag, hippie bag, handmade bag, green bag, shopping bag, hippy purse, burlap bag, tote, hobo bag, recycled bag. Art of Hong Kong Willie: preservation represented many ways, Upcycled Bracelets, Key West Reclaimed Board Art, Christmas Stockings, Bottle Art, Buoy Art. Follow the story. Art in itself. Hong Kong Willie. "Hippie Artist of the 60's In The Now". Hippie Artist and Folk Artist, Living The Life of Using Objects For Many Uses. Look at The Travels of Life. Contact the Artists @ (813) 770-4794

John 3:16

King James Version (KJV)

 ¹⁶For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Hippie tote bag,Hippie

Re-Use Purse $85.00

To Buy contact Hongkongwillie

"I am ready to travel with you. Made for you, there is only one of me. This is my story: I am a Hong Kong Willie Hippie tote bag , arriving from one destination, joining you on your life’s journey. On these travels we will find a way that more of us change. As in my purpose and your purpose, we are all meant for many uses."



Hand Made Bag
Shell: Burlap Coffee Bag
Source: Third Generation Coffee Roaster
Stitching: Recovered Vintage Yarn
Source: Key West
Handle, Label, Pockets:
Source: Artist Worn Clothing (HKW)
Inner Pocket: 1
Outer Pocket: 1
Dimensions:
Length(Strap to Bottom)-23"
Actual Length-14"
Width-20"

Logged in Artist Register through Fisherman Id Tag.

Tampa gallery practices the art of creative reuse

By Kerry Schofield


The year was 1958. Joe Brown, 8, lived next to a county dump site in Tampa, Fla. Brown found old junk, fixed it up and sold it. Brown knew he had a higher calling in life — he was destined to be an artist.

Brown, who is now 60, makes art from trash at his Hong Kong Willie Tampa Art Gallery. He has embellished the outside of the gallery with splashes of Caribbean-color paint and found objects reminiscent of Key West.

Brown is as colorful as the gallery — he wears a bright tropical shirt with red, white and blue plaid shorts. Patrons tell him they can smell the salt water when they drive up. The gallery, however, is perched inland near Morris Bridge Road and Interstate 75 where a rusty-hair hen named Fred, first thought to be a rooster, patrols the property. Fred, abandoned five years ago by tourists, trots between the gallery and adjacent hotel leaving a trail of droppings behind her.

Brown lived on the Gunn Highway Landfill in Tampa from 1958 to 1963. The Hillsborough County landfill operated for four years and was closed in 1962. “It was astounding how quick they could fill the 15 acres in pits that were enormous,” Brown said.

An apartment complex now sits on top of the old landfill. A report by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection indicated that a lining was placed underneath the complex when it was built to block methane gas from leaking. The gas is a byproduct of rotting garbage.

 As a child, Brown lived on his father’s dairy and beef farm. Brown said during heavy rain, the low land on the farm flooded the neighboring Gunn Highway. In 1957, Hillsborough County officials offered to elevate the low land to stop the flooding by turning it into a landfill. When the property was sold in 1984 by Brown’s father, soil testing revealed heaps of old paper and punctured cans of spray paint.

“They dug up and took out newspapers like the day they were put in,” Brown said. “It reminded me of nuclear bombs that were going to go off. They dumped everything in the landfill.”

As a child, Brown foraged at nearby dumpsters. County workers saved junk for him that people dropped off. One day, Brown’s parents got a call from his elementary school teacher and told them that Brown had $100 in his pocket and that he must be stealing.

Brown picked up the saved junk after school and turned it into something new. Contrary to his elementary school teacher’s accusation, he wasn’t a thief after all. Instead he was a young entrepreneur who sold other people’s trash.

“There was so much excess coming into the landfill,” Brown said. “There was so much waste from our society.”

However, Brown’s mother wanted him to pursue his talents and dreams, not money. But he developed a business sense during his young junk collecting days and told his mother, “I’m not going to be an artist. I’ve read that artists starve to death.”

