Six week update....

   All in all I would say I'm pleased with the garden progress this year. The tree bark and straw mulching coupled with the drip irrigation has saved me hours of back breaking weeding. Plus I am watering an additional 5 new trees ,100 foot of fence planting and the roses while saving $ 30 dollars a month on my water bill.  Can't beat that.   
    The Teepees are coming along great. I originally planted with "The Babies" started in January. The beans did great but I was not so pleased with the cucumbers as they were started way too early and were too leggy and weak. I did replace them with store bought cucumbers. Next year I will probably just start them outside in the ground. 

    Here's another view of the mini orchard I have 2 more tree spots. I may just throw caution to the wind and try a Mango. I was waiting to see how the trees would do this year .Looks like I'm good to go with 2 more. I want to keep them smallish as there are only two of us and I'm not a fan of tree trimming or rotten fruit clean up. 

 At the request of my husband I'm trying corn this year. About 20 years ago I planted a section that grew great guns. I was so excited. when it came time to harvest I found Corn Worms had ruined it all. Well I will try it again. this crop has taken the best to drip irrigation. I planted 3 sections  about 2 weeks apart. The plants are a foot apart and I will thin to one plant once they have all germinated. Anyone with a plan to keep them safe of ear worms is appreciated. As you can see my wall of berries is also doing well .

   It's year two for the grapes and raspberries. As you can see they are doing well. I'm sure it is the increased water with the drip system coupled with the fact they are older. I have tons of baby grapes. It will hurt to pinch  some of the fruit but I know it needs to be done. I think Grape Girl needs to be rescued and given a Grape Boy.

 In the main garden I deemed the plants big enough to put down the straw mulch. Last year was my first year of mulching with straw. I put down newspaper and with about 2 to 3 inches of straw. For  $8 and about 2 hours of work I saved many hours of weeding. It overwintered great. According to Mother Earth News you should not till the next year. Just let the microbes and other earth bugs do their stuff. Well less work for me sounds great. I did  not till just planted.  We shall see how the earth helpers do.
   I did alright with "The Babies". Both the Roma And Beefsteak tomatoes are growing well. My squash did ok. I kind of jumped the gun and bought 3 zucchini plants but I don't think I needed too. 
   The peppers did not fair so well. My jalapenos died. Rotted actually as the drip was just too much for them. And the colored bells are limping along. I am also having problems with my store bought Anaheim's. I think they need more heat or they just don't like the drip. We shall see as I have grown them for years and have a mind of their own.
   

 My asparagus is growing. Not sure if it is doing well or not as I have never grown it but it is alive. Also not sure if I should straw mulch it or not. Maybe someone out there in cyberspace knows. My artichokes are doing great. Time to mulch these too . I will be putting some earwig traps next to these as the are the Earwigs favorite place to live.

Just another view!!

  I lost my orange tree and the lime is limping along. Just too small to make it through the frosts. I did get another lime. Lemons and limes are an important part of my cooking .The onion are doing great. Kind of freaked my husband out that I planted so many. Hopefully I will have some to store.

  And yes, NO white flies yet. I know they are in the yard as they are on the roses. All vegetable gardeners should get roses. They are great pest barometers.  

  On a final note. I'm not so sure starting early works. Its fun to try  but Mother Nature knows when to let things grow. I don't think I'm  any further ahead as it seems I was at this same level of growth last year.

Cats in the Garden...

   Somehow I ended up with three cats. Strange as I was never particularly fond of cats but it happened .I have become a cat lady. Not quite a crazy cat lady but a cat lady nonetheless.

    Here are the girls standing sentry in their garden . Yes it is "their" garden. The minute I started working back there it was deemed their secret area. They love Mondays almost as much as Mrs. Gooserson. They shadow everything I do sometimes taking breaks to participate in a rousing game of tag or scratch their nails on the wood posts. Chasing huge grasshoppers and teasing the neighboring dogs are also games we play. 

  

   Twotone the black tabby is my gardens best defense. She has ice water coursing through her killers body. Gophers don't stand a chance. Big grasshoppers are her favorite play toy . She will even drag huge Tomato worms into my EBay room as thanks for making her a garden.  

