New Beds

More new vegetable beds for the garden! I am happy to be adding more vegetable beds to my backyard! I have wanted these vinyl raised beds for about a year, but I was concerned with how they would look with my wild, natural rock garden setting. I decided to keep all of the existing rockwork, and just drop the garden beds in where I could find room. I have to step over the rocks in order to access the beds for planting and cultivating but at least it still has it's original character.

Here is the other new bed. I am going to cut down the Eucalyptus tree. It is going to have to go because of the vegetables and their need of sunlight. Two fruit trees that are already planted will fill in the edges of this area, growing to just barely cover the ends of the bed in the picture above.

It will be a big change!

Thanks for stopping by! To all of my gardening friends, Garden on!

To Begin Again

How about I begin at the new path edging and start again from there. I decided to line the paths with local rock and selected chunks of basalt from Black Mountain just up the road.

This area has changed alot since the last post. The garden bed to the right of the Peach tree has Green Bell Peppers in it, and the Canna bed from last year has been completely re-worked and now contains Zucchini, Bread Seed and Ornamental Poppies and Black Berries. The Apple Tree is new, and the in-ground bed that is located in the corner actually went in today! Ijust planted it with Melons, 1st quarter, Moon in Cancer. The melon is an unknown to me variety that is yellow with green stripes and is salmon colored on the inside. I harvested the seeds last year from a melon a friend gave me, so we will see if the seeds are viable. It is a gamble for sure.

So there we have it, Scarlet Runner Beans on the greenhouse frame, with Armenian Cucumbers to follow up the netting, flanked by Zuchinni in the whiskey barrels, Green Tiger Cherry Tomatoes are inside of the greenhouse against the wall with Fortex Beans growing on the white vintage metal vine supports. There is alot going on, and the Poppies are sprinkled in the rocks everywhere just to top it off!

The large Basalt Rock flower accents are there to stay. I can't imagine it without them now. I hope you like the rockwork!

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

It's All About Food

My vision is skewed and now it is all about food in the garden. I look to the left where I added vegetables to the In-Ground garden in the fall, and I asked myself what is the difference between the left and the right of this particular garden area. The left represents the capacity to grow food in the desert in the Winter using Tomato Lady Soil, drip irrigation, and cool season plant seeds, and on the right it is pretty much the way most gardens look in Las Vegas right now with dormant shrubs and flowers. And now to me, it is a new place to grow more food.

So I dug up the Lantana, the two varieties of Canna, and removed the Chaste Tree. The mulch was removed and placed behind the Sunning Patio. The soil was moist and you could where tell there was microbial activity under the mulch. The canna did a great job breaking up the soil with their roots. ( I hesitate to grow them again because of all of the bio-mass.) The Chaste tree was spreading roots under everything and had gotten everywhere so it would have reduced the vitality of everything growing in this bed, which was worth a mention. I have Iris and Double Lilies, and Hummingbird bush in the area where I am working. I need to relocate them somewhere else. I like the rockwork, I wrestle with raised wooden beds in this area. I think about Corn, and Melons and an In-Ground bed would be perfect for them, also it would be less confining without the lumber, which then you have to accomodate walking paths, and access to both sides of the beds, and with the walls there and the rock layout, in order to accomodate all of those aspects it would reduce the size of the final planting area overall.

So I think that I can make two large rectangular planting areas, essentually divide the area in half, place small flagstones down the center then off to the left nuancing the flow of the rock in the wall in the forground, which will provide a simple access but still allow for most planting area. So I will get more soil, level the pads, sow Poppies, and be ready for early summer for my Corn and whatever else, until it is Melon time!

Here is what is growing on the other side of the patio right now. Eventually there will be food growing on both sides of the sunning patio.

Here is Cilantro growing in the pot almost in the shade from the south most wall. It is in it's peak right now. I have it growing with Red Onions from seed planted in the fall.

I have Turnips, Lettuce and Spinach growing in the Greenhouse. I need to take some more photos to capture the garden this time of year.

Thanks for visiting! To all of my gardening friends, Garden on!

Circle Bed

It was time for another garden bed to be added to the garden. In this photo you can see the design when it was just beginning to take form. This one is called the Circle Bed. I have wanted a garden bed right in this particular spot for some time. I have been contemplating all of the different building materials that could be used for the wall support, wood, rock, a large ceramic pot, but none of those materials inspired me to action. I have just enought wood element, and just enough rock element in the garden already, and I didn't want to disturb the balance.

Then I saw this flagstone brick product and it adds just a touch of refinement to my wild, nature inspired garden.
Using the pickaxe I removed about 3 to 4 inches of dirt and rock out of the base of the design so that I have a depth of at least 6 inches of Tomato Lady Soil when I am done.

This bed will be irrigated using the same valve as all of the vegetables. I decided to tie it into the Bevel Bed line which was tricky because it had been planted with root vegetables already and I had to find the irrigation line and tie into it. I was able to remove 3 of the plants, set them aside, tie into the irrigation, then replant them and it worked out perfectly.

This bed is now planted with 25 cloves of Ichelium Red Garlic from my garden that I grew last year.

And here is the new Circle Bed from the patio!

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

A Day in August

I've wanted to make a calendar with each day's harvest representing it's calendar day. I would bring the items in, early in the morning, lay them out on the cutting board and snap a photo to represent that day. The following photos are days in August and they are somewhat out of order , it's an upload thing. I started working on the draft around the 26th. The photo above is from August 27th. It consists of Armenian Cucumbers, Ornamental Squash (2 varieties) and a Patty Pan Squash.

