November 16, 2009: Oh Dear, is it Monday Already?

*Each week Daphne's Dandelions hosts Monday Harvest. Be sure to visit her blog to see who is harvesting what this week!*

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I have nothing to show.

That doesn't mean I didn't have a harvest. It just means I set the pots of lettuce right next to the rabbit's cage, and we've been picking his dinner and feeding him each night, rather than picking the greens and keeping them refrigerated. He does seem to like these ultra-fresh greens even better. I'm actually not growing enough to keep him satisfied yet, and we had to make a trip to the grocery store for some red leaf lettuce to supplement the home grown.




Elsewhere in the mini-garden, the tomato plants are still alive. The tomato-less one still has no blossoms, but the larger plant is blooming and setting fruit just fine.




When the tomato plants go outside, they are on the south side of the building. I have to watch the temperature here, as it can get very hot, very fast. A few minutes after I took this photo, the temperature had gone up to over 91F. It's sheltered from the north wind and gets sun all day long. On warmer days, I'll be moving them around the corner where it doesn't get quite so hot.



While it was 88.7 on the south side of the house, it was only 60.1 on the east side. Quite a difference!

Yesterday I placed the two plastic containers in their spots in the garden, and mixed equal parts of compost and native soil with vermiculite and a bit of slow release fertilizer, then filled the small box. I wanted to use just compost and vermiculite, but I'm already into quite an expense in purchasing it by the bag, so I'm going to see how well things grow with the mixture. If it works, I'll save quite a few $$ next winter.



I planted red onion sets in the small, bottomless container, it held 25 sets. I'll pull every other one to use as green onions, and see how big the others will grow in the time we have here in AZ. The small pot holds green onions from the grocery store, it's how I keep mine from going slimy in the refrigerator. These have been potted for about two weeks, the original tops have died back and all new green growth is now showing. The seed mats have been made for the larger plastic box which, when filled, will hold Short 'n Sweet carrots and Melody spinach.


Look closely! The spinach I planted just a week ago is showing!


Poor wheelbarrow....I think Mr. H has some fixin' to do.



There's quite a drop off on this narrow strip next to the walkway.


The entire area is backfilled with sand, probably from a nearby wash. Once it's been wet and then dries, it's like concrete...as long as nobody disturbs it by walking on it. Over the years, it has become quite unstable. I've tried to talk Mr. H into a retaining wall back here, but to no avail. The rock retaining walls around the rest f the property are holding up well where I reinforced and rebuilt them using concrete, but I'm afraid the old body is wearing out...I've built my last rock wall. I have a bunch of African daisy seeds that I may sow on the bank between the garden and the alley. I'm thinking I might lay down some of that plastic fencing, then scatter the seeds and sift a bit of sand/compost over them. That might possibly be enough to keep people from walking there, and the roots might eventually hold the soil.


21 comments:

  1. Poor wheelbarrow. It looks like your winter garden is coming together. I can't wait to read about all of the nice veggies you'll get to harvest this January while's I'm buried in snow and ice.

    You built a rock wall? That's pretty crafty of you! I would love to earn masonry...especially dry stone walling.

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  2. New gardens! You just can't beat the garden bug :-) The 88f sounds good to me. It's about 65f inside right now, 41f outside and going to a low of 32f tonight, burr!

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  3. Thomas, I got the rest of the spinach and carrots planted today, as well as some kale.

    I rebuilt some of the existing rock retaining walls around here a couple years ago, using concrete to reinforce them. I wish I'd done them all, as the old parts are being damaged by all the critters that burrow. The concrete reinforced ones are holding up beautifully! Mr. H said seven bags of concrete mix for one 12' long by 2' high wall was a bit excessive.

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  4. Ah, Dan...you know me, I'm just not an indoor plant person, and I need to grow something edible!

    It was perfect weather for working outside this afternoon, didn't even need a sweater. But we did get down to 38 last night, expecting more of the same tonight, then it's supposed to warm up into the 40s again, with highs in the mid 70s.

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  5. Must be the clear sky's that make the nights so cool. Wouldn't happen to need a worker the works for heat do you? :-)

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  6. Hello AnniesGranny,

    I love your blog. Isn't it nice to be able to grow vegetables in the winter in Western AZ?

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  7. azplantlady, I just hope everything grows. I didn't have a lot of success last winter, most everything was ready to harvest after we went back north! My neighbors enjoyed it, though. ;-)

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  8. Be careful with that drop off! I'd fall down it within three minutes of being out there...each time I went.

    You've got the best of all gardening worlds. Fantastic! I'm glad you're expanding the AZ garden and even more glad that you seem to be getting good internet service.

    Play some hand and foot for me.

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  9. Dan, are you volunteering?

    YES!

    You get to sleep with Otto, Annie stays with me. She's a great foot warmer on a cold night ;-)

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  10. Ribbit, I slide down the hill every time I try to work there. As soon as the rattlesnakes go to sleep, I'm going up on the hill for more big rocks and I'll try to place them in some strategic places to stop the erosion. I just got it all raked and smooth today and Mr. H and the dogs both traipsed through it. There is NO reason to have to walk up there behind the garden boxes!

    I play hand and foot every Tuesday...I'll be sure to play a hand or two for you!

    Keep fingers crossed on the internet. It has been good, and FREE! I sent a check over for two months, and she sent it back...said they were going to pull the plug and go to the new system. So far that hasn't happened.

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  11. Amazing temperature differentials. We are getting rain and high winds. Hopefully my greenhouse will not get a tree branch through it before the night is out.

    I would really like to swap weather with you for a day or two. :D

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  12. KitsapFG, our daytime temps are forecast to range from 68-79 for the next 15 days, but the lows are predicted to be in the mid to low 30s! Those are temps we normally don't see until late Dec to mid Jan! It looks like it will be a really cold winter here this year, which has us seriously thinking about putting out that "for sale" sign!

    Keeping my fingers crossed that all branches remain on your trees!

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  13. I like how the garden is coming along. Spinach rocks and I can't wait for mine to peek through the soil.

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  14. Kalena Michele, I planted as much spinach as I could crowd in! If I could only have two things in my garden, it would be spinach and carrots. I think I need a few flowers now.

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  15. I do that with bunching onions too. I do keep them in the fridge for a week, but after that if I still have any I put them in the garden. During the summer and fall I have my own that I grow, but in the spring I'm buying them from the store and I just don't use a whole bunch up at once.

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  16. I can't get over that temp. difference, and the cactus....that is fun to see. :)

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  17. Oooh, I remember people laughing at me for putting on a sweater when it was 78 degrees -- when it had been 120, it felt cold to me!

    Keep doing what you can, and be careful with that slidey part.

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  18. Stefaneener, we had to give in and turn on the heat pump yesterday. When I woke up it was 52 degrees in the bedroom, and even two hot little dogs couldn't take the chill off of me! I grab a sweater when it hits around 70, even warmer than that if I'm just sitting around.

    I've planted everything I can find to plant now, I'm out of potting mix, manure and containers. Now...grow garden, grow!

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  19. Great blog and glad I found it - all thanks to Blotanical!

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  20. Your garden is really coming together! How fabulous that your bunny gets fresh greens. I really liked your blog Thanks for sharing.

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  21. The Galloping Gardener, thank you and welcome to my blog! I'm afraid I'm still getting lost at Blotanical, but I'm trying ;-)

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    Velva, Thank you for the kind comments. My little bunny deserves fresh greens. His variety has a life expectancy of 5-7 years, and he turned 8 years old in October! He's never been sick a day in his life...maybe because all of those fresh organic greens!

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