The Desperate Gardeners: A Blog for Home Gardening Tips - Planting, Cooking, and Serving

Slugs in my Strawberry Patch!

2011-04-25T12:39:00.001-07:00

I must have picked out at least 100 slugs last night from my strawberry patch.It is definitely a job for the non-squeamish. So disgusting!!! I found 5-10 at a time eating one strawberry . Made me so mad. Drastic times call for drastic measures. Go to the frig and get a beer! Not to drink but to feed and drown those little unwanted buggers. So that's what I did I got a plastic tray about 6"x8" and burred it level with the dirt and then I filled it with beer. My husband informed me not to use the "Good Stuff" .I saved the Stella Artois for us.
Believe or not this morning there were at least 30 more in the tray. A lot of them were small babies and I thought I got them all last night. I will add another bottle of slug worthy beer and see how many more I get tonight. I hope this will rid my garden of those gross slugs so my little Max can enjoy his morning strawberries not the slugs! Have a great Monday!

Time to thin my apples!

2011-04-07T09:03:00.001-07:00

I found this great article about apple trees and I wanted to share it with you all since I am about to thin out my apple trees. http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/hil/hil-8301.html
I always hate thinning my apple trees, it seems like such a sin to cut off the little apples. My 3 Anna Apples are full of dime size fruit. Last year I didn't do it and my apples paid the price they were so small and never ripened properly. I removed 4-6 apples per branch so they will have space to grow.

Eggplant Parmesan for Dinner?

2010-11-04T09:36:00.004-07:00

I am so happy fall is finally here! My 3 eggplant plants are full of beautiful purple eggplants. I can tell you they came up all by themselves from the previous years eggplants, one or 2 fell on the ground and grew into 3 thriving plants. I always find that those ones that come up from last years fruit are always the . This fall I am going try my hardest to protect them from the frost. Last year the first night of frost killed them all. My gardening book, my bible....says they should last until the end of the following year.

My zucchini and basil were also planted from seeds. Basil loves the Arizona sun! My zucchini attempts this year have been a bit pathetic to say the least. This spring I had 3 plants and as soon as it hit 100 I lost them all. Last month I tried again, this time in a large terracotta pot. So far so good. The pots just need to

be watered more frequently. My kids and I can eat zucchini pretty much every day! We love frittatas with yummy roasted veggies, tomatoes and onions, my favorite. Zucchini Soup, minestroni soup and pasta prim

avera, yum

my.

My Grape Harvest Fall 2010

2010-10-20T20:23:00.006-07:00

I am so proud of my first grape harvest....I have to admit this was the whole harvest. I am quite sure there would have been twice as much if it wasn't for the skeletonizer caterpillars that pretty decimated the entire vine. Next season I will have to find an organic solution to prevent these pests from destroying the plant.

Where did Linda Go?

2010-04-01T13:15:00.010-07:00

July 7th 2010

I am so sorry that I have been on hiatus for the past year I was busy having a baby . I know that might be a silly excuse but it has been the busiest year of my life! You would think by the fourth pregnancy I would have had it down pat. Well I didn't remember the raging hormones, swollen feet and sleepless nights it was all a blur. Nine months later it was all worth it , to give birth to my fourth child a son after having my three daughters. Maximilien Olivier was born on December 29th, 2009 weighing in at 9 pounds 10 ounces. Now he is 18 pounds and cute as a button, my little prince.

As Far as the Garden goes its been growing not with that much TLC, but my fruit trees were prolific this year. I have 3 anna apple trees, 2 plums trees, 1apricot, 1 peach and 1 doughnut peach. I made enough baby food to last me until next year! The rest of my garden is fried! The summer squash got cooked today on the vine. It was only 112 degrees! My japanese eggplants survived the heat today and my rosmary, mint ,basil and mint are all hanging on.

