The Winter Garden

I made a few additions to the Garden this month.... Added a few complementary herbs such as Basil, Parsley, Tarragon, Garlic Chives, Oregano, Lemon Balm and Thyme. They seem to be enjoying their new home. Which is a good thing.

However, one thing I didn’t take into consideration during the month of December was the very low temperatures and the unusual high winds. Lol. As you can tell by the pick I have a garden cloth semi covering the garden during the day and then at night it is let down and held by the bricks you see at the bottom, and secured to what ever I could grab onto by big office clips. (Funny I have had these big clips for years, and was reluctant to throw them out…. Well I guess I have now found a use for them. =)) I am telling you, covering this garden has become quite the process in the evenings.

The one good thing is that the garden is protected, and as you can tell, there is quite a bit to protect. =) so I am happy to do it.

Till next Log!
Michelle

Arizona Monthly Calendar

In doing some research on Gardening in Arizona... I stumbled upon what seems to be a great mini gardening checklist for those who live in this dry desert oasis that we call home. Check it out at About.com

What is really great is that I had discovered that Tomatoes and Peppers have two growing seasons here in the desert, that is if you can keep them alive long enough to do the necessary trimmage to 18 - inches in the month of September for re-growth and harvest in early December. =)

Check out the calendar, it not only covers Vegi Gardens but Grass (for those of you who do not know, we have two growing seasons for two different types of grasses here in the desert, Bermuda for summer and Perennial Rye for the winter), Trees and Shrubs, Flowers and a Monthly Does and or Don'ts Lists for the month.

Till Next Log...

Cheers!

We now have Edible TOMATOES!!!!

Whooo hooo!! Yup you heard it correct! I now have fruit that we can now eat, share with family and friends and have in our salads and sandwiches. MMMMM Tomatoes!




I am so thrilled that I can actually grow something and have it produce something that is edible. What an experience... its like the day I wrote my first HTML code! Very exciting!!!!

These tomatoes plants are growing like weeds, they are 5-6ft tall already and producing alot of fruit. I am getting cherry tomatoes from .5 inches to 1.5 inches in diameter and they all have their own twist in flavors. The smaller ones are really really sweet where as the larger ones are not so much. (But not to the point of being sour, which is good.)


I am really glad that I went down this path of gardening… words cannot explain the confidence, and the amount of tranquility that I have gained from this experience! A great stress reliever, and confidence booster all at the same time. Not to mention great eats as well!




Till Next log! Cheerio!

Tomato Blossoming 05.10

The tomatoes are blossoming nicely. It is very exciting to see such progress with this new garden. My track record for keeping plants alive has been sporadic at best. With a little time, love, and proper care I am not doing to bad. Thank goodness for the Internet, with all the articles, forums, blogs, etc. I am learning a lot.

Now that the tomatoes were and still are blossoming, I was curious to whether I needed to get any Tomato Bloom Spray. Did some research and was getting conflicting points of view on the topic. So I decided... since I have six plants, lets experiment on half.

I purchased some Green Light Tomatoes Bloom Spray. It is supposed to promote flowering, increase blossom set, reduce blossom-end rot and increase the yield. The bottle states, that you can use it on other plants such as Beans, Cucumbers, Eggplants, Grapes, Melons Okra, Peppers (good deal), and Strawberries. Can’t guarantee any of it since I only have tomatoes and peppers.

So, I experimented on half of them and in two days I started to see results. (Then again it could have just been luck with a little dose of good timing).

On one half, I started to see some Fruit! I was simply astonished.

On the other half, I was experiencing some Blossom Drop. =( Oh no, what to do... and why is it happening? My first reaction was to use the Bloom Spray I used on the other three... then I thought no, lets find out WHY this is happening and see if there is any other way to fix the problem.

In doing some research on Blossom Dropping there are a few things I found that could cause this:

• Extreme weather conditions, too warm, too cold, too windy, can cause the blossoms to not set properly. (Okay, knowing that we had some extreme weather conditions one of the weekends that we were in Australia, windy with temps near 100 degrees. Ok, I will buy that.)


