From My Garden to You

Gardening Class on Tomatoes I am teaching a class this Saturday , December 9th 2017, at the Fountain Hills Community Centre from 1.30pm to 3.30 pm. The Class is "How to grow the perfect tomato in the AZ Low Desert". It is free to Fountain Hills Community Garden members and $5.00 for non members below is the link on their face book page https://www.facebook.com/events/369928800132734/

Update on my corn This corn was planted about a month ago and has finally decided to start to grow a bit. Might have to do with the fact that I finally got the irrigation sorted out properly !! Anyway, if it keeps up this rate of growth we should have corn ( hopefully) by the end of October. It was planted in the brand new plot - if you look at the earlier blog posts you will see how I started with bare cracked earth (July 2nd) and gradually brought the soil back to life.     It is now about one foot tall. I will let you know how it progresses.   Happy Gardening !!  

Hello Fellow Gardeners, I have been busy this last couple of months making a new gardening video. Water Wise Fall Desert Vegetable Gardening Check it out and let me know what you think. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8OKhMSvb94&feature=youtu.be   Happy Gardening !!

Garden Plot update - Third and final part ! So as you saw yesterday, we have just had a lot of lovely rain. I have also just finished the final part of the soil renewal at the garden plot. Luckily for me, I did it before the rain on Sunday (July 23rd 2017) AND I planted some corn, so now I am very hopeful of good and delicious things to come ! Anyway, back to the soil. Here are some photos documenting the third and final stage of the plot renewal and soil improvement. Please bear in mind that it takes 7 years, on average, to make good garden soil. So while this is a good start, it is going to be a continuous process as I go through the seasons. You saw in the previous post about this subject that I had already soaked the soil so that was ready to receive amendments. I amended the soil with steer manure and coffee grounds. You can purchase bags of manure, but at the community garden we get it in bulk. I also added some mushroom compost that I had purchased. This is fa...

Tepary Bean - "The bean that laughs in the face of our desert summers" Tepary Beans are one of the most heat and drought tolerant crops in the world. They are an ancient bean ( Phaeseolus acutifolius) and very tolerant of our alkali soils and our desert heat. So I thought - got to have a go at these ! I got my seeds from Native Seed Search in Tucson and planted them last week as the monsoon season was getting underway. We then had that lovely (rather scary) thunderstorm a few days ago and my garden got an inch of rain - fantastic !! History They are a very ancient bean, having been grown  in the Sonoran Desert for thousands of years. A native bean , which is one of the most nutritious desert plants and some wild varieties still do actually exist in some parts on the Sonoran Desert. It was a prehistoric food crop and was used as a dry bean. Nutritional value They are very high in protein and help control diabetes and cholesterol due to their soluble fibre....

Desert Botanical Gardens Classes I am teaching - Fall 2017 These are the descriptions on their website: Fall Vegetables Tuesday / Oct. 3 / 10 a.m. - 12 p.m. Carol Stuttard teaches you how to grow your own healthy, organic fall vegetable garden, including planning, soil preparation, varieties to plant and, most importantly, the right time to plant! Limit 30.   Introduction to Permaculture Tuesday / Oct. 17 / 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. Discuss the principles of permaculture-simulating the patterns and characteristics of natural ecosystems-and how they can be applied to desert living. Topics include broad-scale site design, pattern recognition, structures, rainwater harvesting, and urban and community strategies. Instructed by Carol Stuttard. Limit 30   Pollinator Gardens Monday / Nov. 13 / 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. Attracting pollinators to your garden is both enchanting and beneficial. Disco...

Fall Desert Gardening Classes As you will have seen on my profile, I am a Maricopa County Master Gardener. Here are some upcoming Desert Institute of Gardening (DIG) Public classes that may be of interest. https://extension.arizona.edu/maricopamg Thursday Sept. 7 Introduction to Vegetable Gardening Maricopa County Cooperative Extension, 4341 E. Broadway Road, Phoenix, Maricopa County, AZ,  $20    6 - 8 pm Thursday Sept. 14 Fall Vegetable Gardening Maricopa County Cooperative Extension, 4341 E. Broadway Road, Phoenix, Maricopa County, AZ, $20    6 - 8 pm        

AZ Style Summer Vegetable Frittata Last week in the garden I harvested squash, yellow tomatoes and some bell peppers. We are getting a bit bored of eating lots of spiralized squash salads, even though the salads have been good, so I thought I would have a go at a summer vegetable frittata - AZ style. Making a frittata on the stove top is also a way of cooking something relatively quickly, without making the kitchen too hot ( believe it or not, this is a very important consideration in AZ in the summer). The less time you have the oven on when it is 116 degrees outside, the better, trust me on this ! I use a cast iron pan which I love. Anyway here's the finished dish, which I have to say was delicious and if you would like to know what I did and how to make it, then read on.........   Ingredients 1 onion chopped ( I use my own, harvested in may) Summer vegetables of your choice - I used peppers, squash, tomatoes. You could also add a chile if...

What to do in your garden in July (apart from hoping for rain!) July is hopefully the month when we get some monsoon rains - yay ! The humidity is rising and this actually gives the plants a little bit of relief from the heat, even if it is a lot more uncomfortable outside for you and me. So what should you be doing this month ? July Checklist Watering Check for irrigation leaks. Continue watering schedule as per June, unless it we get a good monsoon soaking. Deep and less frequently is always preferred over shallow and often. Find a wonderful person to water for you if you go on vacation and if you have a battery operated irrigation timer attached to a hose bib, make sure to get them to check if the battery is working. ( I speak from experience here. There is nothing more soul destroying then coming back from vacation to a dead garden, because the battery on your timer decided that this was the week it was going to fail !). Trees This is the ti...

