04/21/2011
12/01/2010
First Freeze in my garden
We had our first frost a couple of days ago and my eggplant and okra plants are pretty much finished.
I harvested a few eggplants and need to harvest more. I'm not sure if you can freeze eggplant, so I'm not sure what I will do with them all.
Remember how I wanted a Kumquat Tree for my birthday?? Well, by daughters came through :-)
You can eat the rind and the flesh. They taste like a cross between a orange and a lemon. This is pretty much the best birthday present I received :-)
The seeds in my hexagonal planter are coming up nicely
And my herbs are thriving nicely
I'll be on the chicken coop tour this coming Saturday, so if you are local, come on by
Ticket info here
Newspaper article featuring my coop here
See ya soon!
Michelle
11/03/2010
Garden Update
Phew! I've been working hard.
Remember the hexagon shaped planter that I built? Well, I dug all of the evil bermuda grass out of the center of it, stapled weed cloth to the sides and bottom (to keep evil bermuda OUT), and filled with $110 worth of soil (yikes!) I told my husband that the next time I start building a large planter, feel free to ask me where am I going to get the soil to fill it.
He said no way, I don't want you to bite my head off LOL!! Probably true :-)
This morning I planted my seeds in my new planter
I've also been working on my pool area.
I took down the ugly pool fence and put in this picket fence and a couple of archways last year. I also painted the gray block walls a pretty blue which really seemed to brighten the area up.
The pool deck is surrounded by rocks. Sharp, dirty, ugly rocks. I don't like them. When we bought this house 9 years ago, the yard, front and back, was rock and bermuda grass. YUCK! I've been removing the rock and bermuda ever since. Removing the rock from this pool area is on my list of must do's right now.
It is a LARGE job and will take some time, but you have to start somewhere. So I started at the back and left of the pool this last week. To the right of the archway, you can see the darker soil which is my compost.
Yep it is just a little area, but like I said, you have to start somewhere.
I planted a pink trumpet vine next to the archway. I think it will be beautiful when it grows tall and vines over. I also planted 3 lavender lantana's which will fill the space in nicely in a few months. I felt like I needed a splash of red, so in went this autumn sage. All plants will be watered through a drip line which I'm still adding extensions to.
To the right of the compost is a pot that I am going to plant seasonal flowers in. It is also there to remind me that there are a couple of water pipes underneath. I found this out the hard way while digging this last Saturday. I am normally careful when digging, but I was finding myself very frustrated and plain tired from digging up all that rock and throwing it over the fence and well, let's just say that water shot up about 14 feet into the air when I hit it. :-/ I had to shut off the main water to the house and add about 2 extra hours to my already very FULL day in order to fix it. I had a very LARGE beer afterwards.
This hole with the black bucket sitting in it was dug so that I could find the main drip line and add extensions to it. Now that the hole is dug (maybe a little deeper and wider), I think I need a Kumquat tree. My birthday is this Friday and when my daughters asked me what I wanted, I told them to pool their money and buy me a small kumquat tree. They think I'm weird LOL!
I have 4 of these little cut-outs in the pool deck around the pool. I'm thinking of Large Red pots for each cut-out. I would probably plant with seasonal purple and yellow plants each season. Can you see it?? :-)
Next, after the cut-out and at the back of the pool, I planted a couple of shrubs (cannot think of their names). The one nearest the wall has purple flowers and the one in front of it has yellow. I picked them up at the Desert Botanical Gardens plant sale. They will grow much larger and I think they will look brilliant against the blue wall. Take notice of the many rocks that I still need to remove.
I just picked up this yellow bells this morning. I only wanted to pick up another bag of soil, but I can never leave without a plant it seems. I think it is going to fit in well here at the back of the pool.
