my sister's chicken

The Chicken vs. The Caterpillar

I don't think that my sister's chicken has ever seen a caterpillar that large before. Do you think she will eat it?  Or will the caterpillar emerge victorious? I'll let you know at the end of this post... Those of you who…
Southwest Garden in July

What To Do In The Southwest Garden in July…

I realize that it is hard to think of doing anything in the garden, much less step outside with the heat wave that we have been experiencing in the Southwest. Southwest Garden in July The good news is that you can most likely wait…
Container Corn

Container Corn is “For The Birds”

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You may remember that earlier this year, I was excited to try my hand at growing container corn. I learned about container corn when I was reading through Burpee's catalog.  They had a hybrid corn called, 'On Deck', which was specially…
Garden Video

My New Garden Video

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Last week, I hinted at the garden video that I created for the folks at Troybilt as part of my paid partnership with the 'Saturday 6'. In the past, I have been in gardening videos, but I had a film crew who did all the filming and editing…
vegetable garden

A Summer Edible Garden: Part 2

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I hope you enjoyed the grand tour of my edible garden that I created in my side yard. Today, I would like to show what is happening in my original vegetable garden... As you can see, there is a lot growing in this area. Among the…
My Summer Edible Garden

My Summer Edible Garden: Part 1

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It may be awfully hot outside, but my garden is awash in brightly colored flowers from my single bougainvillea, Arizona yellow bells and 'Rio Bravo' sage, which shrug off the summer heat. Last year, we decided to create an edible garden…
shade tomato plants

Natural Shade for Tomato Plants

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If you like to grow tomatoes AND you live in the desert, then you know how important it is to shade your tomato plants during the summer months. Most vegetable gardeners haul out 50% shade cloth, which does a great job at shading tomatoes…
Neglected Herbs

Neglected Herbs Lead to Beautiful Flowers…

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I have a confession to make... Sometimes I am a lazy gardener.  Are you shocked?  Will this revelation cause you to stop reading my blog?   In my defense, I must say that life gets rather busy and at the end of a long day,…
box full of sweet

A Harvest of Plums

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Last Friday, my mother came over for dinner and brought with a box full of sweet, tart goodness... Plums harvest Don't these plums look delicious? There is a single plum tree on the family farm that is incredibly prolific. …
Mesquite tree

A Sneaky Tree Intruder and Recovery Update

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Can you tell what is wrong with this Mesquite tree? This tree has mistletoe growing in it. Can you see it? It is hard to spot mistletoe when it first infects a tree.  I can spot it right away, but it takes some time to recognize…