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

November 23

2012

Gardening in Middle Tennessee.

Weather was lovely for Thanksgiving. Today it is grey and drizzly. The grass and weeds are happy.

Birds are eating about 20% of the food in the feeder each day. So far, I have not seen any evidence of squirrels using them - and we have lots of squirrels in our neighborhood. Lots of cottontails, too.

The indoor mint cuttings didn't fare so well, and I am down to only one now. Some of the basils also culled. Still, the rosemary looks good, and at least 3 of the basils are doing well.

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.

April 01

2011-04-01

Gardening in the High Desert

Seedlings that are up [sprouted] inside

Peat pellets
• 3 purple cone flower
  
• 1 white cone flower
  
• 1 vera tomato
  
• 2 cells curly parsley
  
• 2 cells tarragon just breaking ground
  
• 2 bee balm monarda
  
• 3 cells gama grass
  
• 3 tall vine tomatoes
  
• 1 dill bouquet
  
• 3 cells chamomile
  
• 2 Joe's Long Cayenne [pepper]
  
• 4 Shasta Daisy
  

Bedding Tray
• 4 Clumps garlic chives
  
• 9 Tam Jalapeños (2 not doing so well)
  
• 3 culinary sage
  
• 6 pomadore [tomato] (1 not doing well)
  
• 5 flat leaf parsley
  
• 10 Salvia Blue Bedder
  
• 3 red pear [tomato]
  

Purple Basil Tray Almost ready to transplant Tam Jalapeño Flat (6) not germ yet

Outside Status
• Spinach in ground has germinated
  
• 1 pea has pushed san aside
  
• I covered rows with some ferny weed leafs - hopes that hides them until they are too big for the birds to care
  
• Garlic beds doing well
  
• Weeded - lots of ferny things - pulled ones closest to the individual garlics
  
• No weeding for daffs, but I did feed and water ones buy west fence and the volunteer daffs and crocus
  
• Old Biddy followed me around and scored a big, fat caterpillar. That's about 4 I've dug up so far this year
  
• Read certain butterflies like to lay their eggs on parsley, so I think I shall plant more parsley. And cilantro, too. Maybe a whole swath in my tinny "wildflower" garden
  
  Watered
  • Bed 2 and 3
    
  • All Garlic
    
  • Volunteer daffs
    
  • Daff bed West
    
• Corn stubble - chickens have worked over the stubble - no over-wintered bugs there!
  
• Ferny weeds along the north and east corner - these will be the backdrop to wildflower are. I know some caterpillar eats them
  
• Watered and turned compost - not steaming, yet, but smelling more strongly of ammonia. Something is alive in there
  
• Ordered floating row covers. Hopefully they'll be here soon. I am ready to direct sow seeds.
  
  Direct Sow Candidates
  • White Sage
    
  • Sunflowers
    
  • Peas
    
  • Spinach
    
  • CA Poppies
    
  • Salvia
    
  • Turnips
    
  • Rutagega
    
  • Law Grass
    
  • Morning Glories
    
  • 4 O'Clocks
    
  • Lettuce Mix
    
  • Wild flower mix (in rows, so I know they aren't weeds)
    
  • Malabar spinach
    

December 25

2005

2006

2010

2011

2005

Gardening in the High Desert
Warm, sunny day, and I didn't even go outside today.

Frost this morning looked almost like snow.  Glittery, shiny on the sand, cars and fence boards.  As the sun warmed the fence boards and the ice crystals melted, the boards looked like they had diamonds twinkling on them.

2006

Gardening in the High Desert
Merry Christmas - bright, sunny, clear - in the mid 50*F [during the day].

