January Groundwork

January is here and it's not a time for slackers. It's time to prepare for Spring! January is the month to prune, plant, and dig holes. This is the time to think about expanding your garden. But, don't think too long. The dormant bare-root trees need to be planted before the roots dry out and the warm sun stimulates the buds to leaf out.

Here's the list for the month

• Plant deciduous fruit trees. If you are planting bare-root trees, get them in the ground as soon as possible. Don't let the roots dry out. Take the tree out of the bag and set it in a barrel of water with a little vitamin B. Let it soak overnight. Have your holes pre-dug and soil mixture ready. Here is a list of fruit and nut trees for the low desert. Many nurseries have potted fruit trees available. You can plant these any time in the next few weeks.



• Start taste testing citrus fruits for sweetness. Navel, sweet oranges, mandarins and tangelos are close to harvest time.
  
  
• Continue to sow seeds or transplants of cool-season vegetables for a continuous supply of salad greens and root vegetables until warm weather arrives.
  
  
• Time to plant bare-root roses. Find a location where roses have filtered afternoon shade. Valley nurseries have hundreds of roses available. Rose societies will be offering how-to clinics for pruning and planting. Take advantage of the expert knowledge of the valley rosarians. Check out the Maricopa County Extension's rose publication for more information.
  
• Prune established roses to encourage optimum blooming in April. Cut all canes back to approximately one half. Cut canes back to an outward facing bud. Remove dead canes. Remove old or weak canes. Strip off all leaves and dispose of them. Seal all cuts with Elmer's glue to seal new cuts. Don't be afraid. Practice makes perfect.


• Sow seeds of tomatoes, peppers eggplants and basil indoors in time to transplant in the garden in late February to early March.
  
• Continue to watch for freezing temperatures and protect frost-tender plants. The last average frost date is around February 15th.
  
• Watch for gray aphids on tender new growth and hose off regularly with a forceful spray of water. Also, looper-worms like to eat cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower. Check under leaves and near the base and pick off worms.


• This is a great time to add color and texture to your garden. Plant cool weather annuals between your vegetables. Calendulas, johnny-jump-ups, pansy, petunias, snapdragons and stocks will continue to bloom until spring. Cool-season herbs include, dill, parsley, cilantro and thyme.
  
• Prune deciduous fruit trees by the end of January or before flowering starts.
  
• If you are an adventurous gardener, plant asparagus now.

Have a great new year, and enjoy spring gardening in the desert!

I Have Completely Changed the Way I Garden!

I have officially changed my philosophy of gardening. It is already a challenge to have a vegetable garden in the desert of Arizona, but a year ago, I went to a gardening clinic that was taught by two Master Gardeners here in Maricopa County and they showed me a whole new way to garden.

It is called Square Foot gardening, and it was developed by an engineer named Mel Bartholomew. He has published several books and his official web-site is: www.squarefootgardening.com

Anyway, the Master Gardeners were both AZ natives and had been gardening here for many years. They had learned about this new method a few years earlier and were sold on it and now I am also.

The theory of it is to use square foot sections and to use them efficiently and you will increase your harvest while using less space. Let me explain.

You start by leveling your area where you are going to put your square foot planting boxes. I (yes, ME!), built four 4x4 boxes and one 2x4 box using 2x6 pieces of lumber. I placed them in the area where my garden has been for the past 17 years. I put weed cloth under each box to prevent weeds from growing up into the boxes.

Next step is to mix the garden mix to fill the boxes. Mr. Bartholomew has a special recipe that he developed which is 1/3 vermiculite, 1/3 peat moss, and 1/3 compost. The initial cost of this is a bit, but it is the only time you will have to do it. From here on you just keep adding compost which is quite inexpensive or free if you make your own compost, which I do.

After mixing and filling the boxes you then need to make the square foot grid. I just bought inexpensive molding from the hardware store and we put it together one night for a family activity. Doesn’t Michael look like he is having more fun than he can handle?!?!?!

You can attach this to the garden boxes or just lay them on it which I did to make it easier when mixing in more compost in the future. Now you are ready to plant! I received a handout showing what and how many plants to plant in each square foot. Basically, you need to determine if it is a small (ex.-radishes, 16 plants per square-foot), medium (ex.-beets, 9 per square foot), large (ex.-leaf lettuce, 4 per sf), or extra large (peppers-1 per sf). Then you map out your garden and decide what you will plant.

Several of the large plants can be planted on a trellis so they take up even less room because they are growing up, this is called vertical planting. I was amazed at how much I was able to plant. More than I had ever fit into this same gardening space.

After planting, I put together a drip line with one head in each square and attached it to my faucet so I just turn on my hose for an hour and it drips onto each section to water it evenly. ***Note-I did use a sprinkler for the first 2 weeks until all the seeds had sprouted, then switched to the drip system.

