Annarchy

Garden is struggling in our 110°+ heat. Not sure if I will get anything else from it. Slow watering every other day & sprinklers daily. Everything is heat rotting. Typical. I didn’t plant until the end of Feb. so, it’s kinda expected. Getting ready to prep the beet area. The birds have eaten all the greens & gleaned the few branches of seeds, I left on them. I’m praying to be able to plant in September…. Getting my frost covers prepared. Heading for TX this week. Apprehensive about the cost of gas. God willing, I will have enough to get there & back. Food budget is limited now, especially with the cost of food being doubled, in our area. Sigh.

It is officially, HOT! 107°F in the shade… car said…. 117°. Down town… 113°. Watering daily, filling the water dishes daily, watching things wither…. Typical AZ.

thinking about it, but for now…. Waiting to see if they produce again. My car, said it was 110°. Over 100° in the shade. Yup, AZ summer is here… Picked a medium sized zucchini, a couple of days ago, today I found one , about the size you can get at the store. Sliced ‘‘em up & fried them… a 1/4th tsp of butter for taste, fried in a tbs of olive oil. The first batch of 3, was a Mexican recipe, sautéed onion & diced tomato, zucchini, and corn, with a tsp of tomato bullion. Made , home made sour cream & chive noodles… minus the additives and preservatives you get in the boxes. Collected 4 tomatillos from the 2 plants growing… Not exactly sure what I’ll make out of them, yet… I’ve never heard that about termites, Virginia. Our desert termites, the queen lives in the soil, the workers forage above. If they find a food source, the move the queen closer. IDK. I’m grateful we have enough desert fauna, to keep them away from our house.

Since DH’s heart attack, I’ve lost 11 lbs. so has he. Doesn’t sound like much, but cutting all the fats off meats, not using them as pan seasonings, has made a big difference. Plus, more salads, changing snacks for him, and he is walking daily, up to 1 1/2 miles a day. He used to sit on the couch, munching on junk food, all night long. The only difference in my diet, is the fats, I used to use as seasoning. But….darn, they tasted soooo good… and cutting back the amount of butter & mayonnaise…. He never ate salads, now, wants them almost daily…. It is what it is. Personally, I could eat a salad everyday, lol.

Cookbooks… reminded me of my grandmother’s cookbook. Mom got it & gave it to me, in the 1970’s. I did an internet search, found it, I think. It’s “The Household Searchlight Recipe Book”. Looking at the books on-line, (vintage), it appears to be the 1939 publication. Mine is missing the publishers page & the last page of the index. The 1940 version had oranged highlighted “The Searchlight Magazine “ on the back stem/binding. I’ve used it, constantly throughout the years. Found newspaper clippings in it that I don’t want to touch, yellow/brown from ages past. Lol. Plus, found old canning instructions I had put in, as bookmarks, from the 1970’s when I was first canning on my own. Lol. Browsed through it, probably going to use a bunch of the recipes, due to DH’s ‘low fat’ healthy diet.

Wow! That’s impressive, Miki! Wow! I didn’t carry my phone on me, but when I do, I average a mine or 2 a day.

True story… DH gave me that in 1980, it was his moms. I thought it was a cookie jar. So, I filled it with cookies and put it on the counter. A few weeks later, he wanted beans. I got my pot out & proceeded to prepare the beans. He asked, “ Where’s the haro?” I replied, “What is a haro?” He said, “Bean pot.” I had no clue. He said, “ That pot I gave you.” Oh, no! We still laugh about that. Yes, he showed me how to use it, and years later, 1,000’s of meals later, it still works….

Yeah, too many times, & people dropping the lid on the ladle…. Pottery, super glue worked great, I just don’t cook with the lid on.

Here’s my 1960’s pottery bean pot… well used, 3-4 times a week…. True non electronic slow cooker …

First harvest from the Roma tomatoes…ever single one had blossom rot, including every zucchini. Built berms around the areas, added mulch, ground cover and, changed my watering. Daily evening sprinklers, for the lawn, and, deep watering every other day. Seems to have worked. Now, it’s a race to pick, the just yellowing tomato’s before the birds devour them.

