Gardening

[lindaj]

I'll break my long LJ silence with a gardening update.

For the first time in a very long time, I have a sizeable yard and all of the sunshine I could hope for. Sadly, it's in the high desert. Nonetheless, I'm hoping to have a vegetable garden this year.

The tomato seedlings are up, though I probably planted them earlier than I should have. I'll try to keep them small and stocky until planting time. We have Romas, Marglobes, green tomatillos, and a dwarf cherry tomato called Tiny Tim that only grows 12 inches high. The Super Sweet 100s, though the same age as the others, germinated poorly, and I have only one plant so far. I'm hoping the Tiny Tims will do well year 'round under the skylights in the kitchen.

My somewhat old pepper seeds didn't germinate well, so I'm trying to germinate the remainder of them with the oft-lauded "coffee filter method." If this somehow causes them to come up, we'll be overrun. The yellow bells (a favorite of tman_mcl) are up, and seeds for Española Improved, a true local variety, have arrived. If the old jalapeños don't germinate in the coffee filter, I'll need to get more of those, because once my smoker gets here, I'm hoping for massive quantities of chipotles in the Fall.

A very kind man in Maryland decided to send me seeds for 6 additional types of tomatoes (5 heirloom, and one exceptional hybrid, some very rare), which I totally didn't need. On the one hand I'm grateful for the generosity. On the other hand, I sorta wish he hadn't. Now we're debating which of these we want to plant this year.

Even without the new tomato seeds, we'll be overrun with seedlings, because we discovered, as usual, that we didn't have the heart to thin them, and we're transplanting them instead.

I tried to propagate rosemary and oregano from cuttings. So far so good, but I can't tell you yet that they've got good root systems. It's been a few weeks, and they're not dead or wilted inside their humidity domes, so that's a good sign. I don't really know what I'll do with 6 rosemary plants and 10 oregano plants if I succeed.

My plans to start work on the rain barrel system were thwarted last weekend by a fairly significant snowstorm (the first precipitation since I arrived in this place last October)...which is unfortunate, because if I'd actually gotten the system started, I could have collected some water. This allowed me to spend some quality time with iridium and l_stboy, however, who were passing through town, and that was a good thing.

I also need to coordinate getting a load of well-aged horse manure from my coworker, who has plenty. New Mexico soil is pretty much useless as-is, and totally devoid of organic matter. Maybe this weekend.

That's not nearly everything going on in the gardening arena, not to mention other arenas, but it's probably more than enough for now.

Comments

Great to hear from you!

[firespirit1.livejournal.com]

Your garden sounds ambitious and the tomatoes sound yummy. What else are you planting besides peppers and tomatoes?

Are you planning a trip back east any time soon? I know you were thinking of coming at Beltaine.

Re: Great to hear from you!

[lindalee.livejournal.com]

Somehow, I don't know how to do gardening in any fashion other than "ambitious." It's a genetic flaw, I think, as my grandmother had the same problem. I don't know if you notice the drooling when I visit your farm. :-)

It's also true that the climate and the yard require ambition in order to do anything at all. The yard is on two levels, so if I'm going to use gravity-fed drip irrigation from the rain barrels (which is necessary, due to watering restrictions), and not buy a pump, I need to plant in the lower part, which means planting in front of a south-facing stucco wall, which can be the kiss of death in this climate. So, that means planning on vining crops to cover and shade the wall early, so that other plants can survive...among other things. With some clever companion planting, I think I'll be able to do OK...but "clever companion planting" definitely equals "ambitious."

I've collected entirely too many seeds over the years, so this year, when I have such a spacious yard, is the year for cleaning house. I plan to try planting pretty much everything I own, and if it germinates, great...if it doesn't, I'll toss the packet without guilt.

[more in the next comment]

Re: Great to hear from you!

[lindalee.livejournal.com]

I've got all sorts of herb seeds, both culinary and medicinal. We'll plant basil for sure, in quantity, because what would Summer be without fresh pesto? As I mentioned, I'm trying to propagate rosemary and oregano from cuttings. I'll plant creeping thyme (which happily is quite drought-tolerant) to try to fill the places between the flagstones out back. As for the rest, I guess I can report back when/if it germinates...at last count, there were more than 20 packets still in the "herbs" ziploc, but I'm sure many are no longer viable, and some (like Marshmallow) aren't likely to do well here.

I'm planning on squashes (both Winter and Summer) and cucumbers. Some sort of Italian flat pole beans (if you tell tman_mcl, "Hey, it's Italian," he'll buy it in an instant..."I want to grow pole beans." "I don't really like beans." "These ones are Italian." "OK, let's get them!"). I bought some spinach seeds for 25 cents, but I fear it will go from too cold to too hot in entirely too short a period of time, and it will bolt...but maybe I can start it earlier in containers, or make good use of the aforementioned South-facing wall, and/or do a Fall crop. I'm going to try turnips, since tman_mcl and I both love them, but I don't have a lot of experience with root crops, and ditto on the bolting. We're going to try broccoli and broccoli raab. I found some onion sets mis-shelved at Home Depot, and bought them because I couldn't help myself...I'll probably plant them as bunching onions rather than trying to get them to make bulbs. There are probably other things in the "vegetables" ziploc. Some Egyptian Walking Onions are already planted in the yard (I brought them last Summer), though they may need to be moved when I start preparing the beds.

We've got flowers, too. Morning glories & moonflowers because they're so great. Marigolds to keep the bugs from the veggies. Nasturtiums for the same reason, plus they're edible, and yummy when stuffed with guacaomole (serve it on a slice of jicama or something, so you can pick it up). Cosmos and sunflowers because they're likely to thrive here. Zinnias and bachelor's buttons because my grandmother always grew those, and the seeds cost only 25 cents, and I think they'll do OK in this climate. A wildflower mix called Xeriscape Extreme, because that should definitely do well here. And again, whatever else is sitting around in the "flowers" ziploc from years past.

And, you know, just because I'm extra-extra-ambitious, I've got some Desert Grassland Clover to use as a cover crop if I have a garden area planned for next year that I don't plant this year...there's nothing like a desert-appropriate legume to improve the soil for the future, and boy, does this soil need improving. It supposedly has pretty flowers, too.

Yeah, I know, I'm trying to go from city living to the garden of my childhood more or less overnight...and it probably won't all happen, but I'm going to make the most of it, and I've got to start somewhere. Plus, the wide variety of things will give me a better sense of what does well here, and will make it less likely for me to miss an entire season.