Brown’s mother became concerned. He said his mother knew “the value of happiness and the travels of life” and sent him to a summer art class.

The art teacher inspired awe in Brown. She taught him how to reuse baby food jars by melting the glass and adding marbles to the mix to create paper weights. The teacher had traveled to Hong Kong, China and Hiroshima, Japan after World War II. She saw how people were forced to recycle and reuse items out of necessity after the war. This left an impression on Brown.

It was at this time that he personified the name Hong Kong Willie, which harkens back to China where the mass production of merchandise occurs. The “Willies” are people like Brown and other environmentalists who try to reuse trash instead of throwing it into landfills.

After high school, Brown went to college to study business but dropped out after three years. He worked in the material handling industry until 1981. Although Brown had achieved a successful career and lifestyle, he had become discouraged in 1979.

“The change came from knowing that I had come to the point of what people call success,” Brown said. “I wasn’t happy inside.”

He had been diagnosed with depression in 1973, a condition that was caused from high fructose intake and that lasted for more than four years.

In 1985, Brown and his artist wife, Kim, bought the half-acre property off Fletcher Avenue and Morris Bridge Road. For two decades the two small wooden shacks, built around 1965, that now house the gallery operated as a bait and tackle shop.

Nowadays, Brown raises and sells worms by the pound mainly for composting. He recycled 250 thousand pounds in the worm bed in 2009. Brown still sells the worms for $4.50 a cup for fishing.

In 1981, Brown resurrected the Hong Kong Willie name from his childhood art class. In the early 1980s, both he and his wife, Kim, began upcycling trash into art. Brown entered another world when he left his mainstream lifestyle behind — he joined the art scene and booked rock bands at the same time.

The Brown family spent half their time in Tampa and the other half in a small home on Boot Key Harbor in Marathon. Brown gained the reputation of the Key West lobster buoy artist.

“I had a total different appearance when in Key West,” Brown said. “I used to have hair down to my waist.”

When Brown came back to Tampa, he lived in the woods for months at a time, much like Henry David Thoreau in “Walden,” who had lived a simple lifestyle in a one room cabin near Walden Pond in Concord, Mass.

Back in Key West, Brown became friends with local fishermen. He and others organized efforts to clean up plastic foam buoys that had collected in the waterways from years of fishing.

“You would go and find buoys floating in the mangroves, up on the shore and they had trashed up everything,” Brown said.

The Earth Resource Foundation reports that plastic foam is dumped into the environment. It breaks up into pieces and chokes animals by clogging their digestive system.

Brown sells the buoys from the Hong Kong Willie Art Gallery for $8.00 a piece. He said he has sold from 30 to 40 thousand buoys in the last ten years. Some of the buoys are more than 50 years old and are collected by tourists from China and Japan.

“If you go to the Keys right now and you see a buoy floating, you’ll see someone slam on the brakes to get it,” Brown said. “They’re the most prized buoys of the world.”

Brown made a holiday buoy tree 12 years ago from the Key West buoys. Hundreds of buoys are strung on rope and wrapped around a utility pole next to the gallery. Brown hopes the novelty of the buoy tree will inspire and stimulate children to find new ways to reduce, reuse and recycle garbage.

In Kate Shoup’s “Rubbish! Reuse Your Refuse,” the author said much of what we get is designed to be scrapped after only a few uses. We easily throw away pens, lighters, razors and dozens of other items. Shoup said Americans consume 2 million plastic drink bottles every 5 minutes.

Likewise, Brown finds uses for items that would otherwise end up in a landfill. He buys used burlap bags from coffee and peanut producers. He sells them to the U.S. National Forestry Service for the collection of pine seeds and Samuel Adams for hops production.

Brown and his wife, Kim, also make art hippie bags from the burlap sacks and sell them in the gallery. Kim, also an artist, paints fish, turtles, crows, parrots and the like on driftwood and on wood that Brown has salvaged from saw mills and from old buildings in Key West.

