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

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 06

2008

Gardening in the High Desert Planting

• 10 Sun Seed dwarf sunflowers (Territorial packed for 2006), 4 - 5 ft tall, 12-15" heads
  
• 60 tall sugar snap [peas] around the most easterly "dead tree"
  
• Mammoth sunflowers planted 4/5/08
  
• Sun Seed sunflowers planted 4/6/08
  

Should have started some of each kind of sunflower yesterday to compare germ [germination] times. Oh well, maybe I will plant more out today. I could turn tho into a formal sunflower trial, but really, all I want to do is kinda see if early April is OK for starting them. If I sow the long season ones (i.e. Mammoth at 80 days) throughout April and May an the beginning of June, I should have some in bloom from the middle of July to September. Of course, pushing it for the ones to ripen at the end of the season - just like pushing to plant at the beginning of the season, well before "Last Frost."

Sweet potatoes barely holding on Can they survive my neglect and abuse for another month and a half? Going to find them a nice sunny place this year so they can run wild. I'm amazed that they had any tubers at all last year Maybe this year they'll have eating sized ones. Anyway, they are green and lush out i the grade so even as an ornamental, they are worth it. I can't believe I still have descendants from a sweet potato from our first Thanks Giving. Makes them a little more special. History, small miracles, and good food - major parts of what makes gardening so important to me.

Need to plant more

• Peppers
  
• Toms
  
• Basils
  
• Other herbs
  
• DONE - Sunflowers (outside)
  
• DONE - Peas
  
• DONE - Wildflower mix
  

Notes

• Planted peas along the watering line, but am now wondering if I should have planted them closer to the tree trunk.
  
• Had some left over wild flower seed from I don't remember when or where. Planted on the west, in front of the ring of daffodils around the most westerly dead tree.
  
• Sunflowers in the most NE corner. Will plant more of the short kind along the eastern fence so they won't shade the area for corn too much. Tall ones along the back. Do I really think I can get 100 to grao and bloom? Of course, at this time of year, all things are possible.
  
• DH says to grow some hot peppers. Maybe I'll get some seed at Walmart
  
• Between the wind, the general desiccation, and the fast draining sand, it's a wonder anything germinates here
  
• Watered and fed backyard trees
  
• I should plant a bunch of marigolds, although something ravenously devoured the flower petals, it did grow well and bloomed ok. And whatever ate its petals did not eat other things int he garden.
  
• Watered wildflower bed and sunflower areas again in the afternoon
  
• Watered trees in the front years
  
• The wind is howling outside, but here in the house, it is quiet. The boys [Dear Husband and Dear Son] are napping, the dogs are outside. Baby plants sit in the warm sun in the southern window. The world is at peace.
  

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
    

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