Icicles & Cold Weather in Arizona

I'm not sure if you can see it well or not, but there are actually icicles on our fountain in the back yard. It was 25 degrees fahrenheit for the last couple of nights. That is unheard of here in Gilbert, AZ. However, even though I was a little worried about the chickens, of course, they were totally fine.

However, this was what the ficus tree across the street, in the neighbor's yard looked like Sunday morning (yesterday am). Apparently, someone at a nearby nursery told him that if he ran an oscillating sprinkler all night on his plants, the water would freeze and then the frozen water would not allow the tree to drop below 32 degrees fahrenheit. Not sure if that is correct info or not, but it sure made a memorable tree. As I was talking to the neighbor about his tree, some of the giant icicles you can see, on the bottom right of the tree, fell and crashed on the ground in a loud noise. I laughed all the way to church! So funny!

They (the weather people on TV) say it hasn't been this cold since 1988, & I believe it! Tonite it is supposed to reach freezing temperatures by 10:00pm. We actually had to break down and buy a blanket for my daughter's horse. It is just too cold. Tonite all the baby chicks and the silkie are locked in the enclosed section of the coop with a lamp on them in there. The rest are roosting up at the top of the coop, next to a heat lamp. They will all be fine. I think I might just not go anywhere tomorrow. Good thing we don't live in the midwest! (chuckle).

New Recipe and a little bit of Chickens (not related)

Saw this recipe on Pinterest but originally from "The Girl Who Ate Everything" and loved the sound of it! Lasagna Roll Ups are definately going to be added to my go to recipes! Just about everyone in my family ate them all up, with the exception of one person, who will remain nameless, (Rylan), who simply pushed it around on his plate!! These were really good!

So, Haylee happened to actually catch some young pullets at my father-in-laws. For those of you who don't know what those are, they are teenager chickens. These ones, and there are 3 of them, even though in the picture you can only really see 2, are used to running around with their mommy hen. It makes me a little bit sad to take them from their mom, but my father-in-law simply has too too many chickens and roosters at his house. We have them housed within the original chicken coop in their own little chicken coop. This is to get the other 4 hens used to having them around and hopefully limit any pecking, etc. on them.

This hen has been hanging out in front of the little coop where the new babies are and as soon as I opened the door to let the babies out, ran in to peck the white one. I strongly suspect that white baby is a rooster, but we shall see. Hopefully not. 

 

Found this little baby (the ladder pictured above), like a prize, in a trash heap by the side of the road in our neighborhood! My husband, when I told him about my wonderful find, simply said, "Please don't dig through other people's trash. Did anyone see you?" I had to chuckle to myself! Anyway, I think it is simply awesome and I plan to use it in my garden as a trellis for melons, etc. So excited by this find! Been wanting one for simply ages.

Mr. Harrison needed to come outside with me yesterday to help bring the ladder out of the car, and also needed the dreaded fire truck. By dreaded, I mean that it makes a LOT of noise, which is probably what he likes, and my daughters absolutely hate it! (chuckle) I laugh because they are getting a little bit of payback for all the noise I have had to endure over the years with them! Payback truly is great! Anyway, Harrison was having a great time with the fire truck until it got stuck in the grass and would not move, in which case a giant case of tears ensued! 

It's Cold Outside!

So, finally the weather is turning a little cold. Yesterday morning, at around 5:30am I looked on my back porch, which is in the shade, and saw that the temperature was 38 degrees F. Pretty chilly for Arizona! Since that is getting down into almost freezing temperatures, and I do have some vegetables out in the garden that technically are not cold hardy, like peppers and cucumbers and zucchini and tomatoes, I put in hoops and cover the bed with a 4 mil plastic. This works well for me, as I have used it in the past with great success. It is just an effort to get it put out, and such. 

As you can see by the picture below, I do raise it during the day, as our temperatures are still in the high 60's and sometimes even the low 70's during the day. Such beautiful weather! Can't complain. Tomorrow we are due for a heavy winter storm, so tonite I need to batten down the hatches. 