Brown said art is viewed and appreciated by certain people. “If it all came out the same, it would be like bland grits all the time,” Brown said. He likes to refer to the gallery art as reused rather than recycled, which takes waste and turns it into an inferior product.  Reuse on the other hand involves remaking an item and using it again for the same intended purpose.

“I also try to stay away from imprinting a definite use for a definite item,” Brown said. He explains that 2-liter bottles are not limited to making bird feeders. The bottles can be used for art and craft projects as well.

Brown said the larger message he wants to communicate is that the disposal of garbage today is creating a toxic environment.

 “I still have the original Gerber baby food bottle that I melted” Brown said. “It’s sitting on my mom’s little table.”

HONG KONG WILLIE ON YOUTUBE ..updated 1/1/2021

HONG KONG WILLIE ON YOUTUBE

Famous Florida Artist . updated 2/2/2024

 A short moment of time Hong Kong Willie

The first time i can remember, The Florida Keys. The long road , narrow water on both sides. Beach, not to my understanding. Key West, Duval St, only what tourists see, was my first impression. WOW, that would change

 i received a phone call from Al in Ramrod Key, a Florida Key. A Key that is about 27 miles from Key West. Al: a rocker, drummer, out there kind a guy. Al and i met in a funny way. Al living near some small town in Massachusetts also having this cool place in the Florida Keys.
Artist have this draw to the Keys, Why, Well it took this road to discover. Al now living in Ramrod, calling to tell what had happen in the Isle of Ramrod. Not to mention Cat, oh i forgot, Cat is how i met Al.

Al, someone that, well to say what a friend. Some nights sleeping on his pool table. and not far is No Name Pub, well there you go, pub, by any other name spells trouble. Well contrary to your disbelief, what a place of history. This is where it begins.or When its begins.

This once remote Key, NO NAME KEY,NO NAME PUB, remote, to say the
least, pub , when seeing the place, everything you can believe, and more,
just from the appearance. Now no matter what you have heard second
thoughts still occur.. Its still time turn around, not to night. The
Rainbow Trail by Zane Grey, was spoken here, my first exposure to the
days of Zane Grey, oh I'm getting ahead of myself. No Name Pub, a Zayne
Grey second office in the Keys, later to be one of mine. No Name Pub,
the history, the wild west, well, great writers, why they come here, No
Name Pub. Real artist, Real Treasure hunters, Fisherman, and the trade no
one saw, all came. No one made a big deal who came or left.

It was part of the beginning for the art support. A meeting place for the who's who in the world of the Keys.
Egos left a the door.
Appreciating that you did not get lost in that world .
Artist that had made it and willing to give you support. .
This was a place that I will always remember for the time I sharpen my artist skills.

 

GOOGLE HONG KONG WILLIE

You know you have seen it. Whether you know it as “the Christmas tree” or the “art station,” Hong Kong Willie’s is a spectacular, unique sight.

Seated in the corner of Morris Bridge and I-75, Hong Kong Willie’s is a gallery where many unique pieces of art are displayed and sold.

Always seeing this place on our way to school, former Editor-in-Chief Pankti Mehta and I had wondered about it for a long time. At the beginning of this summer, we decided to go there and find out.

As we walked into the blue shack, we were greeted by a friendly face. Wearing a blue Hawaiian shirt and khaki shorts, and with his hair pulled back into a ponytail, Joe Brown, or more commonly known as Hong Kong Willie, welcomed us and shared with us the story of his life.

Hong Kong Willie is an artist who finds the meaning in what others would deem as “junk” items. His journey began in his childhood when he collected discarded items from the landfill where he lived and sold them.

“By the time I was eight years old, I was walking around with hundreds of dollars in my pockets,” Brown said.

He had never thought he would enter the realm of art, but his mother knew otherwise. She was the one who made him to go to art school.

“My mother believed that if you were born to do something, you were to do that,” he said.

