Category: Gardening

This spring has been a super busy gardening season for me. Usually I have my little backyard garden that I tinker with and get some food in return. This year I had two new opportunities that have kept me very busy. I kept meaning to blog about my garden projects with little updates, but I have been so worn out with all the gardening (and now all the preserving!) that I just haven’t gotten around to it.

First, I am part of the Master Gardeners Program through the U of A. While I don’t consider myself a master gardener, it is an amazing learning experience. In March we started setting up a display garden at the U of A agriculture center and it was a ton of hard labor. I loved it! Now it is all set up and we can experiment with different plantings, water amounts, and pest control. You can check it out here on our facebook page.

Second, I was given a patch at the community garden in exchange for volunteer work. This little garden spent most of June producing like crazy. I think I have harvested nearly 100 pounds of just tomatoes! I’ve been busy canning them. I am also getting zucchini, eggplant, corn, melons, cucumbers, onions and peppers.

It is really heating up here this week and that means gardening is finally slowing down. I have some melons left to ripen, and will continue to get eggplants, zucchini, and tomatoes (thankfully in smaller amounts now).

The suspect

This morning I woke up with a stiff, sore back, nothing I couldn’t live with but knew to take it easy. I planned on doing very little and just playing with my guys. The morning started off really well, Crash was doing much better (the last two days he was a cranky, clingy, teething boy). We were having lots of fun and giggles were plentiful. The load of laundry had finished washing, our cue to go outside and have some fun.

I was putting Crash in his swim trunks, because water play is inevitable, when I heard Danger screaming from the kitchen. Run in to find him sprawled out on the tile face first. I knew he hit his head. I calmed him down and started to worry. Usually once he stops crying, he wants to get right back to playing, but he just laid on me. I called my husband who just told me to monitor him for a bit, at which time he finally starts to liven back up and I notice the giant egg forming on his forehead. He seemed back to normal and we changed into our swim trunks.

(I should note that the above came with a heavy dose of mommy guilt. I had given him an ice cube to eat and he slipped in the water from the cube.)

We finally headed outside, where I could clearly see something was wrong in the garden. Tomato hornworms were on the attack, my tomatoes and peppers look horrible. They are so hard to get rid of because they are so hard to see and they seem to multiply like bunnies. I quickly hung the laundry on the line and started hunting caterpillars while the boys played.

Need to go hunt some more, I know there is more of them out there!

I was working in my large garden bed when I heard Danger crying right behind me. I spin around to see a bee fly off and immediately started looking him over. He was holding his hand funny and didn’t want me to look at it, so naturally that is where I kept looking. I didn’t see anything, I hadn’t been stung before so I called my husband and asked if the stingers were easy to spot, he said they were. I then assumed he hadn’t been stung but maybe had just twisted his hand funny. I went to set him down and saw something on his side that look kind of fuzzy/goopy and tried to brush it off him. It was the stinger, the poor guy had been stung. We went inside removed the stinger, cleaned him up, and put a bandaid on it. He was now acting fine and I was relieved.

Admiring the caterpillars

Crash really loves them.

They had their lunch and are now napping. I sure hope the day improves after nap.

It’s been a long time since I’ve posted about my little garden. Things are really starting to take off and we should starting getting some veggies here soon. Everything is starting to bloom, so hopefully I get a few more worker bees out there. I would like to fertilize the tomatoes, but since I use natural (fish emulsion and liquid seaweed), I am hesitant. The last time I used some we had a coyote in the backyard!

It has been quite some time since I have mentioned my garden on here.  Poor thing is feeling a little neglected.  It has not been a stellar spring, most of my seeds did not take, but I do have a few things growing.

Cantaloupe and the little tiny plants are a desert mellon similar to watermelon.

Cucumbers!

Pomegranate

An artichoke in bloom, it is a really vivid purple

I also have two tomato plants that I will try to keep alive through the summer, some okra starting to sprout, and peppers.  My fig tree is starting to get fruit, I should have plenty by the time we get back.  I also have a nice rosemary bush.  My basil shockingly did not come up on its own this year, so I just put out some seeds this morning to see if I can still get it to grow.  On a sad note it looks like I have killed another peach tree, I guess me and peaches are just not meant to be.  I will try a citrus next year, if I can make up my mind on what I want to grow.