My first tomato was harvested!

And soon many more will come up. So far the only insects are the yellow and black aphids and I continue to jetspray the plants as much as possible. Everything is coming up now and some plots are at the full impact zone, giving a crowded appearance.

I bought some butterfly bush two days ago. I'm not sure where to put them; was thinking along the western wall of the house. I need to remove the dead bottlebrush shrub as there's no life in it. The palo verde's end tips have died but it's in yellow bloom right now with new branches growing. The mesquite tree is looking healthy.

Even the potato brush is growing new life. I need to take time out and prune the front yard, remove the dead brush and twigs.

It's been nearing 100F these last few days, with raging wildfires 50 miles to our East and 200 miles to our Northeast that give off brown sun rises and sun sets and hazy, smoky days.

A busy Memorial Day weekend gardening

This time Kevin takes the prize for taking the initiative to get the backyard cleaned up. He was up early yesterday sorting through all the stuff that could be hauled away, from sun-torn frost sheets, broken pots to rotting wood. It all filled his pick-up truck and this morning he took it all to the dump before work.

In another week or so we'll hvae a truck load of organic trash to take to the dump: years of dead branches, palm fronds, freeze-killed vegetation. I'm also going to trim a lot of plants of the dead branches. I could perhaps also rake up all the dead oleander leaves.

He also set up bird netting around one of our 10x4 lot, using the old PVC pipes and getting corners for them. They may not be too sturdy during our winds though, as I've already had to adjust a few beams.

The vegetables are slowly coming up. I'm still fighting a battle with the yellow and black aphids though, and one spinach had sponge fungus that showed up overnight. K also planted the small peet cups of turnips and beets into the eastern lot, and in another week or so he'll have more to plant there as the lettuce, cabbage and other goodies come up.

The older cabbage is looking harvestable.

I took my grapefruit tree outside, the last tree to see sunlight. The plant was shocked by the drastic weather change. The leaves burned and today the leaves have all dropped. It will now regrow hardier leaves and do better now.

Over 100 beans coming up!

I think giving the soil a break last year has made it more fertile this year. Things are coming up: tomatoes, beans, peppers, cabbage, peas, eggplant, turnips, beets and my beloved spinach which I can't get enough of. Kevin waters the garden faithfully twice a day.

And we haven't had much insect infestation yet, although I saw my first grasshopper today.

We have agreed to extend the western plot by another 10x10 area using recycled soil that has been solarizing for two years. Our back yard is finally taking shape and looking less like a redneck yard with empty pots and garden equipemtn along the fenceline.

Aphids!

Yellow aphids have attacked my oleanders on the eastern perimeter AND my little peach tree. Right now I'm getting rid of them organically, with a high-pressure garden hose at close range. Today will be the fourth day I will have done this method, each day decreasing the amount of aphids on the plants. There also seems to be white mealy mites on some of the same plants infected with the aphids.

Otherwise we seem to have little insects so far. But the growing season is young! We seem to finally have a decent garden coming up, with tomatoes growing fruit and our first beans coming up. Kevin planted so many more new seeds in peet containers: beans, turnips, beets and even lettuce will go into the eastern garden, that new plot he prepped last weekend. Planting will begin in early June, so that the plants will benefit from the monsoon as they are strong enough to handle heavy rains.

My spinach is really growing nicely this year. I think this is the best year yet for spinach.

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Prepping the east garden

Kevin continued to prep more of the eastern garden, spreading out steer manure and mulch. His rows of turnips, beans and beets are slowly sprouting.

This afternoon I jet-sprayed yellow aphids off the young oleander shrubs on the east fence. The young peach tree also had black ones. I didn't see any aphids on the other fruit trees, and this is the first time in two years I've had aphids.

My grapefruit tree is showing four fruit growing, the same tree that shows trunk damage to its outer cambrium.

Otherwise, the spinach is slowly coming up. I trimmed down one plant for a salad and a few days later new leaves had come up. I may finally have a steady growth of baby spinach!

I also planted a few more potato skins; I have two plants coming up that way.

I also transplanted the rescued cucumber plant into the large bed behind the pine tree. This was the plant I dug up from the compost tumbler a few months ago.

Tomatoes are also filling in. Today they all received some 30-30-30 fertilizer to blossom more. The bush beans are also slowly dropping fruit. Can't wait to eat the first tomatoes, but I think that won't be till the monsoon hits.

The white cabbage is also coming in nicely. We should have our first heads at the end of June.

It was very windy and dry today, with smoke from the Chiricahua hazing out the eastern sky.

