New Mexico

[Zoomie]

Worse than I-phones!

By the way - I ordered a bazillion seeds from Baker Creek so I'm sure I'll have some seeds or starts to share/trade in the spring. I'm looking at starting trays now.

You guys do gardening/seed trading too? Well, if it's not too hard, please count me in... I've got lots of seeds to share.

Glad to hear of success with the Brinsea incubator. But yeah - upgrading all the time?? No thanks... I am just going to hope this one works really well!

 

[nmflygirl]

I'm just getting into gardening here in NM. Last year the chickens ate my plants before they started to grow.....grrrr. This year I have the chickens well penned so now I can focus on growing veggies.

 

[FridayYet]

Peep's got more experience than I do, since I'm just reclaiming the garden area and converting to no-till/lasagna gardening and it lay fallow all year. I also have part shade in the bigger half of the garden since I have a ton of cottonwood trees in the lawn just north of the garden area, so I'm still figuring out what should grow where.

Still, it would be fun to trade and I'm willing to share with anyone interested.

 

[Peep_Show]

I can trade seeds, too. This year I intend to pop some seeds under the grow lights, so may have a few spare plants to swap. I'm going to shoot for an after-April transplant as the winds during that month are hellacious. I usually plant summer squash seeds late to avoid the wave of squash bugs.

What surprised me about NM crops -- yes, there's the standard peppers, beans, corn, tomatoes and squash -- was how well eggplant and sweet potatoes grow here. Also lima beans. It was a challenge last year because I started my seeds and transplants in the garden about the time of the heatwave, so there was LOTS of watering during July to keep the little darlings from shriveling before they even had a chance. My rhubarb, however, was a dismal failure.

 

[Peep_Show]

I'm just getting into gardening here in NM. Last year the chickens ate my plants before they started to grow.....grrrr. This year I have the chickens well penned so now I can focus on growing veggies.

Two years ago my DH's chick, Annie, escaped the brooder and had a walkabout in the room that happened to have the grow light going. Yep, she took out the whole pepper crop that year.

I feel your pain.

 

[nmflygirl]

Yeah, I wasn't happy with my birds that day. Shortly after that I put up a larger fenced in area for them and stopped them from free ranging my whole back yard. Took care of two problems that day, made their area a little more predator proof and kept my garden area chicken free. I think they still have plenty of roaming room and now I can focus on getting my garden going.

 

[Zoomie]

Oh man, I know how destructive chickens can be in a garden. When I put in my gardens here, I made sure that chickens could not get in to them for that very reason.

My rhubarb thrives! I would be glad to share some with anyone who would like some. My patch is not gigantic but it is always doing really well.

You guys all seem to live down there where it can get really hot. Up where I am, at 7,500', the challenge is our cold nights. Still I can grow many things no problem. Last year I grew: chard, beets (2 kinds), sweet corn, 5 different kinds of beans, squash, peas, tomatoes (in a tent), chilies, kohlrabi, a whole mess of different salad greens, plus all my herbs.

Oh, and @FridayYet ? That shade will help tremendously! I have big trees that shade the garden for maybe half the day and it works out very well. Sometimes the sun can be a little unrelenting.

 

[Peep_Show]

Just FYI for those of you that throw treats to chickens:

Today Chubby's is having a sale on 20 lbs. of mealworms (four 5-lb bags) and if you use discount code TRYCM20 it comes out to $92 or $4.60/lb., the least expensive price yet I've found for these crunchy bird goodies.

 

[nmflygirl]

Good morning NM! Nice to see the sun showing after the last week or so of cloudy/rain/snow here in ABQ.

 

[Zoomie]

Good morning! I was in Alb. on Saturday and the mountains covered with snow, the dark and boiling clouds over the mountains with the sun shining on the snow, were spectacular. I was actually down there picking up birds at the airport - I also raise canaries, and I had two pair coming in from OH. On the way there though it was a blizzard, no visibility etc.

Glad you guys have sun! I just heard in Taos the power is out, and it's snowing!! Up here we have sunshine and very few clouds, a gorgeous day!