Our Spring Garden

So the last couple of weeks, I’ve spent a considerable amount of time in our yard/garden.

Planting, sowing, potting, transplanting, feeding, tieing, weeding and setting up the automatic watering system (well, that’s mostly my hubby though!)

I tell you an automatic watering system is the cure to a brown thumb in Phoenix! You have to be so much more careful though when to set the system to go on, so you’re not pumping boiling water to your plants from any hoses that might have been heating up etc. So we have hoses and timers and custom spray nossels on every plant, designed just for the amount of water they need.

So far so good though! Even with last week’s record heat, our plants not only survived but seem to be thriving (with some extra waterings to counteract the first tripple digits of the year – in March … crazy!!!)

Everything has at least doubled in size, most plants have tripled and quadrupled however! Yay!

The Honeysuckles have also started to burst into bloom, bringing back many a butterfly and humming bird into our yard!

I also want to plant some edibles this year, so we have not only my stand by herbs of rosemary, chives, oregano, thyme, basil, mint, sage, dill and marjoram, but tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, zucchini, oranges and containers of strawberries. 

 

Our little lime tree didn’t survive last years second hard frost and snow unfortunately

But since we have so much more room left, and I am quite eager to cover the ugly walls on other sides of the property too, I’m contemplating building some Earthtainers and taking the growing vegetables a little further still!

I would love to grow lettuce, corn and a few other things, but I fear that it may not work so well for us as it does get REALLY REALLY hot around here during the summer months and the (any) containers may just heat up too much.

By moving to containers, I could not only use a lot of the  space in the yard, that doesn’t have a raised bed, but also grow so much more organic veggies for the family. When living in the city with small children, the organic part as well as the getting the children familiar where the food comes from part seems so much more important!

I might try it in fall … when temperatures go down a bit more again here! We get a whole 2nd and sometimes 3rd growing season for certain things in Phoenix anyway.

For now I leave you with this though:

Yes, that’s what most of our lawn looks like now. This is hubby’s masterpiece again. A lawn like this doesn’t come naturally in Phoenix, I can tell you that, and this is not from sod. He turned the  remnants of the lawn from when we first moved in (you may remember this photo from another yard post)

 

into this, with sheer obstinacy and hard work!

It’s the best feeling to go out there barefoot in the early morning when it’s still cool and slightly moist from the night time watering. So plush and soft between the toes! Ahhhh!

 

Have a great day everyone!

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