It may be awfully hot outside, but my garden is awash in brightly colored flowers from my single bougainvillea, Arizona yellow bells and ‘Rio Bravo’ sage, which shrug off the summer heat.
Last year, we decided to create an edible garden along the side of our house.
This was a large underused area that we look out at from our kitchen, family room and bedrooms.
To get it ready for planting, we had our ghost gum eucalyptus tree removed. It was a beautiful tree, but was quickly outgrowing this area with its overhanging limbs.
The next step involved pulling out some of the flowering shrubs along the back wall and along the side of the house. We kept the flowering shrubs along the side wall, because they add beauty and help to break up the bare expanse of the wall.
This is what the side garden looks like today…
The centerpiece of the edible garden is the vegetable garden. Right now, it is filled with corn, zucchini, tomatoes, cucumbers and sunflowers.
In front, is my colorful container filled with a variety of herbs including basil, parsley, sage and thyme. I bought an inexpensive plastic container and spray painted it a bright blue. The container is connected to the drip system of the vegetable garden.
In the foreground (not pictured) is our new Arizona sweet orange tree. We planted it last year and are excited to have three oranges growing on it.
You may be thinking that three oranges is not much to be excited about, but the first couple of years after a citrus tree is planted – you are lucky to get any fruit at all.
Newly planted citrus trees shouldn’t be fertilized during the first year, because you want them to focus on root growth, not upper growth when there is not a substantial root system for them to rely on. Since it has been a year since we have planted it, we will fertilize this year.
In front of the vegetable garden are a pair of new peach trees.
I love peaches and have enjoyed the fruit from my mother’s peach trees for years. I finally decided that I wanted to grow my own.
We got 18 peaches this year, which is a lot considering that we planted them in January.
Notice the green plant at the base of the peach tree? It is a gourd plant that will quickly grow and cover the ground. This will serve as a ‘living mulch’ and help to prevent weeds and shade the roots of my peach trees.
Inside the vegetable garden, sunflower seeds are beginning to form. It is so fun to see the birds hanging upside down trying to get to the seeds.
You can allow the birds to eat the seeds or if you want to save them for yourself, simply tie a paper bag around the flower to keep the birds away.
I’ll probably save some flowers for ourselves and let the birds enjoy the seeds of a couple of unprotected sunflowers.
A large zucchini plant is growing in the background and as anyone who has grown zucchini will tell you, it is prolific.
The slightly wilting plant in the foreground is a pumpkin plant. If you want a pumpkin for fall, then June is when you want to plant them.
It is normal for the leaves to wilt slightly during the heat of the day. They will return to normal later in the day.
Zucchini can hide underneath the large leaves of the zucchini plant. I’m going to use this one to make my chocolate chip zucchini bread. It’s delicious and your kids will never know there is zucchini in it 😉
I found the recipe on Pinterest and have already made it once. My family keeps bugging me to make more. Here is the link to the recipe, if you are interested – Chocolate Zucchini Bread
My tomatoes are flourishing in the natural shade provided by my sunflowers.
One of my cherry tomato plants has even decided to expand a bit outside of the garden.
Behind the vegetable garden are my two apple trees, planted this January. One is a Anna apple tree and the other is a Dorsett Golden. These apple trees do well in the desert and although they will produce apples if planted alone – they will produce more apples because they will cross pollinate each other.
It will take a few years for any apples to appear, but the blossoms in spring are just lovely.
Behind the apple trees are six blackberry bushes. This year, we enjoyed the berries so much and are hoping for even more next year as they grow larger.
Blackberries won’t produce the first year after planting because the berries appear on 1-year odd canes.
Did you know that there are now thornless varieties of blackberries available? I have one….I only wish that the other five were thornless 😉
Well, that is what I have growing in my side edible garden.
Tomorrow, I’ll share what is growing in my original vegetable garden.
What do you have growing in your garden right now?
A Summer Edible Garden: Part 2
An Apple Harvest in the Desert…
ArizonaWhen I moved to the desert Southwest 27 years ago as a young bride, all I saw was a brown landscape, spiky cacti, landscapes covered in little bits of rock and very few trees.
If you had told me that you could grow any kind of fruit tree besides citrus – I would not have believed you.
Apple harvest at the family farm
Fast forward 27 years and I not only appreciate the unique beauty of the desert, but I have enjoyed my 4th annual apple harvest at the family farm.
Certain apple tree varieties grow very well in our climate. (For information on what varieties do best, here is an earlier post I wrote about apple trees).
Summer is a busy time because of the different types of fruit there are to harvest. Peach trees ripen first in late May followed by plums. Early June is spent in the kitchen making peach and plum jams.