Above are the small little pepper plants that are growing from seed. Hopefully they will make it through the winter, if I keep them covered!

A couple of days ago, I planted some sweet pea seeds that I had saved from 2 years ago, and after soaking them overnight, and planting them everywhere I could, I realized I just had too many! So, those became little gifts to a couple friends who haven't ever grown them before. I love sweet peas, as my grandma & mom planted them every year that I can remember. I used to take handfuls of the blooms wrapped in a wet paper towel and plastic wrap, to school and church to give to my teachers. I don't see anyone doing that anymore. Kind of sad. :(

The broccoli is almost ready to harvest! I can hardly wait as that is one of our favorite vegetables! Yesterday I was reading about how broccoli is one of those vegetables that we usually have to force ourselves to eat! I am not sure where the writer got their info from. What do you think?

I happened upon a blog when I was on pinterest that showed how the blogger made some edible Christmas garlands for her chickens. 

This is the post: http://fresh-eggs-daily.blogspot.com/2012/12/edible-christmas-garlands.html.

I decided that they looked pretty cute and thought I would make one for my little henny pennies! The writer of fresh-eggs-daily blog showed how she actually drilled little holes into her brussel sprouts to make them easier to thread. FYI, this is definately not necessary. I just used a long doll needle and some kitchen string. It was very easy to string a garland up in a manner of minutes. They loved the grapes, ate the apples over a couple of days, and the brussel sprouts are still there. Exactly how I feel about those little things too!

My little nephew, loves the chickens and would happily stand in the chicken coop all day throwing seed and dirt down for them! I usually have to bribe him with a trowel to dig with to get him out of the coop! Silly boy, all boy!!

I discovered the dreaded little white powdery mildew spots on my roses a couple of mornings ago. If you look closely, you can just see them in the picture above. I bought an organic spray that is supposed to rid the roses from this disease, and have sprayed them. I have noticed a little difference, but it is not gone yet. I suspect I will need to keep spraying til it's gone, as it's spreading to the other roses as well. Not good. I have read that once you get it, it spreads rapidly. 

Last month's pinterest club we did these lovely little signs you see in the picture below. They were so easy to do, as the were stencils cut from plastic report covers with the silhouette cameo. That machine is so easy to use. I just love it. The signs are so cute and I hope to get the time to make a few more of the "Merry Little Christmas" ones to give to my neighbors!

Happy gardening and crafting!

November Garden Happenings

Well, here in Arizona, it is still pretty warm. The days are still in the high 70's, low 80's. The nights are dropping down into the 40's some of the time. However, the garden is still loving the temps! As you can see, below, the broccoli is getting pretty big, although not big enough to produce anything yet. The radishes out front, I have been harvesting every week or so. This morning I took a bunch in for a salad, and gave the tops to the chickens. 

These pictures were taken in early morning, when some of the garden is still in some shade. I really need to replant some lettuce seeds, because I did do that...I'm sure I did, but I just can't see where they are sprouting. So, I need to get to that this week. I also have about a million sweet pea seeds to put in. That is on the list for this week as well. 

The peppers continue to produce an enormous amount of jalepenos and I continue to pick them. This morning I took a couple fresh eggs from the chickens and julienned some spinach onto them as they were cooking. I thought it would give it some wonderfully spice to put some jalepeno slices on there as well. That was a big fat no, as the one I sliced was hotter than ever! I ended up picking them all off, as they were just too hot to eat. (smiley face)

The 4 tomato plants I have growing are doing well. I am going to need to get them covered soon. They are definately heat lovers and not fond of the cold. Can't wait for the tomatoes on them to ripen!

The birds have been feasting on the pea shoots! I am not super happy and plan to cover these ASAP or I will have no peas left!

Below are pics of the new addition on the chicken coop that my hubby and lovely sons so kindly (without very much grumbling), helped me build. Unfortunately, what was supposed to be a couple hour project turned into a 6 hour project simply because the dirt was not level, and we ended up moving the shed that is to the right of the now attached addition. It was a nightmare! 

