Current Status

Current state of the garden:

• Sunflowers - 10 in bloom in the main sunflower location  - one "Mammoth" has a central disk about 8" across; however, most have central disks closer to 5 and 6 inches.  Both of the ones in Raised Bed 2 are blooming, as are two of the volunteers (from bird seed) near the nectarine tree.  About 10 more main buds.  Good soil, good water means that many of them look like they will have smaller "side buds" that will bloom later one.  Need to protect the ripening heads from birds and other creatures.
• Corn - first set is beginning to tassel.  Second set is growing strong, as well as the bush beans planted in between them.  The sunflowers planted between them, of course, have been devoured by some wildling.  I am thinking of planting more corn next weekend - a losing bet to get ripening ears of corn out of them; however, I am sure the chickens will enjoy tearing it up at the end of the season when they are let loose in the garden to eat and till things under.
• Bush beans - in full swing.  They will probably be done with their crop in a few weeks.  Then time to till them under.
• Dow Gawk (Asparagus or Yard Long Beans) - the ones in the corn are starting to flower; the new ones planted against the fence along the South are barely surviving.  The ones by the dead apple tree keep getting eaten up.
• Blackeye Peas and Purple Hull Peas - are both beginning to bloom and set tiny bean pods.  The blooms are lavender and turn brownish after pollination. A few more weeks and we will have "shelly peas."  One nice thing about them is that they hold the bean pods high above the plant, so they are easy to see.
• Cukes - They are producing the first of their flowers and fruits; however, I think the heat and water stress are causing them to ripen small and fast.  The 3 inch ones I plucked today were prickly and bitter.  But the chickens like 'em!
• Blue Bedder Salvia (Ornamental Sage) - Has so far survived critter depredations and has its first buds.  It is a perennial, so maybe I will get lucky and see them again next year.  I have 3 small plants that have survived so far.
• CA Poppies - 3 plants are barely surviving, and one is actually thriving and blooming.  One bloom is done, one is open, and 3 more will be ready later this week.  The plant is small, and the blooms are small, but perhaps next year's seed will sprout sooner and be stronger by this time of year.
• Morning Glories - in all locations, MGs and Moon Flowers are suffering from being too tasty.  They are prolific and vigorous, so the plants aren't dead, yet - but they don't actually get a chance to thrive.  A casualty of laziness and a disinclination to use synthetic chemicals.  I heard about a fermented solution of garlic and hot peppers that is supposed to keep critters away.  I might try some next year.
• Raspberry - lives and looks healthy - but not flower buds yet, so no fruit.  But it lives, so that is a grand improvement over its several predecessors.
• Strawberries - The runners from three hen-pecked plants have re-filled bed two, and I have foolish hopes that next year I will have strawberries to eat.
• Silver Thyme - done blooming, and now going to seed.
• Rosemary - finished blooming a while ago, but still sending up new shoots.  This is the longest into Summer that it has ever done so.  I wonder if it is because of our relatively cool weather, or if it is just because it is big and old enough to do so now, or some combination thereof.
• Oregano - some that I let go to flower looks lovely; the rest looks tired.  Much of it is getting woody.  I think it may be time to give it a sharp trimming so it will grow mostly on tender new stems next year.
• Melissa (Lemon Balm) - Looks sad and brown around the edges as it always does this time of year.
• Day Lilly - the one in sun has bloomed several times this season; the other two, not.  I should move the other two now so that they have time to become established before winter.  I am actually quite surprised that they came back this year - they were looking quite poorly at the end of last season.
• Desert Mallow - my original weed in Raised Bed One from several years ago is in great decline.  I think she is done.  The good news is, I sprinkled seed in Raised Bed Three last year, and one of her progeny has taken root there and is looking quite vigorous.  Perhaps at the end of this season, it will be time to rip out the original plant.
• Unknown summer squashes - probably yellow straight neck, yellow crook neck, a patty-pan and some more zukes.  Laziness means that I will be surprised when they produce.  They should be ready to bloom in about 4 more weeks - in time to get some good squash before frost.  They are, of course, planted too close together.  I cannot seem to bring myself to either plant further apart or to thin.

Ducky enjoying the kiddie wading pool.  They really are waterproof.

Late Start In the Garden

Due to the last killing frost and last snow being at the beginning of June, it took a while for the garden to get into full swing this year.  This means that getting a corn, pumpkin or winter squash crop will be a gamble this year.  But heck, growing a garden of any sort here in the high desert is a gamble.

Either a Zuke or a Yellow Squash - of course, I am not organized enough to label them.  Good thing I like surprises.