I promise I am back! I am also inviting my best friend to post . She has an amazing garden for her first season, I have only been bugging her for years to start to garden. Until next week. Namaste

Jane’s French Breakfast Radish Harvest and Memories of the Children’s Table

2009-05-06T06:57:00.004-07:00

My grandparents whom we called Nana and Dana lived in a ranch home on the shore of Lake Erie in Ontario Canada. They built their home on a corner of my grandfather’s family farm property. I grew up in Detroit and our family along with my aunts, uncles and many cousins would often “go over” the bridge or through the “tunnel” to visit them during the summer and for many holidays. We usually stayed at the farmhouse next door but had our most of our meals at Nana’s house. She was a great cook and loved having family around. It was during holiday dinners that we children – dressed in our Sunday finest- were relegated to the “children’s table” conveniently located in the basement during the winter and in the garage during the summer. It was always a good distance away from the esteemed “adult table.” However; Nana who was raised with impeccable taste and manners ensured our children’s table always looked like a fine dining experience. She made sure we had all the accoutrements found at the adult table. From the relish tray with fresh radishes, marinated onions, baby sweet gherkins and carrots to individual salt and pepper shakers and yes finger bowls – we were expected to act as if we had manners. I loved these dinners and remember just sitting and waiting in anticipation for the food to arrive. We ranged in ages of 3yrs to 12yrs old, hardly sat down and made all kinds of noise. I remember thinking how great it was going to be when I was finally old enough to sit at the adult table. Now that I am an adult I don’t think I was missing out on much as we generally sit down and don’t usually make a lot of noise. :)

Nana’s Relish Tray

1 cup carrots, about 2 large
1 cup celery sticks, about 2 large
1/2 red bell pepper
1/2 green pepper
1 bunch red radishes
1/2 cup black and green olives
10 baby gherkins
½ cup baby marinated onions

Instructions:
1. Cut the carrots, celery and red and green peppers into strips.
2. Wash the radishes and trim the root ends.
3. Arrange the vegetables and olives on a beautiful platter.
4. Serve vinaigrette or buttermilk dressing on the side.

Creating an Entrance to Mary's Garden

2009-05-05T13:43:00.019-07:00

After a few years of gardening haphazardly, I decided it was time to invest in a real, grown-up garden with raised beds. Gardening filled my soul so I wondered why it took me so long to finally create a special space in my yard. I was inspired by the picture of Susan Branch's garden in her book, The Summer Garden, from her Heart of the Home series. If you haven't seen these special books, they are handwritten and filled with wonderful, whimsical, watercolor illustrations. Her books remind me of my childhood. Being born and raised in Connecticut, I recall summers filled with fresh vegetables, open windows and breezy curtains, fireflies and outdoor living. Though the seasons are a bit different in Phoenix, I am slowly learning to garden in phases.

My garden has 5 raised bed planters (easier on the back) and surrounded by a white picket fence. When designing the garden plan, I envisioned a special entry as each time I go out to the garden it seems like I step into a different realm. I suppose it is my sanctuary. Some women get massages, I get dirt under my nails. I created a rebar arch in front of the picket gate and two years ago planted a Thompson seedless grape starter on one side and a red-seeded grape on the other. I waited and waited for them to show some sign of life because a grape vine without leaves looks quite dead. Within one growing season, the two grapes had grown over the rebar and started taking on a life of its own. The tendrils went beyond the arch and headed into my garden, wrapping in the tomato plants, around the picket fence and created this verdant green tunnel into the garden. I felt if the children stood there long enough, the vines would wrap around them and they'd disappear. The first summer grapes appeared but they were small and tart. The second summer the clusters were more abundant and a bit tastier.

This is the third growing season and the vines have started their lightning speed growth. I just know the grapes this year will be even better. Who thought that two inexpensive grape plants could create such wonder...

Linda's Carrot Harvest on April 14th 2009

2009-04-16T09:33:00.010-07:00

I have always had great luck with my carrots they grow beautifully here in Sunny Scottsdale, Arizona. Just sow the seeds in a row and 45-60 days later you get yummy carrots! You are supposed to plant them every couple of weeks so you'll have a constant crop of carrots but I just don't have enough space to get it what I want as it is. What to do with my carrots is very simple.....make carrot cake!! That is by far my most favorite thing to do with my carrots. I do like an occasional carrot soup, which I make all different ways depending on my mood or what’s in season at the time: Carrot dill soup, carrot with orange juice, or carrot with yummy apples cider. I will try to post more recipes when I can for all the soups I make. We are a big soup family I for sure make at least one big pot a soup a week all year long. My girls ask for it! But today I want to share with you my mom's carrot cake recipe with cream cheese frosting. I cannot give you the exact original author for this recipe but I think it might have been from the cuisinart recipe book that came with her DC8 machine that she has had I think since the late 70’s. I know she still has that machine!!
Cooking was not my mom’s most favorite thing to do but she did have a few of her favorites and this carrot cake happens to be one of those favorites. My earliest memory of her carrot cake was when I was in 4th grade(1976-77) She made it in the traditional spring form pan but when she decided to make it for her daughters to take to school she had a little trick. Since the icing was the best part of the carrot cake, she would make cupcakes and instead of icing the tops which would get ruined in transport to school. She would cut the tops off and ice the middle put the top back on them, wrap them in foil and put them in the freezer. The next day we would get them in our lunch boxes frozen and by lunch they would be perfect!!!! Here is the original recipe from my mom the only thing that I do different is when I shred the carrots. I don’t use the cuisinart I grate by had on the finer grating, not the large grating. This is just a personal preference of mine. My girls like it better that way too (no visible big pieces of carrot) either way is fine.

