Howdy SW Friends,

Sharing photos of our garden. With the heat staying in the steady 90s, most of the Spring plants have been harvested and seed collected. The warm veggies are beginning to bloom and bear fruit.

I'm heading out today to straw mulch the garden in prep of the long summer.

Stay dirty, my friends.

You really have a couple of green thumbs, Gina! Your garden and produce look so good!

Thank you, Karen.

I can hardly believe the cabbage hung on for so long! These little beauties will be sauerkraut. I've never made it before, so I think I will give it a whirl. Still eating slaw from the greener heads and put some up in the freezer for mash or soups. Same with the Chard... It just keeps giving. I had forgotten how much I like chard, so it's been a real treat this year. Oh, and I did get a small taste of the pole beans that I mixed up with candied carrots. Oh, they are going to be so much better than the bush beans.

I went ahead and planted corn in the main bed this year against Hubs wishes. I'll do my best to keep the corn worms at bay using mineral oil, but from all the other beds I've attempted, no other space has been successful - and I miss fresh corn. Fingers crossed for worm-free fresh cobbed corn!

Did you see the rogue asparagus plant growing in there? Huh? What? Bizarre. I will dig it up this winter and add it to its proper bed. Just goes to show that life finds a way!

Hope you are having a lovely day. Happy first day of Summer!

Everything looks great! I am enjoying my cherry tomatoes right now and the larger patio ones are starting to ripen. I planted the two pots of tomatoes later then usual but the cooler May we had has kept them growing well. Amazing how juicy they are. No juice in the store bought ones, not much taste either.

Outstanding, Linda!

Phil built a makeshift bed for us from pallets and lined with fabric. A test run in the hoop house for growing veggies. Well, we used that crappy soil to fill it. Once we realized after sowing, we added some bagged soil and churned it around.

I planted a ton of herb seed, hot and sweet peppers, tomatoes, etc. well, only the tomatoes came up. They are doing okay, but have yet to flower, so I doubt they will be productive for us. Maybe. Thing is, I got some bonus tomato seeds that weren't labeled, so who really know what are growing out there. I'm hoping it is my sweet million cherries, but I've lost track of what seeds were tossed in at this point. Another gardening adventure!

Enjoy those tomatoes! Yum!

and good luck on yours!

Howdy SW Friends,

Here's an update on the summer garden. The jacks and cottontail rabbits are out in full force now that the desert has dried up. They are decimating anything not wired. Took out a large portion of all my paddle cacti. I had hoped they were large enough to sustain the season. Another stupid goof on my part to not cage them. Quite exasperating, but I have no one to blame but myself. Damn, damn, double damn. They are taking out my wired sunflowers and unwired trailing lantana, too.

Guess I'll be out after each summer deluge digging the perimeter trench for the 4' rabbit fencing that is going to be required to have any peace of mind against these critters. I keep going back and forth as we have cattle gates and it seems like it will all be for not. But if I only had to treat the gates with Rabbit-B-Gone crap, I think I could keep up with that chore - no way I could do a perimeter treatment consistently. Too expensive long term. There really is no solution.

Time to get the pumpkin in for the grands in October and November decor. The corn is getting their silk as I hand pollinate. It's an overcast day, so I really ought to go ahead and lay some straw to help with moisture retention. It's going to be a big day as pickled beets need my attention as well. Of course, the coyote gourd is untouched!! Nice to have some green in front of the chicken coop. Perhaps, Gina's Gourd Garden landscaping IS the answer! Don't mind me, I just need a summer-long vacation to a lush tropical island.

Stay dirty, my SW friends, and stay encouraged!

I really like your garden Gina. Especially all the trellises. I keep putting off major changes because we are often talking about moving. I want to grow some Moringa Trees AKA DrumStick Tree and some Purple Tree Collards.

Thank you, Thisisme.