Veggies currently in the ground:

• Black Beauty Zucchini
• Yellow Crook Neck Squash
• Yellow Straight Neck Squash
• Acorn (Winter) Squash
• A small, short season (90 day) pumpkin that I can't recall the name of
• 3 sad Alaskan Fancy determinate tomato plants
• 40 stalks of Golden Bantam Cross (F1) Corn
• Sweet Dumpling (Winter) Squash
• Lemon Cukes
• Market More 76 Cukes
• 6 sad little Okra plants that don't like our cold nights (still in the 50*F at night)
• A few garlic that really should be pulled by now
• Blue bush green beans (turn green when cooked - or when the temps top 100) - French Velour and True Blue
• Yellow "Pencil Pod" wax bush beans
• Dow Gawk "Yard Long" pole beans
• Kentucky Wonder pole beans
• Blackeye Peas - both purple hull and California No. 5
• Last of the snap pea vines (to be fed to the chickens and ducks this weekend)

Bush beans are beginning to bloom, so probably two weeks before we start eating them.  I'm not sure how blue the blue beans will be - the flowers are decidedly purple.   Planting more bush beans every week as they ripen their crop over a short time period (as opposed to pole beans that will bear until frost kills them).  Also, beans will fix nitrogen into my sand.  Since they are cheap seeds to buy, I am using beans like a cover crop.

Speaking of cover crops, I found some old clover seed, and it is making a fair stand under the apple trees.

As for veggies, the rest of them will probably start being ready for harvest whenever I'm on  my next business trip. It's just the way of the world.  A new sprinkler and battery-operated timer setup should at least help insure that the plants will live.  

Random Autumn Flashbacks From My Garden Journal

No, not from my garden - I took this picture in the Tennessee Smoky Mountains. The edge of the field was filled with two dozen or so of these butterflies flitting from place to place. They did not sit still long, being much preoccupied with eating! Out of 100 photos taken over the course of an hour, I think I got 4 that are pretty good. This is probably the best photo I've ever taken.

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Some old journal entries - in order by day of the month. My current comments in [brackets]. Spelling is as written in my journal - no spell check when writing with a pen!

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2007-09-30 7:03 a.m. Well, I guess one cannot argue with 25*F - That is a killing frost with no ambiguity. The sun is up - I am not looking forward to seeing the damage.

On the up side, this will mean that I can procrastinate no further on ripping out marginal items and planting out garlic.

Soaked peas last night - 150 are ready to go. I guess I shall find out if they can germinate this cold. [No, they didn't]

Trees have been full of rich, green leaves - will the frost signal them to change color? So far, just a very few yellow leaves on the apple tree and only 2 orange ones on the nectarine.

Days will hopefully warm up. no wind, but cold right now. I should go do something useful in the garden or yard.

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2006-10-01 Bought a wireless indoor/outdoor thermometer last week - need to set it up and start checking highs and lows [presumably to help predict frost].

Funny how much you can get done when you are motivated - D. got a job offer for a job in Iraq, so this weekend we got

• 5 posts for enclosing my garden up
• concreted the edges of the dogs' pen (one more side to go, but I can do that side)

Things to do

• Move the 1/2 barrels to the garden area and use for garlic - make drainage holes [There's a notation that this did not get done.]
• Plant plant gifts from James W. of Dave's Garden [www.DavesGarden.com]
• Top dress bulbs with low nitrogen fert. (bonemeal)
• Look at the weather report (definately fall, but no hard frosts yet)

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2005-10-05 The sweet gums [trees] are looking decidedly perky this morning. I was concerned that yesterday's dry winds would have been hard on them, but I guess the cooler temps and deep watering helped them. Of course, I took pictures yesterday. Need to add them to my [photo] database. 2006-10-05

• Watered back yard & fruit trees
• Watered most east sweet gum [presumably the sweet gum tree to the East of the group]
• Watered front poplars (south)
• Irises from Dave's Garden arrived today - about 20 lbs worth
• 1300 bulbs to go into the ground

All this and David leaves for South Carolina in less than two weeks and then on to Iraq 4 weeks or so later. So much to do. So little time left to be together. A year apart - with the chance of it being permanent. So I plant and plant and grow babies to fill the emptiness.