Rita’s Carrot Cake
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups Flour
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 ½ cups sugar
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
4 unbeaten eggs (room temp)
2 cups grated carrots (don’t skimp use organic and use the full 2 cups or it will be dry!)
1 cup of chopped pecans or walnuts toasted(you don’t have to if your short on time but toasting them gives a wonderful flavor)
2 tsp. Vanilla (real bourbon vanilla)
Pre-Heat your oven to 350°
Grease your pan (any pan: spring form, cupcakes, 2 layer cake pans, cooking time varies a little depending on the pan)
Beat sugar and oil in mixing bowl. In another bowl stir together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add flour mixture to sugar and oil mix mixing well, adding eggs alternately. Stir in carrots and nuts with a wooden spoon. Bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.
Cream Cheese Frosting
4 tablespoons unsalted butter softened
3 ounces of Philadelphia Cream Cheese (It’s the best) softened
2 ½ cups of confectionary sugar (if using organic please sift, since there are no additives it is a little lumpy)
1 tsp vanilla
Cream Cheese and butter until creamy add sugar slowly and vanilla. Frost away and Enjoy!

Jane's infant garden and how it all got started..........

2009-04-15T17:03:00.006-07:00

What does this infant garden do for me? (Current photos are below story) It reminds me of how I started gardening as an adult. My husband and I purchased our first “real” house in the fall of 1993 – just before our daughter was born. It was a well cared for ranch style home on a cul de sac and had about an acre sized yard. The couple who sold us the home were the original homeowners and elderly. They were moving to a retirement community as they had just finished raising their grandchildren. Their story was so touching I have to digress….. Their only son was killed in Vietnam and soon after his wife developed cancer and passed away – so they stepped in and raised their grandchildren. They were an amazing couple! Anyways the husband was a retired military engineer who had a passion for gardening. This proved to be an incredible combination as he built a garden on about ¼ acre that was geometrically designed in every way. He even put in a French drain which ensured water never sat in any spot very long. He had rows and rows of small raised beds. I fell in love with the IDEA of having this garden just sitting ready for me to plant. I literally had no idea what I was in for. A dear friend of mine who was an avid gardener visited my expanse and declared that” this garden must be planted.” So me and my ignorance planted and planted anything I could find. I planted about 60 stalks of corn, 10 tomato plants, all kinds of zucchini, broccoli and cauliflower and various other seeds. Everything grew abundantly in spite of my novice gardening skills. Then reality hit!! I went to corn field (yes it looked like that!!) and started to shuck it only to discover the ugliest looking wormy things I had ever seen eating and destroying my corn!! Every single ear of corn was affected by the borers and I was mad!! Only later while taking my Master Gardening course did I learn that you have to put mineral oil in the ears or place special kinds of wasps nearby to prevent this kind of a disaster. But I did not give up. I think I provided everyone I knew with more tomatoes that they would have ever bought. But, the amazing thing that happened was something inside of me started to bloom. I loved this gardening thing and looked forward to the time I could be in the garden. Soon I learned about the Master Gardening program at the cooperative extension and I joined. I have not looked back since. I am posting a few photos of the “babies” growing in the garden I have now. It is nothing like the size of my previous garden but I know someday I will have that Potager and along with it enough mineral oil or wasps to handle the dreaded corn borer!

I took a cooking class at a local store while I had this amazing garden and it was there that I learned to make an amazing focaccia bread using fresh corn. To this day I make this and my family raves about it! I can not locate the recipe so this is from my head and I hope it works for you as well as it works for me!

