Tucson Gardening and Weekend Activities…
It’s the weekend, I’m trying to keep Saturdays clear to do things around the house; the normal – clean, pick up paper mess, put things in order, generally take care of all the mess made during the week. Sometimes the disorder can be substantial! And of course run the vacuum around the tiles and then mop the floors.
But it’s springtime and the roll-offs are in the neighborhood which means it’s a grand time to clean out the garage and trot all the junk to the roll-off. This saves multiple trips to the dump for everyone in the neighborhood and I am eternally grateful that our little enclave orders the roll-offs from the city.
Last weekend the pool was the order of the day. It is now sparkling, having fished out some of the Arizona Elm leaves which find a home in the bottom of the pool, along with the tiny leaves from the pomegranate bushes. The birds enjoy a feast for a king when the pomegranates begin to turn from green to red, and then the fruit is full of small holes where seeds have been pecked. Occasionally I find spots of red bird droppings and smile to myself because I have more than a few plants of various species which came from just that type of planting.
John and Debbie, who own Fiesta Growers and are regulars at the St. Philip’s Plaza Sunday Farmers Market, brought me the seeds I ordered last Sunday. This weekend I will plant them in pots so I can eat fresh salad for the next few months, at least until it gets so warm I will give up watering. The lettuce mix will provide red leaf and green leaf lettuce, a bit of endive and I will mix that with the peppery arugula which makes a tasty meal or sandwich filling. The spinach is always dark green and almost sweet, delicious right from the pot and so tender it is a raw treat.
For fun there is French Breakfast Radishes and I confess, they germinate fast and I like to see progress. Crunchy with a bite, they are delicious just pulled from the pot with the dirt scraped off and eaten in a few bites. But the bulls blood beets provide beet greens for salads and vegetables and eventually have a bulbous sweet deep red beet. That’s a two for oner…greens and beets!
Basil grows well in Tucson and I spike my salads with fresh basil for a refreshing change of pace, and I can freeze what is leftover for fresh herbs during the rest of the year. The cilantro is a Tucson staple for Mexican food as well as Chinese food, and that too along with the parsley is good in salads or as garnishes.
Learning to garden in Arizona is not akin to gardening on the east coast. It takes a few years of practice. I don’t want the rabbits to eat my fare, nor do I want the javelina to snort around, hence the pots. It’s a beautiful weekend and I’m going to enjoy the fruits of my labors!
Resources:
Fiesta Growers
Tags: Consumer Education, My Point of View, Things to do and see in Tucson, Weekend Wanderings
November 9th, 2011 at 1:30 pm
I find that readers respond very well to posts that show your own weaknesses, failings and the gaps in your own knowledge rather than those posts where you come across as knowing everything there is to know on a topic. People are attracted to humility and are more likely to respond to it than a post written in a tone of someone who might harshly respond to their comments.