Friday, March 30, 2012

Garden is a growing

Well, it has been a while since I posted anything, been busy with work and other things.
The garden is doing great, everything is growing and the weather got really warm, upper 80’s for the future and possibly 90+ in a week or two. The tomatoes are loving the heat and are really putting out the blossoms.
Here is a picture of the Ildi tomato plant that has a bunch of blossoms that are starting to open. never seen anything like this before.

Here is another picture of the first raised bed.

Here is a picture of the second raised bed, the squash and beans are not coming up and growing very well.

That is all for now, Hope to get better pics of the cluster of blossoms from the Ildi tomato plant.
Thanks for reading.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

The Beans are in the ground.

Well, I have started working on the watering system, need to get it installed here soon as the temps are in the 80’s right now.

Installed my bean tower I build 2 years ago for my furniture business as a sign holder, it will do better for beans right now.

The squash is starting to come up, but some of the seeds have rotted and I replanted those areas. Also, did the soak the beans for 8 hours then plant, I think I’ll get good crop, but we will see.

Here is a current picture of the garden, tomatoes are growing and flowering, the radishes are up and the marigolds are blooming. Now I have to plant the pumpkins, watermelons, gourds and anything else I can thing of, maybe a small section of corn.

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Update after planting

It has been a long time since my last update, over 23 days, I have planted tomatoes, and some summer squash and things are going great.

I have included a picture of the garden area, working on a watering system and just waiting.  The raised garden kits we sell are working out great.  Check out our Ordering page and give us a call.


I already have tomatoes forming on my Sweet Pea Currant Tomatoes, look closely and you can see them.

I also went to the Arizona Home and Garden show this last Friday and found some Rock dust type minerals that will help the bad soil we have here, put it and some other stuff on the tomatoes and will see how they work out.  We might be adding this minerals and fertilizer to our ordering system, Keep checking back and see what we have.

I promise that I will be better at getting updates to the blog, but for the next 2 weeks I will be studying for a few tests so I can get hired onto a full time permanent job. Not a big fan of contract labor when you don’t know if you work next month or not. But, if you order from us then I can keep working at what I love to do and we all can be happy.

Thanks for reading!

Thursday, February 9, 2012

The Raised Garden is filled!

Well, I am sore and am heading to bed soon, but I thought I would update the status of the garden.  I checked on the tomato plants and they are doing great, some even have blossoms coming on.  The weather is great here in the desert, mid 70s for the highs and upper 40s for the lows, can't beat that.

So, my father and I went to get the soil this morning and I got a bit too much, 4.5 yards of soil when I really only needed about 3, oh well, I guess I'll dig some holes and plant a few fruit trees while I have the better stuff.

Here is a picture of the pile of soil with a partial wheelbarrow full.

Here is the front planter that I filled, you can see the new paper in the bottom, 3-4 layers. to help kill the weeds. It will be planted with wild flowers.

Here is a helper, she is really happy to be doing this with me, not!!! but then it helps if your very persuasive.

Here is a shot of the 2 4x8 beds in the back filled with soil they have been soaked with water, another watering will come before planting.

Here is the pile of soil after I have filled all three boxes, that is my job the next day is to move it from drive way to back yard. Another 1.5 yards approximately 40 cubic feet left to move.

After all this work I will say that I am happy, The soil is a mix of Compost, Peat Moss, Vermiculite, Volcanic Sand and some fertilizer, I will be amending it with other items such as worm castings, blood meal, dolomite lime, and other items as needed.

More work ahead, plants going in tomorrow, at least the ones that are big enough.

Friday, February 3, 2012

Time to start planting

After a delay in working on my garden, I have had to down size it a bit, I am only putting in 2 raised beds right now, each 8'x4'x1'. Here is the parts that will make up the bed, I made them yesterday and should have them built in about 15 min each. I believe in the KISS principle. Keep It Super Simple.
These are the sides, post and caps for the beds, now I just need to lay some newspaper (3-4 sheets), add compost/soil mix and some additives to enrich the mixture and I'll be off and running.  Watering system will come later as time permits.  So, if you are looking for a great way to get the garden you want with little work, this is your best bet.  Thanks for reading, David

Monday, January 16, 2012

Delay in gardening

Thanks to a dog bite on my right hand I have had to delay getting the garden built until I can grip a shovel in my right hand.  For now I will have to hope my seedlings don't get too leggy on me.

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Seeds started, layout for garden

OK. I have started 20 tomato plants on 1/3/12 and they should be poking up shortly, Planted the following
Sweet Pea Currant
Gold Rush Currant
Chiapas Wild-Heirloom
Ildi
Zarnitza

I will post a picture here in the next day or two showing my location for the raised garden and the experiment of enriching and growing a garden in the desert of Arizona.  I will also try growing some Blackberry and Raspberry plants in a 2x8 raised bed and constructing the supports for them.


Thanks