The harvest for August 28th is Armenian Cucumbers and Long Purple Eggplant.

August 30th's harvest is more Armenian Cucumbers. Now the month is fully represented. The 1st through the 26th photos follow.

This photo represents the harvest from August 7th, those are Peruvian Peppers. (No those are not my hands!)

More Peruvian Peppers with Bell Peppers starting to change color, August 15th.

August 16th, Armenian Cucumbers and a slightly overripe Pickling Cucumber (whoops.)

August 17th, Armenian Cucumbers and a slight blur on the focus (note to self).

August 18th, Apples are starting to fall from the tree and this Cherry Tomato was all alone so I brought him in.

August 20th, more Armenian Cucumbers, and another Cherry Tomato.

August 26th, Armenian Cucumber and Patty Pan Squash.

August's temperatures where up around 108 degrees for most of the month. When it is so hot outside, it can be discouraging because you see the potential, then you ponder "that" possibility that was side railed because of the heat. I remember feeling a little discouraged, which is why I decided to make the calendar. In looking back, August was actually better then I remembered, and I am really look forward to September!

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

Black Eyed Susans

This is my favorite area in the garden right now, where the Black Eyed Susans, Echinacea and Zinnas sway in the breeze beneath the Sunflowers.

I love Black Eyed Susans. They remind me of back home in Missouri where I grew up. These Black Eyed Susans are from seeds that I planted last year. Which reminds me.... I had wanted to plant Forget-Me-Nots which bloom in January, so maybe I should broadcast seed for those someday soon.....

Here are the Cucumbers, Squash and Melon spilling over the walkway. I have harvested 2 Scallop Ssquash and 2 Green Machine Melon off of the plants in the corner. The Pickling Cucumber in the foreground has Cucumbers forming so I will let you know how they are doing in upcoming posts.

The more recent garden design changes include removing some rock and creating more pathways. This area leads to the water hose, greenhouse and side gate. Someday there might not be any 3/4" granite back here, but it's 112 degrees out lately so it's small moves in the earthwork department.

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

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!

Balance Will Be Restored

Alot of time has passed and it seems like time is going way too fast or there is essentially no time whatsoever. But it is time to back up a bit and post the recent going's on so that at least I can take it from here. So let's start with the Iris Bed which has been re-worked. All of the Hottentot has been removed and I found it to be really healthy, and stealing the health from everything in it's way. So because it wasn't behaving "neighborly", I booted it right out of the garden! In it's stead I planted this Cape Plumbago and about 40 Daffodils that came from the Community Gardens up in Boulder City. They had to be relocated as they were incidently excavated when trying to get rid of the Sun Chokes that had completely overtook a section of the community gardens. I have had the opportunity to experience about three different plants that should be banned from community gardens, Sun Chokes (Jeruselum Artichokes), Mexican Primrose, and Mint.) The bed that I am working on up at the Boulder City Community Gardens has all three planted in it and I feel fortunate in a wierd twisted way to have been able to reconquer that bed from the clutches of havok. But get this! In my enthusiasm, I neglected to take a before photo! Oh well... you will just have to use your imagination.

But back to Black Mountain Garden, the Main Bed is a flourish of many plantings hidden by the vigor of the items in the mid-ground. There are Lemon Cucumbers inside there along with a Zucchini which I don't think is very happy, but the Sunflowers are happy, or at least they make me happy......

The Shaded Bed is not in the shadows mid-day only in the morning and evening which is unusual, but it is planted with Corn and a few Tomatoes and Ornamental Squash planted to drape over the front, then the walkway will have to be abandoned or at least carefully manuveured.

The Catnip is flowering and there are Pickling Cucumbers planted to the left, with Coriander that needs to be harvested and I actually planted Green Giant Melon seeds in the pot too, to take over and cascade out of the pot and rest on the carpet of Catnip because that is just way to much Catnip, so I will cover it with something, then balance will be restored.

Here is the Green Room which is the Green House that is designed to be completely covered with vines. It is planted with Green Beans and Lime Basil with Armenian Cucumbers that are starting to climb up the mesh. There is another piece of mesh as part of the design which I will put up shortly. The Corn is in flower and it is beautiful. I haven't grown Corn before so it is a real treat to learn about it's nuances.

The Armenian Cucumber flowers are abundant. They are vivacious. So with that, may you all find vivaciousness in your gardens!

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

My Tomato Universe

I can go out and look at the tomatoes and completely loose track of time. There are about 15 plants here in the garden. One blew around in the wind like a tumbleweed, so I pulled the branches off and stuck them in seed starter mix to see if they would sprout. They are looking mighty rough. Already I have two that the cutworms dropped to the ground, and they re-rooted in the seed starter mix, and now are ready to replant. That's another nine if my math is any good. What will become of them if they survive? Where will they go?

My tomato universe somewhat resembles the flower array above.

It is nice to live in an abundant tomato universe!

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

Random Thoughts

Penstemmon can be amazingly rediculous.

Happy Easter to everyone!

The iceplant blossoms are beginning to multiply.

The carrots were harvested to make room for Turk's Turban Squash which just seems fun to grow.

Here are the carrots after a good scrub and they are quasi pale, which is curious.

The peas are producing large quantities each day. I am blanching them and freezing them in gallon sized ziplock bags. They separate nicely after being frozen.

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