Seed Starting Time

Believe it or not, fall is just around the corner (I say that sort of tongue-in-cheek as we are definately in the throes of the summer heatwave). At least, I am dreaming it is. And with the fall, I will be starting some new tomato plants. Some people just cut theirs back and keep them, as they really aren't annuals, although we treat them as if they were. But I always seem to do better with new plants, so that is what I am doing. I definately still have lots of new green fruit on the ones I have, so I won't be pulling them out any time soon. However, I am thinking I would like these new plants to be plenty big by September, so I am starting seeds now. I am starting seeds instead of buying plants at the nursery, because I have decided that I really do prefer the flavor of heirloom tomatoes. It is so hard to describe the difference, but take my word for it, they are so much better. And because it is hard to find heirloom tomato plants, although it can be done, I am starting mine from seed. I have purchased some of my seed from local stores and some I have ordered from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds at this link: http://rareseeds.com/ And I recently came across this wonderful pdf file at http://www.maryjanesfarm.org/farmgirl-connection/. If you haven't seen Mary Jane's Farm magazine, it is definately one to check out. Love it! And they have an awesome forum. You do have to become a "farmgirl" but since I consider myself one that is living in the city, that was easy! The pdf file link is: http://www.feldoncentral.com/garden/CaseysHeirloomTomatoesofAirdrie.pdf. It is full of really great pics of heirloom tomatoes. Love it too!

Listing of tomato plants started today in peat pots inside:

German Red Strawberry

Rutgers

Brandywine

Green Zebra

Sweetie

Big Beef

Sioux

Looking forward to watching them sprout!

It's HOT!

[caption id="attachment_145" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Just picked today."][/caption]

It is so HOT outside these days that in order to check out the garden, I seriously have to get up at 6am to beat the heat. We are hitting 108 degrees today, which feels more like 118 degrees to me. I simply can hardly hack it! And of course, most of the garden needs to be shaded from the brutal afternoon sun.

[caption id="attachment_148" align="alignnone" width="200" caption="Armeninan cucumbers growing up two 4 ft. tall topiary forms."][/caption]

The cucumbers seem to be doing ok, though. You can just see the tip of the topiary forms.  They are producing more armenian cucumbers than we can possibly eat, and I keep giving them away to relatives and neighbors. We usually just slice them up to munch on, although my daughter likes to dip hers in the ever present ranch dressing.

[caption id="attachment_150" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="A small caterpillar on the pickling cucumbers."][/caption]

I found a little friend on my pickling cucumbers today, and it has found itself a new home in heaven. I did see a preying mantis that was quite large on the tomatoes today also, and that one I happily left alone. I cannot get rid of my infestation of squash bugs. They have moved onto my watermelon plants and as I now have some new starts of zucchini out there, I really want them GONE! I have tried insecticidal soap and picking them off as I see them and smashing them. I also have tried to look under all the leaves to get the little brown eggs and smash those. None of this has been working well at all. I have plans for the morning, to take a jar out there and pick off all that I can find and put them in the jar and then throw it away. I can hardly stand to touch the things. I think I will wear gardening gloves for this particular chore.

[caption id="attachment_151" align="alignnone" width="200" caption="Asparagus ferns."][/caption]

The asparagus has gone really crazy lately, making new shoots, going to seed and ferning. They seem to be doing just fine, also, without any extra shading.

[caption id="attachment_152" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Overall view of entrance to garden area."][/caption]

I love the way those new pavers look at the entrance to the garden. Landcraft did such an amazing job on them. It has made the area feel like a little secret garden. To the left of the chicken coop, although you cannot see it, is a small garden shed. We put it in a few months ago, and it has been so handy to put all the supplies in there and not have them spilling about the garden like last year. One handy thing that I read about somewhere, is to hang an inexpensive shoe organizer on the back of the door. I keep all my garden tools in it as well as drip irrigation pieces and twine, zip ties, etc. It has worked out well.

Not much is coming out of the garden right now. It is just simply too hot. I am still getting some tomatoes and that is pretty nice. It should pick up again at the end of August.

[caption id="attachment_154" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Zucchini starts under the shade fabric."][/caption]

The above picture shows the pvc hoops that the shade cloth is zip tied to. I went to my local hardware store and bought some 12 inch pieces of rebar and poked them into the ground on either side of the bed and then put the pvc pipes into them onto either side to create the hoops. Cheap and easy. In the winter, I use them also, but instead of the shade cloth, I put 4 mil plastic over them and make a kind of green house. I got the idea from Dave the Garden Guy, and it really works well.

[caption id="attachment_155" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="New planter box on back patio."][/caption]

Well, I believe that's all for now. Keep cool!

New Letter Style

This one was not chalked at all, but was left black and white, but it still looks amazing.

This is the craft we did at girls camp this year. It is a calendar holder for all those calendars the girls get from young women's that sit on the counter or fridge or get lost. It has 2 bulldog clips on the bottom to clip the calendar to and hangs by white ribbon tied in a know. We gave the girls a simple white piece of cardstock and then taught them the basics of "doodling" which they then got to do, and add color by chalking. They all turned out so different and cool!

