Considering the fact that summer is about to start, the plants are well established and starting to bloom. In the square bed above (74 sq. ft.) are 3 varieties of peppers, tomatoes, cannabis, and corn. The black you see is gardening fabric to prevent weeds. Cannabis plants are in the large plastic pots. In New Mexico we’re allowed 12 blooming … Read More
Early Spring Gardening Grunt Work
Above is an early morning shot of my new raised bed, installed by the crew of Desert Gardens in Albuquerque. One of the guys on the crew–a giant of a man–carried those twelve-foot railroad ties into our back yard by himself. Early spring, of course is the time the yard plants get trimmed, the fallen leaves are removed, and the … Read More
2021 Garden Harvest Report
Image Above: A small fraction of all the ‘Punta Banda’ tomatoes grown. As usual, the growing season in the South Valley of Albuquerque was hot and dry and in general our garden did okay, but not great. I’m still spoiled by the summer a few years ago when the garden produced 302 pounds of tomatoes; that will probably never happen … Read More
Some Thoughts on Picking Beans
I grow pole beans, but not on poles. Mine climb up a six-foot-tall chainlink fence and the foliage is dense, making it difficult to see the beans I’m trying to pick. But I’m not picking the actual beans, but rather the pods that contain the seeds of the bean plant. The seeds are also called beans, but only in their … Read More
Seed-Saving Pros and Cons
Bedding plant pricing varies according to plant varieties, size of the plants, and the seller.