Finding a site for my Family and the Garden

From the very first time my wife and I decided to buy the house we currently live in I was looking at the area that I could use for my garden. Flat was a big requirement. Another requirement of mine was to have a good amount of South-facing sun for the winter. I wanted something with west-side shade for the summer, but I was sure I could grow shade, if needed. We settled on a home with a usable interior and an exterior that needed some help. It was in a cul-de-sac in walking distance of an elementary.



My lot with the current garden plots


We moved in mid-May on my daughter’s birthday. I tried salvaging some of the boards from where we had lived previously but the new house had termites anyway- and I didn’t want to encourage them any more than needed. So I left the boards in the alley. There were a lot of blocks in the yard, so I figured I could use them for the perimeter of my garden, as needed. One of the things I really hated about my first garden’s perimeter was the constant fight with Bermuda grass. I have not defeated Bermuda grass but some of the methods I adopted in making my new gardens have really aided in subsiding the flood of the unwanted turf.

While making my first Garden



My Old Garden in the early spring.

Given the fact that I do not have money to pour into my garden (I’m a teacher) my need to be creatively resourceful is relentless. For my first garden, I found slats of wood that someone was giving away for free. With a few of these I shored up the sides of my garden in my attempt to keep Bermuda grass out. Once those were installed I dug at least 1’ down and put compost under the 1’ of soil. After amending the soil with sulfur and fertilizer I made rows and put newspaper on the bottom of the rows. On either side of the newspaper I ran my soaker hoses. Then on top of the newspaper (on the trough between the rows I laid the rest of the boards that I didn’t use for the sides of the garden. To keep from compacting the soil I walked on the boards, sometimes like a circus tightrope walker. Once the bounds of the garden were set and the soil was prepared I got set on planting.

Some of the first things I planted in my winter garden were Green Globe artichokes, Purple Dragon carrots, Tyee Spinach, and Chartwell Lettuce (a Romaine variety). I also planted some Fallstaff Brussel Sprouts to the dismay of my whole family. Lesson learned: Don’t plant any food crop the family does not want to eat.


Fallstaff Brussel Sprouts

I really miss growing carrots. Purple carrots are fun and very tasty. I think I’ll try growing some again for seed this coming year. I’ve just got to remember to pull out the little ones and let the big ones grow for stronger seed next year!

Purple Dragon Carrots

If you ever get a chance, Little Marvel Peas are great to grow.



Little Marvel Peas

 Some pics of the Spinach and Chartwell Lettuce. My wife loved the Spinach and the lettuce was a big hit with everyone I shared it with.



Tyee Spinach, Chartwell Lettuce & Carrots

Then there was the artichokes. I figured the adults could eat the larger tough leaves and that we could save the heart for the youngest children. My thinking paid off well. Our kids loved them. One day my oldest son was describing to me his favorite vegetable. It took a while, but then we figured out he was talking about artichokes!


Green Globes can get quite large

The beauty of the Artichoke



As you may notice from the pictures a good 1/4 to 1/5 of my garden area was taken up by the compost pile. Deciduous trees usually drop their leaves here between the second week of December and February, depending upon the weather. It usually took half a day just to rake them up and collect them into bags to store for later composting. I used leaves, coffee grounds, and manure from a local horse ranch along with some added kitchen scraps to make my compost.

Garden with old compost pile (lemon grass in the left corner)



My "Old" Garden

My inital garden was in a relatively flat area on the mid-east area of Tucson. We were renting at the time, but our landlord was very willing to let me dig up the ground to plant a garden. It began as a compost pile. One day I threw some store-bought cantaloupe into the pile and that is where my garden began. In the time leading up to us moving from this site I learned several lessons.

The first lesson I learned was to not grow in native soil. I would amend and amend my soil with compost time and time again just to have it quickly revert back to its light-colored brick hard consistency. The second lesson came from growing plants in containers. I quickly learned that the sun cooks anything above the ground and that, for the purposes of insulation from dramatic temperature shifts and water conservation, the best solution would be a lowered garden bed. In a conversation with another member of the Tucson Organic Gardeners (TOG) noted that you cannot grow in the soil here and said that the best thing to do would be to grow in straight compost. At the time, I agreed. I hope to expose some of the benefits and drawbacks of such an approach as I relate how a compost garden worked for me.



The Winter Garden at our old house

The Summer Garden at our old house

Welcome to the Scientific Gardening Blog

Welcome to my Scientific Gardening Blog!
This blog is devoted to the study of effective gardening techniques required to boost the productivity of my organically-managed home garden. Having grown up in the Silicon Valley in Northern California my memories of gardening involved mostly weeding and eating. The question, “Will this grow in my garden?” was never a concern as much as the question, “Can I keep down the weeds and can we eat as much as our garden will produce?” In retrospect, my earlier attempts at gardening were very minimal as my interests were devoted to other things at that time. For some reason I have always needed some kind of hobby or something to focus my efforts and attention on. A few of my past hobbies have included learning about cooking, nutrition, alternative energy, raising reptiles, and raising praying mantises. My last hobby, raising mantises, became a bit too much when my wife Mel, with our fourth child on the way, requested that I focus my efforts on a less time-consuming pastime.

So now I research ways to improve my garden so that it can be more self-sufficient in producing organic produce for my family. My inspiration for my research comes not only from written literature but is more often informed by my observations of the condition of my garden. My drive to continue learning is grounded in the realization that as my learning expands I become more enlightened about the limits of my knowledge. As Thomas Jefferson said, “Though I am an old man I am but a young gardener.”