Community Garden Progress

I wasn’t good about tracking progress and taking photos of our community garden, but in a nutshell:

We picked the spot in our neighbor’s front yard – by the north-facing wall – and built the beds. We had soil delivered from Acme and mixed in some compost and gypsum (fertilizer & soil conditioner). It sat for a couple of weeks and the plan was to have a planting party on March 18th, but due to a very unusually day-long rain storm that day we postponed and planted on March 24th. This was a little bit later than we hoped (early-mid March is best) but things have been going well.

Community garden, early April

After everything was planted, we added an irrigation system which was actually fairly straightforward. We alternated half-gallon and full-gallon per hour emitters. It took a little bit of testing and moving around, and even last week we added a couple new emitters because we managed to miss some of the seed locations.

Seeds we planted: squash, beans, corn (three sisters); red bell pepper; cucumber.

one of our three sisters planters

Plants we planted: lavender, cilantro, basil, dill; cucumber (which was good since the seeds never sprouted); habanero and fresno hot peppers; cantaloupe.

the herb garden - clockwise from top lavender, basil, cilantro, dill

We put up a wooden fence and stapled on chicken wire to prevent rabbits & cats from coming in and messing things up.

Final touches on the fence

The watering schedule now is twice a day – once in the morning and once in the afternoon. It has been close to 100 degrees this past week so we are keeping a very close eye on things. Everything so far is healthy and has been growing rapidly, especially the three sisters. The next step may be to get a shade cloth for those very hot hours of the day.

Building Our Garden

Over the last couple of weeks we have pulled together our garden. We started by selecting a corner of our yard that already had a brick boundary and was a good size and location for the garden.

What it looked like before

We dug up several wheel barrows of dirt to make room for the good soil. We loosened up the soil using shovels, using water to help loosen it as necessary. While we were digging, we discovered there was some more brick under actually creating a couple of beds. Perhaps there was a garden here before?

We got a yard of Garden Planting Blend soil from Acme Sand & Gravel (mix of 70% native compost 15% sandy topsoil 15% Marana Silt Sand) and our neighbor kindly brought it to us in his truck. We integrated the soil into our dirt using shovels. Lots of mixing.

Adding the garden soil

We needed to fence it off because of our two dogs, so we put in some stakes and attached chicken wire. Nothing fancy but it does the job.

Building the fence

Rather than planting right away, we waiting a couple of days, and each day we mixed up the soil a bit more and added some water to moisten it.

Waiting a few days

We realized we needed to be able to walk in the middle of the garden, so put some pave stones down that we had lying around elsewhere in the yard. Finally on April 15th we planted everything. We also took a trip to Home Depot and picked up a few more plants.

The garden now

So we have: peppermint, thai basil, yellow bell pepper, sweet banana pepper, zucchini, hot cherry pepper, cucumber, roma tomato, and cherry tomato. We also have some beans that we transplanted from the community garden and are hoping survive (they aren’t looking to good but may come back still).

Our garden now

This week we hit the 90s and so have been watching carefully how things go. We are hand watering twice per day – once in the morning (9ish) and once in the afternoon (4ish). So far so good!

Fresh Eggs & Fried Rice

Our neighbor has several chickens gave us some eggs. One of the chickens lays green eggs!

three fresh eggs

We’ve had them in breakfast burritos and used them last week in some fried rice. They are very tasty.

fried rice with broccoli, peppers, and cashews

First, I cooked jasmine rice in vegetable broth. In a skillet, I cooked up some chili oil, garlic & red onion, then added the veggies (broccoli, red & yellow peppers, kale from the garden) and some soy sauce. In the last couple minutes we added some crushed cashews and spring onions. Then mixed in the rice with the three fresh whisked eggs.

Garden Beginnings – Vegetables in Pots

So right now, we just have 4 plants and they are in pots on our back porch. We keep them in the sun 6+ hours a day. It’s actually nice to start them in pots since it seems like we have more control over them (can move them out of the sun, into the sun, during the day). We just water them using the watering can when they start to get dry (once every couple of days). We are a couple weeks in, and so far so good! (These photos were taken about a week ago now – they are actually looking a bit bigger already).

Spring Rolls

Spring rolls with peanut sauce

The perfect light dinner. Rice paper filled with fresh veggies. Very easy to make – you just soak the rice paper for 30 seconds in water then it’s ready to fill with veggies and wrap up.

In these I have shredded cabbage, shredded carrots, sliced Persian cucumbers, sliced baked tofu, sliced avocado, minced ginger, minced garlic, fresh cilantro, and fresh mint.

Peanut sauce on the side for spooning on (I find dipping to be too messy). Mmm!

Skillet Corn

A simple yet delicious side. Saute olive oil, garlic, red onion, and serrano pepper. Add a can of corn, and cover on low for about 10 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.

skillet corn

I cooked and sliced a Veggie Dog and mixed it in for a complete meal.

skillet corn with veggie dog

 

Carrots in Love

Our neighbor gave us some carrots from his garden, and I loved the way these ones came out. This, you will never see in the store! I felt bad breaking them apart.

Carrots in love

Big Salads

Big salad with all the fixins

Sometimes on a warm spring Tucson evening all you want is a salad full of fresh vegetables.

This particular salad, all the greens are fresh from the garden – beet greens & mixed greens. Also included: Trader Joe’s organic baked tofu (love this stuff), cucumber, baby tomato, olive, celery, baby carrots, red bell pepper, sliced almonds, avocado, and crispy jalapenos.

Two big salads - one with bacon, one with cheese

I like a small drizzle of olive oil & salt and pepper, but my partner skips the oil. He makes up for it by putting bacon bits on the top, though!