Our first beans

My first green beans are coming up ready for harvest, and they are all beans I planted in separate containers. I seem to do better with containers here in the high desert. Even the peppers that overwintered are doing better than the ones planted this spring in the raised bed.

Kevin was busy all weekend getting the eastern lot ready for a late June planting. He's got all the seeds ready: turnips, radishes, more beans and peppers, and a few eggplant.

Yesterday he even bought eight bags of steer manure. I'm surprised the dogs haven't torn into those warm bags yet.

Our first peppers

The pepper plants that overwintered are the first plants to grow fruit this time around. The lone tomato plant that overwintered is also growing nicely and is flowering, but no fruit yet. The tomatoes outside are all doing well, though, and it seems that more beans are sprouting despite the occassional bird killings.

Our oleander shrubs are all growing new branches from the root base. Next month I'll trim them all down to an even six feet so that all plants are at the same height. I don't want to cut them down to a foot tall as then we loose privacy.

The strawberries are doing well, two are dying off but I think that may be from the cat peeing there. The rest are doing fine. Maybe I should fertilize them some more and give them more shade.

I have the first snow peas frozen in the freezer as now I'm waiting for the beans to fruit.

I think my orange honeysuckle vine is dead. It should be growing new vines by now but sofar there is nothing. And the bottlebrush is as dead as can be. Both cactus are now dried skeletons in the front yard. I'll replace those later this year.

The palm tree is coming back now. Despite the heavy winds these last two days it didn't lose any fronds.

I trimmed the jasmine vine down to its living vines; most of the shrub was dead anyway and the new growth just grew over the dead stuff.

We desperately need rain. We should be at least 6" for this year and we haven't even made it to half that much.

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We desperately need rain!!!

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FORECAST: Updated Apr 30 08:13 p.m. MT

Cucumber seeds

I planted about eight cucumber seeds near the beans this morning. I hope the big birds don't eat them, though. The birds here have attacked the bean sprouts with a vengeance this year. The dry weather isn't helping them grow strong, either.

I bought an Anna Smith apple tree on Friday, to be used as a polinator for the lone apple tree in our back yard. I'll get that tree dug in before the monsoon.

What we need is bird netting around the crops.

The Princess tree is now being invaded by large cutter bees that are attracted to the lilac blossoms. The bees scare away the butterflies.

The last of the cold spell

I think I can say for sure now what plants survived the deep freeze and which ones did not. Both beavertail are dead and oozing black liquid. The bottlebrush is dead. The oleander on the west side of the house look crispy. The potato shrub looks dead, too.

Life is coming back to the tacoma stans. The Mexican sage is also showing growth. The Russian sage is reproducing new stems nearby. Once I remove all the dead leaves I've left on the shrubbery for frost protection the front yard will look nice.

One thing I have to do, though, is set up the ScareCrow so that the neighborhood cats stop coming to the front yard bird feeder. I'm really getting tired of seeing them waiting for the birds to fly down and feed.

Wet and cold for tonight

We didn't get the big storm as forecasted as that stayed north of Tucson, but it's drizzling and colder. I just got done covering all the plants. The citrus trees are all inside.
_______________________________________________________________
Highlights of weather affecting Southern Arizona this weekend
Posted: Apr 07, 2011 3:52 PM MST
Updated: Apr 09, 2011 3:59 PM MST
Reporter/Meteorologist: April Madison

TUCSON (KGUN9-TV) - Widespread showers moved through southern Arizona Saturday. Rain totals ranged from a few hundredths of an inch, to about 0.20 inches in most locations by 3 PM.

Some observers on MT. Lemmon reported 3.5 to 4 inches of snow had fallen by noon Saturday, with 2 inches reported at the MT. Lemmon Fire Department. Light snow was also been reported at Oracle and Saddlebrooke, but no accumulation.

The bulk of the rain showers is expected to end around 9 or 10 PM Saturday night, though some lingering showers may occur later across Greenlee, Graham, and far eastern Cochise counties. A Winter Weather Advisory remains through 11 PM Saturday night for the mountain areas. Snow levels will be around 4000 to 4500 feet, with any accumulation expected to be above 6000 feet.

Temps are expected to dip well into the 30's Saturday night, into early Sunday morning. But most locations from Tucson eastward and southward, are expected to stay above freezing.

A strong warm, drying trend will return Sunday through next week.

Another freeze due in this weekend?

This almost seems odd to hear this, but it's black and white.

Highlights of weather affecting Southern Arizona this weekend

Updated: Apr 07, 2011 8:03 PM MST
Chief Meteorologist: Erin Christiansen

TUCSON (KGUN9-TV) - Strong south to southwest winds are forecast to develop over southern Arizona Friday afternoon and continue into Friday evening. A wind advisory has been issued from Tucson eastward. Areas of blowing dust are once again possible, even in locales farther west not in the wind advisory.

