Day 258 Sam Visits A Spectactular Garden

Day 258

Our neighbors Wendy and Clay built a fabulous raised bed garden this spring.  I can see if from our side yard. Every morning when I am out watering my vegetable garden and feeding the chickens I can hear their roosters crowing, and I look over to see if Wendy is out watering. She is usually joined by several of their five beautiful children, a chicken or two, and "Hopper" the bunny.

An old ladder is used as a trellis for squash.

It's so important to me to teach another generation how to grow food. Wendy has been eager to learn. Clay has been a diligent soldier who battled the rough terrain of New Mexico to secure a place for her grow their vegetable garden.  They have only just begun their yard plan, and it's fascinating to watch it come to life.  They have a great sense of landscape design, as well as true genius that each of them bring to this project.

Sam hangs out at the bean teepee that the kids play in.

They used 80 feet of their east property line to create a narrow plot that has one main isle with raised beds on both sides.  A side and end gate give them easy access. Shade cloth triangles overhead protect it from the brutal sun that can fry a plant in an Albuquerque afternoon. A small chicken coop houses some of their fancy poultry.

Sam and I love to visit their garden.  I delight in their hard work, and creativity.  It's inspirational!

A side view, and you can see the chickens on bug patrol.

I still have to add a photo of the view looking west at sunset from the garden.  It's breath taking.


Each day is a gift, open now.
xo,
Suz

No photos from this blog may be reproduced in any way without the written permission of the blogger and polkadot magpie.
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Name those 3 skellies and win a photo of your choice from Sam's Etsy shop!

Name that skeleton !

So it's time for a contest, which I don't do very often.  I need to name the 3 new skeletons I bought at Costco.  Although they are not anatomically incorrect, I feel they look like boys.  So I am looking for 3 boys names.  I will give a free 8-10 photo of your choice from SamieSam's shop on Etsy:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/SamieSam.  Or click on the boxes in the right hand corner to get to her shop.

 HOW TO ENTER:

1. Leave a comment below with a link from an item you like from  Sam's Etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/SamieSam copied and pasted into the comment.

 2. NAMES!!   I will choose the 3 names, and give a signed photo to each name winner. You may enter more than once with a different name suggestion. If I choose more than one of your names, you get more than one photo!

3.  Contest ends August 30th at midnight mountain time.  

Easy right?

Where is Elmer Fudd?

 2 Crows grace the entrance. On the day Buddha was

born it is told two crows nested on his roof. This is

supposed to be my place of serenity.

 About half of what I planted has survived. :-(

I am on a mission, I tell you.  Where I live there is little for wildlife to eat.  So putting in a garden is like setting a buffet table for rabbits, gophers, ground squirrels, bugs and birds.  With the help of some friends, previously I told you how we made a 50 x 30 foot basket of chicken wire and horse fence to put the raised beds on.  Weaving the side fencing to the chicken wire floor.  

"Just when you thought it was safe."

 Down to the stem rabbit munching on cantaloupe vine.

Turns out baby rabbits could squeeze through the horse fence.  Every sprout that came up was nibbled to the ground.  So I put 4' chicken wire along the sides of the whole shebang.  Again weaving the bottom with bailing wire.  Yesterday was the first day I entered the garden and didn't find stems with no leaves on some plant.  When I went to do my evening watering 2 bunnies were sitting outside the garden.  I assume they were plotting their way in.  Oh, the power I felt seeing them on the outside.  But when I opened the gate...about 50 large grasshoppers hopped away.  Grrrrrrrrr.  Grasshoppers take bites out of the leaves.  Lots of the plants look like swiss cheese plants.

Out I went this morning...fully expecting a plague of locusts.  The weatherman promised near 100 degree temps.  Which choke all nutrients trying to get through the plants. Calcium is unable to be processed when the temperature fluctuates to these extremes.  "End rot" on the bottom of tomatoes and peppers occurs.  "OH NO!"  Something totally chewed my sunflower shoots, and a melon plant.  I inspect carefully...and see they are "v" shaped bites...that means birds.

And so the next level of armor will go on the garden...bird netting.  I must admit I am a bit exhausted from varmint patrol.  But I will do it.  I have the black netting.  It will need to be secured for wind.  I have never had birds eat the leaves of the plants.  Yes, they are famous for taking one bite from a tomato or peach.  But the leaves?  They must be hungry.  As I said...there isn't much to eat in the desert.

I called my master gardening buddies.  I asked if they knew anyone in our neck of Albuquerque that had a vegetable garden.  "Oh yes, Mary Lynn has a huuuuge vegetable garden!"  I begged for her number.  When I phoned this woman and explained my plight...I could hear her take a breath.  "My Dear, I couldn't keep out the buggers, and put up a hoop house years ago."
"I was hoping you wouldn't say that"  I replied, humbled.

A metal woodpecker is one of many birds adorning the posts.

Bought from Etsy sellers, as are the crows.

