Arizona Chickens

[Gallo del Cielo]

pdx2phx, you don't have to have a garden! I "gardened" in pots for the first 10 years I lived in Tucson. Tomatoes and a whole variety of pepper plants do extremely well in pots. I'll for sure have varieties in the seed bank well suited for that. Here in Tucson city limits we have a thing called "brush and bulky". It happens in your neighborhood every six months and during this week you can put out all kinds of stuff that you wouldn't normally put in the garbage. I'm not afraid to admit that I absolutely love finding something of value out in the garbage at the edge of the street. I have hundreds of black pots that nurseries use that I found curbside, people were throwing them away. My favorites are the big 15 gallon ones for tomatoes and peppers. Until we moved to our new place, our entire garden was in pots and portable. Every time we got a deep freeze warning we'd pull them all inside. It was a huge job, but worth it for the quality of vegetables and never having to buy things like peppers and tomatoes. It's also so surprising how long some of these things can live.

 

[pimachickens]

I would be interested in participating in the seed exchange. I have only been gardening for a couple of years, so I don't have very comprehensive data for what performs better than others, but I do save all my seeds, and would be happy to contribute!

 

[Tracydr]

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My Bantie "juvies" are taking cherry tomatoes out of my hand. They are just too cute. The little OEG BB red roo tried to crow again this morning. He is so precocious!

 

[Tracydr]

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This is an awesome idea! I have tons of seeds, mostly heirloom, as well. I love it! Between now and August would be a good time, since fall and winter are such nice garden seasons.

 

[pastrymama]

Gallo,

I'm in! I will be in Oro Valley the third weekend of august for my niece's b-day party. Are you close? I could come meet you. I could bring it up here to phoenix then and pass it on after i "looked through it" .

 

[ArizonaDesertChicks]

I miss my garden - I made a big mistake of using uncomposted horse manure (which I didn't realize was not fully composted) from our mini horses and accidentally seeded my entire raised garden with bermuda grass. I've tried getting rid of it, but it's almost impossible, so I haven't had a garden for about 1 1/2 years now.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

pimachickens, I think that the spirit of this exchange is to add whatever you can that works for you. I'll be adding stuff that I've only grown a season or two that I'll recommend just because I think it's worth trying. I think that with what we will have even before it leaves Tucson, someone would be able to plant an entire year's garden from what they find in it and still leave lots for the next person. I was thinking of doing this in the fall, but now is probably the time to get working on it. I realized this morning that I don't have any Nichols or Punta Banda tomatoes from my own stock on hand (there might be originals in the bank) so I've been collecting seeds all day. It'll take a couple days to ferment and dry. I'll get them to TT! first and she'll get them to you.

pastrymama, I think pimachickens lives much closer to Oro Valley. Perhaps you could get it from there when you come?

If anyone else in Tucson would like in, speak up before it leaves town. Remember, you don't even have to add anything to it.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

ArizonaDesertChicks, your garden looked so lush in that picture! Cute gardener too, she looks so proud of her harvest. I haven't yet had a problem with Bermuda grass. I try to keep enough mulch that it doesn't get through or hasn't been able to root strong enough to resist pulling because of the un-compacted soil. Maybe a black plastic cover for a couple months would take care of it?

 

[stevensonm]

I have a very small Garden for the first time in forever. It was doing pretty good although I think I started to late, and then my hen decided it was her personal buffett. I fenced her out adn am trying ot get through the heat and hope I get some good produce in the fall. I like this idean and woudl contribute what I have and maybe I could learn something. The last time I had a Garden I lived in Globe nad had much cooler climate.


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[ca]

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Gallo,
That is an awsome idea! I would love to participate. We are a few people now up here in the Wickenburg area. Sure the seeds can make it up here eventually...