Almost every single one of my eggplants survived the winter and grew back with a vengeance and I’m getting a couple dozen eggplants each weekend.  I planted some pepper plants and those are ready to harvest, and the cucumbers are growing also.

I have several watermelon plants that came up volunteer from last year’s crop, and there are three watermelons in the garden as I write.  The cucumbers are doing pretty good, the kind I planted was a Japanese variety.

My zucchini squash is thriving, in spite of the round tailed ground squirrels that threatened to eat all my plants.  Unfortunately, my blue Hubbard squash plant succumbed to something which turned all the leaves yellow and finally one day the whole plant was wilted (when everything else in that bed was perfectly fine, beautiful dark green and perky looking, weird).

I planted green beans and the plants have done well, and I keep seeing blossoms but no green beans.  I think this year I will try planting for the fall as I can’t seem to get any to grow in the spring (for two years in a row).

There are still a few Swiss Chard plants left, I am planning to pull them out of the ground this weekend and harvest every bit of them.  Swiss Chard is such a great vegetable to plant as once it gets going as long as you only pick a few leaves at a time it will stay alive for weeks, even months.  It can’t survive the hot summers here in Arizona though. Last year I tried to help the remaining plant survive the heat, but it finally gave up the ghost.  So this year I won’t try again, I’m just taking them out while they are still edible.

Do you have a garden?  How’s it doing?

Related posts:

1. May 2009 Gardening Update
2. June 12 & 13 Garden Harvest
3. September 2009 Gardening

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However, this year by the time it started to warm up, I realized I’d be getting too late of a start on seeds, so I caved and decided to buy baby plants.   Since there are no nurseries where I live, my next best option was Home Depot, Lowe’s, Walmart, Ace and local grocery stores.  I could not believe how expensive the 3″ pot plants were from Lowe’s and Home Depot. $2.98 per pot. I mean, for one pot I’m getting a single plant!  But guess what?  At the local Fry’s Grocery store I found plants for $1.49. Granted there was a very limited selection, but I did find a few plants I wanted.

At any rate, instead of going through my jar of seeds, and starting my spring garden for nothing, it cost me $36.

• 1 Cherry Tomato Plant $1.49
• Basil $1.69
• 2 Banana Pepper $1.49 each
• 2 Zucchini Squash $2.98
• Boston Pickling Cucumber 3 in one pot $2.98
• Japanese Cucumber 3 in one pot $2.98
• Blue Hubbard Squash 2 in one pot $2.98
• Butternut Squash $2.98
• Acorn Squash $2.98
• 10 Early Girl tomatoes $1.49
• Lantana $2.49
• Marigolds Two 6-packs $2.49

I have planted some seeds this spring. I planted Kentucky Blue green beans and Romano beans. Both these varieties are pole beans.  I made a new bed for them, under laid with chicken wire to prevent the gopher(s) from eating them and I used my sunflower seed skeletons from last year for the pole they will grow up.  I love using old sunflower seed stems for growing things in the garden.

Sunflower Skeletons for Bean Poles

Last fall, I used one suggestion from Mel Bartholomew, author of All New Square Foot Gardening: Grow More in Less Space!* but it’s obvious that he’s not gardening in the Arizona desert. I was inspired by his suggestion for vertical gardening.

Almost all of my eggplant plants survived the winter and are flowering, but so far no baby eggplants. My Swiss Chard plants are still thriving, they seem to tolerate the heat better than any of the other cool season vegetables.

Mr. A wants me to plant a lot of onions in the fall. His request has been precipitated by the current cost of onions. We can’t find them on sale, and the best price is 99 cents a pound!  My plan is to start them indoors, they transplant really easily. And a big plus to planting onions is the gophers don’t seem to like them. They don’t seem to like radishes either.

I tried to catch the gopher using a trap. No luck. He just sprung it and covered it with dirt. It’s too bad the gopher and I can’t work together as a team. They really do such a great job of turning the soil. Speaking of turning the soil, I would love to invest in some earthworms. I always thought if you had a garden, they would eventually turn up.  But I have been gardening here for about six years and not one earthworm.

Have you ever had a garden?  What would you grow if you had the chance?

*Amazon Affiliate Link

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1. May 2009 Gardening Update
2. February Gardening 2010
3. June Gardening – Tomatoes Galore!

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After that I called him on the phone and the tears were rolling as I told him why I was so stressed out and listing all the things I had to get done.

Poor Mr. A, he tries, he really does.

He called me back in about an hour, and wanted to know if I wanted to go see a movie the next night.  I think he thought it would be a good way for me to get away from everything and relax.