I have already harvested 1 batch of lettuce and radishes since I planted in September and as you can see, now in December it is going strong.

The selling points of using this method of gardening are: 1-I don’t need to solorize the soil in the summer, 2-the ease of weeding is tremendous, and 3-since you can garden in Maricopa county year-round, it means less time in the hot summer you need to spend maintaining the garden.

Now I admit, I have only been doing this for 4 months and I will let you know how I feel about it in July and August when it is 115-120 degrees out there but since I usually didn’t garden in the summer, I will try it this year to see if I like it or not.

So, I recommend you check out this method. It does take some work to begin with but the time savings so far in the actual gardening has been less than the building of the garden so I have come out ahead time-wise. That time savings means more time for other things I enjoy doing, like playing with my graden train!

Mel Bartholomew teaches workshops all over and he insists this method can be adapted in any climate and location. Try it and let me know what you think!

ROASTED CAULIFLOWER WITH KALAMATA VINAIGRETTE - Gourmet Magazine

I don't love cauliflower but my friend, Jennifer, does. So when I saw this recipe in Gourmet Magazine I emailed it to her. Then I found myself with a lot of Kalamata olives and a head of cauliflower so I decided to make this. I loved it! Roasting cauliflower brings out a nuttiness flavor. It is delicious and so easy. Enjoy!

• 1 (2 1/2-to 3-pounds) head cauliflower
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 1 small garlic clove
• 1 to 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (to taste)
• 1/4 cup pitted Kalamata olives, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 450°F with rack in lower third.

Cut cauliflower lengthwise into 3/4-inch-thick slices. Put in a large 4-sided sheet pan and toss with 2 tablespoon oil and 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Roast, turning once or twice, until golden and just tender, about 25 minutes.

While cauliflower roasts, mince and mash garlic to a paste with a pinch of salt, then whisk together with lemon juice, remaining 2 tablespoons oil, olives, 1/8 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Serve cauliflower drizzled with Kalamata vinaigrette.

Kim

BULB AND SWEET PEA PLANTING

It's that time of year! This year with the help from family and friends we planted tulips, sweet peas, irises, freesias and ranunculus. We soaked the sweet peas over night. The moisture from soaking helps the sweet peas germinate more rapidly and loosens the skin or shell, which covers the seed. Sometime this spring we should have a beautiful garden.

We planted nearly 100 bulbs. You have to prepare the ground before planting. Good soil makes for lovely flowers. Over the years we've been adding soil amendments to our flower bed. This year we added 11 bags of manure and our own homemade compost. The results have been terrific. The soil has never looked and felt better.

These are the tools we used. These tools work like a charm. The one on the left is called "hand bulb planter" and the one on right is called " bulb dibber". I've used both and they are equally good.

Do these hands look great or what! The soil was perfect for planting. A little dirt never hurt anyone.

Happy Gardening!

Tammy

BUTTERNUT SQUASH APPLE SOUP

Normally I don't love pureed soups but I really liked this version. This is the quintessential Fall soup! Butternut squash and apples, plus a dash of cinnamon and nutmeg--mmmm, good.

And this soup is good for you with all those good veggies and there is just one tablespoon of butter and no cream.


I roasted the squash for 30 minutes (splitting it in two and placing it in a 350 degree toaster oven). Roasting brings out the flavor of the squash even more than cooking it directly in the soup. But either way would work.

This soup comes from Simply Recipes, a favorite cooking blog.

Butternut Squash Apple Soup

Ingredients

1 yellow onion, chopped

1 rib of celery, chopped

1 carrot, chopped

1 Tbsp butter

1 Butternut Squash, peeled, seeds removed, chopped

1 tart green apple, peeled, cored, chopped

3 cups chicken broth

Pinches of nutmeg, cinnamon, salt and pepper

Saute onion, celery, and carrot in butter. Cook for 5 minutes. Add squash, apple, and broth. Bring to boil and simmer for 10 minutes or until squash is soft. Puree. Add spices to taste

Serves 4

Kim

November Groundwork

Mild November days remind us to slow down and relish in the fact that we have survived the summer once again. Here in the low desert of Phoenix we have two growing seasons.This cool season weather is the perfect time to sow peas, root crops, leafy greens and a long list of cabbage family crops. Plant cool-season herbs and edible flowers, experiment with new tastes and textures in your Autumn dishes. One of my favorite herbs is dill. I love the delicate, feathery-like leaves or fronds. It reminds me of a fairy land, especially when the flower heads form into little yellow umbrellas and turn into seeds! Dill is easy to grow from seeds. Sow them in full sun and well-drained soil. Plant in the back of the garden bed. They can grow up to 3 feet tall. Cut fresh as needed. Fronds, flower heads and seeds are all edible. After you have had your fill, dry for later use. Spread fronds out on a paper towel and air dry, or microwave for 3 minutes. Remove thick stems and crumble. Store in an airtight container. When seedheads form, let them dry and remove seeds. Add to fish dishes, dips, soups and salads. Leave a few seedheads to dry in your garden for self-seeding.

