July/August Garden

A lot has happened since my last post....but first here are a couple of Armenian cucumbers that got away from us and hid in the vines (notice the sweet potatoes behind her). They are being held by my grand daughter. In the past month we have been busy canning lots of produce from the garden. We have canned about 15 pints of salsa, 25 pints & quarts of Bread & Butter pickles, over 35 pints & quarts of dill pickles, canned & froze & gave away bags and bags of chili peppers, canned several quarts of tomatoes, and harvested and ate lots of cantaloupes & honey dew melons. We are still waiting for several watermelons to get rip. We froze many bags of green beans & harvested about 18 spaghetti squash. We have about reached our limit of zuchini squash and swiss chard. I've cleaned out many of the boxes, added compost that I've made, and prepared them for winter plants. I'll be planting my winter garden tomorrow. Our sweet potatoes are doing wonderfully. I think we are going to have a huge harvest. We are going to plant peas where the melons were. I'm keeping the tomatoes, cucumbers, chard, and peppers going from the summer boxes. We have been blessed with lots of rain since the 4th of July. I've had to do very little watering of the garden. I have a second bin of compost about ready to use. All in all I can say that we have harvested much more than ever before (in any type of garden we have had). I LOVE MY SQUARE FOOT GARDEN!! I have four other people who have watched my garden this summer and have started boxes for their winter garden or have started boxes for next spring. I think I've had to pull about 4 small weeds this entire summer....and the garden looks great. Thanks again Don & Dorothy. (double click to enlarge photo)

My JUNE Garden

This digital slideshow personalized with Smilebox

April in Grandpa's Square Foot Garden...

Free digital slideshow created with Smilebox

Gilly's Chili....

On the way back from Tad's house (Albuquerque, NM) last weekend we passed through the town of Hatch, NM. Since that is the chili capitol of the world....great Mexican chili anyway...I thought that I would stop and see if I could find some place to get some seeds to plant in the garden. I stopped at "Gilly's Chili" or better know as the Hatch Valley Chile Company. Gilly was super helpful and made sure I left with an ample supply of Sandia Medium, Sandia Hot, and AZ88 chili seeds. I'm looking forward to getting some of those seeds in the ground. If you have never had a Mexican dish prepared with Hatch chili you have been missing something special. So if you ever make your way to Hatch, NM please spend a few minutes at my "new friend's" store and buy some chili. Gilly is a super guy and will help you any way he can.

March 15....

This is that magic day I've been waiting for....the Gila Valley Gardening Guide lists today as the day to plant many of the "seed" items in the graden. I planted 8 plants (4 squares) of Picklebush cukes, 8 plants (4 squares) of Sweet Success cukes, 24 plants (24 squares) of Triumph de Farcy bush beans, 4 plants (16 squares) of Hybrid Zucchini squash, 2 plants (8 squares) of Sunray Hybrid squash, and 2 plants (8 squares) of Scallp Peter Pan squash. I'm going to wait another week to put out all my chili and tomato plants. I'm still amazed at the amount of plants you can get in a 4 x4 foot area...unbelievable! When we get back from Albaquerque (next week) I'm going to put the finishing touches on my automated drip system and set the timers for the individual stations.

My New Compost Bin...

This is the new compost bin I built. I first tried to build on barrel type tumbler that I saw on YouTube. It didn't work very well in that only a small amount of material could be put into the tumbler. I then visited Don Richins' home and saw the bin he had just made. It inspired me to make one of my own. So...THANKS SO MUCH DON FOR ALL YOUR HELP! I'm very happy with the way mine turned out. As you can see we have started a good amount of material already. I have the school cafeteria saving vegetable scraps for me, a friend is giving me the straw/chicken manure mixture from his chicken coop, Mary is saving our kitchen scraps, and I have an endless supple of straw bales from another friend. I look forward to putting some of the rich compost I know will come from this bin in my Square Foot Garden. Thanks again Don. (double click on pictures to enlarge)

March 1st planting....

I planted 8 squares of Swiss Chard (Neon Lights) as well as 4 squares of radishes (French Breakfast & Crimson Globe). The weather is finally turning a bit warmer and maybe spring (warmer weather) is on the way. We have been blessed with a good amount of rain and snow this winter. It can't help but improve things. I know it is putting more water in the lake and will lots of area to bass fish this spring, summer, and fall.