Let me tell you something about Mr. A: he hates movies.  Only very rarely does he want to see a movie. He doesn’t like wasting his time on movies.  To tell you the truth, I don’t blame him. I feel let down after nearly every movie I watch.  Usually about halfway through I feel like I’m wasting time but I want to get my money’s worth, too!!  On occasion a movie will come out that I’m interested in seeing, but not to the point where I’m dragging my guy there with me when I know he’ll be bored to tears.  It’s a lot more fun to do things together that you both enjoy, you know?  I mean, it’s a nice gesture for Mr. A to suppress his true feelings about movies and take me, and I take him up on that occasionally, but to tell you the truth having to take out time to go watch a movie was only making me feel more stressed out.

So that night he gets home and he says, “Did you figure out which movie you want to go see tomorrow night?”  I told him I hadn’t gotten around to it yet. Then I said, “Mr. A, I know you really don’t like going to movies. Is there any chance that you would want to take those two hours we’d spend at the movie and help me in my garden instead?”

I think at first he thought it was a trick question, because he didn’t answer me right away. Then after I told him I could really use his big strong muscles tackling those weeds in the garden he immediately assured me that he’d always rather do something physical like work in the garden than passively watching a movie.

So we spent two hours weeding the next morning. I had Mr. A work on the outer perimeter of the garden and let me tell you, he works about three times faster than me. I thought he might use our weed whacker, but he feels that the Scuffle Weeding Hoe works much better since it takes the weed down right to the root.

I worked on the inner part of the garden.  I was amazed at how much energy and stamina I had. I didn’t sit down even once in the two hours that we worked.  That is just amazing for me.

Here is a before and after photo of my garden – I didn’t do the best job at standing in the same position for the photos, but this is roughly the same area:

While Mr. A used the Scuffle Weeding Hoe, I used my pointed shovel to scrape along the surface of the dirt against the weeds and then rake them out of the way. I made piles, and Mr. A came in and removed the piles once I had a few.

We managed to get most of the weeds removed except for a few stray ones here and there.

I felt really proud of us. We didn’t spend three hours of our lives going to see a movie both of us really didn’t want to go see, we didn’t have to drive 30 miles to get there, and we saved $20.

Instead, we spent the time working together and talking, and we accomplished in two hours what would have taken me working by myself at least 8 hours over a couple of weekends.

Do you have a garden?  Is it time for spring planting in your neck of the woods?

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Unfortunately, the bed I planted in was underlaid with chicken wire over three years ago, so the gopher was able to make his way into the bed and was starting to eat my vegetables. I had to move everything from the invaded bed, into a bed that was underlaid only last year.  It took quite a while for the transplanted veggies to adjust and I was worried they weren’t going to make it. But then we had several days of rain and that helped immensely. There is something about rain from the sky that vegetables just LOVE.

In this first bed, there is broccoli, Swiss Chard, beets, lettuce and carrots.  I didn’t think the carrots and lettuce were going to make it until the rains came.

Swiss Chard, Beets, Broccoli, Lettuce and Carrots

This next photo is my pea bed.

Mr. Big Peas

We are going to get a nice crop of peas this year, I told Mr. A we’re going to get about a cup of peas this time!    Actually I think we’ll get more, my teasing was a reference to the last time I grew peas in the garden and we got about one-half cup once the peas were shelled from the pods.

I am trying to gear myself up emotionally and physically to really get going in the garden for my spring crops which will be cucumbers, squash and green beans. I should also get some sunflowers in the garden, and a couple of months ago I bought some bulbs that probably should go into the ground soon.

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Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian

My boss bought Night at the Museum from me, for Big A.

And I wanted these:
Family Party: 30 Great Games Outdoor Fun. I’ve tried this, it’s kind of a dud. I was kind of tired when I was checking it out, so maybe when I can understand it better we’ll have more fun with it. Maybe if I chose a younger Mii and didn’t name her Mop. 

Dancing With the Stars: We Dance! Haven’t tried this yet. Haven’t even watched the show so I’m not quite sure what it’s going to be about. Although I did read some reviews that people were working up a sweat. I would love to try Wii Fitness, just to check it out. UPDATE: I decided to try Dancing with the Stars on Saturday and this game is a LOT of fun.  I played for half an hour straight and worked up a sweat.  As I mentioned I’ve never watched the show, but the judges comments are hilarious!  I am not a video game player by any stretch of the imagination, and I’m so bad that AJ had to try a couple dances just to show me just how bad I am. LOL. He scored 177,000 points on professional level for the Bootylicious dance. I even got Mr. A to try a couple of dances. He doesn’t play video games either, but he did really great at this one! We had a great time playing together. I was laughing really hard to see these two guys dancing to this game.  I’ll have to have Big A try playing with me and see how he likes it.

When you consider my son AJ regularly pays $50 for Wii games, it was  quite a bargain to get four games for $60.

