Screwin around in the yard on a Saturday

This weekend I decided to catch up on a bunch of stuff in the yard and here it is.

First I put in the watering system for my pomegranate and cape honeysuckle always check  where you're digging to make sure you don't hit anything buried under ground like the water line I hit digging this trench DDDOOOOHHHH!!! 

The pome is for food, the honeysuckle is a hummingbird feeder. I'm really getting tired  of filling up feeders and the honeysuckle is a natural food source for the hummingbird. I'm planting the honeysuckle and some other hummingbird plants through out the yard, so pretty soon no more feeders.

Horseradish, it's one my favorite condiments but it's supposedly not adapted to the Az. Well I'm going to find out. I went to AJ''S and bought a whole root and cut it into 4 pieces. If you look closely you can see it's already sprouting and rooting.

I potted up the horseradish once it sprouts I've got a special bed I'm going to put it into in the yard that gets alot of afternoon shade in the summer. From what I've read the summer sun is the biggest challenge with growing horseradish in Phoenix. Stay tuned. By the way summer sun is the biggest challenge to growing anything in Phoenix.

Found these 2 igloos in the garbage and decided they'd make excellent pots so I pulled out the broken push buttons and  planted some herbs tarragon, basil, bee balm, and pineapple sage. I've slowly started to discover the world of fresh herbs for seasoning my food and they are amazing I plan to have a full blown spice rack growing in my backyard soon. If you're trying to not use as much salt in your diet look into fresh herbs in your cooking then try and grow your own you won't believe what fresh herbs cost in the store $$$$$$$$ and I found this great book just for herb gardening in the desert southwest  The Low Desert Herb Gardening Handbook  give it a shot they're pretty easy to grow

Here they are all planted up.

 I planted another pomegranate in my sheet mulched bed in the front yard with some hollyhocks. I also seeded some lettuce and red onions. I know these pomes are small but I bought them on sale this summer on the discount shelf for 4 bucks at the local  home improvement center. I've been waiting for it to cool off to plant. In a few years I should have some decent pomegranates. I think that's the main lesson in urban farming, it doesn't happen over night it takes planning, patience, some work, and a little luck. I know where's the watering system I didn't plan that out yet.

Finally I just don't grow food I also enjoy growing some flowers (the wife likes them too) this is a bearded iris that popped up in my iris bed a little early this year. I'm tired and ready for a brewski.  BOOYAH!

HARVEST PARTY, THANKSGIVING

This year my wife and I hosted the family Thanksgiving super. We had a great time we drank beers, smoked the best turkey ever, and got alot of our meals straight out of the garden it was great and it gave me even more ideas for the garden and next years Thanksgiving feast. The only bummer to the hole event was my sister and bro both couldn't make it, they have both recently moved to Washington DC I didn't realise  how much I missed you two until I found myself drinking with Aunt Sandy.

Kholrabi and pumpkin we grew we made a coleslaw out of the kholrabi  and pies from the  pumpkin.

A bunch of stuff we picked Thanksgiving day.

Some broccoli that was a little bitter because the plant had bolted already.

Some radishes for our salad the white ones are my favorite they're actually spicey  and you can't buy them in the store.

Big pile o beans nothing better than green beans and bacon.

 Some lettuce out of our lettuce patch that was a great salad.

The bird is cooking.

Finally the pie and it was great fresh pumpkin makes all the difference  the fresh pumpkin was so good this year  that I've decided to dedicate a large portion of my garden next year to sugar pumpkins and not plant any of the traditional jack o lanterns.

Harvest Party

Roasted Tomatillo & Green Chili Salsa                                                                                

 This year we got a real good patch of Tomatillos so we decided to make a batch of salsa here's the recipe.

• 2 lbs. Tomatillos (roasted)
• 5-6  large green chillies (roasted)
• 1 head of garlic (roasted)
• 1 whole onion
• 1/2 cup cilantro
• 1 juiced lime
• salt and pepper to taste

Head out to the garden and pick your tomatillos and green chilies 

 Peel your tomatillos and wash em off then throw them on the grill, roast them till there browned on the outside, to roast the garlic cut the bottom off of a hole head of garlic and pour  olive oil on the cut side place cut side down on hot grill when garlic is done the cloves will slip right out of there husk.

mmmmm roasting green chillies, When you pull your chillies off the grill place them in a plastic bag for 15 minutes this will make them easier to peel. Once peeled you can pull off  the stem and remove the seeds I leave the seeds in them for a little extra heat.

Here's everything all roasted

Throw everything in the food processor and blend

Here's the finished product and man it is good enjoy BOOYAH!!!

My Tomatillo and pepper patch

Intensive Garden Beds, Double Digging

This year I decided to double dig all my garden beds, so I put away my rototiller and bought a flat spade and a spading fork. Double digging is a way of digging your beds down to 2 feet fluffing the soil, so the roots of plants can go even deeper into the earth. The first thing you do is select a site for the beds, I like lay out the dimensions with stakes so I don't get off course while digging. The beds can be as long as you want but don't make them any wider than 5 feet, that way when you work in the beds you can always reach the middle, without walking in the bed, it doesn't do you any good to fluff your soil if you walk through it compacting it right back down.You can see a video of double digging here or you can read about it in how to grow more vegatables.

First you dig a trench with your spade.



Then you go back through your trench with your fork hence the term double digging.

Some bug cocoons I found while digging.



The finished bed.

Here's my watering system dripline with 1gph emitters every 18 inches,

Finally the bed is planted with intensive beds you don't plant in rows you plant on center. For this bed I planted all the cabbage and broccoli on 12 inch centers (the book says 15 inch centers) this means every plant is exactly 12 inches away from any other plant. You'll noticed the front of the bed isn't planted that's because I seeded in turnips.

                                         

Finished bed topped with alfalfa.

This is a double dug bed I planted a month and a half ago bok choy, kolrhabi, brussel sprouts, and broccoli.

Double dug lettuce patch that's a month and a half old,

Sheet Mulching

Sheet mulching is a passive form of soil building(composting in place). It's pretty easy to do, you can make it as hard, or as easy as you want. Most of the materials are free you just have to find what's available locally. First you put down a a layer of card board or news paper to keep the weeds from coming back up, then top it with an organic material that will break down over the next few months. Sheet mulching takes months to really start working well. I'm not expecting any results for at least 6 months to a year. We'll see.

 


I ran a weed wacker through the area I wanted to sheet mulch.



Then I laid my weed barrier,  newspaper and card board dowm. After that Iwet everything down.

 Next my organic matter which was soiled hay and rabbit poop which I got for free from a guy that raises rabits.

Here it is all piledup

 

 

Then rake it all out and water it in we'll wait till this summer to plant and see how it goes. Passive soil building 101