• Lack of Nitrogen or too much thereof. This happens if you fertilize too much, or not enough.


• Lack of Pollination. Now this was interesting... makes sense. So started thinking, I really haven’t seen a lot of bees around here lately. Not sure why that is but I then realized that I needed to plant some complimentary flowering plants near my tomatoes to attract insects that assist in the pollination process. Another way to assist in the pollination process is lightly shaking the tomato plants. I will just keep doing that until I get my Nasturtiums to grow and bloom. (So far.... this seems to be working)


• Insect damage


• Stress related to disease


• Lack of light


• Extended light exposures - (24 hour exposure to a light source)


• Excessive pruning

There are other factors I am certain, I recommend to do your research and see what best applies to you.

Until next log… Cheers!

Tomato Log 05.10

It has been a month since my last post. A lot has been happening around here, we went for a two-week trip to Australia, which was absolutely AWESOME! And thankfully during that time, the tomatoes just kept growing. Special thanks go out to my neighbor Gina and my Mom for watching over the garden while we were gone.

A pic before we left:

And a pic when we got back: WOW!

Amazing, they look absolutely amazing! Can’t say much about my peppers however. Pretty sad, lost three while we were gone. I guess one of the weekends here we had a pretty bad windstorm and I didn't do a very good job staking them before I left. Oh well, live and learn. =) But the tomatoes look great!


There has been quite a bit activity since we have been home. From blossoming, blossom dropping, blossom setting solutions, and my favorite... Fruiting!


Keep you posted!

Tomatoes Lower Your Blood Pressure

What? Did you read that correctly? Yes indeedy you did... In a recent study, people whom experienced hypertension that consumed tomato extract daily for 8 weeks experienced a 10-point drop in systolic blood pressure and a 4-point drop in diastolic pressure.

Tomatoes have lycopene which lowers blood pressure. Lycopene is also known to be an anticancer and has heart-protective effects.

Tomatoes are an excellent source of vitamins A, C and K, and are also low calorie and low fat.

Hurray for the Tomato!

I would like to thank my Mother who sent me the article. Thanks Mom!

Check out the full the article on RealAge

Till the next Log!

Tomato Log 04.04

Well I have planted my little tomatoes. Red Cherry, Large Fruited Tomatoes. Six all together, I know, I know, its alot but this is the amateur gardeners blog and I wanted to make sure that I at least have one that will survive out of the entire lot. =)

So, they recommend planting them about 2ft apart, pinch off the two lowest leaves and then dig deep enough to where the remaining leaves are just above the soil. On thing to note, you should water them straight away ( I used a miracle grow mixture), once planted in the ground... the surrounding soil sucks the life out of the peat pod and your little plant will wither right quick.

Since I used the Jiffy Professional Greenhouse peat pods in a package of twelve and I only used six, it is recommended to keep the remaining around for awhile until the ones that you already have planted get established. I have had to replant about three of my tomatoes plants since my initial plant date. I still have a few left just in case... make sure to keep your peat pods moist and not let them dry out.

I purchased two tomato cages, "The Ultomato Tomato cage" Three 5 ft stakes, and Nine 10in adjustable connectors that support the branches. Yes I plan on getting the rest of them, however these little units are 6 bucks a piece. Since the plants are still young yet I plan on picking up the rest, a few at a time.

Ironically, as I am in the midst of planting, gathering information about how to plant, a new catalog came in my mailbox... Gardeners Supply Company. Which has some pretty interesting items, along with some tips and tricks on planting. And on the cover of the Magazine was an article all about... yes "Tomato's".

One of the little articles talks about using Red in your tomato garden, they sell stuff like Red Mulch. They say that surrounding your tomato plants with the color red can boost production by as much as 20%. The red light stimulates the plant hormones that are responsible for fruit production and ripening. Who would have thought? They have several items for your tomato plants, I suggest checking it out. Also, they have a great selection of tomato cages.

In the photo above you probably see another row of items... those are California Green Peppers. Check out my Pepper Log.

Until the next Log... Cheers!