Critical fire weather conditions could be met briefly over Cochise County. The limiting factor will be whether humidities will drop below the 15 percent threshold for any significant amount of time.

http://www.kgun9.com/global/story.asp?s=14406430

Cooler air and rain are expected to spread east across the region Saturday.

Precipitation amounts will range from less than a tenth of an inch in the southeast corner of the state to nearly one half inch farther northwest in parts of Pima, Pinal, Graham and Greenlee Counties. Snow levels could drop as low as 4000 feet north but should remain above 6000 feet in southeast Cochise County.

Strong and gusty winds are possible again Saturday, especially east of Tucson.

Saturday night, the first widespread freeze in the past 2 to 3 weeks could occur over the lower elevations of Graham, Greenlee, Santa Cruz and Cochise Counties with temperatures currently forecast to drop into the upper 20s to lower 30s.

More seedlings coming up

Today I noticed the mesquite tree is in bloom! The palo verde is still barren, but there is new growth coming up from the Mexican sage, verbana and Russian sage. The crape myrtle is still looking dead, though.

I'm starting to see ants in the front yard, too.

Severe drought lingering

We had a short scare earlier today when a brush fire a few miles north of us burst out. The firefighters came quickly to the scene and by 1:30pm the skies were clear again. The fire was just a few acres off Ramsey road in town.

My oleanders are parched, though. I spent 30 minutes soaking the east-side shrubs. The water quickly trickled into the dry soil without ever pooling as more saturated soil would show. There is life in these shrubs afterall and I see new growth coming, just as I see new growth out of the palm trees. People here are starting to trim their dead shrubs and remove the dead cacti. What remains will most likely fall victim to mold or cactus bugs.

The Princess tree's purple bell blossoms are out. Beans are coming up. Red and Russian Sage in the front yard are coming up.

It hit a record high today, almot approaching 90F with a humidity of 15% at 2pm.

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Average 0.44 i

A little bit of rain fell overnight

Last night, soaking the ground but not staying for long. This morning I woke up to see a light sheet of ice in the dog's bowl outside. The frost blanket over the tomatoes was icy, but none of the plants died.

The mesquite is slowly showing green buds, but the Chinese date tree's leaves died off a few days ago. The beans I planted all were bent by the winds, and the red cabbage looks pretty abused, too.

More plants in

Yesterday and today I worked on the large cinderbox bed, the last of the beds on the western side. The soil was heavily clay, so I spent a good time tilling the soil and removing some rather large rocks from its depth, a few larger than a skull. I added some of the "mulch" and planted four cabages, a row of beets, some spinach, and today added four green beans, more beets, and tilled some more. The hot sun yesterday tired me out, and today I only worked for about an hour before I stopped and took the dogs on a walk instead. The wind started picking up, filling the air with sand, and that's when I called it a day.

Something already found my red cabbage plants, though, and many of the leaves have been chewed off. I dropped some cayenne sauce on the leaves to thwart off any rabbits from eating the red cabbage (the white cabbage was left intact).

We are now in the windy spring season. I will hold off from planting any more seedlings outside for a while.

Planting more beds

Today was another busy day tilling, drenching, mixing and sowing seeds in three beds and one large one. More cabbage, beans,tomatoes, spinach and beets were planted. Everything that I bought yesterday got planted and then seeds were added. I spotted cabbage moths as soon as cabbage was planted in the soil. But otherwise the soil itself was free of any grubs or other larvae.

Kevin went to the local transfer station to pick up a truckload of mulch for $15 and came back shortly afternoon with a truckload of very good stuff. It's good enough to use as a soil. His co-workers swear by this stuff. We'll go back and get a second load in a few months.

I took many breaks as the sun was hot, and by mid afternoon I could feel my lips were chapped and the top of my head sunburned. I was tired and exhausted. Kevin will do the last big bed for me tomorrow while I'm taking a state exam.

I planted nasturtiums around the apricot and peach trees. The flowers allegedly repel aphids up trees. The eastern beds will get done before the monsoon. Right now the beds are solarizing. The western beds will be enough for us for the next few months. I still have the many containers to get done, the trash to clean up, the dead grass to remove. There's a lot that needs to be done in the back yard.

Getting the garden started

This morning I got the plants that I bought yesterday into the soil. Ten strawberries are sharing a 4x4 raised bed with spinach, another 4x4 bed is sharing red cabbage with beets, and three heirloom tomatoes are now in the large 4x10 bed. I sprinkled marigold seeds around the tomatoes, planted two pea seedlings and a few beet seeds...there should be something coming up by the end of the month.