A hoop house with shade cover mesh would pretty much solve my problems.  Or row covers with shade cloth above.  Hoop houses are ugly, and my neighbors might not like looking out at a plastic quonset hut.  I could get small hoops and put what are called "row covers" on each raised bed.  But green shade mesh is a must for next year no matter what I do.

 On top: hoops with row covers for individual beds.

Below: green shade cloth on hoops.

Inside the back wall I have 4 tomato plants, one hot pepper, acorn squash, birdhouse squash, petty pan (or Area 51 squash as Andy calls them), and pumpkins.  I have made a trellis for the vines to grow over for my "Pumpkin Queen" friend Abby.  Hopefully, a cool hiding place for a 3 year old.  A lettuce bed is now in a shady area.  Except for aphids...they are all doing pretty well.  How an adobe wall 4 to 5 feet tall can protect it all, boggles my mind.  I think it's so close to the house, that the "buggers" stay away.

2 photos on top are inside the wall

We will have plenty of peaches and pears.

Where is Elmer Fudd when you need him?  Waskaly wabbits, bwuddy burds, jumping gwasshoppas--I will prevail.  Lately I have been thinking about getting chickens and using the whole thing as a coop (once the top netting is up).  I may get them anyway, and put some in for bug and varmint control.  Did Elmer have chickens?  Who knows.

A "chicken tractor" that is movable might be in our future. :-)

Thanks for reading.  I'm still amazed that you do.

xo
Suz

It's A Garden!!!!!!

 A wall of old fashioned hollyhocks line the front porch.

Visualization is easy when one is a visual thinker.  I get images in my head constantly.  Someone will say something, and a movie begins to run in my mind.  Until the next verbal clue interrupts that show and another begins.  I could see this garden in my head when we bought our house.  Today the vegetable garden I was standing in  began to match the "garden movie" in my brain.

 Risers attached to tomato bed.

 Trench planting to hold water for hot peppers,

cabbage, and various eggplant.

Eight raised beds  fill a 24 x 40 foot corner on our property.  They are enclosed by 6' wire horse fence on 2 sides, and 4' (that will increase soon) on the other 2.  The entire floor is lined with chicken wire that is sewn together with baling wire like a quilt. Then that chicken wire is sewn with baling wire to the bottom of the fence.  It's rabbit proof and ground critter proof.  It's basically a 24 x 40 x 6 foot wire basket.  Ground cloth to keep weeds out was laid on top of the chicken wire.  I had 2 posts put in the center in case I had to put netting up to keep out the birds later.  To put it mildy, it was an undertaking.

 "Pedro" and "Poncho" work on the tomato risers together.

Bob continues to build what ever I ask him to.  Andy, our tenant and friend helps where ever he can.  John Paul and Ami helped tremendously to get the bones of this garden together.  I'm not a kid anymore, and I couldn't have done it by myself.  I am so grateful to all of them for their help. Tonight Bob and Andy put together the upside down U shaped wood risers that I will tie the tomato plants to.  They were pretty funny together.  Andy started calling Bob "Pedro", and speaking Spanish the whole time.  They were the New Mexico Laurel and Hardy, with a bit of Andy's El Paso thrown in.
Bob actually let Andy use his cordless screwdriver.  I laughed for an hour listening to the banter, and Andy teasing Bob (and me) in his loving way.

Scarlet runner beans planted in crop circle formation.

They will climb a teepee shaped trellis in a few days.

It seems like light years ago when I struggled with getting enough soil to fill the beds.  Now I battle new demons: like shade...too much sun out there at a mile high burns the little seedlings when they pop their head up.  Tomorrow, frames stretched with shade cloth like canvas' will be built and added in places.  I am trying to build a "shade shade" that I can roll open and closed as needed.  Bugs have discovered the garden.  It's got to be the best tasting thing around.  End rot on the tomatoes mean they haven't been able to get their nutrients properly. So I spent 2 hours softening soil, and digging in peat moss.  Tomorrow night with my head lamp on, I will do the same to the peppers, eggplant, cabbage and herbs.  It is a work in progress.

The POV of the heirloom tomatoes.

And dear dear Buddy.  He follows me all around the yard, and steers clear of hoses and sprinklers. At night he curls up keeping one watchful eye on me.  He's run after a rabbit a few times.  But now I put him on stay command, and he obeys.  Sweet boy.

Buddy guards the topsoil...he knows what it took to get it here.

Next on the list is the gate.  I have metal birds arriving daily from various Etsy shops to put on top of the posts.  I ordered 2 black crows to go on the posts on either side of the gate.  This summer is the beta test...I will continue to work out the kinks.  Alex has promised to put in the drip system starting Saturday.  It's exciting to see it all come together.  Someone must get a picture of me with my head lamp on.  I put it under my shirt like Ironman and came into the shop exclaiming: "I am Iron Gardener."  Bob laughed!

Thanks for reading. I'm still amazed that you do.
xo
Suz