DadTalk

This Season’s Garden Was Nipped in the Bud

Moles – with the help of rabbits, birds and rats – have killed my garden. I don’t mean they killed a few plants here and there. I mean, utter destruction.

The okra plants fell over after being chewed off at the stems. The beets were eaten top down. The snow peas mowed from left to right. The squash and cucumbers were killed ostensibly to keep roots from growing down into the burrows. Some plants dehydrated after the quarter-inch water lines were severed by sharp teeth.

I could have stopped the varmints early on; I don’t have a moral problem killing garden pests. In fact, my neighboring gardeners offered toxic pellets to kill the garden destroyers.

It’s the poison I reject. The whole point of growing is freshness and chemical-free food.

Ants and a Scorpion … Oh My

About two weeks ago, I was picking asparagus beans at my community garden plot. The beans practically hum with tiny, fast-moving black ants.

As I pick a couple beans, two or three landed on my arm. It takes me a few moments to brush them off because they are tangled up in my arm hairs.

The black buggers, which are too small to be fire ants, bite or sting me a few times. Normally, ant bites don’t bother me that much. In fact, the stings seem like mere pinpricks.

A few hours later. There are some small bumps on my arm. I use anti-histamine cream on my skin to minimize scratching.

It’s a Hot Heat

 The desert heat finally started taking a serious toll on my garden. While my sunflowers and (neighbor’s) corn were at the natural end of their lives, the cucumbers were literally baked by the Arizona sun. The okra (not pictured,) seems unaffected by the heat.

Mexican Bird of Paradise

Nothing quite matches the orange intensity of the Mexican Bird of Paradise, which grows well in the Arizona desert. This one is at our community garden plot near Scottsdale Community Garden.

Okra: Gooey yet Beautiful

My daughter, Lael, loves okra. In one sitting, she’ll polish off two bowls of the gooey stuff as long as I microwave, steam or fry it and put on a dash of margarine.

What many people don’t know, is that okra is a handsome plant with attractive flowers. After all, okra is related to hibiscus.

Grapes of Math

A gardener next door to me grows grapes primarily for looks and shade over a garden arch. Who gets to eat the thousands of luscious fruits? The birds, of course!

Tall. Really Tall

I wanted to give readers an idea just how tall the sunflowers have grown at my community garden. I thought the best way would be to lie down on the ground and shoot up, but there was no way to accomplish this feat without killing the okra or watermelon plants.

So while this picture reveals some height, consider that I had to chop out the bottom three feet of the plant from the picture!

What Our Garden Is Producing

Perhaps more than any vegetable, cucumbers represent what’s wrong with fresh produce today.

When we lived in California, we could get all types of (expensive) cucumbers at the farmer’s markets – pickling, Armenian, Japanese, lemon, English and Mediterranean – nearly year round. More importantly, the cucumbers were fresh, with firm rather than rubbery skins.

Then we moved to Chicago, where the farmers market had great, yet even more expensive cucumbers for only a few months a year. And then we moved to Arizona, where finding a decent farmer’s market, much less a cucumber, became still more problematic.

Enter my community garden plot, which I began this spring. As you can see from the picture, cucumbers are no longer a problem. This year, I decided to grow two varieties: Japanese and lemon, the latter which are in the white bowl.

Storm

My garden provides a nice view of the McDowell Mountains where I live. In this photo, a mid-May storm works it’s way down from northern Arizona.

10-Foot Tall Sunflowers

Several months ago, I obtained a community garden plot a few miles south of us. I meant to post pictures as it evolved, but I’ve been waaaay to busy.

For fun, Seth helped me plant some decorative sunflowers I bought for him and Lael. I know the package said up to 10 feet tall, but well, wow. At least they provide sun protection in the hot Arizona sun and may prolong the summer growing season.

For about a week now, we’ve been enjoying cucumbers, but the real haul is going to come in a couple weeks. Today I was able to harvest some green beans and some corn. Ha-Ogen melons should be ready soon, too.

Pictures on the jump: The open sunflowers are the edible seed variety and the greenish fruit is actually a delicate squash. Armenian/Japanese and lemon cucumbers take over the middle part of the garden. A long view of the garden reveals the 20X30 foot plot.