Dorothy's Garden May 2011

This has been a wonderful spring for a very productive garden here in Phoenix. It is now June 10th and I'm harvesting peaches, tomatoes, eggplant, garlic and onions. Still picking a handful of stringbeans almost every day, but the snow peas have been done in by the heat and sun. The new squash patch has been so productive we've had to give a lot away as well as freeze grated zucchini for future bread making. Found a delicious recipe that includes orange zest and cloves and it really makes a delicious loaf. Had a crop of about 25 artichokes this year - most we've ever had.

The fruit trees came through the frost OK as far as the peaches are concerned but we got only four apricots. The smaller citrus trees didn't fare as well with the frost, but fortunately our two older trees did very well. We enjoyed fresh oranges for several months. Planted some new citrus trees along our front driveway by trimming back the Texas Sage plants. As the trees grow the sage will be cut back more. Decided we couldn't eat the sage. Also planted an almond tree. Have a fair pomegranate crop and four apples this year. High hopes for 2012.

Tom has everything on automatic sprinklers or drip so that has made it a lot easier for me to keep everything watered. Love Mel's mix. It has served me well for three years now just by adding compost when I replant. I do give the tomatoes and some other plants extra fertilizer.

Double click on any picture, enlarge the picture and view the slide show.

Haven't had time to post to my blog for a long time. We've been enjoying the vegetables from the garden for the past couple of months (carrots, onions, chard, asparagus, snow peas, lettuce, chives, and kohlrabe). There are a lot of pictures of flowers in my garden that I hope you will also enjoy. Last falls slide show has been moved to the side. Just click on any picture to see the garden in larger pictures with captions. You might have to set the interval to a longer time. The very cold spell we had in Arizona in February was hard on my garden. Lost some plants that had carried over the winter. My very prolific ichiban eggplant and a tomato vine that had tomatoes ready to ripen. I've replanted the eggplant and tomatoes and added squash, snow peas, beans, onions, garlic, bell and hot peppers. Added cilantro this year, also. Found a tire dealer that gave me two tires, so I just planted my potato starts in them for fun. Our navel oranges were so good and sweet this year that we have added more citrus trees out in the front yard. The fig tree is loaded with the first crop of the season (which is the biggest and best compared to the fall crop). Now just have to keep the birds out of the tree as they ripen. Our apricot and plum trees did not set fruit but five out of the six peach trees are in various stages. We should have peaches from late May through July. Really did a lot of thinning of the peaches. It will be worth it as they will be larger. One apple tree is setting fruit and the pomegranate tree is loaded with blossoms. I've been more careful about trimming and fertilizing the trees this year. Plan to keep every tree under six feet tall. The artichoke plants are huge but not producing, don't know what I did wrong. Haven't tried melons this year. I keep planting root crops such as: carrots, beets and radishes, as the heat doesn't seem to bother them. May not save much money, but the fresh vegetables taste so much better fresh from the garden. Enjoy your gardens!!!

Be sure to double click on any photo to enlarge the pictures and see the captions.

Arizona summer 2010 was not a complete bust. Have added a few slideshow pictures to show what we have been enjoying. The ichiban eggplant and swiss chard are on their second year and still producing. I have started harvesting my sweet potatoes (yams? whichever) and have really been pleased with the quality and quantity. View the slide show to see the 15 inch 3 pound 13 ounce sweet potato. Been pleased with the Asian cucumbers, they are still producing about one a week.

Lost all my strawberry plants again this summer so I may not try to plant them again.

I'm planning to start planting seeds by the end of September. We've missed the fresh lettuce.

Be sure to double click on any picture to see larger view, then select full screen for a slide show..

Had a beautiful May in Phoenix. Perfect for gardening. Here are 11 pictures out of 50 or more that I took this month. My fruit orchard is doing well. Spring was the time to cut the fruit tree back by half. That was hard to do, but the results are rewarding as the trees are now putting out new growth. That new growth will be cut back by half again in the fall. We've enjoyed 6 apricots and some of the peaches. The fig tree has grown 4 figs so far (don't expect more this year). The watermelon patch that we grew on a small hill is doing great. Will pick our first melon this week (6 large ones and several more small ones are developing).

Been using my Sun Oven more this year. Today I baked a loaf of bread and have a pot of vegetable soup in the oven for dinner. So far I've baked cookies, potatoes, a whole chicken , stew and boiled some eggs. I wrapped beets in foil and put them in a covered pan and they cooked in their own steam. Lots of great recipes on the internet.

I do water everyday for 10 to 15 minutes so the soil stays moist. Also have a lot of flowers, squash and other veggies in pots that I have to watch closely. Been harvesting russet (new small ones) and red potatoes so far. The sweet potatoes aren't ready yet. I'm about ready to bag the grapes so the birds don't eat them all. Didn't try corn this year as our yard is small.

Otherwise, let's hear it for gardening in Phoenix!!!

Just wanted to share the beautiful roses that grow in and around my garden. Everythingis growing well so far, especially the potatoes. Have been enjoying sugar peas, beets, carrots, lettuce, chard, spinach and green onions. Lots of little squash are forming. No ripe tomatoes yet. Moved the March slideshow to the side bar. To view the current slideshow, double click on any picture and it will take you to Picasa.

The weather has been beautiful. Planted lettuce, carrots, spinich, bush beans , beets, sugar peas and kohlrabi by seed last month and they are all coming up. It's now too late to grow from seed so I have been planting transplants of several kinds of squash, cukes, pole beans, regular eggplant, watermelon, and some small tomato plants. Also purchased potato and rhubarb starts from Summer Winds nursery. Love color in the garden so I have planted flowers wherever I could find room. Had to plant new strawberries as I lost last years plants due to the heat. They didn't get enough water from the soaker hoses so Tom changed their watering to sprinklers. Same problem with the asparagus and potato patches so now they have sprinklers also. (The sprinkler spacing is one for every four squares)
NOTE: Double click on any photo in the slideshow and it will take you to Picasa. Then click on "slideshow" in the upper left of the screen and it will bring the photos up in full screen with captions. To get out of Picasa just select the back arrow two times.

Dorothy's garden when we returned from vacation Oct 15, 2009

Moved the "summer in Phoenix" slideshow to the side and added a new slide show as of 15 Oct 2009. Double click on any slide and it will take you to Picasa where you can see the picctures larger and read the captions..

We're back after almost six weeks of being in and out of town. The garden was on automatic watering and we came back to some things still growing. Have cleaned out the beds and have started to plant a winter garden (carrots, spanich, chard, bok choy, lettuce, onions, sugar peas, beets and radishes so far). Plan to go to the nursery and get some transplants (broccoli, maybe a tomato or two and whatever else looks good.

Picked our last watermelon last Saturday. It wieghed 15 lbs. Lots of seeds but tasty. Picked our first sweet potato (delicious) and had beets and potato for dinner on the 19th. Still have carrots and several varieties of peppers growing.

Went to the "Urban Farm" open house last Saturday, again, mainly to see how his trees that were planted last Feburary were growing and to order some more fruit trees. Ordered four different peach trees and two apple that he recommended grow well here in the valley. Peaches are so much better when picked ripe off the tree.