Next to that is the Pomegranate tree that I planted last year. I look forward to it getting taller and bearing fruit. The Pomegranate trees at Boyce Thompson Arboretum are just wonderful! (Yep, more rock that needs removed)
Here is the pool area from the opposite side
And to the left are 2 trees that I planted last Fall. A Pear tree and an Apple tree. I did have a large Oleander tree here that we removed, but I have enough Oleander trees and besides, I'm trying to add more sustainable plants to the landscape. The ground cover is pink Primrose which is filling in nicely and blooms very nicely in the spring.
Here is a large rock in the pool area that I once tried to remove. What was I thinking?? It's very heavy and is going nowhere. I'm thinking of adding mosaic to it. The pool are could use some art :-)
I just shudder when I look at this area. UGLY! In time though........... :-)
Well, that's all for now. I've done a few other things that I will share with you next time.
See ya soon!
Michelle
10/29/2010
Another Raised Bed
Over the last couple of days, I've been spending some time building another raised bed.
Now I just need to remove all of the EVIL Bermuda grass within the planter, add weed cloth, fill with a large amount of soil and then plant. Yep, I've got a huge job before me. sigh It will be Awesome when it's done though :-) I'm thinking of planting with spinach, lettuce, possibly cabbage and maybe I will intermingle a few flowers. I will also be planting climbing beans in the middle.
My lettuce in the old wash tub is peeking through :-)
I also planted broccoli in this pot that sits under my lemon tree
I have so many gardening chores ahead of me this weekend. I hope I don't forget to buy Halloween candy. Heck, I hope I don't fall asleep before the trick or treaters arrive. I will be exhausted! The payoff will be worth it though.
Well, that's all for now. I'm working on my mosaic wall. If you are interested, you can follow the progress on my other blog at www.mosaicqueen.typepad.com See you soon!
Michelle
10/20/2010
Planting like mad
My back is killing me! No time for whining though, as there is alot more work to do.
I've been incorporating some edible planting into my front yard. My hubby isn't so sure about this, but like everything else, he will get used to it :-) Here is some Chard's that I planted a few months ago in my front yard next to my little pond. I need to get out there and clean everything up around it, which i will be doing this coming weekend.
My eggplants are growing pretty good. I need to start harvesting. I've made eggplant parmesan so far and it was delish! I need to find out if I can freeze eggplant, as I'm not sure that I can eat it all before it goes bad. Anyone know??
My Okra is also growing nicely. I cooked it up the other night with some sausage, onions, tomatoes, garlic and rice. YUM!
Yesterday, I put these little cauliflower plants into the garden. I also planted cauliflower seeds for a 2nd harvest
The above raised garden also has several hot pepper plants in it. Those belong to the hubby and in between his peppers and my plantings is a large Rosemary bush which I cut from all the time for my chicken and salmon. I saw a recipe in a magazine last night for Rosemary Potato Pancakes. I will be making those soon....maybe tonight! The Rosemary bush is also supposed to help keep bad bugs away.
I also re-purposed this old wash tub yesterday. We used to use it for beer and soda at parties, but I decided to use it as my herb garden. I also planted some lettuce seed in it too.
That's all for now. I've got more to share and much more to do, but I've got to go work on some mosaic jewelry orders first.
See ya soon!
Michelle
10/15/2010
It's Garden Time
So, I know that I tried this whole garden blog thing before and failed, but I'm going to try again. :-)
Although gardening in the rest of the country is starting to wind down, it is just getting started here in the sunbelt area of Arizona. The time to plant is NOW and I am getting after it. I also have a to-do list in the yard that has been screaming my name for sometime now.
Like digging these recycled roof pavers into the ground to create my lovely pathway :-)
Those bad boys are heavy I tell ya! It took me about 3 days of digging, but I am happy with the results.
I was also able to add a few flowers in the space created between the pavers and the patio too
I built this planter in the middle of the grass last winter and added veggies and herbs. It has worked out nicely and it created a space for another archway. Love my archways!!! :-)
All of my plants have really filled out around the pond
My flower bushes are really spectacular right now
Color, Color, Color!!!
Okay, more to come soon!
xoxo!!
Michelle