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2007-10-06 21:00 ish After a good nap...This year was the first year in a long, long time that I had a real garden. I am totally so very blessed. To be able to come home from work and eat a few cherry toms from the garden, water the trees, take photos of a sunflower, spy on a lizard. What a joy. To have hopes and dreams. To feel, smell, taste the cycle of life. Delicate yellow tomato flowers, lush green growth, baby tomes smaller than a finger nail, sweet yellow fruit bursting in your mouth, frost blackened leaves and deep roots chopped for the compost pile...seeds for next year. The dance of rain and cloud and wind and sun. Birds, lizzards, tiny spiders, giant grasshoppers - if you build it, they will come. Butterflies, catterpillars and ants. If you grow it, they will come. Solitary bees, irridescent wasps, tiny flies. If it blooms, they will come. There is not lack of life in the desert, although conditions are harsh and existance is tenuous. If you provide an oasis, it will be recognized far and wide, and the denizines of the high desert, they will come. I have no idea where they hail from, but across sand and arid winds, they find this tiny island of green and in droves, they come. If 3 4[foot] x 8 [foot] beds - not even 100 sq ft out of 180,000 sq ft of our land - brought such diversity to our land, what might I expect with a garden twice as large [as those three beds]? And if I add more flowers, will that increase the draw? If I spied a dozen wasps and one hawk moth at one of 7 sunflowers, who and how many will visit if I grow 20 sunflowers, 50, 100 or more? If I grow a veritable forest of sunflowers, what will happen to the insect population? And will lizzards take up household there to dine on some of them [I can say that yes, the lizards are in the garden to stay]

September Garden Status

The last sunflower is blooming, along with oregano, sweet marjoram, yellow squash and desert mallow.
 

Well, some days I actually feel like I had a real garden this year with an actual harvest.  A review of some of the crops:

• Birds and everything else will pluck out newly sprouted sunflower seeds and peas - must rig up some protection for them. At least a dozen sunflower sprouts and 100 pea sprouts were donated to the local wildlife.
• Garlic beds dug up a month or more in advance worked out very well - nice, soft, easy to plant beds. Ones not made up early are not nearly as easy to plant out. Now I am looking at planting some directly in unprepared beds, and that will be even worse, probably inhibiting good bulbing up in the spring.
• Sunflower seed heads need to be well protected or the wildlings will eat them all - even before they are mature. Chickies got very few this year, and there are none for the wild things for the winter. Sunflower leaves,however, made excellent chicken greens all summer long. And after the sunflower seeds had been consumed by the wild things, I pulled the stalks out and the chickens had a riotous good time eating up the leaves and pecking at the seed head itself.
• Collards grew very well under the shade of the large, yellow squash leaves. Next year, need to grow more. The chickies really like collards, and I added some to our salads.
• Spinach was a great success. I only half-hearted saved seeds. Some of the ones I saved did sprout when planted in the fall, but I don't know if Matador is open pollinated, so I didn't really work at it. Chickies and Granddaughter indulged in much spring spinach.
• No matter how many edible pod peas that I grow, there is never enough! I like to eat them right off the vine. The chickies like the peas, the pods (from ones that have grown too old to eat more than the peas themselves), and the leaves.
• Peas sown in September will probably not ripen before the first hard frost - still, at least they will make some nice greens for the chickens.
• Bi-colored corn was stunted as usual, but flood watering them produced a significantly higher number of ears of corn this year. Pollination was spotty, so most ears were missing kernels here and there - not pretty, but still very sweet and yummy. I ate several raw, right off the stalk - and happy chickies got to peck at the resulting cob. The bright red stalks and leaves of this variety is beautiful - need to look up what type I planted so that I can order that type of seed again.
• Yellow squash was a great success in bed no. 3. The ones in the ground, however, were eaten the moment they sprung forth from the earth.
• My garden blessed me with any wild things in the garden this year. I saw my first and only humming bird while sitting quietly in the garden before work one summer day. Lizards lapped water from the herbs in bed no. 1 all through the summer. Pigeons nested in the chicken coop (although Old Biddy kept destroying their nests, so they did not raise a brood). Chipmunks and mice raided the garden from time to time, and red tailed hawks (or so I believe them to be), soared overhead. Rabbits, luckily, are well-fenced out!

Well, I am sure there is more, but if I am ever to get this posted, I shall have to stop for the moment.

Chickies and Hungry Jack (the rooster) enjoying sunflower stalks for a late afternoon snack.

Autumn is here

It's the beginning of August and although the daytime temperatures are still in the mid- to high- 90's (*F), the nights are dipping into the 50's and low 60's - signifying the beginning of autumn. 

Sunflowers are in full bloom - ones blooming at the beginning of July still holding their petals, but showing signs that the heads are now filling with seed.  4 or 5 buds are still tracking the sun across the sky, but most have now made a commitment to point east in preparation for unfolding their petals.  4 young seedlings, barely 3 inches tall, battle time and the elements - will they bloom before the end of the season?