And then I bought myself one of these:

Disney 512MB Mix Stick MP3/WMV Player (Princess Flowers) – DS17014

[Update: Buy.com is no longer selling this item, but you can still get it from Amazon.com: Disney 512Mb Mix Stick Princess Flower Mp3 Player]

I get a deals alert from Buy.com and this was just too good a deal to pass up. It says it holds up to 8 hours of MP3 songs and 16 hours WMA songs. I don’t want it for songs, I want it to download some podcasts to listen to on the way to and from work.

OH. The best part of all, it’s only $9.99 with FREE shipping!  But you probably have to hurry to get this deal.  Limit of five per customer.

AJ and I carpool. He blogs while I drive.  He would really like me to talk less so he can concentrate, so this little MP3 player might fit the bill. I just have to make sure I have it loaded with something.

Let’s see, then what else did I buy… oh yes. I got a clearance email from my favorite seed company, Pinetree Seeds. They were selling fall bulbs at a discounted price. My order came to $16.85.

Here’s what I got:

Product #: SF630-STAR OF BETHLEHEM (10 bulbs)
Price: $2.95

Okay, in searching for a photo of Star of Bethlehem, I discovered that some people consider it a weed.  That is good to know. I’ll put it in its own secure area so it won’t get out of control. Not that it could really get going too well without water in the summer.

Product #: SFD-DAFFODILS – OUR CHOICE (10 bulbs)
Price: $4.95
Quantity: 1
Subtotal: $4.95

Product #: SFT-TULIPS – OUR CHOICE (10 bulbs)
Price: $3.95

And my lettuce seed didn’t germinate too well. I planted all that I had, so I needed more seeds. This is the one I like to order. It is a variety of sweet looseleaf lettuces.

Product #: 203-PINETREE LETTUCE MIX
Price: $1.25

I think that’s it.

I think it’s the holiday that is causing me to spend frivolously.

How are you doing?  Has the Christmas bug bitten you yet? Speaking of Christmas, what do you do in the way of budgeting for Christmas?

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On Monday I planted more seeds in my garden.  It’s the third planting in three weeks.  I’m trying to plant a small bed every weekend right now, with a variety of vegetables while the fall garden is getting started. Usually I overwhelm myself and try to plant 10 different kinds of seeds all on one day.   Putting a limit on myself to plant just a few seems to be a lot easier, especially when I know I can plant more in just a few days.

On September 20th, I planted Bright Lights Swiss Chard, Pinetree lettuce mix, White Lisbon Bunching onions (green), and Cherry Belle radishes.

On September 27th, I planted Early Snowball cauliflower, Bright Lights Swiss Chard, Mokum carrot, Tom Thumb lettuce, Bloomsdale Long Standing spinach, Crosby Egyptian beets, Cherry Belle radishes, Point One cabbage and cilantro.

On Monday, October 4th, I planted Early Dividend broccoli, Giant Noble spinach, and Purple Plum radish. I realized it will soon be time to plant peas!

Here’s what the bed looked like on Monday:

I did a lot better job of keeping the September 27th bed moist while the seeds germinated.  I can tell because a lot more seeds have germinated, and I was happy to see the carrots are coming up. They take longer to germinate, and if I don’t keep them moist enough, they just don’t come up at all.

I think next weekend I’ll plant Brussels sprouts, celery, and more lettuce in the small bed at the top left corner.

Yours Truly,

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I think it was about as ripe as it was going to get. I don’t know if it is customary for this type of watermelon to have so many seeds, but I could plant a couple hundred baby watermelons with the seeds from just this one watermelon.

I also harvested ten more Lavender Touch eggplants.

I’ve trimmed back my tomato plants. It looks like five of them survived the hot summer, and I am beginning to see new growth on them!  Hopefully they will produce another crop of tomatoes for me in the next couple of months.

I am still having to water every 48 hours. I am looking forward to less watering needing to be done as the weather cools.  And it is getting time to plant my fall/winter crops.  Most of my beds are I am waiting until it cools down just a little bit more. Last year I planted on September 6th, which was just too soon. It will still too hot and I feel my seedlings had a hard time in the heat.  If I were more energetic, I would start some indoors. Hmmm… maybe I should do that… I could start lettuce and Swiss Chard in my indoor seed cage.  I’ll definitely be making use of my indoor seed cage in January to start tomato and eggplants, and maybe some peppers, too.

Yours Truly,

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1. January 2009 Gardening Update
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These are eggplant that are old and have turned yellow. They will no doubt be very bitter, so I’ll let these bake in the sun for a couple of days until they soften, and then give them to the chickens.

I haven’t said much about my basil plant. One basil plant, and it’s growing fantastically in this hot weather.

I am just in awe over the watermelon plants, they are growing better than any I’ve ever grown in all my years of having a garden. Here is a shot from within the garden where the vines are growing up the mesh I wove by hand from hay twine.