In mid-June, the apple trees are ready to be picked.
My daughter Gracie and I headed out to pick some apples.
When we got there, my mother was already busy picking apples and ‘Johnny’ my sister’s 3-legged dog was enjoying eating the fallen apples.
The trees had so many apples that the branches were hanging down under their weight.
Soda Pop, my sister other dog (and the daughter of my dog, Missy) was also enjoying a feast of apples.
Don’t they look delicious?
One of the apple trees had some trouble late last year with borers. But we caught it early and got rid of them.
We hauled 3 huge bags of apples back home and I got ready to make some delicious things with them, which I’ll share with you next time.
*Below, is some helpful information regarding borers:
Adult borer beetles lay eggs in the crevices of the bark of apple trees – generally in the bottom 2 feet of the trunk. The eggs hatch and the larvae tunnel their way into the trunk.
Signs of borers are small holes toward the bottom 2 feet of the trunk. Sometimes you can sawdust poking out of the hole or even a little sap running down the trunk.
Prevention is the best treatment, but if you have apple borers there are a few things you can do:
– Take a wire (I recommend a wire coat hanger) and poke into the hole that the borer made and try to puncture the larvae. Do this in the summer. You may have to work at this a little, but kids might have fun doing this 😉
– Paint the trunk with white latex pain. This not only protects the trunk from sunburn, it also prevents borers from laying new eggs AND suffocates the borers already present.
If you have apple trees and want to help prevent borers away – plant cloves of garlic around your tree and let them grow. Many apple growers report that the smell of garlic keeps the adult borer beetles away.
By using garlic and painting the trunk of your apple trees, borers are more likely to stay away.
Stuck in a Wheelchair All Summer…
az plant lady familyThis summer has found us staying close to home for the most part as my son, Kai, is recovering from hip surgery.
June 2013
This is Kai’s sixth hip surgery and he will be the first to tell you that it is not fun.
The first part is always the worst because of the pain.
Post surgery 2006. Kai was in a stryker cast that reached up to his chest.
The first 24 hours aren’t too bad because he is mostly sleeping.
Leaving from the hospital in 2008.
But afterward, it just plain hurts – especially during the first week.
2005
After a couple of weeks, the pain goes away, which is a good thing.
However, Kai still can’t walk for another 4 – 5 weeks, which is a bad thing. Especially if you are a little boy.
Kai doesn’t let it slow him down though…
2006
Bowling in 2008
Racing with his cousins while being pushed by ‘Super-Duper’, a local super hero (whose secret identity is that of Kai’s uncle 😉
Fishing
Fighting with light sabers.
As you can see, Kai keeps busy and doesn’t let his wheelchair get in the way.
This summer is no different…
Playing ping-pong
Kai can’t get in the pool, but he can have fun with squirt guns.
Another race. Don’t worry…Kai had his seat belt on 😉
Having surgery and spending countless summers stuck in wheelchair can be hard. But, Kai adapts so easily and doesn’t let it bother him.
I have blogged about Kai in the past including what is wrong with his hip and our adoption process. You can read about it if you like, “Sunshine in My Life”
The Chicken vs. The Caterpillar
AZ Plant LadyI don’t think that my sister’s chicken has ever seen a caterpillar that large before.
Do you think she will eat it? Or will the caterpillar emerge victorious?
I’ll let you know at the end of this post…
Those of you who have ever grown tomatoes probably recognize this green, horned caterpillar.
If you are not familiar with this green menace, let me introduce you to the ‘tomato hornworm’.
As their name suggests, they love to eat tomatoes and the leaves on their plants.
What you may not know is that also like to eat potato, pepper and eggplants as well.
What is even worse, is that they can be a little hard to find. With their green color, they blend in well with the tomato plants. Tomato hornworms also tend to hide underneath the leaves.
At this point you may be wondering if you have these pesky caterpillars on your tomato plants. How can you tell?
Well, some telltale signs include holes eaten from the leaves and tomatoes. You may also see little green pellets (caterpillar poop) on the leaves.
The only way to know for certain is to go looking for them.
So what do you do if you find out your tomatoes are infested with these caterpillars and how did they get there in the first place?
Well, tomato hornworms grow up into moths who in turn, lay eggs on the underside of tomato leaves. The eggs hatch in about a week and the newly emerged caterpillars start eating non-stop for 4 – 6 weeks.
As if that weren’t enough bad news, as the caterpillars grow larger, they eat more. After about a month on gorging themselves, they drop into the soil where they form a cocoon and transform into a moth who will start the cycle again by laying eggs.
How can you do to get rid of them?