Collards have germinated in bed number 3.  They are limping along in the heat, but they will grow through light frosts, so hopefully they will begin to flourish as the days cool.

Okra in the ground has been plucked, presumably by the birds.  Three survive in bed number three, however.  They are supposed to only take 60 days or less to harvest.  They are all still small - stunted, I am guessing, by the harsh desert sun and wind.  But if we are lucky, there are still 40 - 60 more frost free days and I may hope to at least see them bloom.

Three delicata squash on the original vine - and the vine is just now starting to take off, with leaf and flower buds soaking up the sun. 

The unknown squash in bed three has female buds that show them to be yellow crook neck.  They haven't been fertilized yet, so I can't say that we will get a harvest - but the ants are working hard, crawling all over them and spreading yellow-orange pollen all around.  Yellow squash planted in the ground barely survives.

I ordered garlic for this fall's planting.  This year's planting includes 2 lbs of German Red and 5 lbs of Siberian - both hard necks that enjoy a cold winter.  I also ordered 1 lb of the softneck, Inchelium Red.  That should yield close to 70 hardnecks and a similar number of softnecks - although the softnecks might not survive if we have as brutal a winter as last year.  Normally I order from The Garlic Store, but they indicate they will not be shipping until October. As it looks like winter will be arriving early this year, I ordered from a place that will ship in mid-August: 2 Sister's Garlic. They did not have the top sized Siberian, but the medium sized will have more cloves per pound, so it may be that my harvest is actually bigger that way.

Speaking of garlic, the composted chicken poo is just about ready to dig into the sand. It will sit a few weeks, and then it should be ready for planting out the garlic. I still haven't decided exactly where to plant, but I better figure it out soon.

Planted out crook neck squash seeds that got rained on - placed them among the corn. One has germinated so far. I also placed some in bed number two, but I haven't seen any there, yet.

Busy week in the garden. Wish I had more time to hang out there. Work and school have taken their toll on my free time.

Is it Spring yet? And selling eggs...

This photo was taken in mid-April in California. So at least 6 months before anything green even thinks of poking its head up out of the sand here in Nevada.

There are some advantages to winter, though. First off, it isn't so doggoned hot. Of course, that probably means it is freezing cold. We do get a few weeks where it is actually nice, though. Maybe one in April, maybe a few in May, a few in September. If we're lucky, a few in October.

Another advantage of winter is that the winds die down, meaning there is less dust in the air. On a cold, clear November night, you can see stars beyond imagination. Those of you who live your lives in the city miss one of the joys of rural life - turning off all the lights and sitting on the porch with a good dog at your feet and counting stars. In November, there are no blood-thirsty bugs to feast on you at night. I think even if you were a hard-core atheist, at a moment like that, you would be tempted to Believe.

Peas were planted two days before the sub-20°F night. So far, none have peaked up from the ground. Perhaps I was too late in planting them? I was hoping for pea vines for the chickies to munch on in winter, even if we didn't get any peas.

Garlic is here and ready to plant out. My living room smells so yummy with the bulbs waiting for me there - waiting for me to

• get off my duff
  
• build them a cage to protect them from marauding chickens
  
• put them in the ground

The basil, of course, died with the first 30°F night, but the oregano keeps on as well as the sweet marjoram. Surprisingly, the rosemary also still survives. The tips are a little frost-killed, but I think if I mulch it well, perhaps it will come back in the Spring. Gardeners, I am sure, are eternal optimists. Even after we are dead and buried, there is always Next Spring.

About selling chicken eggs...


Of course, one must count one's eggs before the chickens actually start laying. It's the way it is done! So even though no one is laying yet... with 25 hens, and 2 of 3 laying an egg every day, we could have 18-20 eggs or so during peak season. That could mean that I have 10 dozen eggs a week to sell at the farmer's market. Enough to beak even in cost of driving expenses and almost a weeks worth of chicken feed. An added bonus is that my granddaughter lives in the same town as the little farmer's market that I would attend. So it would just be another excuse to see her every week. Any eggs that didn't sell I could give to my daughter.

But to really make it worth it from a dollar perspective, I think I would need 100 hens... but that is starting to sound like work. I have to remember, the chickens are for therapy and entertainment, not work! ...and maybe I can sell some garlic, too...

With the idea that I might have a very small egg business, here are some resources I have found...on the other hand, I have not been able to find anything useful on the laws that I need to comply with...

• Nevada Grown (http://nevadagrown.com/UserPages/default.aspx)- as they say on their website, "your resource for Nevada’s rich selection of locally-grown food."
  