The trellis are new this year - both the back and the hoop. Next Spring, we plan to put in another two hoops and create a tunnel on that side. I'll need to put in some planter boxes, though. My plan is to have dipper and birdhouse gourds on them next summer. Those sunflowers are Mammoth (in the ground) and I either got hoodwinked on the seed or they are stunted due to our bad soil. For Mammoth, they are only standing at 5'. I did go ahead and plant 4 in the main bed just a few days ago. It will be interesting to see the difference between them. Anyway, I was hoping I'd have to tie them to the trellis and they would fill in the wire. Not.

The back trellis is loaded up with pole beans. Not setting fruit anymore. I think it will be a late harvest in September and forward. I'm working on getting the cucumber mixed in with them, but they are a bit too short right now. I can already see that I'll have my work cut out for me come winter when it's time to clear it, but it sure looks lovely at the moment.

I was so excited about Moringa this year, too, Thisisme. The critters got them at about 9" even though I had them chicken wired. Im guessing the ground squirrels or very young rabbit. Even chicken wire at ground level didn't do the trick! Do you have issues with rabbits in Mesa? We are very remote and near BLM land, so they are thick as thieves around here.

The collard trees look incredible. I remember looking for it once online and I can't recall if I could not find it or if it was a bit too pricy for me. I love the look of it as well. I'm going to leave a dinosaur kale this year and see if it will do something similar.

Gardening in the SW certainly has it challenges, but I sure love gardening. Didn't get started until moving here. First plant was Spring 2014. I can't begin to tell you the experiences we've had and the knowledge I've obtained since then. Knew nothing about any of it and spent hours reading. I still have much to learn and still make plenty of mistakes, but it's a real joy watching it all grow; and fetching produce from our property is a real blessing. One day, I hope to make the hoop house really produce for us in the winter. I just haven't quite gotten there yet. But, we gotta have a dream!

We sure would love a tour of your garden, Thisisme. Drop us a few if your so inclined.

Stay cool! The temps are climbing again!

I have not taken any pictures in the last few weeks. I came down with pneumonia while in the middle of a project and I left my yard in a mess. I feel better now but I'm supposed to avoid direct sunlight due to the antibiotics I'm taking. But here are some pictures of my garden. In a few weeks when I get everything cleaned up, I will post some more.




























Everything is a bit bigger right now and growing like crazy. But it's all I can do to get out too pick a little and keep things watered. Next week I will be out there a lot more and when things cleaned up I will take some more pics.

What a great set up, Thisisme!

Love all your vertical gardening. You have my wheels spinning with ideas, now! It reminds me of Charles Dowding's approach to anchoring the vertical leader string to the root of a seedling. I love his YouTube videos.

Everything looks beautiful. Outstanding!

Glad to hear your back on your feet! Don't rush it. That pneumonia is serious business.

This is the only local to Arizona place I know of that sells Purple Tree Collards.
Collard Trees and Moringa Trees - $25 (Phoenix, Az)

https://phoenix.craigslist.org...

Growing Tree Collards AKA Tree Kale, Walking Stick Kale, and Purple Tree Collard requires a shade structure in the valley of the sun. So, I was planning on waiting until after we move and plant 2-3 of them. They would be planted under a permanent shade structure with protection overhead and from the setting sun.


By the way. I used to have a larger garden with more fruit trees, raised beds and trellises. But someone sprayed my garden and most of my fruit trees with herbicide. Here is a link to my old garden in the same yard before it was turned into a moonscape.

There are four pages of photos.

https://s266.photobucket.com/u...

That is an amazing garden!!!! Did you find that your fig trees needed a lot of water?

quietyard said:That is an amazing garden!!!! Did you find that your fig trees needed a lot of water?

For the first couple of years yes. But at this point during the summer I water them once every 7-10 days.

I just uploaded some more pictures a couple minutes ago.

Spectacular!!

I am somewhere in-between heartbroken and angry for you, Thisisme!! But, I'm glad to see you haven't give up!

Went out today to see that the critters took out my second small bed of sunflowers! Decimated completely! They must be jumping down into it and the out again. I couldn't imagine my anger if done by a person's intentional hands. I only hope that your situation was an awful, yet innocent, mistake.

