Planting Beans, Potatoes, & the Great Garden Cleanup June 19, 2011

Planting Beans, Potatoes, & the Great Garden Cleanup

June 19, 2011 at 1:52 pm

Well I have been working on the yard and garden at least 15 minutes every day. Some days it’s mostly watering things and pulling a few weeds. At other times I’ve actually spent the whole time on pulling weeds and picking up trash. I worked in and around the greenhouse the other day. You can see before pictures in my post on May 30, 2011 
This photo is after just a couple of 15 minute sessions. I have a piece of black shade cloth over the green house frame to help shade my bedroom window until the morning glories take over the job.


The potatoes planted recently have mostly sprouted so I have begun mulching the open spaces between them. Not every piece planted has sprouted yet, which is ok, they should all make an appearance eventually.
I just try not to put a lot of mulch over the ones that haven’t come up yet.
Since I’m going on vacation in August & September I’m trying hard not to plant too much stuff that will need a lot of attention. But I did decided to plant some Apache Purple Pod beans. These make nice green beans, shelly beans and dried beans.
First I dug a good size trench next to the trellis and watered it well. The ground is very very dry and I’m trying to get moisture to the root zone.
After the water soaked in I made the trench even deeper and set out the bean seeds.
I then watered them in and covered them with about an inch of soil by directing the water to the side of the trench so the soil would wash down over the seeds. I then used  old screens to cover them to try and protect them as best I can from the birds. Right now the desert is very dry and the birds will dig up and eat any little green sprout they can find. June is a very difficult month to start any kind of seeds directly in the garden for that reason.

Good Reading

June 16, 2011 at 2:35 am

Well there were hoof prints in the potato patch this afternoon. But I don’t think it was javalina because nothing was rooted up and they were pretty big. So I have a feeling it was the deer that have been hanging around. It’s been really dry so I’m thinking that they are coming for water.
I might put a tub of water over across the creek for them or something, just to help keep them out of the yard.
In the meantime I’ve been having a wonderful read over at Gene Logsdon’s blog; awesome fella, I’ve been reading him almost as long as he’s been writing. Bought a few seeds the other day and cleaned out one of my seed boxes this afternoon. I really am trying not to go whole hog on the garden but my fingers are itching to be in the dirt.
So I planted about 3 luffa seeds, a few red sunflower seeds and some snapdragons. That shouldn’t get me into too much trouble. I planted them in some soil blocks and set them in the kitchen to keep the birds and chipmunks out of them while they sprout up.

Potato Planting Time! June 12, 2011

Potato Planting Time!

June 12, 2011 at 11:38 pm

June is a good time to start potatoes in the garden here in the desert foothills. While I really should have bought certified seed potatoes, I just went ahead and planted the sprouting spuds growing in my kitchen. some purple/blue ones, some with red skin and white meat and a few regular russet bakers.
I have also written an article about potatoes, Growing Potatoes.

Gardening In The Desert June 11, 2011

Gardening In The Desert

June 11, 2011 at 2:55 am 

I’ve written a short article about gardening in the desert, which you can see  Here. It is the first of what I intend to be a long series of how to articles. It’s been a long week, so not much going on; will be out and about taking pics in the morning, so check back for more in a day or two.

Herbs & Flowers June 5, 2011

Herbs & Flowers

June 5, 2011 at 2:36 am

I bought a few herb and flower plants last night. Not much selection locally this time of year but that is ok. I am really trying to keep myself reined in as I will be gone three weeks in Aug & Sep and that is a hard time in a big garden. So trying to keep things small and manageable so who ever I rope into garden sitting & bunny tending isn’t overwhelmed.
This morning I planted most of the plants into their pots. I also did a quick tidy up around the front steps where they will live. This spot gets plenty of early morning sun and a bit of late afternoon shade; perfect for so many things in the desert.

Front steps

a yellow daylily and some lobelia

Potato Time June 1, 2011 at 8:14 pm

Potato Time

June 1, 2011 at 8:14 pm

June is a good time to plant potatoes here in the desert foothills. I had a few purple and red potatoes sprouting in the kitchen so got them put in today. I’ll be writing an article about planting potatoes and will let you know when it’s published!