August 14

2005

2006

2005

Gardening in the High Desert
[Sunday] I won't be building a garden room any time soon, but I wonder how my garden bench would fare outside all winter.
WINTER THOUGHTS

• Bulbs for forcing
• Don't forget that you got a bunch of Christmas stuff last year
• Bus some music or nature sound CDs

2006

Gardening in the High Desert

• Some of the hybrid popular [trees] are 3 feet tall. so hard to start holding back on water, but if I want to see them next year, I better! [2013-08-11 I presume this is so they will harden off for the winter]
• Mulched the ones along the south fence, but still need to mulch the ones against the west (2006-09-03) [Presume that the date in parenthesis refers to when I mulched the ones against the west fence]
• Need to keep pinching flower buds back on the basil.  They looked so naked after I harvested my little bit, but I hear they will grow back with a vengeance.
• [Check marked] Buy bleach, rubber gloves
• MDH flattened out and graded where the chicken house will be, and also the area he wants to put rock in to store his cars
• I so don't want to work today.  Just want to sit in the mellow sun
• Mulch tress n. of metal building 9/6/2006
• Make concrete Garlic signs 9/2/2006 Made a wood one [not concrete]

August 13

2006

2007

2006

Gardening in the High Desert
Bloom/Harvest

• Something is eating my lovely pepper
• Basil blooming nicely
• Tom blooming, bust still no fruit
• Harvested one small Ziploc [bag] of regular sweet basil and one of the giant, curly leafed one
• Beans blooming, but only one very slender one out yet

2007

Gardening in the High Desert
Bloom/Harvest

• Veg Bed #1
• Green toms - only 2, I think
• MG [Morning Glory] has 2nd real leaf
• Other 2 vining things reaching for the sun - about 2" tall
• Veg Bed #2
• Alaskan Fancy - 10+ green tomes, some have turned that pre-ripening light white green
• Tom that I thought was a yellow pear has decidedly round fruit forming
• Stunted sun flower blooming under Marigold and Cosmos
• Buds ready to open on Marigold
• Many tiny wax beans
• 2 Cukes growing strong
• Veg Bed #3
• Black eye peas - more nearing harvest; only a few blooms now
• 2 two little yellow squash and 1 zuke ripening
• 2 sunflowers blooming - took pictures - they are about 3 ft tall with 4 inch blooms - need to find out how long it took from seeding to flower. [later, undated note] 2 months from seed to bloom
• 10+ green toms of various kinds
• Lemon basil ready to shear back again
• Regular basil ready for another harvest
• Flower basils are pretty much done [2013-08-11] I usually plant some basils in strategic places around the garden and let them bloom - they attract enormous amounts of pollinators - and in the desert, we need to bring in as many as we can find

Journal

• watered orchard & veg beds
• Took lots of photos - some at night
• Apple Tree Thoughts for Fall Planting
• Grand Gala (pol. grand gala, granny smith)
• Sept Wonder Fuji (pol. grand gala, granny smith)
• Red Fuji (pol gran gala, granny smith)
• That's about $70 for 3 trees
• Sunflower saving strategy - cover ripening heads with paper bags sprayed with deer-off

08 – August – To Do – Week 3

2005

2006

2007

2005

• DONE – buy a heavy duty sprinkler
• Start compost bin (2006-07-01 – still not done)
• DONE – Look at trees [what kind to buy]
• DONE – Visit Nurseries and Garden Centers
• DONE – Get some catalogs
• DONE – Take more photos (2005-10-1 and 2005-10-2)

2006

• DONE – Start withholding water and food from trees; water only one a week. Otherwise they won't harden off well for winter (once/wk for establisehd; 2x wk for new)
• DONE – Last week to fert trees
• DONE – Make Garlic Labels – I am thinking of concrete ones for the generic garlic label and wood burned ones for varieties

2007

• DONE – Look for 1st set of blackey peas to be ripening (2007-08-12 – getting close)
• DONE – How are the squash doing? - 2007-08-12 – Already ate a few; zukes better [tasting] than yellow
• Need bed for fall garlic
• DONE – Space for winter peas – big accident – something smashed some yellow wax beans – so now I've got an area for peas :-)
• Spray Deer-Off around trees and veggies
• DONE – Enlarge,enhance water troughs in orchard (done 2007-08-21)
• Fill bird feeders
• Transplant Russian Sage
• Transplant Lilac to backyard
• Freeze more oregano
• DONE – More photos (2007-08-23)
• Update website
• DONE – Rig support for cherry tom in veg bed 2 – sort of – mostly just wove it through the fencing wire
• Buy concrete and posts – 3 bags per post – get a pallet like before
• Do something for sweet potato vine
• Order fall planted trees

08 – August – To Do – Week 2

2006

• Change Fridge Water Filter – Whirlpool WHCF-R-Plus
• See Lists from Week 1
• Feed ficus and other houseplants
• Start acquiring “Chicken Stuff”

08 – August – To Do – Week 1

2007

2010

2007

• DONE – Water Trees – Back yard, Gala Apple, [September Wonder] Fuji Apples
  
• DONE – Finish tacking fence wire (2007-08-12 started)
  
• DONE – Return [extra roll of] fencing to HD [Home Depot]
  
• Spray Deer-Away
  
• Fill bird feeders
  
• Transplant Russian Sage
  

2010

• DONE – Turn compost
  
• Clean Chicken Coop
  
• DONE – Deep Water Trees
  
• DONE – bag sunflowers [to prevent wild birds from eating the seeds off of the ripening heads]
  
• Dig compost into future garlic bed
  
• Start another compost heap – include more browns – dried stuff
  

08 – August – To Do

2006

2007

Goats

2006

• DONE – Order Garlic before mid-Sept (Ordered 2006-08-12; arrived 2006-09-25)
• DONE – Order the fancy daffs – last spring's were great (Ordered 2006-June)
• Grand Gala Apples are ready for harvest in August in zone 5 (2006-August – no apple harvest this year; 2007-07-29 not this year, either)
• Plant Trees
• [Plant] Winter Rye

2007

• Plant Trees
• DONE – Squash planted mid-June should be ready for harvestsoon (2007-07-29 – 4 zukes almost ready; right on schedule)
• Pick up trash [along fence line]
• Update website
• DONE – Take more photos
• Mulch Trees
• Spray Deer-away

Goats

• Breed angoras in Aug, Sept, Oct, Nov after fall sheering so they will kid after spring sheering