My girls & I made little boxes and decoupaged paper on them with ribbon and then added a wooden letter to the front. It comes in handy and has been very useful.

This is a sample of the new cursive font that I recently finished. As you can see from the measuring tape, the capital letters measure about 14" tall with the lower case letters measuring between 5 to 6" tall.

So today...

I went out into the garden and was watering and looking around. I was actually pretty much just putzing around out there with the excuse of watering, and I found a watermelon (sun, moon & stars variety)  and 2 canteloupes (hearts of gold variety)! So exciting. They are, of course, still very small, and have a long way to go, but they are there. I can't wait to watch them grow! The plants have been vining all over the place and last year by this time, I had a large watermelon. It has been kind of a strange year. I am assuming that because last year was so much warmer, the plants grew a little faster than this year. I also am trying a new variety this year..."NC Giant". (I found the seed packet at the local feed store while I was picking up some hay for my daughter's horse.) It is reputed to be known for it's record weights, with a sweet taste. It has just begun vining so it will also be a while before I see anything on it.

I am expecting a delivery of planters tomorrow for my front and back porch. I have some by my front door and about a month ago, we had a very strange kind of liquid seeping from it. We couldn't quite figure out what it was and then my landscaper who owns "Landcraft" (and they are AWESOME) and has been working on my pool/barbeque area, tasted it for me. We determined that it was honey and that night, my husband discovered a hive on the second story of our home that had begun dripping honey down through the wall and onto the front porch, coming out under the pot.



You can just see it there under the eaves. We had an exterminator come out, who said that they were "africanized", as they had attacked them while they were up there, and that they had been there a while. In which case, we would probably have honey dripping off our house for a month or so. Well, they were right. However, the honey did something to the pots at my door, and now they smell like something has rotted in them. So, needless to say, I have to get something else, and that something else, is coming tomorrow. I purchased some square concrete ones and am going to just change everything out into them. I will post pictures when they are completed. The only down side to the whole thing, is that I have noticed a dramatic difference in the amount of bees out in my garden doing their little work. It's always something, isn't it?

[caption id="attachment_139" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Blanket Flower"][/caption]

So, I found this little perrenial, Blanket Flower, at the local hardware store's nursery and remembered seeing it in my aunt and uncle's yard down in Tucson. Love it! It is such a pretty color! I have it growing right now by my fountain in my front yard, and it is doing ok, surprisingly enough, in a little pot.

I have some tentative plans to clear a little space by the paver walkway that is leading into the entrance to my garden for my zinnia seeds in the early am. Early because it is so stinking hot, otherwise! And of course, it isn't summer without the zinnas. And they grow like weeds. My mom has some that are doing great and only a couple inches high so far in her front flower beds and one has even started to bloom!

So, until tomorrow...the garden awaits.

Let's talk tomatoes!

[caption id="attachment_132" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Oodles of Tomatoes!"][/caption]

It has been such a long time since my last post, but I have been so busy in the garden and canning, with everything else, that there hasn't been a lot of time left for blogging! I have canned a total of 28 quarts of tomatoes so far. My family swears they hate tomatoes, and I have to constantly remind them that they LOVE salsa and spaghetti sauce and homemade soup, all of which require tomatoes. They sure have been wonderful to eat as a salad on their own and on a sandwich. Just thinking about it makes my mouth water...

June in the garden in Arizona is HOT, but today was a wonderfully overcast day and only in the 90's. YAY! So, I did a little cleaning up and found a HUGE armenian cucumber! It was so huge I had to cut it in half to get it out from under the topiary I had them growing on. Of course, since it was about 6 inches in diameter, it was just big and pretty much hollow. So, I gave it to the chickens and they have been pecking at it all day!

Apricots are coming off like crazy right now. My in-laws have one tree that is covered. I received a bag of apricots from my sister-in-law and turned them into jam. That will be pretty tasty mixed with some honey and soy sauce and put over some pork to slow cook. Maybe I will cook that on Sunday for dinner.

Clean up in the garden today:

-pulled out the spent zucchini plants

-cleaned all the leaves out from under the eggplant

-fertilized the bell pepper plants (they needed it terribly)

-replanted cucumber (for pickles), melon & pumpkin

-harvested bush bean seeds for next year

-picked all the tomatoes off that were ripe

-harvested all the onions & few carrots that were left

-gave everything a good soak

-turned the compost pile

I can hardly wait for my new planters to arrive next week so I can put some zinnia seeds in them. It doesn't feel like summer to me without zinnias.

I am on the hunt for some comfrey seeds because my daughter wants to grow some for her horse.  I've never grown it before, but if she is interested in it, we will try it...The things we do for our kids.

Until next time, happy growing.

It's been a while...

So it's been a while since I last posted. So much has been happening in the garden. Everything is growing and getting larger and starting to set fruit. It's so funny, because every day I check the eggplant for new fruit, and have seen a few but yesterday, oh my gosh, found these ginormous eggplants that I didn't even realize were there. That's what I love about the garden. There is always something new happening. So, guess what we are having for dinner tonite? That's right. Eggplant.