At art school, he met the person who would inspire his nickname. His art teacher explained the importance and meaning behind insignificant, common items to her students. She had gone to Hiroshima shortly after the atomic bomb had been dropped, and then had left out of Hong Kong. Her inspirational story was the reason Brown nicknamed himself Hong Kong Willie.

When he was in college, the technological industry was booming, with many new innovations coming out in different areas of society. Brown decided to step into it. However, after being in the technological industry for a while, Brown went through a realization:

“I just wasn’t made up for that.”

Knowing that the technological world was filled with greed, Brown decided to step out of it in 1981. He knew that his life’s calling was to be artist, and he was going to be just that.

“We are here to tell a story … to take common items that are not manufactured media that have a meaning.”

He set up his station first in the Florida Keys, but then moved to Tampa, where he has now been living for 37 years.

A firm believer in predestination, Brown explains that he got these beliefs from his father.

“My father understood why he was here. And he made that of great importance to his children… My father gave me the understanding of why we were here
And to be determined to find that.”

In today’s fast-paced society, teaching of such life lessons has become rare. People are more motivated to “get famous and get money,” as Brown put it.

“I’m here just to exemplify and maximize why I’m here. That’s probably the greatest thing that I think is missed in families.”

Hong Kong Willie also explained one of his special pieces to us, which was called Miriosity. Shaped like a bird, Brown used the embedded frailties within the wood to bring out the meaning in the piece.

“Many artists don’t produce more than one great, great, great piece. And Miriosity, she just has all of those elements… Miriosity has a great future.”

Hong Kong Willie has supporters who come into his gallery and buy many of his pieces. With the money that he makes, he gives back a large portion to various social projects. His art is not just a business, and he makes that very clear.

“You can only buy a piece of art if you have fallen in love with it,” he said. He recalled a time when he turned down a buyer from buying some of his works because he knew the reason for buying those works was not genuine.

Hong Kong Willie keeps the presence of art alive in today’s society. Wherever his art goes, a piece of him will forever be with each piece. We are very grateful for his time and his dedication to his work.

Hong Kong WILLIE THE ARTIST: TRUE GREEN HIPPIE BAG

Hong Kong WILLIE THE ARTIST: TRUE GREEN HIPPIE BAG

Hong Kong WILLIE THE ARTIST: HONG KONG WILLIE TAMPA TOURIST LOOKING FOR KEY WEST LOBSTER BUOYS,KEY WEST LOBSTER FLOATS

Hong Kong WILLIE THE ARTIST: HONG KONG WILLIE TAMPA TOURIST LOOKING FOR KEY WEST LOBSTER BUOYS,KEY WEST LOBSTER FLOATS

Hong Kong WILLIE THE ARTIST: HONG KONG WILLIE IN THE NEWS GREEN SHOPPING BAG

Hong Kong WILLIE THE ARTIST: HONG KONG WILLIE IN THE NEWS GREEN SHOPPING BAG

Hong Kong WILLIE THE ARTIST: HONG KONG WILLIE GREEN SHOPPING BAGS

Hong Kong WILLIE THE ARTIST: HONG KONG WILLIE GREEN SHOPPING BAGS

Hong Kong WILLIE THE ARTIST: HONG KONG WILLIE MyFox Tampa Bay | Fox 13 News | WTVT

Hong Kong WILLIE THE ARTIST: HONG KONG WILLIE MyFox Tampa Bay | Fox 13 News | WTVT

Hong Kong WILLIE THE ARTIST: HIPPIE BAGS. COOL HIPPIE ARTIST, LIVING GREEN#links#links

Hong Kong WILLIE THE ARTIST: HIPPIE BAGS. COOL HIPPIE ARTIST, LIVING GREEN#links#links

HONGKONGWILLIE: CHARLEY'S WORLD: HONG KONG WILLIE

HONGKONGWILLIE: CHARLEY'S WORLD: HONG KONG WILLIE