Red aloe, gets a spring stem, with red or pink flowers, yellow aloe has pinkish or orangish flowers. Aloe, likes cooler weather, with no deep freezing. Red aloe will survive, if it is slightly sheltered from harsh freezing temps and winds, etc. However, it absolutely loves the heat, as long as it has water or moisture… and not too much. Aloe is naturally a desert plant. Rains come in seasons. It has adapted, by providing the aloe gel to keep the plant alive during the drought seasons. Red aloe has a broader leaf, I guess to capture more moisture. Yellow aloe, has a much thinner, longer leaf, which stands up straighter. It, however, died, when I transplanted some to MIL’s yard in TX, after the freezing winter. It doesn’t tolerate freezing temps, at all. Yet, even though some of the outer leaves on the red aloe froze, & died, the center, continued to grow in the spring. I planted some in MIL’s flower beds, because they require no maintenance, from her. I, however, keep them trimmed, or whacked back, or they’d over grow the flower bed. Lol. I’ve had red aloe in my yard, since my Grandmother planted it in the 1950’s. I’ve moved the planted area a few times, given a plethora of plants away and now use a few, as decorations, to fill areas that die in the summer. A landscaper gave me 2 yellow aloe plants about 5 years ago. The have spread to a 4’x 3’ triangular area and need to be thinned. The area it’s in, is covered with wood sorrel, in the late winter & early spring. So when temps exceed 100, it dies and the aloe makes a nice ground cover. This is the yellow aloe…. This is the red aloe…. Here it is growing in an area, under a mesquite tree, where nothing has ever grown. I’ve tossed many plants out there, & they have taken root. It doesn’t look like it’s surviving, however, in the wild desert, that’s what it actually looks like. Home & gardens, give the plants, much more than nature does.

MM, MIL still has her 3 ring binder version, she bought new. I have the 1981 version, held together with a rubber band. Very used. Lol

I still have, and use, most of your list daily, I use my ‘scrap wood’ cutting board every day, over the sink as extra counter space. Cast iron: corn cob shaped for making corn bread, waffle maker, bread pan, tortilla frying pan, meat grinder, and a cast iron wood chip smoker. I have 2 Mexican clay bean pots & one clay casserole pot, hand-me-down from MIL, years ago. Making shirts from flour sacks… Corked cooking oil jars Sand hourglass egg timer Flour sieves Original Vision ware cooking pans (not that old) Original Tupperware set of 7 measures including the egg separator Bone China. (Extra credit for knowing why it’s called bone China) …next….

Tired. Never enough time to get everything done. Especially when DH isn’t doing anything. He is vacuuming, unless he doesn’t feel up to it, he’s going for walks, unless he doesn’t feel up to it..etc. So much I used to rely on him to do, I honestly didn’t realize it, until he’s not helping. I’m still thanking God, his issue wasn’t as bad as our friend, the man who did the dog rescues. His heart attack, lead to a stroke, which has left him speechless and unable to basically move, he’s responding to visitors, but, hasn’t really improved since the medically induced coma. People were able to relocate all the dogs he had up for adoption. His service dog, is being kept, JIC he wakes back up and is able to talk & walk again. So very very sad. Tomorrow is, end of the month bookwork & paperwork….

Mother, definitely not, knotweed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reynoutria_japonica Knotweed grows 7-8 foot tall and doesn’t look like what grows in my lawn. What grows in our yard resembles this.. I wish I looked it up years ago when I was having health issues…. https://www.healthbenefitstimes.com/knotgrass/

Yes indeed! TSC didn’t have any straw, for the last couple of years, used all my homemade mulch to fortify the garden, this spring. That’s how I got all the alfalfa growing everywhere, got a bale of that instead for ground cover. I’m definitely considering that keyhole idea, for the mulch bin….bins…. Lol. Need to mow , so I can create more mulch. It’s been tiresome tending MIL & DH, doing all he used to do, etc. I guess I just need to ‘buck it up & get it done’, but my energy levels are down, and I am concerned about the chest, shoulder & arm pains I have been experiencing. Stress, I’m sure…. Ain’t gonna tell him…. He has enough to be concerned about.

