Monday, March 7, 2011

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.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

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.

Sunday, February 27, 2011

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.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

February temperatures

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Tuesday, February 22, 2011

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.

Saturday, February 19, 2011

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.

Thursday, February 3, 2011

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.

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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