  Here's my big orange cat Flusby. I don't believe that is her true name as we have had her for 16 years and don't recall her real name. In her lifetime she has been many cats. Starting out life as my three year olds kitty, disappearing for a few years into the wild , and then coming back to be my office cat. She is blind and slightly deaf but still holds her own. I have written about her in my other blog Smashed Pennies. Click on the Smashed Pennies and it will take you there.

  To those of you who have raised beds and find surprise cat bombs, just realise to cats that looks like a big litter box. My solution is that I have an outside litterbox. They have no problem using that rather than their Secret Garden. 

    Cats in the garden? Hell yeah.

And the winner is.......

   The CAT FOOD CAN raaaaahhhh !!! Yes the sweet smell of success. I found these two organic ways to trap the pesky earwig on  a UC Davis website, (my alma mater). The first was a cat food can with 1/2" of vegetable oil and it worked wonders. I put about 9 out and and all of them had at least 3 earwigs. Another great thing happened. They trapped ants too!!! I plan on putting more out as I am now convinced this was my culprit. 
   The next trap was a rolled up newspaper. You go out in the morning with a bucket of soapy water and shake the paper over it to drown the earwigs. Epic fail and I can't say I wasn't too dissappointed. I would much rather the little buggers drown themselves in vegetable oil. 

Tomatillos and Earwigs :(

  Woohoo. just noticed this today. My first Tomatillo. this is my second year growing tomatillos. Last year I picked up some on a lark. What the hell I could give it a go. 
   Wanting to impress my tomatillos with my garden prowess I gave them the best potting soil in 3 big clay pots. My first mistake was putting them in pots. I don't know why but I kill everything in a pot. Container gardening is truly not for me. 
   As I watched them languish I became stumped. I treated them like princesses.Gave them the best soil, plenty of water and almost started singing to them. Finally I went to the Internet. Don't ask me why I did not research them in the first place but I figured tomatoes , tomatillos what's the difference. Alot.
  Come to find out tomatillos are to be treated like the red headed stepchild of the garden. They love bad soil and low water. So I pulled them out of the pots and stuck them against the back fence. Worst spot in the garden. They loved it. They become my favorite garden munchie.  Never got enough to cook anything as I moved them very late in the season. 
  This year I got 12 plants. They are thriving in the bad back corner. I didn't even notice the first fruit as I am ignoring them. I did notice the holes in the leaves though. As I prefer to semi-organic garden pesticides are not used. Usually the plants outgrow the bugs and its no problem. I'm sure this is earwigs. 
    As I mulch garden I have lots and lots of earwigs. Usually the chickens take care of most of them but as I am down to 2 it is becoming an issue. I may just need to set some traps tonight. Updates to come tomorrow.

Life's little surprises...

   One of our favorite joys in life is travel. Slow travel is preferred. We have rented apartments in Italy, England and even a houseboat in Amsterdam. It  gives you the experience of "living" somewhere. This vacation was 2 weeks in the " Tin Can" .Truly it's own form of slow travel. We try to stay somewhere close to local flavor and cafes so we can absorb the area. 
    On our way home we stopped in the Route 66 burb of Tucumcari New Mexico at "The Cactus" RV Park. According to their website there were no diseased mongrel dogs there so it sounded like a good choice. 
    The place was dusty and old just like most of Tucumcari . Out front I was greeted by 3 small tomato plants in huge tomato cages. A fellow gardener. We parked the rig and had almost the whole place to ourselves. Trust me no one really wants to be in Tucumcari on a Wednesday. 
   being a nosy woman I peaked over a wall of metal roofing and there it was. The Tucumcari  "Secret Garden". the most interesting thing was it was all planted in buried styrofoam ice chests. Very interesting idea. Keeps tunneling rodents out while keeping water and warmth in. Plus the pipe watering is a great way to preserve water

   Then I saw it. What an ingenious idea to protect seedlings. Little greenhouses. Now Im saving all my old glass mayo and pickle jars !!!

