Hard to believe it's time already

[grrlscout]

But the planting calendar for the low desert says it's time to start our seeds.

I didn't even have time to order seeds! So I pawed through the seed box, and picked a few varieties. Hope they work. Some are almost 3 years old.

We moved into this house in June, so the "garden" is still just an idea for a section of the backyard. In reality, it's hard pan clay, topped with decomposed granite, and laced with old wiring and irrigation lines.

Here's a pic I took when we first moved in. Now, the grass is looking really good. We cut up that fallen ficus for firewood, and pulled up those scraggle rosemary shrubs. The garden will go outside that kidney shaped brick border, mostly long the block wall, and where the rosemary was.

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Anyway, here's what I'm starting with...

On this tray:
Purple tomatillo
Zuni tomatillo
Buttercrunch lettuce
Lettuce mix
Saint Anne's lettuce

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Rear, L-R:
Zapotec pleated tomato
Chiapas wild tomato
Numex Sandia chile pepper
Habanero chile pepper (saved from a pepper I brought back from Cozumel, Mexico)

Front, L-R:
Beam's yellow pear tomato
Ancho chile pepper
Joe E. Parker chile pepper
Habanero chile pepper (saved from a pepper I brought back from Roatan, Honduras)

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Sorry for the poor focus, seems my camera was more interested in the back yard.

I also planted a peach tree (Tropic Snow) last week. It's looking a bit sad now, but it is supposed to be dormant now.

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And, I ordered a couple blackberries (Roseborough), and they'll be here next month.

Baby stepping toward the big plan:

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[crashdive123]

Very cool - nice plan too. I've got to get busy and build some new earth boxes.

[Rick]

You are both despicable. Here's a pic of my garden.

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[hunter63]

So why is it that you buy a pack of seeds for like 10 cents.....and save them for EVER!
I can't throw any away.....so because they are from like 1988 or whatever....you plant ALOT of them so in case they don't come up real well you have at least tried, Right?

The they all come up.........

Got a couple of months yet before I have to deal with it.......But Hey, Congrats......

[crashdive123]

Thanks for labeling the picture Rick. I was wondering what all that white stuff was.

[Rick]

My seeds are so old I grow wrinkled tomatoes. My seeds are so old the green beans put the beans in a glass of water when they go to sleep. My seeds are so old the runners on my peas just walk. My seeds are so old my corn needs a cane just to stand up. I have old seeds.

[Winnie]

My seeds are so old I grow wrinkled tomatoes. My seeds are so old the green beans put the beans in a glass of water when they go to sleep. My seeds are so old the runners on my peas just walk. My seeds are so old my corn needs a cane just to stand up. I have old seeds.

Nope, not gonna go there, I'm attempting a whole week of non smutty thoughts.(I just failed)

[Winnie]

My garden looks like the Somme at the moment. I like the plan.

[grrlscout]

My seeds are so old I grow wrinkled tomatoes.

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My seeds are so old the green beans put the beans in a glass of water when they go to sleep.

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My seeds are so old the runners on my peas just walk.

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My seeds are so old my corn needs a cane just to stand up. I have old seeds.

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Let's give him a big round of applause, folks! Try the veal, and don't forget to tip your waitresses!

[grrlscout]

So why is it that you buy a pack of seeds for like 10 cents.....and save them for EVER!
I can't throw any away.....so because they are from like 1988 or whatever....you plant ALOT of them so in case they don't come up real well you have at least tried, Right?

The they all come up.........

Totally! I think I planted four seeds in each container -- just in case.

Then I always feel a little bad when I have to thin them.

One thing I hadn't thought of... someone told me that you should nick or file pepper seeds that you save before planting them. Oops! I had not done that. Oh well.

[grrlscout]

You are both despicable. Here's a pic of my garden.

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Fine crop of snow you have going there!

[hunter63]

GS, I like your plan as well.....many winter evening were spent drawing stuff, trying to incorporate, succession planting, companion planting, orientation planting and green manure planting

Burpee at one time had a offer if you sent in a plane with number of plants you wanted to grow, they would send you back a plane with all these things laid out for you.

Mine came back telling me I needed a garden that was 150 ft X60 ft to make recommended rood for everything.....Garden had and still is, approx 24 x24'.....so I crowd a lot.
Now I see a couple of programs for this, for sale.....

Over the years I sorta got my methods down, revolving certain plants and families of plants around so as to not plant in the same place every year.....but I still try to plant big stuff in the back, short stuff in the front, facing south.

[grrlscout]

GS, I like your plan as well.....many winter evening were spent drawing stuff, trying to incorporate, succession planting, companion planting, orientation planting and green manure planting

I tend to do my sketches during meetings at work. I would so rather be digging in the dirt, than sitting at the table, listening to a bunch of boring nonsense.