Black Eyes Peas - the veggies, not the group ! My Black Eyed Peas have really started to grow like crazy the last week or so. They love the heat here ( unlike us gardeners !) and are really easy to grow. Not only that, they are good for the soil - they fix nitrogen, provide shade for other plants AND you can eat them too ! So...if you would like to know more about them - read on.   Black Eyed Peas growing in my garden - Photo taken June 27th 2017 Black Eyed Peas are also called Cow Peas. They originate from Africa and are grown in many areas around the world. Their name comes from the so-called small black 'eye' where the bean joins to the pod within the shell. Here in the Low Desert, unlike the traditional peas that are planted in the Fall, black-eyed peas are a warm season crop. They do tolerate poor soil much better than most legumes. Planting guides may say plant in March for a crop in early June, however, I have found you...

What’s happening in the garden end of June/beginning of July ? July is a month of hot days and warm nights – how is this any different from June??!! (ha ha) Well, the humidity has increased for a start and fruit production for tomatoes, sweet peppers and summer squash is markedly decreased. My cherry tomatoes are still producing, albeit slowly and the bigger ones have by now either given up the ghost completely or are just ticking along trying to weather the next few months without actually dying ! There is still green growth but it is slow. To be honest, if that is all they are doing, then I am fine with that. All my summer vegetables are mulched with straw to keep the soil and plant roots cool and to try to retain some moisture. You will find that many of your plants - such as squash may be wilting in the afternoon or the hottest parts of the day. If the soil around them is moist, there is no need to water any more. Just wait until it cools down a bit and if the plant p...

    Tomatoes June 2017   So....this is my very first post of this blog and where better to start than Tomatoes !   Here in the low Desert, it may be 108 degrees outside, but the tomatoes are still ripening like crazy. Nothing beats the taste of a freshly picked warm tomato, straight from the garden. It is incredible satisfying to grow the plants from seed, carefully nurture them throughout the spring and then reap the delicious rewards of all that hard work ! Local, organic and delicious, plus the added attraction and fun of growing many varieties that you cannot buy in the supermarket. What more could a gardener ask for ?     Tomatoes picked June 6th 2017     Tomato - Black Krim       Tomato Tip:   What do you do if your tomato fruit develop a hard, brown base ? (the opposite end of the stalk).   This is called Blossom End Rot and is caused by lack of calci...

Malabar Spinach - A heat tolerant Summer Green ( Basella alba) Yes... there is a summer green you can grow in the Low Desert !!   Red Stemmed Malabar Spinach Malabar Spinach is a heat tolerant summer green. It is not really a spinach but actually a type of semi-succulent vine, but the good thing is it grows really well in our Arizona summer. There are 2 kinds - the more popular red stemmed, as well as a green stemmed variety.   Red Stemmed Malabar Spinach - note how the stems are vining up the sunflower stalk. Cultivation: It is native to Asia, the  plant having thick, succulent heart-shaped leaves and white flowers. The red stemmed cultivar "rubra" has thick reddish purple leaf veins and stems and thus is considered to be more ornamental. As the season progresses the flowers give way to purplish-black berry looking fruit. Once the temperatures reach above 90 degrees F, it really starts to ramp up its growing habit, often growing ...

Harvest Pasta Sauce with Spiralized Zucchini Having made the pasta sauce as I described in the previous post, you can now choose to either sieve it or use it as it is. If you do sieve it, that removes the seeds and bits of skin. For sieving, I use the method shown below:- Sieved pasta sauce - all organic, sown, grown and harvested in my own garden. Such a delight to be able to do this I must say ! So now I have the pasta sauce, I can either freeze it or use it in the next day or so. One of the ways I like to use it, is with spiralized zucchini "pasta". The good thing about this, is that the "pasta" is completely carbohydrate free. I just heat up the sauce and then throw in the zucchini "pasta". Turn off the heat, stir the "pasta" into the sauce thoroughly and by the time you get your plate out and serve it, the zucchini "pasta" is cooked. Spiralizer and homegrown zucchini Zucc...

Harvest in the Heat   Believe it or not, all these were harvested yesterday morning. Despite the heat, I am still harvesting from my vegetable garden. As well as tomatoes, there are 3 kinds of squash, peppers and just ready - the first grapes.   It is too hot to really plant anything right now, so hold off for a little while. Now is the time to look at those seed catalogues/websites and decide what you are going to plant in the Fall. Another post will include some suggestions of good low desert seed varieties, so watch this space !      

           Tomato Tart Recipe A great way to serve all those heirloom tomatoes !           1 sheet puff pastry, thawed but still cold 2 tbsp olive oil 1 cup ricotta cheese 4 oz crumbled goat cheese 2 large eggs 1/3 cup chopped fresh basil ¼ tsp fresh ground black pepper ¾ tsp coarse salt ¾ lb tomatoes, cored halved and sliced about ¼ - ½ “     Heat oven 425 degrees.   Line large baking sheet with parchment paper.   On lightly floured surface roll pastry to 10’ x 15” and transfer to baking sheet. Score border 1’ from edge all around rectangle, not cutting through the dough all the way. Prick dough inside the border all over with a fork, this allows the border to rise higher than the inner part. Brush inner part all over with 1 tbsp of the oil.   Mix 2 cheese, eggs, basil, ½ tsp salt and the pepper.   Spread this mi...