I used all the compost for that large bed, and it barely covered the surface.

I want to get more basil plants around the tomatoes. I want to use more herbs this year, as a means to help repel insects.

I have the Three Sisters plot solarizing for another two months.

I still have all these bean and tomato seedlings from the germination sets coming up. The tomatoes don't seem to be growing much now anyway. Getting those transplanted will be difficult.

Spring has sprung!

I'm on spring break this week and what better time to get the garden ready. The compost isn't as much as predicted; I have beans and potatoes growing in it right now and I am transplanting all of those as I find them. I plan on renewing the strawberry patch and setting in tomatoes, peppers and red cabbage. If I do a little each day, I won't be so overwhelmed.

My peach tree is now budding. Honey bees are going crazy in the front yard around the two trees. The rosemary shrub is also in bloom and this year I'm going to make some cuttings and propagate the shrubs up front to plant younger ones in the back. The two trees I see no new growth for now are my mesquite and the palo verde tree. Even my mimosa tree is budding.

I transplanted ten bean plants from the germination set. I'm finding that although the germination set helps the seeds sprout fast, the plants shoot up long and lanky. I hope they make the transplant. All the old potato cuttings I transplanted from the compost pile died except for one, which looks like it set and will grow in place.

It reached close to 90F today in Tucson, mid 80s here.

My Yellow Bird of Paradise shrubs look like they took a heavy beating from the deep freeze. The tips on both shrubs look and feel dead. The fruitless mulberry tree is also lifeless, as are my bottlebrush tree, my tecoma stans and all the oleander trees. One Russian sage is coming back. My rosemary's in bloom. The verdana all seem ready to be cut close to the ground to stimulate new growth. The dead stuff is excuse enough to start replanting my front yard to a more native plant habitat.

I'm still holding out on our palm tree. The palm must be 30 years old and it's hard to know from my vantage point if the palm survived the freeze as it's too high up to be able to check its internal stalk for new growth. But all the exterior fronds are dead and hanging on, yet birds are still using the palm as their nest. I saw a redtailed hawk chase a ringneck dove today from the palm tree. This time the dove made it, but next time it may not be so lucky. I'd hate to release my dove into such a dangerous environment, but keeping it encaged is perhaps inhumane as well.

The first blossoms

It looks like my Bartlett pear and apricot tree survived last months freeze. Both are now budding and blooming respectively. Both trees are in bud, too, with the taller one a bit ahead of the sicklier one. My Chinese date tree is budding as well as its other foreign tree.

My aloe vera and fir cracker succulent both died for sure, however, and it won't be another month before I see the real damage of the deadly freeze. The ice plant is dead. I'm worried about the bottlebrush shrub and my tecoma stans. I don't plan on replacing anything as of yet. All my roses are alive; I just can't seem to get rid of them!

I will have a truck load of organic waste to take to the transfer station.

I will be busy this spring pruning trees I haven't pruned yet, simply because I only prune to get rid of dead branches rather than prune for aesthetics. I will have my work cut out for me. I'll probably prune the salvia shrubs down a bit to get rid of the langy look. And for the first time I'm going to use a leaf sucker to pick up all the dead leaves that have provided the salvia some frost protection.

My germination sets are coming along. The beets are now coming up. Some of my beans are now transplanted but one already fell victim to a bird as its stem was cut off and uprooted yesterday. Now I'm hoping the overnight winds didn't blow any pots over...

I prepped one garden bed but still have five more to go.

I "rescued" several potato seedlings from the compost by transplanting them. A few of the seven that I planted should survive the ordeal.

Weather will be warm and spring-like for the next ten days. The birds outside are already using the bird feeders as their ralley point. The black sunflower seeds remain popular.

A beautiful spring day!

It shot up near 80 today and that prompted me to place some of the germination sets out in real sunlight and turn the lamps off inside. The beans are already about six inches tall. I planted a good 20 new plants this afternoon.

I have to prep the raised beds this weekend.

My apricot, rose shrub and Chinese date trees are all budding.

I cut off all the mushy cactus pads from the frost-damaged cacti and removed the dead ice plant around the house. In some areas the entire plants were dead, and not just the top foilage. I'm not sure I'm going to replace the ice plant with anything.

I ordered a leaf blower-vacuum that I plan on using in the front yard to suck up all the dead leaves come time to prep the front yard for new growth! I don't have any major plans for this year of planting new stuff. What I do need to do is trim all the shrubs of their dead twigs and stuff. There's been more frost damage than at first expected: the oleander against the east wall of the house and the bottle brush shrub all look frost damaged.