• Sprayed deer off on all the trees out front
• Check out veg area
• Garlic on the ground have been nipped down but none have been dug up
• Garlic in [raised] beds not nipped
• [in reality, it didn't matter if the leaves had been nipped, as far as final production]
• Irises mostly brown now
• Oregano going strong
• Orchard - glad I wrapped my tress - the ones from last year that were chewed are chewed again.  My wrapped ones are safe, for the moment.  Can't believe how thick their trunks got in just one season.  I am heartbroken to think that I will have to leave them.  All that work to coax them along, and I won't be around to see them mature.  I hate starting over.  I finally have something and I have to let go.  I guess that's just how my whole life is - having stuff just to have to let it go.  It's so hard for me to let go.  Children, dogs, gardens, land, husbands - so hard for me to say good-bye.

Rosemary - Buy one early, harden off and put in the ground in a sunny place.  The one from last year did pretty well in partial shade - it'll be good to see how well it does in full sun.  Maybe I should put it in a pot and bring it indoors for winter. [2011 Note: the original rosemary plant is still going strong, having survived negative 10*F weather and several snow storms over the years]

Basils - Could I really put out a hundred plants? If so, how yummy and how pretty.  Let the ornamentals go to flower - cut back stalks when just beginning to set seed.  Will they really grow 2 ft tall in full sun?  Will the rabbits and chipmonks really leave them alone?  I mean, something has topped off my garlic sprouts, so obviously, they didn't read the book on what they're supposed to like.

Garlic - Did I mulch them well enough? [2011 Note: even non-mulched hard neck garlic has done well over the years] What kind of yield will I get?  Are desert bunnies desperate enough to eat garlic in the winter? Ate least none of the cloves have been dug up, yet.

Black-eye Peas - Plant a lot all at once and use as "shelly beans."  They'd go good in corn and peas salad.  Use the yard long beans for stir fry.

2010

Gardening in the High Desert
Weather forecast says wet snow or rain

2011

Gardening in the High Desert

• Have a whole bunch of stale bagels from work, so the wild critters will get a treat.  Also have a new bag of cracked [presumably corn]
• Hot water froze yesterday
  

Lessons Learned

• Regular, deep watering is key - yes, use a timer
  
• I recently read that it takes 3 - 5 years for soil to really show the benefits of care - my personal experience here with the sand concurs
  
• The roma and Alaskan Fancy toms both set early, making them the most productive (the already have a lot of tiny fruit set before the summer heat starts preventing pollination)
  
• If you plant it, they will come - butterflies and bunnies, birds and chipmunks - all to enjoy the bounty of the garden
  
• Zukes really do need to be looked at every day - and even then, some will be missed and grow to the size of your arm
  
• I like the taste of green zukes better than yellow squash
  
• The hybrid yellow squash and zukes are more prolific than the open pollinated - but surely, one does not need that high of a production in a home garden environmentD! The OPs were plenty productive.
  
• Don't plant squash too close together (I leared this years ago, but, apparently, I need to learn this again)
  
• Cukes sown under zukes do not get enough sun
  
• Velour beans were the tastiest - but also the most finicky to grow
  
• Bunnies will eat morning glory leaves if they are hungry enough
  
• Home gron corn really isn't worth the effort - until you eat one raw off the stalk.
  
• I need to find some more efficiencies if I'm ever going to do this on a market garden scale
  
• I'm starting late in life to be dreaming of becoming a full-time farmer; therefore, I shall have to use all of my wits and the wisdom of others to pull this off
  
• I can raise 50% of my chicken food during the summer months with barely any extra effort
  

December 23

2005

2006

2010

2005

Took a walk around the perimeter today for the first time in months. Mauly and Jake have dug numerous large holes under various bushes as they peruse their prey. How am I going to have a "wild" area if they keep destroying it?

The back yard fence that MDH is building is turning out really well. The West side is nearly done. Going to start the North side soon. I can't believe we're really doing this. Over a decade of dreams finally starting to blossom.

Sweet potato has real leaves, but it's still too cold for it to really take off yet. Still, its good to see something growing in the house.

Something is chewing on the ficus leaves. Not serious, yet, but I can't seem to find what it is.

2006

Son has moved the rest of the unplanted bulbs into the metal building for me yesterday. Now I just need to choose a nice, sub-freezing time to plant them out.