And here is how it looks from the outside of the garden. The birds are leaving the vines alone, and the watermelon aren’t even being pecked into. Amazing.  Lots and lots of bees in the morning, buzzing around to fertilize the flowers.

Mid-September I’ll begin planting seeds again. I’m actually starting to look forward to it. I’m especially looking forward to the weather to cool down.

Wishing for cooler weather,

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I couldn’t use this bed throughout the summer.  I had a brainstorm last spring about using pallets with chicken wire stapled to the bottom as a way to keep out the gophers that had invaded.  It worked great during the cool weather, but once the hot weather started in, the soil in the pallets could not hold the moisture so everything died off very quickly in this bed. I may use it in the fall, or I might just remove it and create a bed like the others. This bed is similar to the raised beds Mel Bartholomew promotes. They do not work well in Arizona.

Here are my tomato plants. Can you see how they have grown up through the top of the garden?  Four of the tomato plants have died, but I think the rest will struggle through to fall. If they can, I’m going to trim the tops and the sides that are straggling out to the side.  I’m leaving the extraneous foliage in the meantime to provide protection and shade from the sun.

And my eggplants… they are thriving and love the heat.  They haven’t produced any flowers because it’s too hot, but I know they will begin producing like crazy once it cools down a bit. Neither the tomatoes or the eggplant can tolerate cold so they will all die out during the winter if I don’t protect them.  One year Mr. A built a hothouse around the plants I wanted to keep alive but we probably won’t do that this year.

A couple of watermelon plants are still doing quite well. I wonder if I’ll ever get a watermelon larger than a softball? I definitely need to research and find out what is wrong with my soil. I think I have too much nitrogen, but I’m not sure how to counteract that. You can see how my handmade mesh (constructed from hay twine) has provided a good support for the vines to grow up.

And the purslane is thriving without any attention at all from me. I have been watering the eggplants and tomatoes every 24-36 hours, but I don’t water the weeds.  Time to make Weed Soup.

Here are some of the critters I’ve found in my garden of late. Big brown grasshoppers.

Huge green praying mantis…

Here’s a photo with my hand for comparison of size for this girl. I just know she’s a momma mantis.

And last but not least… I found this teensy, tiny insect crawling on me one day when I’d come in from the garden and had laid down to rest for a while. I don’t even know how I managed to not kill him just by laying down on the bed. I felt something creepy-crawling on my arm and sat up. This guy is so tiny, I almost couldn’t see him. He’s the size of an ant!

Can you tell how tiny he is?  In the photo above, you can barely see anything on my finger, but that’s him.

It was the only time in my life I’ve fervently wished for a “good” camera with a macro lens.  My little Nikon usually does just fine for me, but it could not focus on this teensy Praying Mantis. Imagine how tiny his little heart is, and the blood coursing through his tiny little body. Wow. Do insects have hearts that pump blood?

September starts our best growing season again. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and cool down just a few degrees. If it does, I can plant:

• Beans, Snap
• Bok Choy
• Broccoli
• Brussel Sprouts TS
• Cabbage
• Cabbage, Chinese
• Carrots
• Cauliflower TS
• Celery
• Collard Greens
• Cucumbers
• Endive
• Kale
• Kohlrabi
• Lettuce, Head
• Lettuce, Leaf
• Leek
• Mustard
• Onions, Green
• Peas
• Radishes
• Turnips

Isn’t that crazy? I won’t plant every single thing, but I need to get a plan together so I can figure out what I am planting. I should have enough seeds to plant just about anything on that list.

Okay, so how is your garden doing?

Yours Truly,

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However, my tomato plants are struggling. I had hoped to muster up some energy over the weekend to give them a trim and cover them with shadecloth to help them withstand the heat.  I am watering every single day now.  The eggplants are doing great.  Not much fruit being produced, but they don’t look stressed in the least.

There are things I can plant – pumpkin for one, but again I’m barely able to muster up the energy to walk out there and water in the early morning (when it’s already in the 90s), let alone stick a seed in the ground and keep it moist.

I wish, wish, wish I had my watering system set up. But I guess that is just going to have to wait until I have more energy. I think the heat is a lot of what is affecting me.  People with adrenal fatigue are often sensitive to the heat. It just seems like when I get overheated, I end up being wiped out for days after and can’t seem to get back to where I was before. I can’t really say back to my old self, because I used to at least have days where I’d have bursts of energy and could get things done. Now I feel like that feeling when you get out of the swimming pool after having been in the water for hours and your body feels really, really heavy.

Link me to some of your blog posts about your gardens back east, I know you guys are in full swing right about now.

Yours Truly,

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1. Posting From My Garden
2. June 12 & 13 Garden Harvest
3. August 2009 Garden Update

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