IDK. Might be weed..

Becca_Anne, how is your garlic & strawberries doing? We’re you able to get more things planted? Mmmmm…strawberries…. Dee, have you been able to plant yet. I know it’s been cold up there. My brother lives in MT near Yellowstone, he’s still getting snow! Mt_Rider, have you been able to start your gardening experience yet? I saw the snow hit your area… and I understand your priorities right now… Dogmom4, you got me salivating…. Beautiful, just beautiful! How is the heat there? Joyfilled, how does your garden grow? Have you planted? Midnightmom, I am impressed you keep trying. I definitely understand the challenge. I guess 98% of stuff I have planted, through the years, has died, never sprouted, or just never grew. Sprouted and shriveled up. Then, the years, I would have won the miniature awards…. Pencil sized carrots, quarter sized beets, corn with blight, a handful of beans out of a 6’x6’ area, zucchini fruit would rot, as soon as it got the size of my fingers. Frustrating, after putting in all the work, water, mulch, fertilizer and getting nothing. Same question, how is the heat there? And Mother, is it raccoons? Is covering your planters helping? I’m chuckling about the Threshers that like to dig 3-4 inches into the garden for a worm. I’ve spent, probably 30 years, putting leftover fishing worms into all the gardens. Unfortunately, summer heat, they go deep. Monsoon rains, the come out in trains….. I keep hoping for rain, any rain, our town water… has a lot to be desired…. Another thing we do… spring time, we go out to the cattle range & collect old cow poo. I make “tea” for the garden in 5 gallon buckets. “Strength of the ox..”

In the house, just is water… I’m not too versed in hydroponics… in front of the north facing window on the kitchen table…. Left to right…. Celery, store bought, the center core, doing well and producing enough for my dry jar… Knot (not!) grass, in the center…. It’s a joke now here…. But, a worthy weed, as far as I am concerned now…. Here’s what my book says about it…. Then, the peppermint, I transplanted, to the garden in the spring, February, it flourished, until the heat hit, then, transplanted it, again, from the garden… it was dying…leaf by leaf, daily. Inside, it has doubled in size. In the little clay pot, behind the knot grass, is the tiny volunteer little cactus, I found in the spice garden…. It was about the size of a pencil eraser, and DH wanted me to grow it & see what type of cactus it was…. We still don’t know… lol. Nope, you do not touch it… I spent days trying to get the fine spines out of my fingers. Lol

…..However….. at 100°F, in the shade…. Another hour, and it will have shade from the pine tree. Then, we will turn on the sprinkler late afternoon/early evening. By watering at night, it gives the soil & plants longer moisture retention. I keep a close eye on mildew, mushrooms, and fungus. Sprinkling Diatomaceous earth and baking soda on the plants works well. BTW, I forgot to mention, those holes in the zucchini leaves, are not from bugs… maybe some from the leaf cutter bees. It’s mainly from the plethora of bored baby birds, waiting for the parents to come back & feed them.

Dug up the dying garlic. 2 cloves planted, had become 7 quarter sized bulbs. Not dead, just the greens. Of all the jalapeño and green chili seeds, I planted in February, one seed sprouted. It’s still alive, granted, it’s only about an inch tall right now, but, it’s growing…. It is in the spice garden between the two pots….

