Arizona Vegetable Gardening 101

2013-02-02T09:55:00.001-08:00

So the Valley of the Sun, Arizona, had a cold front. For 6 or 7 consecutive nights, we hit 32 or less, especially out here in the 'outlying area', we call west of Goodyear. It meant freeze and frost protection. Blankets. Right now, in my garden, I am picking and eating beets, 2 types of kale, swiss chard, pak choi, and napa cabbage. I also have asparagus and green onions, but not ready to eat yet. The only thing it appears I lost was a lone yellow pear tomato plant that truly was a stray. It froze right away, regardless of protection. The rest of what is there looks happy and healthy to be there!

Home grown Kale, roasted!

2013-01-12T13:18:00.001-08:00

At the top is the roasted kale. At the bottom is the prepared, raw kale.

It was 23 degrees in Goodyear, AZ at 8:30 am today. Last night, before I covered everything I could with blankets and sheets to keep my garden from freezing, I harvested a lot of Kale. A lot! I had both curly kale and lacinato kale. I picked a few pounds of it of it. It filled my kitchen sink, which is a custom large and deep sink. This morning, I cleaned it really well, cut it into manageable pieces, tossed it with olive oil and salt, and roasted it. Just imagine a potato chip...only better!

Artichokes

2012-12-15T13:44:00.000-08:00

3 years ago, I had to have the artichoke plant at Lowe's Garden Center. It cost me $15.00 and I hoped it would grow in Arizona. I planted it and it grew. The artichokes grow to be about the size of my fist...small (but the ones you buy in the grocery stores are patented and you cannot buy those!). But my first plant gave us between 60 and 80 artichokes the first year! And many of them went to waste or to seed. The plant eventually 'died'. The next fall, I had HUNDREDS of seedlings I thought were squash. They turned out to be artichoke seedlings. I transplanted a few and they grew. I left the others to fend for themselves in a yard area that was not getting watered anymore. The original plant began growing again! So again, we had artichokes, this time from several different plants. So I dug them up after they were done. I was done with artichokes. They take up a lot of room and I just don't think for as small as they are, they are so worth all the work. But here came some more!

There are 3 of them in this photo. They get watered because of the raised garden they are growing next to. So here we go again.

And then, the garden area that does not get watered anymore?

Artichoke plants are pretty drought resistant. They do grow well in Arizona. And after your harvests, the ones you do not pick do flower and make very pretty flowers!

Sprouted Swiss Chard and Kale

2012-12-09T11:04:00.000-08:00

An update on the newest raised garden. Red Swiss Chard in the front, Kale in the middle and White Swiss Chard in the back. Looking GREAT!

Sprouts...December 1, 2012

2012-12-01T11:31:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday, I put White Swiss Chard, Red Swiss Chard and Kale seeds in cups of water to 'pre-soak' for 24 hours. On Sunday, I put them in the ground. And each day I watched and watered. I was beginning to wonder two things...1) Did I drown the seeds? I don't know if you can drown seeds, but I was a little concerned, and 2) Is the orange plastic fencing I put over them to keep the birds from getting the seeds keeping them from sprouting someway? (Too little light, maybe reflecting the heat off, keeping the ground beneath is too cool.) So today, I watered and saw nothing. I moved on to another part of the yard to water some existing plants. Then I came back for a closer inspection:

This is the Kale. I planted tons of it. I put only one seed every 1-2 inches. About 6 rows each about 3 feet long. It's funny how such a simple thing can be so amazing and fun!

Protecting seeds from the birds...

2012-11-25T16:28:00.001-08:00

Have you ever seen this stuff as a road barricade material? It's used to keep people from falling in holes or going the wrong way? I saw this wad of used plastic fencing on a street corner after a parade. I watched it for a week. It was there for the garbage men to pick up, I was sure. So one day, I pulled up to it, got out of my car, shoved in the back of my SUV and off I went. I spend a lot of money on seeds and organic soils. This is Good Garden Junk. Useful for something, I thought.