Thanks for the photos! I'm going to take some time to really scroll through them. And thanks for the link and advise on the Collard trees!

Gina, that was roughly six years ago. Like most family issues, it's complicated. But we have worked it out and as best I can I have moved on.

Sorry to hear about critter problem. Sounds like you need a either a rabbit proof fence or an electric fence. There are some very inexpensive electric fence systems. They are also safe for children and animals. Yes, it will give a child a little jolt. But they are not capable of doing any real harm.

Fi-Shock SS-725CS AC Powered Light-Duty Electric Fence Charger, 5-Acre Range
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000HHO9EE/

Farmily Portable Electric Fence Polywire, 656 Feet 200 Meter, 6 Conductors, Yellow and Black Color, Easy to Install Repair Splice and Rewind
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01983K7F2/

Zareba IWNY-Z Slant Nail Insulator, Yellow, 25 per Bag
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005MNJSGM/

Yes, those family issues, Thisisme! None of us go through this life unaffected, or so it surely seems. May God bless you.

And, yes, I do need a critter fence. I made a list of just this year's causalities and it's exaspering! Nothing is rabbit proof in the remote desert when the inevidentable dry season arrives. They thirst and will do what they must to survive. Much blame is mine as I foolishly think that wire isn't needed at all times on all things. Landscaping will never be achieved without some sort of perimeter fencing... It's all fine and dandy until summer, then all bets are off! I can see that now.

Again, thank you for the links. Hubs and I are retired with grands visiting periodically and our pooch is a smart girl. I'm not too worried about electric perimeter boundaries as long as it's effective and affordable. My current plan is to dig the trenches for welded wire fencing once the summer rains hit, but even that is quite costly when fencing in an acre.

Slow, but steady, wins the race eventually; and although defeated at times, I'm not ready to give up, either!

I saw these up on Craigslist for free. Listed as rabbit proof planter boxes.

Howdy Thisisme,

Aren't those nifty! Our neighbor down the road uses his plot this way as his Garden is unattended more days than not. Fully framed with a hinged top. I don't know what he grows, but I have seen some beautiful artichokes from the road.

Our garden beds are secure from the critters. We had a calf get in and wreck havoc on it a couple years back. Left his calling card and hoof prints, too. Busted up the PVC water lines. Knocked down the flimsy chicken wire fence. It was a mess. A couple lines of barbed wire inbetween the post and cable fixed any further intrusion from the free roaming cows. A rabbit was caught inside once, too, but the wiring upgrades we made solved that trouble. Now, our only garden residents are lizards. I wouldn't doubt the occasional ground chipmunk/squirrel, but I haven't seen them scurry off when I approach.

My biggest issue with the rabbits is my attempts at landscaping. They've even eaten down the garlic, onion, Iris, gladiolas, and Dusty Miller to its roots. Of the list of rabbit resistant plants I've lovingly planted, not one has actually been rabbit proof unless wired. The only things they haven't touched are CA poppies, coyote gourd, Rosemary, and sage. Oh, and they are leaving the unwired oleander and Mexican bird of paradise alone, too.

I looked into the electrical fence. We'd need two set ups due to gates. And with our only power being at the house, I think I will do something different. However, I really appreciated the information.

Harvested my first yellow squash today. Butternut are setting fruit like crazy. Got most of the grand-daddy carrots out of the ground this morning. Looks like a full carrot harvest is in my very near future. Oh, and the pumpkins have broke soil, too. Still waiting on my cucumbers and luffa to appear; they both seem late to me. Pole beans simply refuse to set fruit - they flower but no rewards. Swiss chard is reappearing, kale and beets are holding strong with corn harvesting by the end of the month. Looks like my romaine is maturing in seed, as well - really hoping to be able to save them.

Overall, it's a good season as I dream of pathways, arbors and various structural components to enhance the property. I'm thinking a shaded BBQ courtyard with block wall surround.