Tyler and I are NOT bloggers but in the spirit of Russell competitive nature we want to show off our gardening skills. (his skill and patience, my amazing compost production)

Anyway, we have been gardening now for an estimated 5 weeks adding as we go.

In the words of folk singer Ray Stevens, "God bless Arizona". We have had a great start and even better weather. Infact this past weekend we haven't had to water at all. (Thanks 'La Nina')

So far we are utilizing five areas of our yard for our gardening endevors. These areas we like to reference as:

                 'Main Garden', which is home to: SWISS CHARD
                                                                       ROMAINE LETTUCE
                                                                       CARROTS
                                                                       BRUSSEL SPROUTS
                                                                       MEXICAN SQUASH
                                                                       BELL PEPPERS (red)
                                                                      
                     'Patio Box', which is home to: ALOVERA
                                              Christy's Mini SAGUARO Cactus 'Octavio'
                                        and some random SPAGETTI SQUSH sprouts.

                     'Rock Bed', which is home to: BUTTERNUT SQUSH
                                                                     'IDAHO POTATOS' (from grocery store)
                                                     
           'Cypress Strip', (should be obvious): CYPRESS
         
                                            and

   'Home Depot Buckets', that are home to: JALAPENO
                                                                     TOMATOES
                                (we plan to transplant these into 'Rock Bed' when they mature a bit)

 So it seems we'll have our hands full. I would like to boast we are on our third harvest of the Swiss Chard and are enjoying the hell out of it. (ok, I admit the Chard was planted about 11 weeks ago as you will see in these photos)
 
So here is my attempt at image posting with labels.

                                               Moving our initial garden to make patio

                                                 Tyler and Trixi discussing the garden move

                                               Tyler's idea spawns an "amazingly simple,
                                                functional, and practical patio" (thats what
                                               we call it)

We kick ourselves for not having photo documenting the patio event.
(definately will when we do the rear of the house)
          
    Now lets move on to the gardens!

                                                                        'Patio Box'
                                                 These are my babies. Saved em' from 2 frosts.
                                               I got the lagest one('Mothership') as a tiny start
                                             from our friend Cat. The others forced themselves
                                                into existance.

'Rock Bed'

(Designated space for future transplants.)

"Idaho Potatos"

These were store bought

and started sprouting under our

sink. We figured why not bring

some Idaho here and gave em' a go.

(the plants are not identical at all.

I can only figure one must be a

modified or treated potato.)

Jalapeno

'Main Garden'

I'm lazy... brick wall has been in that

state for almost 3 weeks. I go to finish

and lose myself pulling weeds.

(it's a good thing we're in the ghetto,

our neighbors could care less)

These are our best neighbors, Romaine

and Chard.

Looking over brussel sprouts.

(note the gravel soil. Clearly the

remains of the old gravel driveway)

'Cypress Row'

There are 7 cypress in all but

unfortunately the neighbors

were in the process od detailing

their car and I couldn't get a pan

shot.

(will get a better pic later)

                                               
And now MY favorite part of gardening ever...

                                                                     My compost bin!

If you were keen enough to notice, this compost bin is crafted out of that old coffee table that was first a fixture in my bedroom in high school then following me to my first apartment. The coffee table came to Arizona with Chad and I and saw it's best days with Chad, Christy, Tyler, and I gatherd
round it. I figured this is the best send-off a derilict table could dream of. 'Turn me over, nail my top to my side and fill me with rotten food!'

I have to say COMPOSTING IS WICKED FUN! Tyler toils in the garden I play in the filth! Again I missed a great photo-op. Today I emptied, turned, and re-bedded the contents. Currently my mix is 30%Pete, 40%Soil, and 30%Food/Organic Waste. I mixed this way to give the compost a 'boost' as Tyler and I just don't produce that much food waste. (we enjoy re-inventing leftovers)
 

                                          Onion peels, avacado husks, lettuce heart, gourd
                                           shells, and banana peels. This kids...
                                           ...is where dirt comes from. DEAD THINGS!

As this is my first post here, I will not apologize for it's 'show-boating' lenght. This was fun and I hope to share more here.


Oh and here is a little something extra....
                                               

 Ira Hayes is my favorite Arizona historical figure. So I had to capture this while with Tyler in the Indian community of Sacaton.



                                                                                             
I hope to see all of your gardens if spring ever gets to you people.



                                   Happy blogging, BRAD