Today, I got my newest planter box filled with soil and was ready to plant. Seeds were soaked and ready. Last time I planted, the birds ate all but about 20 seeds. I must have planted over 200 seeds and this is all I got:

Beets

Kale

White and Red Swiss Chard

So, today I planted green onions and some beets and swiss chard in the existing planter box:

and I covered the seeded area with the orange fencing, hoping to keep the birds out. And then I went on to the new planter box. I planted White Swiss Chard, Kale and Red Swiss Chard, and the orange fencing is triple layered. If something does not grow there, then nothing will!

In two weeks I will plant more beets. We love fresh beets. This will keep the crops coming!

And keep watching, because the chickens are coming!

Sweet Potatoes, Part 2

2012-11-11T09:16:00.001-08:00

So, I posted in August about planting the sweet potato slips, and now it is just about time to harvest. Last weekend I dug around to see what I could find, and I did find a sweet potato that was about 6 inches long, about 1 inch in diameter. From what I have read, once it gets cold and the leaves begin to die, then you harvest. They need to fatten up some first! I don't think they will be ready for Thanksgiving. I will post pictures when it is time to harvest!

Sweet Potatoes

2012-08-26T14:37:00.000-07:00

I am trying something new. I have never done this before. I bought a box of sweet potatoes and Costco and some of them sprouted. So I got online and researched growing sweet potatoes. Seems they grow great in Arizona. So, I increased my efforts and wound up with over 15 "slips". I planted them and VIOLA! Now, they have been in the soil for about 12 weeks. I have stopped fertilizing (the nitrogen in fertilizer helps plants grow green lush leaves, and at this point, I want tubers under the ground to grow, so you stop the fertilizer to encourage potato growth), and am now just waiting and wondering what is growing down underneath...???

Fall 2012 Garden

2012-08-26T14:13:00.001-07:00

A friend who owns lots of heavy equipment called a few weeks ago and told me that a neighbor who had a pile of cow manure in front of his house had moved out and left it. He would deliver it to me if I wanted it. I said sure, put it on the tarp I put out back...thinking I could drag it eventually into my garden area.

Little did I know how much there was! So, the garden area below now has 6 wheel barrows full of manure mixed in it. I have planted peas, gold and red beets, swiss chard, kale and spinach in it. I'll keep you posted.

Sunflowers Galore!

2012-08-26T14:02:00.000-07:00

I will grow sunflowers again. They really brightened my days. I had over 40 plants. They were all over 12 feet tall. I have lots of seeds and will be growing them again, and again, and again...

This summer's crop was mostly sunflowers. Tons of them. Mammoth ones.

Bigger than my hand.

Some of them more than 16 feet tall.

And fun and beautiful.

Burpee Spinach "Giant 157 Hybrid" Seeds are the bomb!

2012-03-20T14:09:00.001-07:00

I love that Burpee has put an ad on my page! Let me tell you why! I grow most of my veggies from seed and I ordered seeds from several different sources at different times. I grew some spinach for the first time when I first began my garden 3 years ago and it was some of the most amazing spinach I had ever had! I grew to be huge, the leaves were at least 12" stem to tip. The leaves were thick. And when you steam it, it comes out strong, yet tender, and creamy. I even leave some of the woody looking stems on, because they are not tough. The problem? I threw the seed packet away that first year after I planted all the seeds. I had no idea what they were. I went to my favorite nursery and looked at seeds. I told them what I was looking for and he was discouraging...telling me "Hybrid" seeds were not normally consistent, so even if I found them, the spinach may not be the same. So I scoured every seed provider plus some, looking for these seeds again! I could not remember, so I ordered at least 12 varieties of seeds until finally one day...I ordered Burpee "Giant 157 Hybrid" seeds and VIOLA! That was it! There they were. So now, I have my favorite spinach growing again and it is as yummy as I remember! Thank you, Burpee!

