Spring Garden Happenings

The days have been so incredibly full, that there simply hasn't been time enough to blog about how full the day is! 

I love this time of year...everything about it is my favorite! The citrus blossoms are just beginning to fade, but walking outside is amazing (as long as you don't have allergies, which I thankfully don't). The asparagus seems to grow 6 in. a day, and the bunch you see just above were picked in 2 days. Sometimes, I go out in the am and pick some, and then in the evening end up picking more. Asparagus never gets tiresome for anyone in my family. We always enjoy the weeks filled with asparagus for dinner. 

The other day, I was working in the herb bed and I looked over and went to pull a weed, but then thought, "That looks like asparagus!" And sure enough, it must have been a seedling, flown over on the wind from the asparagus bed. I called my boys over and asked them what they thought it looked like, and both of them said, "Asparagus." And those are my boys! They know their veggies! 

We have peas galore coming off the vines. I do really like them, steamed fresh with butter, but I am getting a tad tired of them, I have to admit. Derek tells me he likes them just fine, and then I catch him texting the neighbor that they are not his favorite and does the neighbor need any. Nice, Derek.

Can you see it! I just cannot believe what I found today on the banana tree. SLUGS! Not good! And I have to admit, I find them incredibly disgusting. I am going to have to get on this problem!

This is a pic of the snapdragons. I love them so much. They remind me of my grandma. Today I picked some to bring in the house, and my nephew disappeared. I went back out to find him and caught him picking all the flowers off the stalks and throwing them at the chickens. Lovely. And then, in his grubby little hands, he carried some of the blossoms around and sniffed them and sniffed them. Silly boy! He knows what he likes!

So, I am trying this new type of trellis to stake the tomatoes. Not sure it will work for them, but it's worth a shot! Number one son, Casey, put these together for me in a couple of minutes, and then they simply were pushed into the garden bed in between a couple rows of tomatoes. The tomatoes are just beginning to set blossoms on and I can hardly wait for those little babies to be ready.

This picture right here exhibits why you should never ever buy a single zucchini plant from the store. I planted this little guy from seed 2 1/2 weeks ago. They really are the size of a plant I would buy at the garden center. And so much cheaper. 

Happy Gardening!

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!!)