May 06

2008

2011

2008

Gardening in the High Desert

• Watered beds, sunflowers, weeds
• Looks like volunteer oregano germinating in bed #1
• Took some photos of strawberry blooms
• Sunflowers planted kind of close, but since it's only one row, hope still will be OK. Need to plant more, more, more. Some for the backyard, too.
• Is the last hard frost gone yet? Can I try toms outside? Time for another sacrificial tom? Time to plant some purple "cool soil" beans?

2011

Gardening in the High Desert
I can't find my garden journal!

• Planted out 4 toms today:
  • Red cherry between beds 2 & 3
  • Super Sweet 100 + yellow pear at end of bed 3
  • Early Girl between half barrels
• Also planted some plants in my sitting area
  • 1 Shasta Daisy "Alaska" [2012-05-06 Bunnies ate it down to the ground]
  • 2 Chamomiles [2012-05-06 Didn't survive not being watered when I was on travel]
  • 2 Salvia Blue Bedder [2012-05-06 Didn't thrive, but didn't die, either. Bloomed for two months or so.]
• And more
  • Culinary sage in the garlic area [2012-05-06 It grew well and has come back this year]
  • Taragon in SE corner of bed one [2012-05-06 Doesn't appear to have come back; something kept eating it]

• Windy like crazy. Sprinkled in the a.m. but not enough to be useful. I manually watered.
• Elm and maple in the back yard budding [2012-05-06 I think they have both finally died :-( ]
• Apple trees about done blooming
• Desert marigold blooming
• Desert mallow has first leaves
• Ate small plate of spinach
• Observed a duck bathing in water tub
• Ducks moved outside today
• Strawberries blooming
• Some type of bok choi has sprouted, as well as some chartreuse lettuce. Very tiny.
• Sunflowers under row covers sprouting. Primarily north fence near sitting area and w[est] fence near garlic
• Pulled weeds - made a path from gate. Also semi-weeded main garlic beds
• Watered and turned compost

April 02

2008

2011

2012

2008

Gardening in the High Desert

• Watered weeds, veg beds and garlic
  
• Some weeds starting to bloom - a delicate lavender one, and one with white flowers. Also tumbleweed now germ along with a new weed that I haven't seen before.
  
• First daffs in garden blooming - pale cream yellow
  
• Weeded all beds
  
• Irises growing like crazy
  
• Large rabbit tracks in the garden
  
• Time to feed and water trees - they are starting to break dormancy
  
• I am thinking of buying some onions and some garlic at the store to grow - just to see what happens
  
• Forgot to water my oregano transplant. Well, I guess we'll see just how bought it really is.
  
• Got to sleep good, gt to work early, go home early and then take lots of photos of the garden tomorrow
  
• More pease are up
  

2011

Gardening in the High Desert

• Water garlic, peas, spinach, daffodils
  
• Pulled grass from 3 west rows in corn patch and added osmocote fertilizer. It is ready to receive seeds
  
• Finalized oasis plan
  

Received from a trade on Dave's Garden from R.X.

• 6 flying saucers morning glories
  
• 6 purple white stripped morning glories
  
• 6 star of yenta [morning glories]
  
• Lots African Marigold
  
• 6 Mexican Sunflower
  
• Summer thyme
  
• Lemon Balm
  
• Anise Basil
  
• Salad Burnet
  
• Crystal White Wax Onion
  
• Pepper Mint
  
• Pkg Scarlet O'Hara [MG]
  
• Pkg Heavenly Blue [MG]
  
• Pkg Tall Mixed [MG]
  
• Pkg Forget-Me-Not
  
• Pkg Purple Cone Flower
  

Sent in exchange

• Spinach - Bloomsdale
  
• Spinach - Matador
  
• Sages - Broad Leaf, Blue Bedder Salvia, Culinary Sage
  
• Garlic Chives
  
• Basil - unknown small leaf, cinnamon
  
• Lemon cuke
  
• MG - ground
  
• Lavender moon flower
  

2012

Gardening in the High Desert
The gale-force wind from yesterday seems to have abated, so maybe today I will go out in my barren garden and see what's alive. Even though there are no veggies to put out yet, the strawberries and irises and daffodils should be making an appearance, along with lemon balm, oregano, thyme, and rosemary.

December 30

2005

2007

2008

2005

Gardening in the High Desert
Productive day, today. Nice to feel like I did something after being sick all week. Finally deep watered the trees, put some mulch down, ceased the dogs' pen, washed all their towels and hung their carpet to air out.

The folks at DG (Dave's Garden) seem to think that even with these winds, I won't need to stake bearded irises, and that day lilies should also do just fine. I hope so. I saw some beautiful inspiration photos at DG. [2011 Note: Irises have done well for the last 6 years without staking; dogs kept digging up day lilies and things kept eating them, so I can't say for sure, but I do believe they would be fine, also]

My very own copy of The Vegetable Garden Bible came yesterday. Too sick to even look at the pictures. I've check it out of the library enough to know a lot of it already - just nice to have my very own copy.

