Surviving Summer

It's hot here in Phoenix. Really hot. Yesterday was 115* degrees. Today it was 115*. And the forecast consensus shows over 110* degrees for all of next week. YIKES!! If you think it's tough on us humans, be assured it's tougher on our plants. Remember, outside it's not only hot, but the sun is intense. If it's not a cactus, it's stressing.


One of the easiest ways to beat the heat (well, tolerate the heat) is simply installing shade cover. Just by reducing the amount of direct intense sun, life gets a little bit nicer for plants.

The set-up in my garden is quite rudimentary. It's not pretty, but it is effective, and it only took ten minutes to put in place. My new seedlings are much happier now.


This is all a temporary solution for current season. Since my back garden receives west exposure, I have a greater plan for future protection. In summer 2008 I planted some new trees (palo verde, bauhinia, crape myrtle, pomegranate) to create natural shade cover. By next summer 2010, too much sun will not be an issue for me.
(keep cool!)

Home Grown Good Stuff...

Make your own compost!
It's fun! It's Easy! It's free!

Make a pile out of lawn clippings, tree litter, leaves, old dead plants. No need to be too scientific about the mix of brown (carbon) and green (nitrogen) materials. The best thing for compost is kitchen scraps. Make a hole, dump them in and cover them up (helps keep the flies and gnats away).


Turn the pile with a shovel or pitch fork and water it to keep the micro-bugs active. Do this weekly or so.
(I turned this pile every other day when I took out kitchen scraps.)


About eight weeks later I had brown gold - nature's alchemy! Use it as a planting soil, fertilizer amendment, or top mulch. Anywhere in the garden, it's good stuff!
Check out my compost workshop coming up at the Phoenix Downtown Farmer's Market.

In The Gardener's Garden - 2009-04-04

Life is good...

My wife and I spent some peaceful time in the garden today (trying very hard to ignore the wind). So to help focus, I ran off to the frontyard and cut a few things for little vase (Don Juan roses, raspberry snapdragon, nasturtium).



As the wind settled, all the birds came out to eat, and the whole verdin bird family came to visit


But a gardener's work is never done. I have to go prune some edibles and cook them up for dinner!

Lights Out! Don't forget this weekend is "Earth Hour".

Everyone is encouraged to turn out their lights from 8:30 - 9:30pm on Saturday, March 28.
(Check out the "Earth Hour" video)

According to Mayor Phil Gordon, here are some other things we can also do to participate in this global event:

* Change at least one light bulb to a CFL
* Park your car for the day
* Turn your air or heat down or off
* Use public transportation (including light rail)
* Fill your recycling container
* Reduce your water consumption

Read more at: http://phoenix.gov/news/032509earth.html

I plan to spend my Saturday morning celebrating by planting some trees - a lot of trees! Valley Forward Association and the Mayor's Office will host a tree planting event downtown on Roosevelt Row Saturday 03/28 ( 8am-12noon).

In honor of VFA's 40 years in Phoenix as the Valley's premier environmental public interest organization, 40 trees will be planted along 5th Street and 6th Street from Roosevelt to Garfield. It's sure to be quite a day.

Later, during Earth Hour, I will be on my patio enjoying my garden in the candle light.

Road To Success!

Well it's finally done! It took some time to fit in between weekend schedule and brief nights after work. (about 14 hours over 4 weeks)

Now that I've figured out my formula, it's time for phase two...

Eating Up Some Spring

One of the best things about living in Phoenix Arizona is the weather. Still 28 days before spring 'officially' begins (March 1st), it is 70* degrees, sunny, and everything is in bloom. This really all began about three weeks ago, just after winter weekend. We had a couple of weeks with lows in the 30's, a few days of glorious rain, and now we're headed full steam into what looks to be an incredible spring season.

Before diving into some big project that involve digging or hauling (I have loads), I thought I'd have a little inspirational fun.

"I'll do edible pots!"

Using some old tera cotta pots (about 18"x18") I made a soil blend of potting mix, compost, mulch, and pumice.

Here are the plants I installed in container #1:

Kale - perfect for salads and green smoothies
Spearmint -I like to snack on when I garden and use in tea
Purple kale - labeled as an ornamental, I saute' with monk pepper and sea salt
Dusty miller - it looks so great, and makes a unique garnish

Here are the plants I installed in container #2:

Dill - great on fish (with lemon) and the blooms attract butterflies
Spinach - full of calcium for green smoothies and salad
Swiss chard - saute' with garlic and spinach - yummm!
Lemon thyme - perfect aromatherapy and in tea
Dusty miller - very cool pressed flower for art cards

Except for the dusty miller and purple kale, I gathered everything else from the Downtown Farmer's Market or Baker Nursery in effort to keep things as organic as possible. These pots will only require watering a couple days per week and should produce well for about two months. I don't intend to fertilize because of the organic composted mulch in the soil mix.

Once temperatures over 90* degrees, I'll transplant everything into a shady area in the garden, hopefully to gain another month of late springtime eats.