Here is my recipe for Fresh Corn Focaccia Bread

2 packages of Trader Joe’s Pizza Dough – White
1 Sweet Onion (Vidalia, Maui, Walla Walla etc)
1 Bunch of Cilantro
1 Small jar of Roasted Red Peppers
2 Ears of Fresh Corn cleaned – Preferable White Sweet Corn
2 cups of mozzarella cheese
Olive Oil
Butter
Non stick cookie sheet or pizza pan

Set Oven to 350 degrees

Steps:

1. Take Pizza Dough out of refrigerator and let it rise for about 20 – 25 minutes in a large bowl that has been sprayed with olive oil.
2. Slice onion in small thin slices and place in a medium non stick fry pan with 2 tablespoons of butter and 2 tablespoons of olive oil on high heat and stir for about 5 minutes. Turn heat down to medium and then stir occasionally until they are nice and brown and well caramelized. You may add olive oil as is needed. When done, move pan to the side and let cool for about 5 – 7 minutes.
3. Clean and slice cilantro leaves
4. Spray cookie sheet/pizza pan with olive oil
5. When cooled put onions and cilantro in with the pizza dough and mix thoroughly with your hands until the dough is well mixed with these ingredients.
6. Transfer the dough to the cookie sheet/pizza pan and spread the dough out to the edges. (This will not be a perfect rectangle )
7. Slice the roasted pepper in long strips and place it on the dough
8. Standing the corn on the stalk end, slice down the sides of the corn for the kernels. Sprinkle the corn all over the top of the dough.
9. Sprinkle the mozzarella all over the top of the dough
10. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes – longer if you want it crispier.

The road less traveled - weeding

2009-04-08T16:24:00.005-07:00

Yesterday, I (Jane) spent a good amount of time hoeing the never ending weeds out of my garden and actually enjoyed it. I should call my mom and tell her as she just might fall over given the grief I gave her growing up over weeding our backyard garden. We lived at the very top of the highest hill in a little town in upstate New York (Fairport) in a 100 year old house which had 1 bathroom for six people!! We also lived across the street from the town's graveyard which made life very interesting for four kids!

My mom decided to plant a garden out in the "back 40" which was an open expanse of land behind all the homes on my street. It was a mess and I give her kudos for trying to have a garden in an area covered with wild grass about three feet tall. She wanted to plant a garden for fresh vegetables and I like to think she inherited this desire from her father. My grandfather was an avid gardener and won awards during the war for his victory gardens - so we get this garden thing honestly. Needless to say there were plenty of weeds and plenty of "opportunity" for all four kids to earn some extra money by pulling those weeds.

As soon as we were done (which was about $1 worth,) we announced being done, hopped on our bikes and headed downtown to the local shoe repair as he had the best candy counter in town. I wish those days were back!

Now I look forward to weeding as it gives me time alone and I actually feel like I accomplish something. With so much out of our control these days, I know that I can go out to the garden, pull some weeds and know that it made a difference to the health of the plants and the sanity of a mom.

Crazy Chamomile... in Mary's Garden

2009-04-08T16:15:00.005-07:00

Two years ago, my daughter, Elisabeth (then 6) offered to help me plant in the garden. Armed with our packets of seeds, we headed out to the back yard. Before I could talk about the planting "plan", Elisabeth tore open the packet of chamomile seeds and tossed all of them into one of the prepared beds. Once I caught my breath (aren't they supposed to be in rows and planted at a certain depth??), I paused and tried to remember when I scattered seeds to the wind without caution. Obviously too long. Ah, the joy of youth, no adult hang-ups yet. Fast forward two years and see the results of Elisabeth's whimsy.

For the past two seasons the chamomile grows wild and crazy and takes up an entire raised bed. This year it is springing up in other parts of the garden, thanks to the birds. I guess we will now call it our tea garden. Last week both girls (my other daughter is 12) picked a large bowl of flowers and we dried them on a cookie sheet. We have since enjoyed our first cups of homegrown chamomile tea, each inhaling the wonderful apple/grass aroma.