Can't wait to feel up to snuff. All these days off and I'm sick. So sick that I barely glanced that the seed catalogs that came the other day. Well, a time for everything in its season.

2007

Gardening in the High Desert
Happy Birthday to Me!

• Filled bird feeders
  
• Cataloged more seeds in my garden database
  
• Finished reading books from the library
  

Perennial Vines - haven't found any I really like yet. Question on seed saving - Can I use used drier sheets to "bag" tomato flowers for seed saving?

2008

Gardening in the High Desert Harvest Eggs 14 Total
3 EE [Easter Eggers], 1 olive
4 Maran
7 SLW [Silver Laced Wyandottes]

January 22

2006

2008

2011

2006

Gardening in the High Desert

Seed Orders

Bought 200 seeds of a lavender moonflower.  Never seen lavender ones advertised before.  [Finally got a few blooms in 2011 from a rabbit ravaged vine.] [Purchased from Onalee's Seeds] Also bought a few more seeds.  We'll see.

D has put up 10 more fence posts and is out of concrete now.

Should I get a Mantis Tiller? [2011-11-18 I did not, and I'm glad I didn't.  The sand is easy enough to just hoe up, and I do not have that big of a plot.]

Ordered some [used] "backyard bird" and "backyard wildlife" books from Amazon.com.  Had so much fun watching birds and such with my brother at his house.  Ordered a bird ID book, too.

From Onalee's Seeds - $27.50 Onalee@aol.com

• $15.00 - Impomoea Alba - White Moon Flowers
• $12.50 - Impomoea Turbinata - Lavender Moon Flowers

Plants of the South West $28.50 (Rec'd 1/28/2006)

• $2 - Lemon/Apple Cukes [2011-11-18 - Grew this in 2011 - seeds still viable - did not check germination rates, but it was over 50%
• $8 - High Desert Wildflower Mix 1 ounce
• $5 - 2 Pkt Blue Gama Grass
• $2 - Yellow Pear Tomato [2011-11-18 - These were also still viable in 2011]
• $2 - Sugar Snap Peas
• $2 - Mexico Miget Tomato [2011-11-18 - These were also still viable in 2011]
• $5 - Shipping

Prairie Garden Plant Ideas

(medium tall)

• Butterfly weed
• Columbine
• Cream False Indigo
• Narrow leave purple cone flower
• Nodding pink onion
• Orange Cone Flower
• Prairie Smoke
• Prairie Spiderwort
• Purple Con Flower
• Purple Prairie Clover
• Western Spiderwort
• Wild Petunia
• White Aster
• Prairie Dropseed Grass
• Blue Sky Aster (short)
• Downy Sunflower (tall)
• Little Blue Stem Grass
• Prairie Blazing Star
• Blue Gama Grass
• Big Blue Stem
• Prairie Sage
• Common Ox-eye

[2011-11-18 Note: Need to check if they are on the state "invasive" list.  Also, need to see what is poisonous to livestock, incase some escape from the "Prairie" to the "Pastures."]

Prairie Garden Tips

• Grow some samples in know places so you know what the seedlings look like
• Photograph samples for future 

Sweet Potato Storage

• Wash/Dry
• Grease with crisco, prick w/fork
• Bake 350*F until done
• Let cool & then wrap in foil (regular)
• Put in plastic bag and freeze

To Use

• Run under hot water and peal
• Prep as if fresh boiled
• Or microwave and will be like fresh baked

2008

Gardening in the High Desert
Need to start tracking weather in N TN and S Ky.

Remember: Procrastination Kills Plants!

2011

Gardening in the High Desert

00:46

I swear it feels like the tomatoes grew 2 inches in the last few days. Looks like the weather will be warm enough to put them outside a spell again.
Started, yes, more tomatoes. Also started some peppers. 12 weeks ahead of transplant time - just about right. Tomes will be leggy for sure, by then. But still, the more important thing is that they'll be old enough to start flowering as soon as they're in the ground. And set fruit before the scorching season arrives. Hopefully sunflowers will shaw and contain them.

22:17

Got so much done today; it was a good day for gardening

• Toms and basil and some ivy went outside
  
• Potted up some more basil from lettuce tray
  
• Potted sweet potato cutting in old Jack In The Box cup and put in a [decorative] tin pot
  
• Brought small daffs in for forcing
  
• Turned compost
  
• Hoed under some weeds in future beds
  
• Can't believe how much bigger the transplanted basil is
  

High Desert Gardening Links

Cross Reference Links to my Blog, High Desert Gardening. Links will open in a new window.

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