I am so excited that at this new house, I have so much more room. The usable space is still small, compared to that available to folks who live in the country. But it is so much larger than what I was working with at the old house -- 3 boxes, each about 4x4.

Over the years I sorta got my methods down, revolving certain plants and families of plants around so as to not plant in the same place every year.....but I still try to plant big stuff in the back, short stuff in the front, facing south.

Working with that tiny space taught me a lot about succession planting, companion plants, and planting density. Sometimes trying to cram so many plants into such a small space bit me in the butt. Bugs and diseases had no problem hopping from plant to plant. The soil also had very little time to "rest".

Of course, once I started to get it down, we moved. So I get to learn my microclimate all over again.

It's funny, here we have to orient our gardens totally differently. Plants would burn up in a southern exposure.

In my plan, south is at the top of the page. The majority of the plants are on the west side. There, they will be shaded from the midday sun by the trees, and the late afternoon sun, by the neighbor's block wall. The should get a fair amount of morning sun though.

The peppers, tomatillos, and sunchokes are in the most exposed areas of the yard, since they love the heat.

I put the asparagus under the eaves to help slow erosion from roof runoff, plus they will get a lot of free water in the spring.

I put the blackberries over on the east side of the house, so they will be protected from the afternoon sun... but it might be almost too shady there for them. We'll see.

The vining plants go on the south side of the yard, because they will be shaded by the fence, and a tree. Plus they have room to along that whole bed, under the shrubs.

That's the plan anyway. I'm sure I'll screw up plenty of things. But that's just part of the process.

[Rick]

"So, grrlscout, what do you think of the proposal?"
"Broccoli."
Stares from everyone around table.
"I...uh...mean, I love it as much as broccoli. Great proposal."

[hunter63]

I used to fall asleep during meetings in my former life......wasn't too bad as long as I didn't snore.....LOL...If you do it right the top of your glasses frame will hide the fact that your eyes are closed.

I got rid of my blackberries seems they wanted to grow everywhere except where they were supposed to be.
At "The Place' we have wild ones growing everywhere.

[Rick]

That's interesting. Chris has mentioned that blackberries go wild but mine have not. I have far more trouble with the raspberries than the blackberries. If you keep the end of the stem from touching the ground they won't spread. If the end of the stem touches the ground it will produce roots and a new plant. Raspberries, on the other hand, send up shoots off the underground runners and it's a lot like Bop A Mole with those.

I put up a section of fence about 7 feet high and just turn the stems back in through the fence. As the stems get longer I just keep re-routing them through the fence and I still have the original 8 plants I started with two or three years ago.

[hunter63]

Blackberries, raspberries, mint, horseradish....all very invasive....to the point that they crowed out everything else....not good in a small space

Oh yeah and egyptian (multiplier) onions as well......

[grrlscout]

I have heard that. It's another reason why I put the blackberries and sunchokes where I did. Those locations are either hemmed in by cement and/or brick, or near nothing that I care about.

The blackberries would be going against the side of the house, between those two cypress. There is already a brick-bordered bed there, with irrigation. It's just shut off. The soil is loose and sandy. I think they will like it there, unless they don't get enough sun.

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It's an old photo. There's now a plastic pool supplies box up against that wall, and we cut down the orange tree (way in the back, center), since it was dying. It'll be next year's firewood.

[hunter63]

Looks like you don't have to worry about mowing the grass.....LOL.

I had a chestnut tree next to the garden the root system poisoned out some of the growing area.....didn't know it till I planed it...so I try to keep stuff away from trees even though the shade might do them some good where you live.

[grrlscout]

Looks like you don't have to worry about mowing the grass.....LOL.

Ha! Well, there is a little. I took some more updated pics over the weekend:

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The front yard is mostly grass too.

I want to put the sunchokes between the diving board and the grass. It's a mess there now, between the irrigation hose, and the cement pilings for the pool fence that we don't have -- I wish we did, but the guys who did the clean up for the bank that foreclosed on it threw it away!

Artichokes would go where that stack of flagstone is. I'll use that flagstone to extend the mini patio, and put the chiminea on it. Right now, that dirt is sandy and FULL of fire ants.

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This is the blackberry zone. What a mess! This weekend I tried to turn on the irrigation, to no avail. I think it might be turned off at the valve, in the box underground. I'll check there next. I need to get crackin', since they are ready for pick up in less than a month!

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I'm starting to get a few seedlings already! Just some of the lettuces. Also, tons of MOLD

I removed the lids, and scraped off as much of it as I could. We'll see.