A Long Week

Yesterday morning was a sad day. I went out to feed the chickens and was in the chicken coop trying to get a bird out that had gotten in, and somehow my favorite speckled hen went running out, with the dogs right there. The youngest dog just grabbed that chicken and killed it. No amount of yelling at him to release or drop the chicken helped. I was so sad about it. It's never good when you have to wake up to a chicken funeral!

This morning, my husband and I were out in the neighborhood running with one of the dogs. We were on our way back, and we hear my husband's name being yelled. We turn around and see that it was someone he knows, that had just purchased a gun, wanting him to find him some ammo for it. This is seriously 6:30 am! I just had to laugh, because that's the deal right now. There is simply not much ammo to be had, and we can't really go anywhere, without someone wanting to talk to him about getting a gun or ammo. Really?!? 

 Wow! Can you believe that it was only a couple of days from 2 strawberries to a small bowl full of berries! Really, strawberries are very easy to grow. Once you have a good location for them to thrive, that is. Here in Arizona, too much sun and heat is often a cause for strawberries not doing well. I have found that they just cannot tolerate that much sun. I have had them located in various parts of the yard, and in the spring, when the temps are cooler, they do very well. Once those temperatures get up in the mid 90's and above, they just don't seem to like it. After much trial and error, I finally relocated about 12 small plants to the north side of my home. This little area does not get a lot of sun. It probably gets about 4 hours of morning sun, at best. However, they have multiplied and spread all over the place. I don't even know how many plants are there now. Probably nearing 50 or so. I should count them. I did give them some organic fertilizer early spring this year, and they do need good watering. The soil they are in hasn't been enriched with any compost in about a year or so, and even so, it was clay to begin with. Give them a try!

These are "Little Finger" carrots, and they are about the size of a little finger. Although, much tastier. I picked these yesterday morning and ate them as a snack a little later. If you notice, most of them aren't super straight. That's because when I planted them, I planted them too densely and they are now overcrowded and growing every which way to get some space. Those darn little carrot seeds are just so small, I find myself impatient to just get them in already! And crooked carrots are the results. It doesn't change the taste, though. Delish.

Here in Arizona, we are heading into dangerous territory (the upper 90's and flirting with 100 degrees)! Remember that after 100 degrees, it's time to give those tomatoes some shade. They will not set any fruit above 100, even though they have flowers on them. Also, I usually check the soil every day, to make sure the plants are getting enough moisture. It doesn't take long at all for a plant to be depleted in our wonderful sunny hot weather! 

And that's about it for today! Happy gardening!

Sunny Days

The long awaited strawberries are just beginning to bear fruit! These are the first berries of the season, & due to the fact that I don't add fertilizers to them, they always are much smaller than store bought berries, but they are soooooo much tastier! I need to get out and weed the strawberry bed, but just haven't managed to get to it yet.

It is superb weather and the roses are just loving it! Every other day or so, I am cutting roses to bring indoors to enjoy, but these are so beautiful. 

These little seedlings are enjoying life in the mini greenhouse awaiting space for them in the garden. I have some spring veggies that are almost at the end of their season, and so I decided to start the melons in the pots 'til I have some space in the garden to plant them out. 

These little beauties, Calendula - Pink Surprise, purchased from Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co., were planted from seed way back in November. This is the first bloom! I love the way it looks, although I haven't seen any of the pink that is pictured on the packet. I wonder if that was a graphic add on? Below is the second bloom so far. It does look different from the first...not so multi petaled. I like to sneak flowers in on the edges of the garden beds. It looks so pretty to see a splash of color but these calendula's will be good for keeping aphids away, etc.

The last garden task for today, is to get these beans in the ground. As you can see, I have them soaking to aid in the germination. We have done the Thai White Seeded Long Bean for several years now, and they are quite tasty. Hopefully, I can get that done this evening. Happy Gardening!

Fruit Tree & Berry Cane Pruning

The weather is beautiful, in the 70's, and it just feels so wonderful outside. This is why we live in Arizona! The mad flurry for spring planting has begun!

Our yard has a little micro-climate on the north side of the house. This spot gets very little direct sun, and the soil really does stay pretty moist all year, even in the middle of the summer, partly due to the air conditioning overflow drip that continuously drips into the area. Anyway, this spot is definitely cooler than any other spot in our yard. Every yard has these. It just takes a little observation to notice them. 

This spot is perfect for the berries and fruit trees. Last year, I put the raspberry and blackberry canes in, just a few of each. The raspberry canes took off, although they aren't quite thick yet. The blackberry canes didn't do as well, so I ended up replacing a couple of those on top of the clean-up chores. I also had transplanted 12 little strawberry plants last year. Wow, they really spread, and are now all over the area. I have yet to get any berries this season probably due to the fact that my husband decided to turn off the water to the yard. Why? It's a mystery. I finally figured it out, and managed to get the drips working again. YAY! 

 My friend gave me 3 banana shoots from her neighbor up in Mesa 2 years ago. I had plopped those down without much thought into the area. Last year, they had gotten frozen, and I thought that I had lost them. Much to my surprise, one of them really grew, and even put off another shoot. So, those are looking ok. We shall see how they do this year. 

What started out to be a quickie trim of the apple and peach trees soon turned into something much more, when I realized the raspberry and blackberry canes needed a quick prune of their tips and the strawberries that are so happy underneath them, needed the undergrowth cleaned out.

After consulting a book on how to prune an apple and peach tree, I attempted as best I could to prune them. May I say, very nervous? Anyway, it turned out not to be as bad as I thought. It did, however, make a big mess, that the dogs proceeded to track around the yard. "Oh, goodie, mom is making us some toys!" Hopefully, this will be the year we get some fruit off these little 2 year old babies. 

Since raspberries, strawberries, and blackberries are all heavy feeders, they needed a little organic fertilizer, some water, and some mulch, and the yearly chore was done. 

All in all, it was a delightful day!