All the Best

I am calling this post all of the best and here is the reason why. I have been gone for an extremely long time, and I want to share the most awesome photos that I have collected as I still do take about a handful of photos a day, but I have been busy reading recipes for preserving the garden harvest, and obviously a myriad of other things, but apparently they didn't amount to much because I can't remember their significance in the whole scheme of things.

So perhaps busy isn't always best..... But I do really enjoy this photo of the Copper Dragon Fly solaring up in the warmth of the morning sun and wanted to share this with everyone.

Here is the perfect effect of the Morning Glories and they are all that I imagined that they would be.

The Red Canna from the Master Gardener's giveaway is more than expected! Perhaps the person who brought them in needs to drink more coffee so that they are more excitable and explenitive in their decriptions...... Just Red Canna had me thinking, well.....you know.

The Tomatoes have been a delight to pick everyday. They are starting to fade off and I am okay with it. I froze some in a gallon bag and made salsa and pasta sauce, and we have been eating them everyday, so all is fine by me.

The Armenian Cucumbers are in the midst of things. This is the fifth one harvested so far, and it will go into the pickle jar. The other half went into the salad last night. They are spectacular and recommended to me by Leslie Doyle last year. They will become a Black Mountain Garden standard.

So this is how the Armenian Cucumbers are presented in the garden. If you double click the photo, you will be able to pick out a few handing on the vine.

The Green Room is alot of fun to walk through and you can see the corn on the left which has grown tall and has produced ears. The white flowers in the center on the right are Lime Basil and they are quite lovely and I totally love the effect. I want to grown Lime Basil as a ground cover next year.

Here is a closeup of the corn before I picked them. I didn't know when to pick the corn, but if you wait too long the sugars change and they are no longer at their tasty best.

And I had no idea when that was...but either way they are sure beautiful. These are the prettiest corn in my little world, and I am going to let them dry. I remember all of the colored corn hanging from the lattias in one of the adobes at the Pueblos de Taos Indian Reservation in Taos, New Mexico. It made falling over the furniture really quite enjoyable and a remarkably, memorable experience. This one is for "Up the Hill" Susan. I miss you girl. Are you still just as wild as I remember? (Nobody could grow colored corn like Susan!)

Thanks for visiting! To all of my colored corn loving gardening friends, carry on and hurry back!

Little Rosemary Wreaths

Here are little Rosemary wreaths that are perfect to make after a rain. I added them to the bowl of orange rind and dried lemon slices and they spice up the kitchen.

The new raised bed is filled with Black Dirt and the irrigation is installed. The rain settled everything in and the whole garden is fresh and new.

Here is a close up of the irrigation and it was fun to arrive at this design where the lumber was cut at an angle. As all of my planting areas and raised beds have names, I thought about this one for a while, this one is called the Bevel Bed.

Thanks for visiting! To all of my gardening friends, carry on and hurry back!

Moon in Leo

The new raised bed is finished and you can see how it fits next to the patio.

Here is the vantage from another angle.

Husband and I moved the whiskey barrels by sliding them on rails made by tree stake poles.

Here is a pretty cool vantage point. Next will be filling the bed in with black dirt. Right now there are a half-dozen Mexican Primrose in the center of the bed. They need to be relocated but not today when the Moon is in Leo, considered barren and dry and there is to be no planting. But it is a time to harvest, cultivate, control pests and weeds, and build raised beds!

Thanks for visiting! To all of my gardening friends, carry on and hurry back!

Chi Happy and Free

Today was the day to start the new raised bed for the winter greens that are ready to plant out from the greenhouse. I consider the principles of Feng Shui when incorporating new elements into the garden. There are angles created by the shape of the box that were a consideration in it's design and placement. There would be no chards (cutting Chi) pointing to the door of the house or to the center of the pathways that approach the bed from various directions.

Even the length of the side board was considered so that it wouldn't feel as though it blocked Chi when walking along the curving path. The wood will eventually grey in color and visually become an extention of the patio. Originally I had considered redwood but the color would overwhelm this area of the garden.

The front board requires miter cuts before it can be installed and then the whole frame will be brought forward and settled in.

In the garden there are penstemmons with their rosey leaf tips preparing for spring.

And here is a Firecracker Penstemmon already in bloom.

Here is a Perky Sue and the leaves of California Poppy hinting at what is to come!

Thanks for visiting! To all of my gardening friends, carry on and hurry back!

On the Other Side

Here is the update on the green room. The other side wall is stood and the concrete poured.

Nine feet isn't very long, but interior roof supports will be required.

The transplanted green beans and lettuce are taking hold with just a few casualties.

Green beans are forming in the other pots.

The chard is lightly being harvested.

The New Zealand Spinach has what resembles seeds (a sepaled nondescript flower?) forming where side leaves have been harvested. I will take more photos in a day or two to see what develops.

Thanks for visiting! To all of my gardening friends, carry on and hurry back!

Looks Like Heaven

Back to building the raised bed. I excavated the soil out of the center, scratched the base with a pickax and raked up the rocks. The depth will be just over 6 inches. The plant's roots can venture into the highly alkaline, devoid of organic matter putty colored dirt if they desire.

Here is the irrigation and I am using what is left, I can't seem to keep this stuff around.