• Fallon's Farmer's Market (http://www.fallontourism.com/index/farmers_market.htm) - small town, homey, little tiny farmer's market - I love it!
  
• Local Food Northern Nevada (http://lfnn.blogspot.com/) - a local blogger on local foods and where to find them in the Reno/Sparks metroplex (hey, for Northern Nevada, it is a "metroplex"...)
  

General Status

Work progresses on the chicken coop. Here DSR is screwing down the plywood that will be the underlayment for the roof. It's so nice to have the chickens out of the laundry room on a permanent bases, now.
Of course, major work on the coop means that the chickens spent all day hanging out in the tattered remains of the garden. The corn patch, of course, is still a favorite. But the chickies have also discovered that sunflower leaves also make delectable eating greens. One of the brown Easter Eggers caught a small lizard and made off like the winner of The Grand Prize. She ate it down in one bite. Of course, I didn't have my camera handy, but it sure was funny to watch.
This Yellow Pear did not fare as well as the last one, so it was tossed to a lucky chicken this afternoon. At least I got to eat the other one myself. I suspect that the green tomatoes on the vine now will not make it to ripening as the nights will soon become too cold. First hard frost should be coming 'round soon.
Harvested another Eight Ball zuke this afternoon. Procrastination meant that it is quite a bit bigger than the last one. Still, should be good for stuffing. There are 4 more that are now growing bigger - indicating that they were successfully pollinated. This is a photo of a female flower - you can see the baby fruit at her base. If pollinated, it will darken and start to increase in size. If not, it will yellow and wither. Since I hand pollinated this one, it will hopefully grow and get eaten in a few days.

Some lessons learned this year

• What chickens don't eat, they will trample to death
  
• Watering and covering the compost pile really speeds up decomposition
  
• Eight Ball zukes are cute, but Black Beauty (a "regular zuke") is much more productive for the space and water
  
• Tomatoes continue to be a challenge to get to fruit - lots of lovely bush, lots of cute little yellow flowers, but not much pollination
  
• The wild birds and other critters have learned about sunflowers - need to "bag" the heads well before seed formation now
  
• Need to plant a lot more sunflowers if we are going to supplement the chickens' diet with seeds and leaves
  
• Young zucchini leaves are relished by young chickens, even if they are prickly
  
• I will need to make a chicken wire "cage" for the garlic prior to planting it in the ground
  
• Only going to plant two types of garlic this year - Georgia Crystal and Siberian. Besides the distinct color differerence of the bulb wrappers, I'm going to plant only one type to a bed. This will help with identification when it comes time to harvest. The smaller cloves I will plant together so I can let the scapes mature - the chickens loved the tiny bulbils and garlic is supposed to be good to help clean out their systems.
  
• I still cannot keep up with pinching back basil flowers when the heat of summer gets here.
  
• Lemon balm and oregano should be harvested early in the spring before the summer heat makes them bloom.
  
• Rosemary needs full sun - even in the desert. When the basils start shading it, then it slows down in growth. When I pinch back the basils, the rosemary starts growing vigorously again.
  
• Strawberries will take over, given lots of food, water and desert sun.
  
• Do not procrastinate in taking photos of flowers in the spring - today might be a perfect day, but tomorrow a hard frost could destroy all the blooms and buds.
  
• Baby chickens are all consuming
  
• The trees need lots of watering in the summer - once a week for the young ones is not enough
  

Garden Update

What chickens don't eat, they will trample or tear up just for fun. So, between hail in June and ever growing chicken feet and beaks, not many of the dozen tomato plants have survived. I am convinced, however, that nothing short of pulling the plant out will kill Yellow Pear. This hardy soul only has one tomato on it right now, but it is turning that lovely yellow color, and if I get to it before the chickens, I could have a sweet bit of tomato heaven in the next day or two.

Male flower buds on the Eight Ball Zucchini plant. The one that is coloring up is ready to use for pollination. I rarely wait until they are actually open these days.
This is a Mexico Midget tomato. The seed is several years old and I was surprised it was so viable. I set out several, but this plant is the lone survivor of this type. There are a few thumbnail sized green tomatoes on it. Unlike Yellow Pear, it does not seem to set fruit when the temps are in the mid to high 90s.

I know, I know, I'm not supposed to let basil flower. Still, I had some basil in my (still store-bought) eggs this morning along with some of the rosemary that you can almost see in this photo. Also added a pinch of fresh oregano. Yum!