Burpee Giant 157 Hybrid

2012-03-10T22:01:00.000-08:00

I have no idea what I am doing wrong, but I cannot get lettuce seeds to even sprout! I have planted twice, and not one sprout. Maybe there is a bug or the birds are eating the seeds, but I have never had the problem where not one of the 100% of the seeds I sowed did not sprout! I planted 6 varieties. This is getting really frustrating because lettuces should be easy and some of the things I grow are more difficult...I should be able to grow lettuce! Argghhhh...

I know I have caterpillars. I saw an odd mass scooting across the ground yesterday, it was a black and orange looking beetle carrying a small (1" long) caterpillar. This is going to mean trouble for my tomatoes! I have found that any kind of cayenne pepper, chili powder, red pepper will keep the caterpillars from eating the leaves on my peas, but the tomatoes will be a bigger challenge. I will be working on a cayenne/red pepper "soup" that I can spray with a squirt bottle to try to deter them...and maybe spend the night in the garden so when I HEAR them chomping, I can find them and destroy them...

So how does the garden grow?

2012-02-24T18:13:00.002-08:00

So, how does the garden grow? Well, I am harvesting spinach right now. The asparagus looks like it needs to mature one more year. The peas are finally getting too big for what ever it is that kept eating the new leaves and is finally growing tall and the sunflowers have sprouted. (I am using Cayenne Pepper, Chili Powder and Red Pepper to keep these pests away at an alarming rate. It works, I just hope the peas aren't too hot to eat!) I have kale, beets and swiss chard growing, planted some tomatoes. The lettuce never did sprout, so I have re-seeded. The artichokes are about 6' tall now...and will soon have itty bitty artichokes appearing, I am sure. And tomorrow, in go the squash seeds. Oh my gosh! Last year we lived on squash...good thing we love it!

But here is the exciting part today! My mother bought me a "pitch fork" today for my mulch/compost. But I have been toying with a worm bed. So tonight, on Friday night, I took the fork out to the garden and turned some soil in my garden with it. What I found was the soil is rather "foamy". And 2 red worms. So I did it again, and found a few more worms. I moved to another part of the garden about 5' away and found 6-8 more worms...all sizes. I gathered them all into a bowl. I dug over by the tomatoes...more worms! There are worms in every part of my garden! This is GOOD!

I have an old kitchen sink out in the back, which I am going to pull up to the garden area and dig a hole to sink it down into the soil (worms like it cool). I am going to put my worms in and cover them with dirt and kitchen scraps. I am going to let those little wiggly creatures make some of the best compost/fertilizer for my garden EVER!

What a good Friday night! I can go to sleep dreaming of my new worm bed and rich soil and veggies!

And who knows...one story I read about "worm farming", the guy made $150,000 in the first year selling his farmed worms!

Veggie Gardening 2011

2012-02-05T13:44:00.000-08:00

I just want to re-cap what and how I did last year, using an 'organic' gardening outline...meaning, I used no chemicals or artificial fertilizers at all. I did use fertilizer, bone meal, and blood meal, all certified organic. I was able to give away pounds and pounds of tomatoes and squash. Some of the things I didn't give away, didn't get used. There was plenty. And I vow never to pay $1.29/lb for summer squashes again in my life!

Artichokes

Turnips and greens

Beets and turnips (I never took many pics of the beets, but they actually turned out to be one of my favorite things to grow and eat!)

Turnips

Spinach

Yellow Crookneck Squash

Watermelon

Sunflower

Tomato

More Kohlrabi

Kohlrabi

Carrots

Swiss Chard

Spinach

Lots of Swiss Chard

A garden gone awry. Tomatoes, Asparagus, Artichokes, Cantaloupes.

Squash and Tomatoes

More squash

Some of the garden

Artichokes

Artichoke, Kohlrabi and squash

Tomatoes, Squashes, Eggplant

This was my Pineapple Tomato. It was delicious. Oh, and Squash!

More squash, tomato and eggplant

Squash

Artichokes...we get around 60-80 artichokes off one plant each season.