[caption id="attachment_113" align="alignnone" width="480" caption="Notice the double eggplant on the left. It probably had a double bloom that was fertilized."][/caption]

Anyway, there are tons of tomatoes which is good, because soon it will be getting hot. I have been so happy with these tomatoes this year. I have several varieties, and it will be interesting to see which does the best. I just recently read an article about tomatoes and it did say that if you water them too much, they become tasteless. So, I guess there is a happy medium to watering...not too much, not too little, but just right.



The snap peas are just setting blossoms, which is just in time. The bunching onions are some that a friend of mine gave me out of her garden last year. They have done so amazing, I can't even believe it. I just chop some off the top and use them in salsa, kind of like chives, and let them keep growing. However, some of them are starting to flower and need to be used up, even though we have been eating salsa about twice a week and are starting to small like garlic. You know you've had too much, when several of your kids reek like garlic when they come to kiss you goodnight, or good bye to go to school. Not good, but delicious!



[caption id="attachment_118" align="alignnone" width="480" caption="The peas are growing like crazy!"][/caption]

And just for fun, I love this little guy. I have him set at from front door, but I think now that Easter is over, I am going to move him into the garden for a while!

[caption id="attachment_119" align="alignnone" width="480" caption="The mantra of every gardener!"][/caption]

The baby chickens are now 6 weeks old, and it is starting to stay warmer at night, so I thought I would introduce them to the other hens. Unfortunately, it has become very apparent that 2 of them are roosters, so only one will be staying, but I feel so bad for her and don't want that little hen to be alone with the bigger hens, that I have decided to leave the roosters with her until they get a little bigger. Or, at least until they start crowing, in which case, they will be out of here. But they seem to be doing ok.

[caption id="attachment_120" align="alignnone" width="480" caption="The new babies with the hens."][/caption]

On a side note, the chicken in the middle, went to chicken heaven yesterday. She had been eating all my eggs and was starting to pull feathers off one of the other chickens. It was a sad day yesterday. Very sad.

I have noticed some little birdies at the bird feeder that are very pretty. I don't know what they are, but they have red all over their head and chest. Check them out!

[caption id="attachment_125" align="alignnone" width="480" caption="The birdies have found the bird house!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_126" align="alignnone" width="480" caption="The potatoes are doing amazing."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_127" align="alignnone" width="480" caption="Zucchini are starting to flower."][/caption]

Just a side note. It looks like finally the black eyed susan vine might be finally starting to germinate and sprout. I think it has been about 2 weeks since I planted those seeds. I'm not entirely sure that that is what it is, so we shall see. According to the literature I have read, they only last for 3 years, and they you have to replant.

I so love this time of year.

The Garden Is Growing

This morning I noticed how much the tomatoes have grown. There are small to medium tomatoes everywhere and they look the best they have ever looked! I'm always on the lookout for horn worms. Haven't seen any so far. Thank heaven! Last week I did a foliar spray of fish emulsion on everything. I have noticed a little difference. I think everything definately needs it again. One of my pepper plants is nitrogen depleted. I need to do something about that today. Despite that, one of the plants has 2 peppers on it, which is wonderful. I found 2 small grasshoppers today, and relocated them to heaven, since a couple of years ago I didn't do that and learned the hard way that they LOVE cucumbers. I lost all the plants. So, needless to say, that is not going to happen again.

I did have to replant okra today as only about 50 percent of the seeds ended up germinating. I don't have real good luck with okra. I need to do some research into that. The seeds look so much like sweet pea seeds and maybe they would do better if I would soak them overnite.

Other seeds that were planted today were: lettuce, sunflower, nasturtium, pumpkin, lemon balm, black-eyed susan vine and carrot. This was done in an effort to stagger the maturity rate of the plants, or in other words, so I can have plants continuing to mature and not all at the same time. What is the word for that? My brain just can't remember it this am.

Loving the SFG method, though. I do have a few squares empty for some more of something in a few weeks.

Yesterday, my hubby and I made a day trip to Sedona, AZ to pick up some wonderful tiles from Sid Dickens, which has absolutely nothing to do with gardening. However, the store where we were purchasing these at, had some other wonderful items, which were gardening things. The store is called, Hummingbird House, and is located in what used to be the very first market store in Sedona. They have restored it and carry gardening items as well as other home decor things as well. I happened to pick up a wonderful green iron tripod garden trellis with a cute little bird on the top. I love it!

I also picked up a beautiful little mexican redbud in a 5 gallon size at the Ace Hardware on the edge of Sedona. I've been looking for one of these for several years now and excited to get it into the ground.

Sounds like I have my work cut out for me in the garden for the next week or so, especially since I noticed the weeds are enjoying the weather as much as the everything else in the garden.

[caption id="attachment_104" align="alignnone" width="480" caption="A new addition to the entrance of the garden."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_105" align="alignnone" width="480" caption="Tomatoes"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_106" align="alignnone" width="480" caption="Pepper plant"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_107" align="alignnone" width="480" caption="The iron tripod trellis from Hummingbird House."][/caption]