Well, there are a few ways to get rid of them and even help to prevent them in the future.
Tomato hornworm
– The easiest way to get rid of a current infestation of tomato hornworms is to simply pick them off and dunk them into soapy water, which kills them.
– If pulling off large, green caterpillars isn’t your thing, then you can spray them with a product that contains Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis), which infects the stomach of the hornworm, killing it. Bt is safe for animals and plants.
– There are some wasps that will act as parasites to the caterpillars and lay their eggs directly onto them. The eggs hatch and the larvae eat the caterpillar.
Now, I don’t know about you, but I’d rather not have to deal with tomato hornworms at all. So, I am all about prevention.
– In the fall, till the soil around your tomato plants. This will unearth any cocoons that are attempting to overwinter in the soil, which kills them. Do this again in spring, before planting new tomato plants. This is usually 90% effective in getting rid of tomato hornworm cocoons before the moth emerges.
Okay, so back to the chicken, caterpillar face-off…
My sister’s chicken Francie is a ‘naked-neck’ chicken and yes, she is supposed to look that way 😉
It turns out that the chickens were a little put off by the large size of the caterpillars. So, they wouldn’t touch them.
That is until… the caterpillars were cut up into smaller pieces. Then the chickens couldn’t eat them fast enough. (I know, kind of gross, isn’t it?)
**I want to thank my sister, Grace, for her fabulous pictures. You can find out more about her photography, here.
What To Do In The Southwest Garden in July…
Southwest gardenI realize that it is hard to think of doing anything in the garden, much less step outside with the heat wave that we have been experiencing in the Southwest.
Southwest Garden in July
The good news is that you can most likely wait to step out into your garden this weekend, once the heat wave breaks.
Check out my latest monthly “To Do” list that I wrote for Houzz.com
Kitchen ideas, bathroom ideas, and more ∨Filter by metro area and choose the right kitchen designer for your kitchen style.
Find curtain panels and plantation shutters for french doors, or kitchen curtains and a curtain rod for your kitchen windows.
I hope you are doing your best staying cool 🙂
Container Corn is “For The Birds”
AZ Plant Lady, ContainersYou may remember that earlier this year, I was excited to try my hand at growing container corn.
I learned about container corn when I was reading through Burpee’s catalog. They had a hybrid corn called, ‘On Deck’, which was specially bred to grow in containers. Each stalk was said to produce 2 – 3 ears.
Well, I like to try new things in the garden and then tell you all about them. So, I ordered the seeds and got ready. You can read about how I prepared in my earlier blog post “An Old Whiskey Barrel and Corn Seeds”.
I hand-watered my seeds and was delighted when they quickly sprouted.
I planted a few nasturtiums in the front because I like to grow flowers with my vegetables.
The corn grew quickly, but I started to see a problem…
The corn on the outside was not growing as quickly as those in the middle. I suspect that maybe that was because the corn in the middle received more water and/or had more room to grow their roots.
The reason it is a problem is because in order to have a good corn crop with ears full of kernels, they need to be adequately pollinated. This is achieved by having multiple rows of corn.
In this case, I had plenty of corn stalks for pollinating. The problem was that the outer corn weren’t maturing as quickly as those in the middle.
As a result, the inner corn stalks started sprouting corn before the outer stalks and there was not enough pollen available.
I did get 3 tiny ears of corn among the center stalks – not worth eating at all.
I was going to pick the ears of corn so that I could show you how small they were. But…
The birds got to my container corn first.
I have grown corn in my vegetable gardens every year and have never had a problem with birds eating it.
But, they evidently loved my container corn.
**I watered my container corn diligently, taking care not to over water. They were planted in good-quality planting mix and given slow-release fertilizer.
While I did like how they looked growing in my whiskey barrel, I am not impressed with their uneven growth and lack of corn.
Needless to say, I won’t be growing container corn anytime soon. I am planning on planting strawberries in it this next spring though 🙂
My New Garden Video
Gardening VideoLast week, I hinted at the garden video that I created for the folks at Troybilt as part of my paid partnership with the ‘Saturday 6’.
In the past, I have been in gardening videos, but I had a film crew who did all the filming and editing for the videos for their website
This time, there was no film crew. I was asked to create a homemade ‘how-to’ video for Troybilt on a gardening subject that I selected.
I decided to create a video on one of my favorite subjects…
“How to grow vegetables with ornamental plants in containers.”
The video is supposed to be amateurish and not polished. I can assure you that I fulfilled their requirements. There is no way that anyone can mistake my video as professionally done.
But, I had fun and I hope you like it.