Hundreds of daffs to go.

Go my library card out of hock and gathered a bunch of herb books to bring home for the holidays with me.

• Filled bird feeders and set out water
  
• Watered front trees; bottom pine branches have been eaten
  
• Inspected fruit trees
  
• Earlier in the week planted a pot of misc garlic bulbs for "chives"
  

Winter is a time for hiding under the covers with a good garden book and spring-time dreams. Herbs for tea

• Lemon Flavors
  
  • Lemon Verbena
    
  • Lemon Balm [2011 Note: Lemon Balm smells too medicine-like, even though it has a lemon smell to it]
    
  • Lemon Thyme
    
  • Lemon Grass
    
• Mints
  
  • Spearmint
    
  • Applemint
    
  • Blue Balsam Tea Mint
    
• Anise
  
  • Anise Seed
    
  • Fennel
    
  • Anise Hyssop
    
• Fruit
  
  • Pineapple Sage
    
  • Fruit scented Geraniums
    

Potpourris Herbs
F = Flowers, L = Leaves

• Anise Hyssop F, L
  
• Anise Seeds
  
• Basil F, L
  
• Bay L
  
• Borage F
  
• Elderberry L
  
• Hussop F
  
• Juniper Berries
  
• Lavender F
  
• Lemon Verbena L
  
• Marjoram L
  
• Mint L, F
  
• Rose F, Hips
  
• Rosemary L
  
• Scented Geraniums F, L
  
• Thyme L
  

So lovely to behold the winter landscape under a bright sunny day. ** Try a lemon basil hair rinse or a sage tea [hair] rinse. Herb Vinegar

1. 8 inches of stem for 2 c vinegar
   
2. Use red or white wine vinegar
   
3. heat vinegar until just below boiling in glass, enamel or stainless [container]
   
4. Fill hot, sterol jars
   
5. cover & cool
   
6. ready to use in 2 weeks
   
7. [2011 subsequently heard that it should be kept in the refrigerator]
   

Placed a $30 order with Thyme Gardens. I know I could get the seeds elsewhere for a bit cheaper, but I like to support the small growers when I can.

2010

• Dug in another 9 gallons of compost into new existing beds
• Started a new bed - no compost yet, but started digging it up
• My granddaughter worked in the garden with me for an hour.  She called me a farmer.  She said that I had chickens,  corn and a big blue tractor, so I must be a farmer.  [My recollection here in 2011 is that she did concede that I didn't have a very big farm because I did not have cows.]
• New weeds have sprouted in the empty beds; I hoed them up.  Need to hand pull [them] in the garlic and raised beds.
• Now leaves on any of the fruit trees now.
• 4 ivys look good; no signs of transplant shock
• Sweet potato doing well. Lovely deep purple leaves - tiny and nearly black.  Need to put in a good pot.  Last one I grew had green leaves.
• Need to start taking better care of my poor ficus.  Needs food and regular watering.
• What will happen if I winter sow spinach now? Will it germinate?  How much seed do I have to play with? Surely I could try 20 seeds or so?

December 15

2007

Gardening in the High Desert.
Snow has turned to ice on the back patio, but little else of it remains. Nights are cold, but the days are still mostly above freezing. I long to be puttering out in the garden. I haven't been there in a week.

• Does the oregano survive under its light mulch of old iris leaves [2011 Note: indeed, it survives without any mulch, and is now becoming a weed!]
  
• How are the garlic beds looking?
  
• I never did "mow" the strawberries under their shredded paper mulches. Are they still alive and will they return vigorous in a few more months?
  
• And my sleeping trees - did I over water them in the fall - causing them to go dormant too late?
  
• Yes, time to start my indoor herbs before I go crazy with lack of greenery.
  
• We bought a cut Christmas Tree. Next year we hope to buy a live one. But for now, I am already plotting how its dying branches will become mulch for my Black Austrian Pines.