Often the dogs accompany us to the garden and lately our pocket beagle, Sox, loves romping through this bed. The benefit is that Sox always has a faint chamomile smell to him. Better than the alternative. And he's yet to snap or break any plants. Our next experiment is to cut the chamomile in bunches and dry them, as I read that both the flowers and leaves can be used for tea. I wonder if it will have a different taste....Happy gardening, Mary

Linda's Cauliflower Harvest

2009-04-01T11:08:00.012-07:00

To much amazement I still have cauliflower growing and thriving in my garden.It is quite incredible for Phoenix where the temperatures have already been in the high 80's! I harvested these 3 beautiful crowns yesterday afternoon and ate them last night. My daughters (except for my 6 year old) LOVE cauliflower .I have to admit when I was their age I hated ANY kind of vegetables.(When I was in High School and started cooking dinner myself I started eating veggies and liking them, I will tell you about that later.)My young childhood memories of veggies was when my mother opened a can of Del Monte's the Jolly Green Giant to place in a sauce pan on the stove. As I recall green beans and corn were the usual suspects on out dinner table. I found them revolting! I was told to eat them or I couldn't leave the table . Even the memory of them makes me gag! I do however have fond memories of summers growing up on the East End of Long Island, the farms and farm stands were abundant. The corn on the cob was only thing I remember liking to eat as long as it was smothered in butter and salt!
So if I can remember correctly my Nanny(my mothers' mother) loved cauliflower, hers was boiled first and then baked at the end topped with yummy Progresso Breadcrumbs ,lots of butter and Parmesan cheese. I have to admit I really did enjoy it. I would search for the pieces with the most buttery crumbs on top!!! My recipe is a little twist on her favorite!
Roasted Cauliflower:

Pre Heat oven to 425 degrees

Break the cauliflower into small florets.

Toss with 3-4 tablespoons of EVO (extra virgin olive oil, I use Organic)

Squeeze juice from 1/2 lemon

Salt and Pepper to taste

10 or more cloves of garlic peeled

Roast in a pan preferably an enamelware pan. I have made it in glass and stoneware but it browns so nicely in enamel. I roast mine for 45-60 minutes turning them in the pan every 15 minutes adding a little extra oil if the pan is dry. When it is roasted to your liking. Grate fresh Parmesan cheese on top and enjoy!

Posted by Linda

Avoid Microwaving Plastic - Microwave in Glass or Ceramics - thedailygreen.com

2009-03-27T15:03:00.001-07:00

Avoid Microwaving Plastic - Microwave in Glass or Ceramics - thedailygreen.com

Posted using ShareThis

A dream garden plan for a Potager and an ode to a deeply missed House and Garden

2009-03-27T11:13:00.011-07:00

It's not a coincidence that Linda (who is as fabulous an Interior Designer (ASID) as she is a gardener) and I find ourselves working together. A few years ago, I was visiting Linda and told her about this fabulous garden plan that I saw in a recent issue of House and Garden - when she said "I just cut it out for myself as well!!" (hmmmm....)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3597/3391133836_055d129631_b.jpg

It is called a Potager garden which means when something is harvested, another plant appropriate for the season is put in it's place - hence an ever bearing garden. This can be accomplished with vegetables, flowers, herbs and perennials. If you click on link above and then on the displayed design it will show an enlarged view so that you can see the detail that went into this beautiful design. Unfortunately I do not know who designed it and can not give credit at this time......

You can see by the wrinkles on the page that I have been carrying this around with me for quite sometime! It has been on the cork board in my office, folded in my journal and now on my desk. My dream is to have this garden one day!

Now for my ode to a great magazine: House and Garden. I read many many design/gardening magazines and this one is sorely missed - now we have lost Domino as well. Both magazines were inspiring and filled with an incredible amount of GOOD information, ideas and projects for the home and garden. I know that I miss them both very much!!

Jane's Garden after 3 weeks

2009-03-26T12:29:00.007-07:00

Well the garden was planted just about 3 weeks ago and so much is happening. All my seeds are doing well. The onions are taking their time coming up but I know they will be fine. The radishes look great and I think it may be a few more weeks until I can harvest them. The beets are growing well and I plan to thin them out within the next week or so. I have grown them without thinning and while it produces a lot of greens - the beets are mostly small. So this year I am thinning with the hopes of getting some good sized beets. The sugar snap peas are doing well and will need to have some support as they grow. I am in the process of deciding what I will use - maybe some strong open fencing - we will see. I just planted my bush beans and have 3 little plants showing. The tomatoes are fairing well after a bumpy start and some are flowering. We have been having magnificent winds over the past few days and that has been wrecking havoc on the leaves as it tends to dry them out. I am manually spraying the garden on my off days so that the leaves don't dry out. My zucchini is taking it's sweet time to show... The peppers actually look better than previous years and all 3 have baby peppers showing. As you can see in the first photo my Mammoth Sunflowers are taking off - they seem to grow about an 1" a day. My strawberries are producing fruit and I hope I can get to them before the birds. Finally my apricot tree is showing more than 5 apricots - verses all 4 from last year!! - and I am anxious to savor their sweetness. Overall things look well. My goal for the next week is to keep the garden weeded, bring in some worms for the soil and proably start to cage the tomatoes.