A Summer Edible Garden: Part 2
AZ Plant Lady, Vegetable GardeningI hope you enjoyed the grand tour of my edible garden that I created in my side yard.
Today, I would like to show what is happening in my original vegetable garden…
As you can see, there is a lot growing in this area.
Among the vegetables is a giant sunflower, pots filled with ornamental plants AND vegetables and hollyhocks that have finished flowering can be seen alongside the garden.
Off to the right side, you can see my container corn.
And yes, those are plastic patio chairs inside my vegetable garden. (I’ll explain why later.)
This edible garden is actually made up of three parts. My original vegetable garden was a fenced in square space. Like many gardeners who like to grow their own food, I realized that I needed more space – so we added on an extension a couple of years ago…
The third part of my edible garden consists of vegetables growing in containers along with ornamental plants…
I currently have zucchini growing in the closest pot along with a jalapeño plant, parsley and sweet potato vines.
The middle pot is filled with a Thai pepper plant, chives, cucumber, celosia and kangaroo paw.
The third (and my most favorite container) has a bell pepper plant, cinnamon basil, green & purple sweet potato vines, dianthus and angelita daisy growing inside.
The outer vegetable garden is filled with sunflowers and bush beans.
Our family loves to eat ‘string beans’. They are easy to grow and to freeze for later.
Here is something that you may not know about growing beans. “They make their own nitrogen, so you don’t need to add any nitrogen fertilizer.”
In fact, if fertilize them with a fertilizer that contains nitrogen – it can cause them to grow beautiful leaves, but not beans. That is because there needs to be a balance between the other major nutrients – phosphorus and potassium.
If you do apply a fertilizer, make sure that contains a low amount of nitrogen.
I have lots of cucumbers growing in the original vegetable garden along with a couple of pumpkin plants.
As a child, I grew up calling cucumbers ‘gurkens’, which is what they are called in German. I spent some time when I was young, in Germany, visiting my grandparents while my grandfather was working over there.
I love cucumbers and we eat them 3 or 4 times a week.
It can be a little hard to spot ripe cucumbers. Most of my cucumber plants are growing up onto the trellis, but sometimes you can find cucumbers growing on the ground. You need to move the leaves aside to see them.
I like to eat cucumbers with salad, using my grandmother’s ‘top secret’ salad dressing recipe.
I only wish that I could grow cucumbers and leaf lettuce at the same time….
Okay, back to the patio chairs sitting in my garden.
Why on earth would I place chairs in my garden?
Well, they are an easy way to provide shade for vegetables that quickly wilt in the full sun.
And so, that is what is going on in my edible gardens this summer.
**I am excited to share with you a gardening video that I made for Troybilt as a part of my involvement with the ‘Saturday 6″.
I’ll debut it for you on Monday 🙂
My Summer Edible Garden: Part 1
AZ Plant Lady, Vegetable GardeningIt may be awfully hot outside, but my garden is awash in brightly colored flowers from my single bougainvillea, Arizona yellow bells and ‘Rio Bravo’ sage, which shrug off the summer heat.
Last year, we decided to create an edible garden along the side of our house.
This was a large underused area that we look out at from our kitchen, family room and bedrooms.
To get it ready for planting, we had our ghost gum eucalyptus tree removed. It was a beautiful tree, but was quickly outgrowing this area with its overhanging limbs.
The next step involved pulling out some of the flowering shrubs along the back wall and along the side of the house. We kept the flowering shrubs along the side wall, because they add beauty and help to break up the bare expanse of the wall.
This is what the side garden looks like today…
The centerpiece of the edible garden is the vegetable garden. Right now, it is filled with corn, zucchini, tomatoes, cucumbers and sunflowers.
In front, is my colorful container filled with a variety of herbs including basil, parsley, sage and thyme. I bought an inexpensive plastic container and spray painted it a bright blue. The container is connected to the drip system of the vegetable garden.
In the foreground (not pictured) is our new Arizona sweet orange tree. We planted it last year and are excited to have three oranges growing on it.
You may be thinking that three oranges is not much to be excited about, but the first couple of years after a citrus tree is planted – you are lucky to get any fruit at all.
Newly planted citrus trees shouldn’t be fertilized during the first year, because you want them to focus on root growth, not upper growth when there is not a substantial root system for them to rely on. Since it has been a year since we have planted it, we will fertilize this year.
In front of the vegetable garden are a pair of new peach trees.
I love peaches and have enjoyed the fruit from my mother’s peach trees for years. I finally decided that I wanted to grow my own.
We got 18 peaches this year, which is a lot considering that we planted them in January.