This season, I am growing spinach and lettuces, kale, Swiss chard and beets, sweet peas and chinese snow peas, bell peppers, eggplant and tomatoes, summer squashes, broccolini and of course the artichokes and asparagus...so far. I don't usually grow broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, kohlrabi or broccolini because I have too many bad experiences with aphids. One year I will try them with some lady bugs, I guess. Right now I am going through cayenne pepper like mad because something out there loves my peas as they sprout, but they hate the cayenne! (I sure hope my peas don't taste too hot when I finally get to eat some!) I am going to start another garden for my salsa garden, which will have jalapenos, tomatoes and other peppers. I have some sunflowers in the ground too...I love the color and it brightens things up, catches people's attention.

Update on Biochar

2012-01-30T19:34:00.000-08:00

I planted Swiss Chard, Beets and Kale in the garden with the Biochar in it. So far, no sprouts, but it has been a little cool for us lately. This week is warming up and I see some cucumbers sprouting, so hopefully the Biochar garden will progress. My peas had a 'bug' problem. I am not sure what the bug was, but I did find a large, fat, rolly polly caterpillar hauling buns toward the pea garden early one morning. I scooped him up in a shovel and put him the wheel barrow. I decided to use the shovel to cut him in half. 2 hours later, upon inspection, he was one again and trying to get out of the wheel barrow. I hate killing bugs, but was convinced he was what was eating every leaf off of my pea sprouts...so now he is gone. I bought Cayenne Pepper and put it in a shaker and I use it around each pea sprout after I water. I hope the peas are not too hot to eat, but there are now about 70 pea plants, and all have leaves and all are about two inches tall. The plants will be pretty up against the fence and my grandsons should love picking and eating them off the vines. I am adding the cucumber plants to that garden, once they have a few more leaves.

I planted 4 types of lettuces and added some spinach seeds to the already growing spinach just today. This should be awesome to be able to pick and eat all of these veggies soon. Today I cooked a Potato, Swiss Chard and Chick Pea Stew that was pretty amazing and yesterday was a Red Lentil and Spinach Curry. My garden will supply me with lots of those ingredients soon.

My Artichoke plants. Another story. I started 3 years ago with 1 artichoke plant. We ate about 60 artichokes from that one plant. The were about the size of a tennis ball. (The nice big ones at the grocery store...probably Dole and they have a patent on their artichokes.) But mine are very tasty. The remaining artichokes flowered and were very pretty. The plant died back in winter and the next spring, WOW!!! Seriously, I had about 200 sprouted plants, plus the original plant created off shoots, which I cut off and transplanted 6 of them in a new spot. I now have the original one, plus off shoots by that one, and two others in the original garden (and who knows what else will come up soon?) and I have the 6 in the newer garden, which is now producing off shoots too. These guys are weeds! GOOD weeds! We love them! Let's hope this season we get 60 off each plant, and I WILL be at the Farmer's Markets selling them!

As for the asparagus...I planted 7 sets just over a year ago and just let it go. (It flowers and that feeds the roots and allows them to grow for the next season.) The sets I planted were already 2 years old (I paid for it, too!) and should produce edible asparagus after the 2nd year. I should have some edible asparagus this year. Although my soil is not as sandy as it should be there, they seem to like it. I just hand tilled the soil around the plants and fertilized for a good start to Spring. I am hoping for a good crop.

And now it is time for Summer Squash. I live on summer squash when I can. And I cannot fathom spending $1.29/lb. when it grows the way it does here. I gave away almost as much squash (and tomatoes) as we ate. And I only had a few plants last year. This year I am planning on 14 plants...mostly yellow crookneck, because that is what we like, but also some zucchini and summer patty squash (my favorite). So tomorrow, I should be out there working on planting squash seeds and that means I need to work on my irrigation system, too.

What to do with the Biochar?