During the move of the shed, we discovered there was a cute little mouse living under it. Our dog, Gracie, the 8 yr old Weimaraner, is a hunter for sure, and she would not let that mouse go. However, it crawled into one of the holes in the Rubbermaid shed, that are on the bottom and we could not get to it!

The next night, my hubby looked outside and there it was, staring at him on the back porch! Gracie went crazy, and sniffed it out, right out of my herb bed, and killed it! Finally, Gracie earned her keep!

As you can see, I need to get the addition painted to match the original coop, and I need to make a trip to my father-in-law's house to pick up some chickens. He says the secret is to reach up into the trees where they roost, just when it is dark, and grab them by the feet. I think that sounds a little creepy, but I did try to catch some the other day in the afternoon, to no avail. Those little things are just too fast. So, I think maybe I might enlist my hubby although he doesn't know it yet!! (tee hee hee!!)

Garden Planting

So. The chickens now have a little yard. I bought this fencing at our local Home Depot. I am not sure I like it. It doesn't close easily. It is difficult to align with the connectors on each side. Also, Rylan cannot get it closed and so I can't really send him out there to feed the chickens. That's not going to work, for sure. Quite obviously, I am going to have to do something different. Bummer. On the bright side, the chickens love it! They love it so much, that they have started flying over it to get out. So, I did go purchase some netting to put over it, not realizing that doves are flying down to get the bird seed that isn't eaten. The birds are now getting caught in the netting several times a day, which is then driving the dogs insane. All of them. Which is driving me insane!!! And having to go out and get the birds out of the netting all day, is completely too much. So, something will have to be done! (I have an idea of what, but I don't want to have to do it.)



I have been saving this topiary form in the garden shed for almost 9 years. I had 2 of them in our previous home, covered in creeping fig in our front yard by the front door. One day, after we had moved, the new owner, who were friends of ours, had them pulled out and was throwing them away. These things are hard to find, and since she is not a gardener of any sort, she just plain didn't want them. So, I snagged them from her. YAY for me. I really don't know where the other one went... This one looks nice right her in front of the little chicken coop. Love it! Can't wait for the creeping fig to grow in.

My great grandma lived in a little trailer near my grandma's house. Along the side of her trailer she had a lot of mint planted, and every time we would go and visit her, I would pick some and chew on it. Funny the things you remember. So, this spot is perfect for some mint filling in the space. If I can keep the dogs off of it. Hence, the little fence.

We also planted in a couple of new plum trees, into the same hole. Everything I have read about plum trees says that the Santa Rosa Plum is self fruiting, but that it bears more fruit if there is another variety nearby. So, since I have seen this to be the case with the previous plum tree & I had until LAST summer... We now have 2 new little trees, emphasis on the little.

Saturday was a full day. My son and I planted 6 new vines in the garden to cut on the reflective heat that the block fencing adds to the already stifling temperatures in the summer. We put in 4 cat's claw vines to cover the back wall and 2 trumpet creeper vines, the Madam Galen variety, which is supposed to have beautiful flowers all summer, and is quite a vigorous vine. I was discussing this with the gardener up at Harper's Nursery. All of the online information I have read about this vine indicates that it's roots are a giant nuisance, sending out shoots everywhere and that it's almost impossible to remove. The gardener at the nursery was saying that that may be true in moist climates, but here in Arizona, with our very dry conditions, and clay soil, the root systems just do not act in that way. They then showed me a mature plant of it that they have at the back of their nursery, which climbs up a telephone pole every year. He told me that every other year or so, the city comes out and has them cut the vine down to the ground, and it climbs back up with no problem whatsoever. This is the kind of vine I need on the fence surrounding the garden. I had cat's claw until last summer, when the watering system broke and I lost everything. Even the cat's claw died, which is rumored to never die, no matter what. I know it doesn't look like much here in the picture, but it is dormant in the winter, meaning it loses all it's leaves, and looks dead, even though it's not.

The asparagus are a little behind this year. This picture is a little blurry, but this is the first little shoot. YAY! It looks like I need to add some soil to cover the crowns a little better.