Snow!

As forecasted, we got snow overnight. Although the ground snow here melted by 10am, another lighter storm came through early in the afternoon. The peaks got about eight inches of snow. We needed this!

The birds outside were busy from sunrise to eat up as much of the seed outside that I had laid out for them. Today's storm was cold but the wind had died down overnight making today a pleasant winter day. Our storm now is over Kansas.

Meanwhile more seeds are coming up. I had planted the first seeds on the 17th. Turnip seeds that I had planted on the 22nd are now also sprouting, but they look long and lanky and I'm afraid they'll topple over from their own weight. A few beans are also coming up. I went crazy yesterday afternoon and planted spinach, lettuce, peas, more tomatoes and a few beets. Once all the seedlings have sprouted I'll be busy transplanting them all into larger pots. The beans may be harvested before May if they stay inside!

The dining room is now a quasi grow-light area. The citrus trees are all inside for a while until the warmth returns later this week.

February temperatures

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Today
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Tomato seeds germinating!

My first seeds are coming up in the germination set! That didn't take too long. I figured with the seed packet from 2008 that I'd have a large failure rate. If there are pockets in the set with no seeds coming up, they will get new seeds.

I should be getting a mini-greenhouse today and another set in. I have part of the dining room wall set up for this. The light is more than bright enough to work as a night light.

We never got any rain this weekend, just wind, and now it's back to more seasonable weather in the 60s.

Wind advisory

Our cold snap, which killed off a lot of beavertail cacti and citrus trees, lasted just two days. Some of my shrubs look pretty badly frozen off, too, such as the oleanders and bottle brush shrub.

We had near record highs again last week. This weekend, just in time for a long weekend, it's back to cold winds and possible rain. I like this wind and I hope for rain.

Two days ago I received my first germination center in the mail. I quickly planted that thing full of tomato seeds (Big Boy and Romas). I also got a heating pad and a plant grow light with which I am pleased. I may get a few more trays and plant more seeds. I also got a mini greenhouse due in next week to grow even more stuff.

I don't plan on having anything grow outside until June, though. This year's garden will be better controlled than in the last few years.

Record lows

A massive storm hit half the country two days ago, dumping 20 inches over Chicagoland, closing many businesses and schools, and creating havoc. We here in southern Arizona are also freezing, thanks to a cold front that dipped way down from Canada. For the second day now I'm removing an inch of ice from the dogs' water bucket. I'm running out of bird seed to feed the cold and hungry birds that have been keeping warm in the bushes around our house, planted by the previous bird-loving home owners. I'll buy more seed later on today.

This cold weather is making the news. Today marks the coldest 3 Feb in Tucson's history, with the previous record of 44F which will surely break today. It's only going to be in the 30s today there, colder here in our foothills.

I don't remember overnight lows this low in my years in Arizona. I barely see the thermometer above the "10" degree mark right now. But luckily this is a short cold snap and temps should return to more normal temps by Saturday when I lead a hike down to the border.

The good news is that as an organic gardener many subterranean pests will also die from this cold. My apricots will actually like this freeze.

_______

Feels Like:7 °F
Barometer:30.22 in and rising
Humidity:40 %
Visibility:10 mi
Dewpoint:-9 °F
Wind:NE 16 mph
UV Index:--
UV Description:Low
Sunrise:7:09 AM
Sunset:5:53 PM

Detailed Local ForecastHow to Read Today: Mostly sunny and windy. Cold. High 34F. Winds ENE at 15 to 25 mph.
Tonight: Generally clear. Cold. Low 18F. Winds E at 10 to 15 mph.
Tomorrow: A mainly sunny sky. High 51F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph.
Tomorrow night: Clear skies. Low 28F. Winds light and variable.
Saturday: Sunshine. Highs in the low 60s and lows in the mid 30s.
Sunday: Sunny. Highs in the mid 60s and lows in the upper 30s.
Monday: Sunny. Highs in the mid 60s and lows in the upper 30s

January temperatures

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A mild winter

We have had lovely weather lately, almost too lovely, with temps in the 70s during the day. My Fiji apple tree is already pre-budding and my roses in the front yard are growing buds. This is too soon, as we always get one or two more frosts in February or March that kill off any buds or blossoms on my fruit trees, resulting in a fruitless tree for the harvest season.

My citrus trees are budding, but they have beein inside for a month and will remain inside until April. The pepper trees are looking healthy being wintered over, but my tomato plants seem to have called it a season. The one exception there is the stem I cut and placed in water last month. That stalk is now with roots over four inches long.

I hope we get rain soon to stave off an early drought, too. Although this weather is great for hiking, I worry about the plants.