It. Is. Hot.
Arizona, you do not disappoint when it comes to the heat; and that only makes me want my garden to survive even more! But, something new may be in store….
Cleaning up the garden
Let’s start with updates on the garden.
The lettuce is very much near the end of its time for this season. The arugula has been flowing for too long to have really been enjoyed and the Romain has even begun to turn more into a bouquet than an eatable treat. We are still pulling leaves off where we can with the Romain, but at this point, I see much of it will go to the worms or compost pile.
As far as the kale goes, we never really got full leaves. They just grew long, thin leaves – but not thin enough to enjoy some kale chips!
Last week, I noticed one kale plant infected with a bunch of tiny white bugs. I was so worried about the health of the plant (and rest of the garden) I yanked the whole thing out of the ground! Luckily, we haven’t spotted any more since then.
The squash situation is hit-or-miss. The pumpkin was surviving with the help of our new shade structure and a working irrigation timer but has disappeared. Sadly, all of our other squash seems to be ripped out or chewed off as the days progress. Where I once had 5 squash seedlings, I now have zero!
Additionally, all of my baby seedlings never sprouted root so I didn’t get the chance to replace what I was missing in the garden. In hindsight – with the heat that has been blowing through, it was probably all for the best.
One positive note is the newly added compost tube! I need to trim down the chicken wire to close to the surface so I can add a “lid” but I am really looking forward to this baby! What’s wrong with a fourth compost location? 😂
So, while I will continue to let the lettuce plants do what they need to do to attract bees and provide shade and protection for the squash, I will be working to collect any seeds I can for the next season! Additionally, I will be looking at a new garden here soon; and I don’t just mean planning the next season.
The Mr. and I will be moving and have quite the backyard to plan for in terms of the garden!
In the coming weeks, we will need to start from ground 0 (quite literally) by planning out how we want the backyard to look and prepping the ground for life – especially since it is all rock right now!
So get ready!