The lettuces are doing ok. Hopefully it won't get too warm. I may need to move these over by the fountain area, where is a little cooler. We shall see.

My daughter begged for this little garden gnome a couple of years ago. At the time, I thought he was kind of ugly, but as his paint has faded, his attraction for me has grown! :) I do think he is quite cute here, don't you?

The peach and apple trees are blooming. I just love the deep pink on this peach tree. It really is beautiful.

Well, that's it from my little organic Arizona garden!! Happy planting!

Spring Gardening

Over the past few weeks, I have been steadily working at cleaning up the garden area and getting it back to  being plantable. Last summer, I had the unfortunate experience of having my watering system fail, which caused me to lose my plum tree, my grape vines, and the cat's claw that was surrounding the garden to cool off the area, from the cinder block fence. Of course, I also lost everything in my garden, pretty much. It was all in all, a very disappointing summer/fall/winter. I haven't really been able to get out there and work on it until now.

Luckily, I have been able to devote some time to working in the garden, and the weather has been so amazing it has made it even enjoyable. I still have some dead grass that needs removal, as well as the dead grapevines that are not showing signs of life. 

I have had to keep my little chickens kind of cooped up for a bit, since there are some new starts in the garden that I would really like to keep, and not sacrifice to their stomachs. They really need a little run, so I do have some plans to fence in the little area to the right of the chicken coop for them to have some added space, but where they won't cause trouble with my plants. I think that will make them happy.

Although it isn't very visible in the above picture, I did manage to get my favorite flower planted. Yes, tulips can grow in Arizona. When I was a little girl, living in Yuma, our teacher asked us to draw our favorite flower. My mom had planted some tulips that year, and that is what I drew. Actually, I think that might have been the only year she planted them. Even so, I remember my teacher telling me that you can't grow tulips in Arizona. I argued with her that you could and I know that she did not believe me. It is possible though. If you want to start the bulbs yourself, you need to keep the bulbs in the crisper section of your refrigerator for 6 weeks to fool them into thinking that it's a cold winter, and then put them out. Or you can cheat, and buy them already semi sprouted from the garden center, like I did. Either way, they are truly beautiful, and still my favorite. If only the dogs didn't like to tromp through them, they would look so much better!

Some Awesome Pics

So, a couple of days ago, I was over at my friend, Jeannine's house & she asked if I wanted to see a project her son, Devon, had finished this summer. His project was to make his little brothers & sisters a playhouse. He had come over at one point to borrow a certain saw to cut an angle for the eaves, so I had known about it. I have to admit, it is pretty great!

He even made the stained wood floors look uneven to look like they are old! There are old strap hinges for the door with an automatic closing spring installed on it. I love that he has it up on a few blocks so that it won't have water damage either. The roof is galvanized tin & apparently they love it, because it is christened inside with their names in chalk on one wall! I think he did an amazing job. What do you think?

The following pic is one of their chicken coop that he built last year. I especially like the watering system they have. I don't have one nearly as nice, and I have plans to install one like it in my coop for my little birdies.

As you can see, on the left of the picture, outside the chicken coop, is a 5 gallon bucket. What you cannot see, is that it has a lid with a screw top cover so you can easily fill with water, or put a frozen water bottle in there to keep the water cold. We all know that chickens do not like their water too hot, and here in Arizona, it definitely is HOT. Anyway, on the side of the bucket, near the bottom Devon drilled a hole large enough to insert a PVC pipe into it. The point that the PVC goes into the bucket is then sealed with a plumbing putty, or water tight glue. The PVC pipe then has an elbow attached to another longer piece of PVC pipe about 2 1/2 feet long with an end on it. This piece is the piece with 3 nipples on it. These the chickens go up and peck. As they peck, water comes out. No more shavings or dirt in the water! YAY! I love it! One thing they did say they would do a little different is to raise the bucket up higher to increase the water pressure as it comes out.

This is the link to purchase the nipples online. My friend Jeannine bought them at Farmtek.

http://www.farmtek.com/farm/supplies/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10052&storeId=10001&langId=-1&division=FarmTek&productId=17662