I could almost pretend it's a farm

Apple trees and corn and the happy chirping of young pullets - one could almost say we are farming. Of course, real farmers would probably laugh at me (hopefully a kind chuckle with warm eyes). Here is my short, "77 day" corn - it's beginning to bloom, but at the rate the chickies are picking at them, they may not survive long enough to ripen any actual corn. Still, the entertainment value of watching the chickens hide in them plus the entertainment value to the chickens themselves, has already made the 5 ft x 6 ft plot of 4 ft high corn well worth it. Epsecially considering that it only cost me $2 in seed and 5 minutes a day to deep water.
The "Princess" chicken, hiding in the corn. She's somewhat out of focus because she's one who doesn't stay still very much. The other day, she rode into the house on my head. I now have a goodly scratch on my scalp from her claws.
A Silver Laced Wyandotte girl sitting on a bag of store bought compost. Hopefully, this will be the last year I'll be buying compost - the girls are making quite a bit of the good stuff for me now. In fact, I turned the compost the other day, and the stuff on the bottom is getting brown and almost dirt-looking. Looking forward to combining it into the sand where next year's beds will be.

This is "Kick-start," our little lame Ameracauna, digging around in the compost pile. I had taken the black plastic cover off of it to water and turn the pile and she jumped in and went bug-hunting.

I'm getting better at catching the chickens in flight. Or, at least, sort of in flight.

Sunflowers were a great success this year. Nearly all that I planted germinated and are now in various stages from budding to being nearly ready to harvest. The ones planted when the day temperatures were in the 40's seem to have grown the best, but all suffered because they were planted, essentially, in sand. The one that was planted in good dirt was much healthier and grew a bigger flower head than all the others, of course.

Garden photos (what, no chicky pictures today?)

A garlic "blossom" - really, they are little, tiny bulbs, but it looks like a flower. I'm glad I let one mature it's scapes. Very pretty. The big bulbs of this one are also purple hued.

The first tomato! Still smaller than my pinky fingernail, but a tomato it is! Only the cherry toms will set fruit when the temps hang out over 90*F.

It isn't a very clear photo, but I caught a bee filling up with pollen at one of the sunflowers along the northern border of the garden.

Here's a close-up from the photo - you can see she is not in focus, but I like the photo anyway.
Same bee, but got her walking on the sunflower this time. Look at her hind leg, stuffed with pollen. (Looks like a large, yellow blob slightly above the wing on the left (her right).)
Something laid her eggs on this tomato plant a few days ago. Yesterday they were a jade green color, but it was too windy to take photos. Today they look clear. Could their inhabitants have hatched? They are about the size of a "seed bead."
Corn is growing like a weed. It got a light dose of fresh chicken bedding, and seems to be thriving from it. Too much fresh chicky-poo tends to burn the roots of plants, but I think the corn likes it. The corn is about 18 inches tall in this photo. I still can't believe we may have corn in another month. It is growing several inches a day, however, so I'm beginning to believe...
Eight Ball zucchini baby in bed 3. Got 100 percent germination out of the seed, but the heat conspired to kill several, so now I only have 3 plants - which, since they are zukes, could be a blessing!
Genovese basil front and center, and a little Lettuce Leaf basil to the right. Smells delightful when watering the garden by moonlight.
Dark Opal basil - yes, I know I'm not supposed to let it bloom, but it's just so pretty, that each year I end up letting it go. As a result, of course, the plants aren't as bushy - sending it's energy into flower production instead of producing leaves.
Rosemary, smells so divine. I have yet to find a trailing kind like they have at the Corporate Offices where I often travel to for work. And, I've never been successful getting one to live through the winter - but it's still worth the few dollars I spend to buy a new one each year.

Beans did not survive the heat and the drying winds.

Transplanted bearded irises starting to put on some real growth. Maybe they really will bloom next year.
Ok, couldn't help myself. This is the chicky that my granddaughter has decreed is "The Princes Chicken." We have no idea what type she might be. She isn't anything we ordered - but she's cute and has attitude, so we like her. I wonder if she will lay white eggs?

A Tale of Two Babies

Developmentally, the chicks are way ahead of my granddaughter, but by noise level and kinetic energy, I'd have to say they are about the same. The chickies being much less exhausting than following around a toddler!

• While my granddaughter enjoys eating fresh picked tomatoes, she doesn't go completely crazy like the chicks do when presented with a few handfulls of chopped up tomato leftovers.
  