Linda's Dream House

2009-03-25T13:03:00.006-07:00

Here is my dream house......... for my chicken's. I would love to have this chicken coop built some day. I have wanted chickens forever!! So do my girls well that's not true, the eldest really couldn't care less if she can't wear it to school or text on it, it doesn't matter. My middle daughter loves to help in the garden and loves animals at one point she wanted even to be a vet. However now she is my avid reader and writer , thanks to the "Twilight" series she even has her own blog http://www.trunerd.blogspot.com/ . My daughter Leah is the one who got me and my friend Jane to have our our blog. I have to admit I was defiantly intimidated at the begining but I can see why she loves blogging. I only hope we can have as many followers as she does. So if you happen to have a teenager who loves to read please have them check out my daughters Blog you will be impressed. She has book reviews and author interviews. Yes I am so proud!

Back to my dream house....My grandmother had Chickens at her home in Lake Grove, on Long Island where I grew up, she also had an amazing Garden. She grew everything !!! Her specialty was her homemade pickles. I could just taste them. She grew the cucumbers and the dill and canned them herself. She grew amazing tomatoes , squash and peppers. She would also make stuffed peppers, not my favorite but my Dad did love those. I guess now that I think of it my love for gardening came from her.

The chickens are on my to do list. I know there are many good reasons to have chickens: 1. Fresh Eggs( I have read numerous times that the eggs that are in the store can be up to 3 months old! Yuck) 2. They make great pets,( If you get them as chicks they will be your little friends) 3. The poop is amazing fertilzer for your garden, the shells after you eat the egg goes right into your compost pile and then into your garden. 4. They love your kitchen scraps. Chickens will eat your veggies and their peels, your apple cores ect. I was told by a friend who has chickens not to feed them onions or garlic. It makes the eggs taste funny. 5. They love to eat bugs and weeds, so don't use pesticides if you want to have chickens. You shouldn't anyways but that's a whole differnt subject. So there you have it, the reasons to have chickens in your yard.

Posted by Linda

Mortgage Lifter tomato and it's story.......

2009-03-22T11:01:00.002-07:00

I planted a mortgage lifter this year because it produces giant tomatoes; however, because of the high temperatures in Phoenix, large type tomatoes are subject to crack and have a hard time growing to their "potential." BUT I am trying (again ) to grow these fabulous types. I love the story of how this tomato got it's name and hope you will enjoy it as well.

The Mortgage Lifter tomato was developed in the early 1930's in Logan, West Virginia by a radiator repairman, M.C. "Radiator Charlie" Byles. Without any experience in breeding, he made a successful cross of four of the largest tomatoes he could find - German Johnson, Beefsteak, an Italian variety, and an English variety. Radiator Charlie sold the first seedlings of his new tomato in the 1940's for one dollar each to customers who drove up to 200 miles for his famous plants that bore tasty tomatoes averaging two and a half pounds. With these sales, Charlie managed to pay off his $6,000 mortgage in only six years, and so the tomato was named Mortgage Lifter.

White Sugar Snap Pea??

2009-03-22T10:39:00.000-07:00

I was weeding my garden this morning and came upon something I have never seen - a white sugar snap pea. It is the only one in a row of green and growing just as well as the others. I am anxious to see what it produces..........

Giant Orange Blossoms

2009-03-20T09:40:00.000-07:00

I (Jane) wanted to post this incredible photo of the biggest orange blossoms I have ever seen. I have had my citrus in large cement pots for about 4 years and this year all my citrus is blooming unlike ever before. They have an incredible fragrance which reminds me of driving by the old orange groves in Phoenix about 20 years ago. I am anticipating many sweet sweet oranges!!

Linda's Garden as of 3.19.09

2009-03-19T15:22:00.003-07:00

Here are a few photos of my garden. It has been a work in progress since I put it in 4 years ago. I started with the enclosed 20'x20 area with 2 raised beds 4'x 12' each with overhead sprinklers for seedlings and 1/2" soaker hoses. All of my beds are amended with PWP (chicken poop) and my most favorite Happy Frog soil conditioner, I get mine at Baker Brothers in Phoenix but you can find it at http://www.foxfarmfertilizer.com./ In my raised bed I have Sequoia Strawberries which I planted last spring, they are filled with growing berries. They made it thru the summer last year(My garden has the wall to the west which provides afternoon shade.In the front of the berries I still have some buttercruch lettuce, carrots and collard greens. I give it about a week more and then I will plant more strawberries!