Here’s the Spice garden… At the bottom, in the pot, is Italian oregano, the other pot is the celery, still growing, but in a shadier spot. Garlic greens are laying flat on the left side. Remaining camomile surround them. Center, is Chinese garlic. Right of the Italian oregano, is Mexican oregano. Top left is Greek oregano, then, the remainder of the parsley… might still re-grow, after cutting it off, collecting seed’s and drying it. Then the south side, far right side, is some heirloom carrots, only a few of the many seeds grew. Oh, and one very sad looking, dead, volunteer sunflower stalk…the birds are loving it… lol. This is the big garden… 2 year old beets, mixed with some new beet plants, that I need to space out. The rows of red core carrots, and a volunteer tomatillo, which is already producing. The alfalfa, I put in the mulch bin, last year, from the chicken coop, grew all over the garden. I harvested most of the seeds, & mulched the rest. It’s supposed to be good for the soil, I guess. That’s what is still growing in the empty area… broccoli and cauliflower was supposed to be there. Next to that, are 2 Better Boy tomato plants and two Roma tomato plants. I over planted the last of my zucchini seeds, and it seemed, every seed sprouted. First time that ever happened to me, lol. I transplanted a few & after some time, they blew up! The far left lower corner is potatoes…from eyes & a couple from, previous years eye seed potatoes. They haven’t flowered, so, I’m just letting them grow. As you can tell from the pictures, the gardens have morning, and evening, shade. We planted a Christmas tree, 40 years ago, specifically for shade in the yard. The rope… keeps the dogs out…. The poles… are for me, when I loose my balance, walking the plank in the center….

The book I was reading yesterday, “Old Farts Survival Guide”, by Ron Foster, (Thank you, Jeepers, for posting the Kindle “free” book, ), has a section on Keyhole gardens. I was very intrigued with the information, soil enrichment, moisture retention, reduced heat in the soil, etc. I’m definitely going to start planning, next years garden, with it in mind… moving the mulch bin… or incorporating another garden in that area…. So many ideas! Here’s a couple articles I found with a quick search, on Keyhole gardening…. https://insteading.com/blog/keyhole-garden/ https://www.bobvila.com/articles/keyhole-gardening/ https://gardeningmentor.com/keyhole-garden/

Okay, challenge accepted. So, tomorrow I will take pics of my “Desert” experience. Celery had to go back in the spice garden, apparently, there is a nest of harvester ants in the pot…. The English thyme is in the kitchen, still being challenged by the ants, trying to get to that pot! Peppermint, had to be dug up & brought inside, it was failing in our 100° + heat. Next will be the garlic. Got, finger sized zucchini, from my 10 plants, most were pecked by the birds, with a pkg of two from the store , made a nice meal of calabash… fried onion, with diced tomatoes, seared. Add corn & zucchini + a tbs of tomato bullion, water to cover, simmer, sprinkle Mexican shedded cheese and done. One still on the vine. Cut the first Roma tomato, green on the bottom, spots of green & turning red today, except for the green bottom. I water daily , on a schedule, so, IDK. Probably, eat it on a sandwich.. IDK. Cut the parsley, camomile & alfalfa back, saving the seeds. Garlic is fading badly, need to dig it up & find out why. Onions seem to be doing alright, but this is year 1 from seeds… still have an 1/2 gallon of seeds from years past. Mung beans sprouted, it got too hot and all the plants died. Carrots, seem to be doing great, but, won’t be harvested until next year. Typical, it takes 2 years, in my yard to produce a nice carrot root. Beets, harvested the seeds from plants I left in the ground, last year. Didn’t glean them, the sparrows are loving the stalks I left. I got, at least a quart of seeds from what I did harvest. Some seeds grew, need to dig up the old and space the new, birds are fleeting the new growth. Camomile, flourished, I left it to spread seeds, until, the heat started to wilt it’s leaves. I got 2 pints of dried camomile for tea. Oh, I was reading my book on herbs & essential oils.. found a page on, ”Knot grass”. Definitely not grass. I’ve been battling it for years! Apparently, is great for tea! Stupid weed! I pulled some for a water glass in the house, and it is flourishing. Stupid weed. Plus, I found a patch of purslane. I will move it to the garden, where the broccoli and cauliflower didn’t sprout. DH really enjoyed the fried purslane. So…. That’s almost all my garden… except for the pot the Italian oregano is growing in. Had to pull a plant from the pot that was not one of the plants that sprouted from the package of seeds, 2 packages of seeds, only one package has survived…. Typical desert. Trial & error. Make due with what survives…………

DH woke up unable to put weight on his ankle. Pulled out the crutches from the shed. He’s extremely irritated that he’s been trying to walk every day, and now can’t. Sigh. Wednesday he goes for more heart tests, 4-6 hours…. I’m trying to do everything around the house… I’m beat, to say the least…..