• Both child and chicks would probably be perfectly happy bedding down in fresh pine shavings or fresh straw
  
• Chickies and child enjoy digging in the dirt and chasing bugs
  
• Neither like loud, sudden noises
  

Roof trusses are starting to go up on the hen house. I swear, the chickens are going to have a palatial coop. It's actually bigger than DSr & my bedroom! Built to withstand 70 MPH winds, insulated against 110*F Summer Days and 10*F Winter Nights... he's also using it as practice for someday building our own house, so it is built "pretty close to code." For a chicken coop. The chickens are definitely not a money making or money saving venture at this point! I've been keeping a photographic record. Someday I'll post them here.

General Garden Status

• I am going on a weeks business trip in a while, and I am very concerned that much of the garden won't make it as the trip will probably coinside with record heat temps...
  
• Transplanted bearded irises appear to be surviving. The ones that I cut back to 8 inch fans have new growth, but it's more difficult to tell with the ones I did not trim.
  
• Basils just starting to take off. One of the Dark Opal Purple Basils seems to have escaped death and I am letting the other one bloom as it is so pretty. The sweet basils and large leafed basils, however, will not be allowed to bloom as I certainly want those for eating.
  
• Sweet Marjoram is blooming - I know, I know - I'm not supposed to let that bloom either!
  
• Lemon balm has much smaller leaves now that it is getting more sun. And it is spreading. Removing bearded iris competition and shade, however, seems to have removed the environment that the bugs-who-love-lemon-balm enjoy - so now the leaves are no longer bug-bitten.
  
• First tomato is forming on my little indestructible Red Pear tomato plant (the one that has survived hail and 25*F nights!)
  
• Two sunflowers are blooming. You sure can tell the difference in the ones planted in decent soil and the ones planted in basically pure sand. The difference in the amount of work, however, is worth it. The sand babies are still beautiful. I did forget, however, that all sunflowers face East when blooming, so some of the flowers are going to face into the chicken coop and not towards the garden. Oh well, they are still bright yellow and lovely!
  
• Summer squash in Bed 3 are up, and one struggling one near my indestructible Red Pear tomato - but none of the winte squash or pumpkin seems to have emerged yet. I think the summer squash is Eight Ball Zucchini, but due to haphazard record keeping, I won't be able to tell until they actually fruit.
  
• Corn is off and running. Some of the larger plants have produced side shoots. I've heard both that you should leave them on and that you should cut them off. Being a fan of Lazy Gardening, I'm leaving them on...
  
• Chicky-poo pine shavings seem to be making good mulch. I'm keeping it at least 6 inches away from the drip line of most items so as not to have a nitrogen "burn", and that seems to be working. The corn got a light scattering of it right in the rows and they seem happier for it. At this point, since the chickies (and their chicky-poo) are living in my laundry room most of the time, the bedding gets changed pretty regularly - so I'm thinking the ratio of chicky-poo to pine shavings is rather small. There is no nitrogen in our sand for decomposing pine shavings to rob; if they are going to decompose, I'm sure it will be from using chicky-poo nitrogen.
  
• I am covetting a set of real compost bins, but at the moment, my 4 ft tall pile of weeds keeps shrinking down as I add to the top and water. I water the compost pile with dirty chicken water and the water I use to clean out their water and feed bowls. I noticed a definate improvement when I started watering the compost pile. Must be a Desert Thing - never have had to water compost before!
  

Garden Update

Desert Mallow buds and bloom at night. I think I've remarked before that they are pretty stinky - but the pollinators love them, so I won't complain.
A mess of peas and some garlic. Steamed the peas and ate them. Cut some pea vines for the chickies to peck at. It doesn't look like the actually ate any of it, but it did amuse them for some time.
This tom is a survivor of 3 hail storms and 25 degree weather. These are the first buds. I know I should pinch them off for a healthier plant, but I'm not going to.
Corn, lovely corn. 60 little stems of corn are poking through the dirt. Apparently the birds out here don't know about eating corn seedlings? Shhhh, we'll keep it a secret!

• First set of Kentucky Wonder pole beans are well up
  
• Yellow Pencil Pods are doing much better than the Royal Purple bush beans, but I wonder how much that has to do with seed viability? The Royal Purple seeds were several years old.
  
• Dow gawk beans not germinated yet. It's still early. Hopefully they wil be up soon.
  
• Toms that were planted out a few weeks ago all nice and dark green and ready to take off growing like crazy any moment now.
  
• Still eating a few tiny strawberries every day
  
• Deep watered the fruit trees earlier this week
  
• Still no sign of Eight Ball (round) zucchini seedlings.
  
• Have been moving bearded irises out of veg bed 1 and out into the sand. Not amending the sand too much, although I did add some slow release fertilizer to it. They may not bloom next year, but I am hoping that I transplanted them early enough in the season that they will be well established by next spring.
  