2012-01-05T21:00:00.000-08:00

I have a pretty large garden area (I'll measure it later!) and have tried and been successful at several different vegetables. My spinach, swiss chard, tomatoes, beets, bell peppers, eggplant, artichokes and asparagus have been very abundant. Right now I have tilled a garden next to a fence that will be used as a trellis for my peas and snow peas. I planted about 100 seeds and have over 50 that have sprouted now. The peas do not need the Biochar, as the roots of peas actually replace the nitrogen in the soil and do not require much in the way of fertilizer. So the Biochar I created yesterday will be incorporated in the garden with the existing plants, which currently include bell peppers, eggplant, asparagus, artichoke and spinach.

A word on Artichokes? You can buy a plant at most nursery's for $3 (small) -$15 (1 gallon). Or you can buy a pack of seeds. The first plant I started with produced about 60 med. sized artichokes the first year but the really great thing was in the next spring, it had a bunch of shoots off the base, which I cut off and replanted and they all took. So what started with one plant quickly turned to 10 or 12. These things grow like weeds. And I didn't mention all the plants I pulled up that grew from seeds off the artichokes we did not pick and allowed to flower the prior season? Lesson? Don't invest a lot of money...they grow like weeds. Also, they grow to be about 6' tall and take up about 6-8' across, so you need some room! I currently have 7 artichoke plants that are large, healthy plants, all from one $15 plant, either grown by splitting the shoots or from seeds off the flowers I allowed to bloom.

In the next couple of weeks I will be planting seeds for swiss chard, kale and beets. These will all be grown in the soil with the Biochar I created. I will post pictures once they sprout so we can watch it grow! Another project I am going to begin is a semi-raised garden for what I will call my salsa garden. It will include jalepeno's, tomatoes and peppers. (Maybe some garlic and onions, I am not sure yet.)

First Attempt at Biochar

2012-01-04T15:21:00.000-08:00

I gathered up all the organic matter readily available in the yard and attempted my first round of Biochar. First I dug a pit. I chose a place that had a large patch of Bermuda grass, so the heat might kill the roots. I shoveled the material I had to burn in the pit and lit it and watched it burn. The beginning smoke was dark and thick and turned to a yellowish, which indicates the "sugars" in the material are burning.

Once the smoke turned thin and blue/gray, then I covered it with soil to allow the embers to smolder and hopefully create "charcoal".

In the beginning

2011-12-31T12:12:00.000-08:00

It is December 31, 2011 and I love to grow vegetables. On my quest today to find Kale and Swiss Chard seeds, my friend at my local nursery recommended something new to me. Biochar. I had toyed with composting, but never got very serious. Gardening where I do is difficult because of the soil. So I asked for some advice...what is the cheapest way to fertilize a large garden? He wrote these words on a business card: Bio-char, Terra Preta, Cover Crops, Perma Culture, Phx-Acidic fertilizer.

So, I came home and Googled "Biochar". What I found was that it seems relatively easy to make, you can use almost anything to make it that goes in the trash, and the carbon compounds in the charcoal form all kinds of cohabitation environments for bugs and nutrients.

The idea of Biochar comes from the Amazonian rain forests of Brazil. The Amazonian dark earths (often called Terra Preta) hold plant nutrients, including nitrogen, phosphorous, calcium and magnesium better than other soils. The process seems very similar to the process of composting, but the increased presence of carbon helps microorganisms live and reproduce at a slower pace, which reduces the turnover rate of organic matter in the soil.

So the process of "making" Biochar is using a charcoal grill or a metal drum (50 gallon) or even digging a trench...very similar to roasting a pig in a pit. You find matter to burn (wood, leaves, twigs, horse and cow manure, newspaper, trash, food remains, clothing, etc.), you dig a trench and put the matter in it. You light it and let it burn til the smoke is thin and grayish blue (it will go through a process of thick and white...to yellowish then thin and grayish blue), then dampen the fire by covering with about an inch of soil and let it smolder. Once you have your "charcoal", put the smoldering pile out with water and incorporate this in the soil where you will garden. This will have to wait for a "Not no burn day", but the preparation can start tomorrow! January 1, 2012...let the process begin!