Official Arizona Thread! Veggies in the Valley?

[Triple T]

Hi, our garden is doing the best it has ever done and I contribute that to having put in raised beds (using shipping crates) and having tons (literally) of composted horse manure. We have 28 tomato plants and over 3 dozen pepper plalnts (sweets and hots).
Can we say "SALSA" ....
I love to can my garden harvest for the future, like July, August and September when it is too hot and nothing is producing. At least we get two great gardening seasons here in Phoenix. Gotta love it!
We have already harvested 3 gallon bags full of carrots, been eating kohlrabi and swiss chard all winter.
I pickled the first planting of beets back in January and hoping to get the second planting grown before the weather gets too hot for them. Also have radishes and turnips growing fast.
My strawberries are really thriving and oh so delicious right now. It is a constant battle with the birds!!!!
We also have cucumbers, green beans, zuchinni, yellow squash, egg plant, spaghetti squash, okra, onions (white and red), and a few of the garlic are actually growing too.

Now to figure out what to plant when the turnips and radishes are harvested. Something that loves heat!!

 

[ArizonaNessa]

Hey Zonies Just thought I would drop in here and see what I can learn. I want to do some peppers and tomatoes in the upside down hanging planters. I don't grow things too well and since I moved here to Arizona I can't grow anything at all. I eventually want to do a couple of nice sized raised garden beds but hubby says I have to successfully grow some tomatoes first. Okay off to read and see what this site is all about. Glad I found you guys. :happy_flower

 

[Triple T]

ArizonaNessa. Hope you can find what you are looking for here. This is a great site, naturally.

I cannot help with the upside down hanging planters except to say be careful not to overwater like I did.:watering

I have great luck with my raised garden beds though. I have mine planted in shipping crates. It makes it great for weeding with a bad back. I can spend alot more time working on the garden this way.

Hope your peppers and tomatoes just make lots of salsa for you.:tools

 

[lareepqg]

:bee Hello everyone!

Lots of work to do in the garden this weekend. I need to putt the rest of the "old" carrots and mix all that dirt with the neighboring "chicken goo" pit.

I am going to cover the whole area and let it cook all summer.

BTW- I love all the diff smilies here. :mow

 

[Mahonri]

I'll be picking more beans tomorrow.... and squash and tomatoes.

The lettuce, cauliflower/broccoli section of my garden is done... time to start burying chicken poop there.

I'll be eating corn on the cob soon.

Anyone have a sure fire way to get rid of FLIES!!

(My neighbors complained)

 

[lareepqg]

I picked beans this weekend. All the cool bush beans came up. I took a picture, but will have to remember to upload it. My plan for the weekend--if I get outside--is to start trimming the brussels sprouts.

I ended up buying those fly predators--one online store had a free month if you bought 6 months. They send you a package every 3-4 weeks I think.

It DID cutback on the flies around my compost piles. For the coop I used those hanging fly traps.

 

[tricketts]

Hi everyone. I am new here, though i do recognize ArizonaNessa from the chicken forum that I get advice from.

I am pretty new to gardening and I must admit not so great at it. I have a raised garden bed that is 4ft wide by 8ft long. It is on the east side of my house between the block wall and house. It gets full sun but it also gets some shade.

I planted this year but most of my stuff died. LOL no surprise to my family. So last week I sowed the following seeds in doors in one of those trays with peet pots in it.

gourds, pole beans, sugar peas, tomatoes

I went to gardening class that said I could plant these thing now. Who knows if this is right but I will say that for the first time ever in a week the seeds germinated and every single plant is growing. I have read up about hardening and fertizling but I am unsure about two things.

1. When should I tranplant these. Can I do it after hardening or should I keep them in doors and wait until closer to August/Sept(will this cause them to die to wait this long).
2. I have noticed on a few leaves the tips are turning a light yellow. Does this mean they are too wet. I have only watered them twice since I planted the seeds and the soil is still really moist.

Thanks for any help!!

 

[tommboy1973]

Hi everyone!! I am also new here but recognize several of you from the chicken forum. I always gardened in my home state of Michigan, but am finding it more a challenge here. I have 1 1/4 acres in Hidden Valley, which is south of Maricopa city

So far I've grown tomatoes: better boy, brandywine, and some local ones a guy in the area was selling
peppers: chocolate and purple bell, jalapeno and anaheim,
zucchini (which never did very well suprise suprise, in MI you couldn't get em to stop!!)
cilantro, and
strawberries (which I was able to oversummer this year with shade cloth, hoping they make it thru winter till spring!!)

Laree: I just ordered some fall seeds for my first fall garden and almost ordered the asparagus peas but didn't because I wasn't sure they would grow here. I absolutely LOVE asparagus and wondered how yours came out. Do they really taste like asparagus? What time of year should they be planted?

Tricketts: I am prob not the person to answer you and it is prob too late anyhow, but I would think it depends on where you are in AZ. I know down here I don't think anything would survive being transplanted outside at the end of June.

Mahonri: I have horses and terrible flies. The only thing I found that works is those stink fly bags, although mine are well away from the house. If you have a small property the smell could be a problem. Did you read the topic on vanilla trees on BYC? I wonder if it really works?

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

Hello Arizona! Great day to garden! I've been spending a little more time over here and decided to join up. Seems like a lot of familiar folks.

tommyboy1973, I'm a MI transplant too!

 

[mclevinson]

It's garden time!