Time to Garden

Spring has sprung at my home in the Mojave Desert. We got one raised bed planted last week, so now the onions are coming up. The tiny tomato plants are growing so fast they've caught up with the one bigger one I planted.  So either they are growing really fast or it is growing really slow.

The thyme I thought I'd fried is coming back now that I'm watering daily.

I was going to plant the last rosebush, which looked great. The very next day I got up to plant it and all the leaves were gone. I'm not sure if it was the chickens or the rabbits! Darn it all. But I got it  planted today. The last one is called Paradise. I used to have one before I had a yard that had to live at my Mother-in-law's house. So now I have my very own.

My boyfriend got another raised box built and now we are taking shifts hauling in sand from the berm to fill up half of it and mix it with potting soil.  I keep saying it is 'sand' and he insists it is 'dirt' so maybe I'll just call  it soil from now on.

We dug 4 big rocks out of the place where the box goes. Ugh, that was tough.

The rock he is sitting on came out of that section as well as the 3 in front of him.

A pinwheel to scare the birds away.

I got six new chicks this week. When we cleaned out the chicken coop we put all that manure and straw in the garden bed. I think I was suppose to let it decompose more but oh well. Still haven't gotten the compost pile to work yet.

Americauna chick.

Barred rock chick.

Got Rocks?

Today I kept putting birdseed out on the porch table, and every time I looked a chubby cheeked chipmunk was hoarding the seeds. I even saw one climb vertically up a wooden post to get to the seeds on the railing. Enough! I went and found the old gourd bird feeder that had blown down in a storm last spring and ended up under a creosote bush and fixed it up and hung it from a branch. Yes, the chipmunks can still get to it, but they'll have to work a lot harder to get up there. No more of this 'hop on the chair, then hop on the table'.

 The garlic we planted has sprouted. I'm relieved because nothing has grown well in that tub.

 I decided to dig a hole by the fence and plant the other mulberry tree our neighbor gave us. I was about done, when I hit a rock. Now the two of us have been trying to dig that rock out for three days. Only it's not just one rock...it's two big ones and a myriad of small ones. If we can't get it out soon, it's going to end up being a hole for a rosebush. And speaking of roses, I saw two cool ones at Home Depot. One is called "Cocoa' and one was striped. I thought it was called 'Henry Miller' but I'm not sure now. The plants weren't blooming though, so all I had to go by was the photo on the label. I'll save the names and when I can afford to put in a rose garden, I'll buy them somewhere.

The light area on the left is also a rock.

Rock Garden?

Fertilizing Day

The garden was looking a little sad, so I fertilized everything this morning. I've never fertilized before, preferring to see what this new and different soil would do on its own. The gourds look great but everything else was showing yellowing leaves. The tomato worms did a lot of damage too. And the little yellow pear shaped tomatoes were getting smaller and smaller. So I hope the fertilizer helps.

Curved Snake Gourd

I held up my hand so you could see how big this gourd is.

I'm hoping to use the straight snake gourds for quivers.

Oh dear, our water storage tank overflowed. We found out the float was stuck.



Mammoth Sunflower

My most successful sunflower.

June Gardening Update

June has been a rough gardening month. A week of temps in the 100's and I just can't water 3 times a day. The only sunflower that has done really well was a volunteer wild sunflower with multiple buds on it right now.

The gourds are finally making progress. My garden would be fine if I had big bucks to throw into it, but I don't. I could do a lot with about 20 extra large bags of potting mix and about a mile of new hoses including soak hoses and enough wood to make raised beds like I wanted to do in the first place. I about cried when the local farmer's market guy suggested putting all my plants in containers. I was finally glad to have a huge yard and get out of the city so I could grow things in the ground! I had enough container gardening in Anaheim.  And I'm sure I sounded exasperated when I told him I was trying to get away from container gardening.

On the good side, my portulaca just bloomed. The first flower was yellow, and came and went before I got a photo of it. But there are more buds. The pepper has one fruit on it. The best growing tomato bush has new yellow flowers. I think it's the small yellow pear tomatoes on that one. But I moved them so many times to protect them from the rabbits that I've lost track.

So, I made some ant posters. At least the insects, which come in great varieties, have been entertaining.

Teamwork

Guy putting up an awning before we melt.

Garden Update

Gardening has been a challenge. My friend had mercy on me and bought me some chicken wire, so now I've protected the sunflowers and the pole beans from the rabbits.

Some plants will always remind me of my mother, and such is the case with portulaca aka moss rose. In the past I've always bought the seedlings at the nursery but since money is tight this year after our big move, I went with seeds instead. I'm happy to report they have sprouted in the container I put them in. The beets in the same container haven't made an appearance yet, but I'm thrilled to see the teeny tiny moss rose plants coming up. The package said 'easy to grow' but I had my doubts.

I have about six gourd plants now. The baby bottle gourds still haven't germinated. It is hard to keep everything wet enough in this sandy soil. We have well water, so I'm not worried about the water bill, but whenever the water runs so does the electric pump, so I'm worried about the impact on my electric bill if I water too much. We've barely had any rain this year. And I think the rainy season is already over.

My big treat this week was getting a red yucca plant after I saw them growing outside of a fast food restaurant.  They have long stems with red orange tubular flowers right now and the hummingbirds were feeding from them. So I thought it would be a good addition to my Zen garden. The best part is the tag says it is a native, so once I get it established I won't have to baby it.