Visiting Grampa Jack

   Were baaack !! We took the motor home, aka "The Tin Can", from California , down Interstate 10 to New Orleans for the French Quarter Jazz Festival , then up to Interstate 40 back to California. Along the way we had lots of family to visit.  
   First stop was Grandpa Jacks. Erik's father lives in Las Cruces , New Mexico. The man is any gardeners inspiration. Not only has he grown prize winning monster pumpkins and trees from seeds, yes actual big trees from seeds , he also grew a pineapple from the top of a store bought fruit. 
  who does this ? Yes we have seen it and I personally have tried it a multitude of times, but who actually pulls it off ? Grandpa Jack of course. 

    He even has a four foot tall metal God statue. Best garden tsotchke EVER!!!

 The largest Ocotillo Cactus ever...

   And the coolest hand painted front door I have ever seen !!!!!!  Soon to be in a calendar of " The Doors of Las Cruces".  Yes I have the coolest Father in Law ever !!!!!

INTRODUCING........

  Grape Girl !!!!  Her mission is to protect Baby Grapes from the evil beaks of all hungry avian!!
Credit goes to my wonderful husband who now truly understands the power of the Scarecrow.
  
  What will he come up with next .....

STRAWBERRIES !!

   I had forgotten how beautiful strawberry plants are. My strawberries are growing gangbusters . They love this California sunshine .....

Mrs Gooserson

   Every  Monday Mrs. Gooserson stands post waiting for mustard greens to fly over the fence. Mrs. Gooserson LOVES mustard greens almost as much as she loves Hot Cheetos.  

    As I am the Queen of my Empire , I get to choose my days off. Monday is my chosen day of relaxation, therefore most of Monday  is spent building my garden. That is why you will find Mrs. Gooserson standing sentry at the fence every Monday.

  This  particular Monday was a special one for Mrs Gooserson . It was time. Time to put a fork in my winter garden. The broccoli would not stop bolting and the mustard greens had turned bitter. I toyed with the idea of keeping it for Mrs. Gooserson but my potato growing experiment had to start and this was the perfect space. 

  Soon the heavens opened up raining great gobs of broccoli and mustard greens on Mrs Goosersons yard. Christmas in April !!  She ran from plant to plant gobbling up a bit of each as they fell from the sky. Thelma and Louise joined in pecking at the green goodness.

   Around  noon I took a break to begin prepping for dinner. Bits an pieces of various vegetables were sent flying out my kitchen door. Thelma and Louise were there with bells on but Mrs Gooserson was nowhere to be seen. I began to worry as she was always there front and center.

   I found her in the back yard sleeping in her pile of greens. she lazily looked up at me then promptly put her head back down. Had I killed Mrs Gooserson with Mustard greens !!!

   After spending an afternoon fraught with worry , my husband arrived home. Mrs Gooserson woke up and ran to the gate. Yup , it was time for her Hot Cheeto appetizer !!!,
    


   
   

FIRST ROSE OF SPRING!!

   Many years ago, sixteen I believe, I planted these roses along my back wall after being given a Jackson and Perkins gift certificate from my father in law Jack. 

   Roses are the most forgiving plants ever. It is amazing how they can live in the most adverse conditions.Especially mine. Honestly  they are the only plants to live through my non-gardening 40s. No water, no pruning , no nothing.

   I will admit to planting them properly . At the time I had horses and huge holes were dug with ample manure supplied. Roses LOVE horse manure. Dried  of course as the wet ammonia of road apples can burn the roots. 

   With the killing of the trees came a huge mound of wood chips and logs for firewood. What to do? Why mulch the roses of course! They were trimmed for the first time in four years , given a proper fertilizing of Epsom salts , and a proper drip system. they look amazing.

    Here's  the first bloom of the season. If you look closely you can see the aphids and ants. Aphids won't kill your plant but they will suck the juices out of them and it can damage blooms. The only redeeming quality ants have is eating Aphids. 

    Normally I might leave the ants to their snack but the aphids far out numbered them. No problem , I  power sprayed them with the hose . It works great. I will also make up a soapy spray of two tablespoons of liquid dish soap in a spray bottle of water. You can also boil some garlic in water , leave it overnight ,strain , and use it with your soap in the spray bottle.

   Power spray the roses and apply your soapy concoction on a weekly basis and you have the cheapest and safest way to control this pest!!!