My Beautiful Sweet Peas!!! This was the first time I tried growing them. They did beautifully. I started them from seed in October and mid February I got flowers. They smell divine. To the right of the peas is my peppers, 2 red , 2 yellows, 2 orange and I jalapeno. I have to be honest, I have never had luck with peppers but I am not giving up. I have had success with jalapenos though. I watered and fertilized them with my favorite, organic fertilizer ( I will post the name later ,sorry I forgot it)

This is my extension garden formally grass, that I added last spring. I was garden crazy and just did not have enough space. I just planted my tomatoes last Sunday: 2 Golden Pears ( I have such great luck here in Phoenix with these little tomatoes. 4 Romas (You can never have too many Romas they are amazing for tomato sauce.) 1 Brandywine, 1 White Zebra(I have never tried this one before, I will keep you all posted). 2 Eary Girls and 1 sweet 100's.

Posted by Linda

Everything is Blooming.........

2009-03-17T09:21:00.003-07:00

Here are a few photos of the beautiful blossoms in my yard:

Jane's Garden as of 3.16.09

2009-03-17T08:56:00.003-07:00

Well the weather has been beautiful and most of my seeds are up and look pretty happy! I lost one tomato plant (purple Cherokee) and have replaced it. I also went a little crazy at the nursery and ended up with more tomato plants than I anticipated. So I planted a few more in the garden as well as in individual pots. This will be the first time I have planted this many in pots.

I also planted bush beans, cilantro and zucchini. Here is a list of this years tomatoes:

Black Krim (which I believe is an aka for Black Russian)
Mr. Stripy
Old German
Purple Cherokee
Mortgage Lifter
Marglobe
Superfantastic
Plum
Orange Oxheart

Jane's Planting Day 3.4.09

2009-03-06T10:14:00.003-07:00

Here are some of the heirloom tomatoes that I planted. I can't wait to see what they do! All from Summerwinds Nursery - just off the truck from the grower!

I planted the following by seed: Radishes, Beets, Sweet Onions, Sugar Snap Peas and Turnips. I used paint stirrers from Home Depot along with some twine to make my planting rows. For now I am using an overhead spray to water. My major problem is keeping the Desert Doves and Quail out of the garden!

It doesn't look like much right now but soon this will be a lush garden full of organic produce. I will photograph it weekly and note what's happening in this blog. For now the weather has been great for planting; warm days and cool nights.

One of my favorite seed catalogs

2009-02-28T17:06:00.003-07:00

http://www.heritageharvestseed.com/

I love this seed catalog because it reads like a book and is full of historical notes. This company based in Manitoba Canada specializes in rare and endangered varities of vegetables, flowers and herbs. You will find varieties that date back to the Civil War as well as a of seeds brought to North America from early settlers. You can order the catalog by visiting their site noted above.

2009-02-25T11:59:00.003-07:00

Spring Vegetable Planting Schedule for Phoenix

For those of us who live in Phoenix, we are fortunate to live in a climate where we can have 2 growing seasons! The following is a listing of vegetables that can be planted in the spring and the range of dates for best results!!

If you live outside the Phoenix area, please refer to your local cooperative extension for planting information or visit the Farmers Almanac website at:www.almanac.com. Remember, weather and watering can affect planting and harvesting dates.

Beets through 3/15
Beans, Bush 2/1 - 3/15
Beans, Lima 2/1 – 3/15
Carrot through 3/1
Corn 2/15 - 3/15
Cucumber through 4/1
Eggplant 1/15—4/1
Lettuce through 3/1
Onion (green bunching) through 2/1
Onion – set through 2/1
Pepper, Seed 2/1 - 3/1
Pepper, Plant 3/1 - 4/1
Pea through 3/1
Pepper, Seed 2/1 - 3/1
Pepper, Plant 3/1 - 4/1
Pea through 3/1
Potato, Irish 3/1 - 4/1
Potato, Sweet 3/1 - 6/20
Radish through 4/1
Squash, Summer through 5/1
Tomato, Seed through 3/1
Tomato, Plant 2/15 - 3/15
Watermelon, through 4/1