Pole Bean Seedling

Gourd Seedling

Portulaca or Beet Seedlings?

Saying Good-bye to My Favorite Rose

As if to say good-bye, my favorite rose presented me with a bouquet of all stages of bloom on one branch. I hope the new owner (the place is in escrow) has the good sense to let the rose go on bringing pleasure to the next renter. It's huge right now because I stopped trimming it when the current owner said he was going to rip it out. And nothing else is blooming on it, except that one branch, as if it was a present to me.

So I cut it off and put it in a vase to enjoy as I pack up the kitchen.

And of course I took photos of it to share with you. I paid $5 for this bush at a swap meet. Best bargain ever!

I'm moving to the desert so the garden there will be completely different than anything I am used to. But the yard is gigantic and the landlady doesn't seem too particular about what we do with it. And she's an avid gardener.

Ouch

I haven't looked in the front yard yet today, but my boyfriend said they are completely ripping out everything in the flower beds. And just when the jasmine was in full bloom, the pansies a riot of color, and the roses covered in buds.

I will try to look to the future, either to moving out, or the plants they will put in to replace these.

Breakfast al Fresco

First thing this morning I spent time outside.  I glued on the rest of the pieces to my mosaic.  I enjoyed the birds sitting on the wall. I watered all the potted plants that are not watered by the rain. I have to keep an eye on those because the only way they get watered is if I remember to do it. The jasmine is fragrant. I put my welcome sign with the bunny back on the front door since Easter is just around the corner. I tidied up the front porch. And I trimmed the asparagus fern from around the water faucet. It has little thorns so I don't want to plunge my hand in there to turn on the hose.

I still need to have a major clean-up day back there before I can teach craft classes in my yard, but it was good to eat breakfast out there and read a bit.

Red nasturtiums.

Nasturtiums Are Blooming

The weather can't decide if it wants to be hot or cold.  I let my nasturtiums go to seed and they are blooming like crazy now. I never know what color they will be so it's a nice surprise every time. I'm not sure if I will plant any veggies this year since we went to move out. But the succulents are doing well. My pansies in the front yard are hanging in there too. The rain keeps damaging the ones in the shade.  They aren't as happy as the ones that get more sun.

Originally I planted seeds & each year they come back.

The leaf behind this one is almost more stunning than the flower.

Planning My Spring Garden

I'm planning for my spring garden.  This time I'm either going to have a square foot garden or no garden at all. It's a much superior method and the way I've had the most success in the past. And it cuts down on maybe 90% of weeding. I'm building the boxes to be 2' wide x 4' long and I'll put as many on the space as I can while leaving a path to walk between them.

This year I hope to grow a gourmet lettuce mix, purple carrots, orange carrots, pear tomatoes, if I can find a fusarium wilt resistant variety, beets, nasturtiums and radishes. One box (8 squares) will be dedicated to growing herbs.

I also want to plant a pomegranate tree to replace the tree my idiot landlord removed last fall. I'm keeping it in a pot so I can take it with me when I move.

The Mysterious Stranger

As if my poor garden hasn't had enough weird issues this year, last night we had a prowler of the four legged variety. My boyfriend caught the possum red handed wedged into my metal trellis. At least it posed under the light so I could get some good photos before it knocked over the trellis. Then it tried to climb up the sunflower stalks and broke one of those. It's been coming around for a couple of weeks now. I can hear it crunching on the dead leaves outside of my window.

Sunflower Seeds

I'm really excited because many of my sunflower and marigold seeds have sprouted. I'm so glad I bought new sunflower seeds. Looks like I got a good batch this time. Now if I can just fend the snails and birds off until the seedlings get strong enough to survive.

I have a bunch of almost ripe tomatoes to pick too. I dug up the deader plant after harvesting it's last 2 fruits. I'm going to let the ground rest a bit before putting another plant in that spot. We also swept up a lot of debris today so it's more fun to be out there. The hummingbird is busy and eating out of my feeder again. She got a bit agitated when my cat was sitting in the window.

Fall in the Garden

You can use your garden as inspiration for your artwork. Here is a t-shirt I am embellishing with ribbon flowers, lemons, vines and leaves. Don't spend all your gardening time pruning, picking and planting. Make time for sketching, photographing, and otherwise enjoying your garden. Today I need to refresh the hummingbird feeder. I can't remember the ratio of sugar to water so I need to look that up again.
Leaves are starting to turn colors and fall onto the patio. I enjoy the sound of it from my bedroom window. I have a lot of birds in my garden this year. They seem to be eating the seeds of the grass that is taking over my garden.

Hummingbird

I was sitting outside reading when I heard my hummingbird come back. And this time I had the camera. So now I can show you instead of nattering on about it.

Beets Coming Out of My Ears

How am I going to eat all these beets? My boyfriend decided he doesn't like beets. I'm thinking my neighbor from Romania might like them. But everytime I give her something she feels obligated to give me something back. And I hate to put her on the spot like that. Anyway I took some photos for your beet viewing pleasure. I still have a lot more to harvest. Egads! And I have to say once again you don't need a big yard to grow enough vegetables for a family of four.

Garden Photos

I've been super busy in the garden. Today I planted sunflower seeds.
I repotted a bunch of succulents. Then I bought a bunch more at the swapmeet. I couldn't resist getting 12 plants for $10. Here's some photos of my current gardening experiences. Hope you enjoy them. Comment and link me to your blog if you have one.