Slowly, very slowly, I am turning the sand in my 50x70 little oasis into dirt. Of course, the three raised beds still have the best dirt/sand mix, but the bean patch and corn patch are doing well. As I compost more weeds and more chicken bedding and chicken poo, we should be able to actually "grow dirt." Also trying to plant lots of legumes, too, these first few years. I can see improvements over last year and the year before already.

June, June, June!

Lots of activity in the last few weeks. And more, much more to come! Can't believe we are already in the middle of June.

• Peas
  
  
  
  • Been eating peas from bed 2 for several weeks
    
  • Peas in bed 1 and around the tree are starting to flower
    
  
  
• Strawberries
  
  
  
  • Eating one or two sweet strawberries a day starting this week
    
  • Picked 18 yummy little strawberries today (they are mostly just a little bigger than my thumb nail, but oooh, sooo sweet!)
    
  • Runners are running everywhere - may never have to buy new plants again!
    
  • Some plants have leaves nearly as big as my hand
    
  
  
• Bearded Irises
  
  
  
  • The Irises are officially done blooming
    
  • Have moved 9 out of bed 1 and planted around the garden - they may not bloom next year, but probably the following year they will be fabulous.
    
  
  
• Beans
  
  
  
  • Over 80 Yellow Pencil Pod Bush Beans are up
    
  • About 50 Royal Burgundy Bush Beans are up
    
  • A few Kentucky Wonder Pole Beans are starting to come up
    
  • Sowed about a dozen more Kentucky Wonder Pole Beans today
    
  • Sowed two dozen Dow Gawk "Yard Long" Beans (90 days to maturaty - I'm surely pushing the season)
    
  
  
• Other Stuff
  
  
  
  • Sowed some "Eight Ball" round zucchini today
    
  • Harvested some garlic that did poorly over the winter - bulbs are mature, but small
    
  • Really need to plant out all those things that take 90 days or more to mature
    
  • 8 Heavenly Blue Morning Glories are up
    
  • Zero Moon Flowers have germinated
    
  • Corn due to germinate late next week
    
  
  

First Day of June

Here's a photo of one of last year's "Iris Bed Designers" who rearranged them last summer. I know he is admiring his handywork!




Hail damaged sweet basil...

First Royal Purple bush bean seedling for the season. There are a few more that were snipped off, so I am thinking something ate them. I may have to lightly cover that area with some pulled weeds so the seedlings are not as visible.

Some of the sunflowers are now a foot tall. Others planted later or in less ideal locations are not as tall or robust but seem to be doing ok, too. Not sure why some sunflowers haven't germinated at all. The weeds, of course, continue to flourish!

We are definately behind last year in planting things out. The long, cold spring did not inspire one to set plants out too early this year. The tomato planted a month ahead of everyone else does not appear to be appreciably further along than the ones I planted out last week. Of course, the peas loved the spring this year.

One of the nice things about having a large garden as opposed to a small farm is that it only takes 15 minutes to plant out a bed of beans and there are no tractor requirements. And only 15 minutes to plant out 3 tomato babies.

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Done so far today

• Planted a whole pack of Pensil Pod Yellow Bush Beans - about 120 seeds
  
• Planted a Red Pear tomato and a Sweet Baby Girl tomato plant in raised bed 3 (where the garlic is ripening)
  
• Planted a Yellow Pear tomato to the east of the Rescue Apple tree
  
• Dead-headed spent iris blooms
  
• Watered everything
  
• Pulled a 5 gal bucket of weeds and added to the top of the compost pile
  
• Took pictures
  

Can't wait!

The summer harvesting season is almost upon us. I have been eating one or two peas here and there for the last few weeks, but now the pease are blooming in earnest and hopefully we'll have enough for some stir fry soon - assuming I don't eat them all while watering the garden or pulling weeds!

Came home from business travel to find the first of the strawberries blushing red. I was wondering when to get my bird netting... I think the answer is now!

Here's a little view of the south side of the garden looking East.

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Happenings

• 32 sunflowers growing so far
  
• 4 Royal Purple bush beans breaking ground
  
• Peas blooming - continuing to eat a few here and there
  
• First strawberries ripening up
  
• Bearded Irises still blooming like crazy
  
• Tomatoes have survived hail and transplanting
  
• Garlic scapes doing their thing
  
• Harvested some lemon balm to freshen up my garbage disposal
  
• Oregano going crazy
  
• Basils outside looking good (hopefully they'll go crazy once the warm weather gets here)