Never-ending Gardening

Never-ending Gardening

It seems like we never really take a break from gardening in the Arizona low-desert. We are blessed (or cursed) with year-round gardening.

Of course this means we need to make sure we are practicing garden maintenance. This includes soil amending, and good garden hygiene.

You may remember in my post about a great garden planning tool that developer Jeremy Dore also sends out a monthly newsletter with great gardening tips. I love to learn how others garden and can always learn something new.

I really enjoed his recent post Good Garden Hygiene – Beating Pests and Disease as it tied in nicely to the question I got earlier this week on composting sick or diseased plants.

So remember what your mother taught you when you were a little person - wash your hands often and now your garden tools, too!

Happy Digging,

The Garden Goddess

Down 2 Earth Gardens

4 Weeks to a New Garden - Week 4

4 Weeks to a New Garden - Week 4

Plant! Purchase your seeds or transplants at the nursery. When buying seeds, make sure they suit your garden location. When buying transplants, make sure the leaves look healthy and the root ball is not compacted with roots wrapping around the inside of the pot.

Here are some tips on proper plant placement. Be sure you know and consider:
•Spacing base on mature size
•Height and width
•Root vegetables vs. leafy vegetables
•Water requirements

Use this cool tool to plan your garden:

http://www.growveg.com/Default.aspx

It will help you with identifying mature size so plants aren't too crowded.

What should you do seeds vs. transplants
Seeds – longer germination time
• Acclimate to garden environment from beginning
• 2-3 months longer to harvest
Transplants – instant plant
• Earlier harvest
• Uniform production

Allow space for the mature plant size. Many plants, especially vegetables, need room for their ‘fruit.’ When planting from seed, read the seed packet for recommended spacing. Allow space for the mature plant size.

Water well after planting, then relax.

Now it’s just a matter of time. Protect your garden as it becomes established. Keep birds, cats and other critters away from your garden by tying ribbons to sticks and placing them around the garden. For cats, consider laying down chicken wire over the top of the soil after planting. The seeds will grow up in between the holes in the wire.

Water your new garden daily at first, keeping the soil moist until seedlings are a few inches tall. Once they are, test the soil to see how much moisture it retains and water based on need. A soil probe, pushed into the soil will help with you see how deep the water seeps..

Enjoy your harvest! The flowers will look brighter and the food taste fresher as a result of your tender loving care.

If you missed the first three weeks, you can get the entire article here.

If you are in the Phoenix, AZ area, I wil be teaching this class in-person on September 12th at the Home & Garden Expo Center at 1700. E Washcington St., PHX from 9:30-11AM. Watch my website for more details. http://www.down2earthgardens.com/

Happy Digging,

The Garden Goddess

www.down2earthgardens.com

Fall Garden Plant List

I made my veggie garden list last night watching TV. I pulled out the Planting Guide for the Phoenix area and went to town. I selected about 10 veggies (I already have seeds for 9 other vegetables) and 5 herbs. But before I run out and get the seeds like I usually do, I want to take stock of my various gardens and determine how much and what I can plant in each one.

I have 4 small beds (3 ft x 4 ft) in the back yard and two beds in front (3 ft x 20 ft) and (3 ft x 10 ft). As I said before it is a bit over whelming. I would like a salad bed, a root vegetable bed and another for those late harvest plants. There are several things to consider before I buy the seeds.

First, there is the companion plant theory about interplanting the plants for their mutual benefit. So I want to study that and use it for my garden planning. There's a great book on the subject called Carrots Love Tomatoes.

Second, how much do I want to plant. How much will I actually eat and do I want extra to freeze or can?

Third - do I want to start them all by seed or get some transplants too? Then where do I want to get the seeds? Definately non GMO, but heriloom, southwest native variety, organic?

So I am back to the planning phase - feel like that little hamster on the wheel going round and round. Kind of squeaky, too!

Happy Digging, The Garden Goddess

www.Down2earthgardens.com

Garden Planning & Remodeling

I've been doing a lot of thinking about what to plant this next season. So many choices - broccoli, cauliflower, beets, onions, garlic, and so much more. I woke up at 5 AM one morning last week thinking about it! I actually got out of bed, put on a pot of tea and sat down with the planting calendar and my collection of seeds. Check out the Phoenix Area Planting Calendar here.

I cleaned out the packets of seeds I don't want. Some will go to the community gardens, the squash seeds I threw away - I am so disgusted with my experience in growing squash both in my home garden and the community garden that I don't want to try growing them for a while. There are other veggies I really enjoy that I will focus my energies on. Why put all that time and energy to something that doesn't grow well for me, especially when I can get it at the Farmer's Markets.

I also came across some flower seeds. I love flowers and want to create a cutting garden, where the flowers grow tall enough to be cut and brought into the house for flower arrangements. If I grow the flowers among the veggies, they will add color to the otherwise green plants as well as attract pollinators (bees & butterflies) and help to manage the bugs as well.

I am excited about cleaning out some of the ornamental garden beds as well. I want to focus more on native plants that can survive on less water and will still give me color and beauty.

Boy I really wish it would cool off! I want to get into the garden beds and start moving plants around, getting the bulbs in for the Irises and amending the soil. But it is still a little too warm for me & the plants!

For now I will just focus on creating lists of what I want to grow and getting the seeds. I will probably start some soon in small pots. Toilet papaer and papaer towel cardboard rolls also work well. Just cut them down to about 2 inches tall and fill with potting soil. Place them in something with a solid bottom and sides for support, put a few seeds in each one and with them grow. You will have your own transplants ready in a few weeks!

Watch for my 'shopping' list soon. I will share my fall/winter garden list with you. I have 4 times the garden space I did last year! This is going to be fun!

Happy Digging

The Garden Goddess

wwwdown2earthgardens.com