Tomato Lady Soil is my favorite soil in the world and it will fill the bed. This will hold 10 cubic feet.

So here is the new bed with the transplanted green beans from the traveling pots. There were lettuces at their bases when I dug them up so they came along too. There will be casualties unfortunately, but we must not dwell on that. Husband says this looks like a tar pit.
Apparently he's seen a tar pit. I am thinking it looks like heaven.

Thanks for visiting! To all of my gardening friends, carry on and hurry back!

Times Up

Here is an update on the radishes. They are little and I had to pick them because they are far beyond the 21 dtm (days to maturity) stated on the package, and it's been more like 30. When I decided to construct the raised bed, it was the peak of summer and this spot had always been an oven as I recalled. Now, the sun is lower in the sky and there is shade cast a few feet from the wall which covers the bed completely from 9:00 am until 5:00 pm as we move into fall. There is a desire for people to want to use shade cloth in the desert. I believe you would experience diminished results similar to what I am experiencing with my radishes.

So here are the radishes that have been planted in full sun. I will keep you posted on the actually dtm so that we use this to continue the topic of the shade cloth delimma . (btw, the radishes tasted fine, but I wouldn't recommend them with coffee!)

Thanks for visiting! To all of my gardening friends, carry on and hurry back!

Lil Bit of Trouble

In a conversation with a very knowledgable garden expert, whom we shall call Leslie, I asked what she thought about New Zealand Spinach. I had just ordered it online from Botanical Interests, (there's a link located under Essentials on the sidebar) and I thought it was awesome that as a spinach, it actually thrives here in our environment. She shared with me that it can be extremely invasive, and practically overran one of her raised beds until she finally got rid of it, and was not feeling the love for New Zealand Spinach. Oh, oh! I say that because I have recently unleached it's potential in my new 17 1/2 foot raised bed and this could be a problem. You can see it in the picture. It looks so harmless. Who would think that it is trouble in the making. I laugh almost invitingly at my predicament, someday cursing that there is too much spinach and trying to get to the root of it. (Now if this were mint, my demeanor would be totally different. I have slayed the mint dragon once, and even the scales that fell off turned into mint. It was a nightmare!) So I will eventually relocate this pretty green jewel into one of the traveling pots but for now it's like holding a little piece of Kriptonite. Kind of bedazzling.

Thanks for visiting! To all of my gardening friends, carry on and hurry back!

Vegetable Knot Gardens

I have been waiting a whole week to plant today. I planted all of the tubs,

and this one received the little bonsai sunflower!

While planting the tubs, and looking into the circular shape, I just couldn't allow myself to sow seeds randomly. There was a strong pull to plant everything in rings and all I could think about was designs like fireworks and synchronized swimmers. After everything was planted then it was time to draw the layout, of the vegetable knot gardens.

Thanks for visiting. To all of my gardening friends, carry on and hurry back!

Agressive Vegetables

I went in and told my husband that we had beans. He said they wouldn't hurt me as long as I didn't make them mad. (?) This must be an agressive variety!

This tomato was recently put behind bars.

These lettuces went into lockdown and now there is no way in or out for the cat or the crickets.

And this guy is alot more agressive then he looks, so for now we are just going to watch him!

Thanks for visiting! To all of my gardening friends, carry on and hurry back!

Radical Vegetables

Oh great, now the turnips are wearing jewelry in their piercings!

Thanks for visiting! To all of my gardening friends, Carry On and Hurry Back!

Calling Epiphany

Yesterday I installed a new irrigation valve just for the vegetables and herbs that do require more water then the drought tolerant ornamentals that are scattered about. I'll be able to plant the area under the apple tree, and water the kitchen garden items that are sprinkled about in both the lily bed and iris bed. Eventually this line will extend to the sunning bed where there will be another raised bed to take care of the visions of artichokes that will be over there. Artichokes are so cool. They are a big thistle!

At 100 degrees it was time for a break and a few photos. Here is a pickling cucumber sprawled out across the hot rocks.

Here is an update on the peaches that are fattening up.

And now the raised bed. I sprayed Die Bug (D.E.) on the radishes and turnips last night just to console myself from thinking that I was powerless against the midnight salad rampage that takes place here nightly. This place is crazy as crickets come nightfall. I will reseed the lettuce, but until then I am waiting for an epiphany.

Thanks for visiting! To all of my gardening friends, Carry On and Hurry Back!

Fish Nets, Cat Nets

With the song by Stevie Nicks, "Gypsy" playing in my head, I contemplate how to keep Symba out of the vegetable garden. Hmm, this will do for now.....

I know this is a vegetable bed, but flowers look good anywhere.

Heading out with my coffee (my morning ritual) I don't see Symba. Oh, then I spot him as he is strategically placing his paws between the net squares and walks the length of the bed entraced like a masterful ninja in slow motion. I am going to get chicken wire for the bed tomorrow and do it up right because this could be cat lethal. I am thankful I had the netting handy so the rows still look like rows and not Symba's representation of Richard Dryfus's mountain, in Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

The tree is standing tall today. Looking skyward, I recalled our alarm went off at 4:30 am this morning so that we could get up to see the Perseid Meteor Showers, but at 4:31 actually doing it next year seemed like an even better idea.

Thanks for visiting! To all of my gardening friends, Carry On, and Hurry Back!