Notice the green plant at the base of the peach tree? It is a gourd plant that will quickly grow and cover the ground. This will serve as a ‘living mulch’ and help to prevent weeds and shade the roots of my peach trees.
Inside the vegetable garden, sunflower seeds are beginning to form. It is so fun to see the birds hanging upside down trying to get to the seeds.
You can allow the birds to eat the seeds or if you want to save them for yourself, simply tie a paper bag around the flower to keep the birds away.
I’ll probably save some flowers for ourselves and let the birds enjoy the seeds of a couple of unprotected sunflowers.
A large zucchini plant is growing in the background and as anyone who has grown zucchini will tell you, it is prolific.
The slightly wilting plant in the foreground is a pumpkin plant. If you want a pumpkin for fall, then June is when you want to plant them.
It is normal for the leaves to wilt slightly during the heat of the day. They will return to normal later in the day.
Zucchini can hide underneath the large leaves of the zucchini plant. I’m going to use this one to make my chocolate chip zucchini bread. It’s delicious and your kids will never know there is zucchini in it 😉
I found the recipe on Pinterest and have already made it once. My family keeps bugging me to make more. Here is the link to the recipe, if you are interested – Chocolate Zucchini Bread
My tomatoes are flourishing in the natural shade provided by my sunflowers.
One of my cherry tomato plants has even decided to expand a bit outside of the garden.
Behind the vegetable garden are my two apple trees, planted this January. One is a Anna apple tree and the other is a Dorsett Golden. These apple trees do well in the desert and although they will produce apples if planted alone – they will produce more apples because they will cross pollinate each other.
It will take a few years for any apples to appear, but the blossoms in spring are just lovely.
Behind the apple trees are six blackberry bushes. This year, we enjoyed the berries so much and are hoping for even more next year as they grow larger.
Blackberries won’t produce the first year after planting because the berries appear on 1-year odd canes.
Did you know that there are now thornless varieties of blackberries available? I have one….I only wish that the other five were thornless 😉
Well, that is what I have growing in my side edible garden.
Tomorrow, I’ll share what is growing in my original vegetable garden.
What do you have growing in your garden right now?
A Summer Edible Garden: Part 2
Natural Shade for Tomato Plants
Arizona garden, desert gardening, Vegetable GardeningIf you like to grow tomatoes AND you live in the desert, then you know how important it is to shade your tomato plants during the summer months.
Most vegetable gardeners haul out 50% shade cloth, which does a great job at shading tomatoes and protecting them from the intense desert sun.
Personally, I don’t particularly like how shade cloth looks. As a horticulturist and landscape designer – I like gardens to look beautiful and that extends to vegetable gardens.
So instead of putting up shade cloth over my tomato plants this year, I decided to create natural shade for them.
My tomatoes are surrounded by giant sunflowers on their east, west and southern sides. If you can only add sunflowers to one side, then choose the west side to protect them from the intense afternoon sun.
Throughout the day, they experience filtered shade. My tomatoes look great without any signs of sunburn.
Sunflowers are easy to grow from seed and you can start planting them in March and continue throughout the summer.
Because sunflowers only live a few months, I have planted a second crop of sunflowers in between my existing sunflowers. I will soon plant a third crop in order to provide shade all summer and into early fall for my tomatoes.
An added bonus to planting sunflowers is that they provide food and shelter for birds and you can enjoy their delicious sunflower seeds.
Another reason to use sunflowers instead of shade cloth for tomatoes is that sunflowers are a lot less expensive then shade cloth and are an inexpensive and sustainable solution.
How about you? What do you use to shade your tomatoes?
Neglected Herbs Lead to Beautiful Flowers…
AZ Plant Lady, WildflowersI have a confession to make…
Sometimes I am a lazy gardener. Are you shocked? Will this revelation cause you to stop reading my blog?
In my defense, I must say that life gets rather busy and at the end of a long day, I forgo the opportunity to do some needed garden maintenance.
However, my reluctance to perform needed maintenance has a rather beautiful benefit…
Neglected Herbs
My herbs begin to flower in the absence of harvesting their leaves.
Now, I like growing herbs and harvest them so that I can use them both dried and fresh.
But, there are times that I don’t get out to harvest the leaves. When herbs are allowed to grow without harvesting the leaves – they begin to flower.
My sage (above) has beautiful purple flowers, don’t you think?
Neglected Herbs
Now, my green and purple basil plants are beginning to flower as well.
Herbs are best harvested before the begin to flower for the best taste.
So, what do you do when they start to flower? Well, you have two options…
– You could let them flower for a couple of weeks and enjoy their beauty.
– Or you could prune them back severely and let the leaves grow back so you can harvest them.
What do you think I should do?