November Checklist ~

• Adjust watering schedule as weather cools. Water deeply so moisture will reach the root system, but less frequently as the season changes.



• Inspect vegetables closely for insects, pests and diseases.Keep an eye out for little green caterpillars or Cabbage Loopers. This is also the time of year for aphids. Rub out or pinch out at first sign of the ash colored cluster. Also try using a soapy spray by mixing 1 tbsp. each of Dawn dish soap and vegetable oil with 1 gallon water. Spray in early morning or evening. Make sure you spray the underside of leaves. With early detection, you're more likely to manage or prevent any major damage to plants.
  



• Dead-head spent blooms and harvest veggies to stimulate continued growth.
  



• Continue to sow cool-weather annuals and biennials every 2 to 4 weeks through the fall for a continuous crop of vegetables through next spring.




• Thin seedlings as they grow to prevent crowding, this gives your young plants plenty of room to grow. Use scissors to cut seedlings at ground level. Wash and toss these sprouts into your salad.




• Be prepared for early winter frost. Average first frost date takes place around the end of November to the first week of December. We usually have 7 to 10 nights of below freezing temperatures a year. Check out the National Weather Service for more up to date information. Cover frost sensitive plants with a sheet, light blanket or frost cloth (not plastic) all the way to the ground. Frost-tender veggies include; Tomatoes, bell peppers, and eggplants. Paper bags or boxes are great for low lying plants. Floating row covers are another option. If a hard freeze is forcast, try using outdoor Christmas lights under cover for extra warmth. Coldest temperatures are just before sunrise.
  



• Fall brings cool weather and an abundance of free organic matter. As trees begin to drop leaves, bag and save for compost pile, mulching or adding to layered garden beds. Mow over leaves a couple of times for a ready-to-use mulch. You can never have too many bags of leaves!

ROASTED RED PEPPER DIP

I love adding red bell peppers to most any savory dish I make. Roasting them just makes them more heavenly. This recipe is easy and always a hit--I've even sent this home with friends and they tell me they've eaten it for breakfast! Enjoy.

Roasted Red Pepper Dip

1 ½ cups roasted red peppers
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
2 cups shredded white Vermont Cheddar cheese
1 ½ cups mayonnaise
1 teaspoon hot sauce
½ cup minced leeks or green onions, white part and a bit of green
2 teaspoons freshly ground pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
Crushed oregano
Basil
Thyme

To roast red peppers--roast them over a flame or under the broiler until charred black. Then put peppers into a brown paper bag, close the top, and leave them alone until completely cooled. Then remove the peppers and peel off the charred skin and you are left with gorgeous roasted peppers.

Chop roasted red peppers and place in a mixing bowl with any leftover juices. Add Cheddar and Vermont Cheddar cheeses, mayonnaise, hot sauce, leeks or green onions, pepper and paprika. Season with oregano, basil, and thyme. Cover and refrigerate up to 3 days.

Serve with toasted pita bread triangles or plain water crackers. Also good in sandwiches.

From Capital Celebrations – Junior League of Washington

Photo courtesy of Jill Green

Kim

Planting time for Blackberries is coming soon!

Did you even realize that blackeberries grow here in Maricopa County? They grow prolifically! The varieties that grow best here are: Rosborough, Womack and Brison. Rosborough are the heaviest producer according to the County Extension Service. Baker's Nursery in Phoenix even has thorneless berries.

They need to be planted in well drained soil and the planting times are beginning in January through March. You can get them in bare-root in January while they last. Water them well when first planted, every 3-6 days the first 2 months. Once established they can be watered every 1-2 weeks depending on the temperature.

Fertilize about 1 month after planting then again in June/July. In succeeding years apply it in March and then in late July. Use a 13-13-13 or 10-10-10, within 2-3 foot circle around the base of the cane. They need to be pruned regularly since the canes that give fruit on year die off but by then new canes have spread so you will have a constant harvest after the first year.

Birds are really the only pest you have to deal with and netting takes care of them during the fruiting season.

For more information on blackberries check with the Maricopa County Cooperative Extension Service. You can down load instructions from your computer.

I have one bush on a trellis and one growing over an arch in the garden. I get many berries for about 1 1/2 months starting in late April and into May. I love to make jam or just freeze them on a cookie sheet then bag them up to use in desserts or frozen fruit smoothies.

Blackberries are a fun new crop to consider growing in your gardens.