A new Beginning

I haven't posted on Tangent for a while... things in my life like to attract the moments that do resemble tangents.

I have lived in the southwest most, well, all of my life ... from the age 6, with a couple of interruptions of living in Florida, a couple of times...

Well, my infrequent posts resulted in a life changing move again...

My husband and I had to take a decision and run with it, if,  things in our life were to evolve for the better...

We had to make a decision of how we wanted to treat ourselves and our future... We needed to decide if living in a tiny apartment or living for ourselves was going to be our answer...

It was the most hardest and life changing moment in our time ... especially at our age...
To live in an apartment and not being able to grow and be self reliant at a way we wanted, didn't seem to be the answer...  Being more reliant on ourselves but have space and room to grow was...
We looked high and low for that need... and the southwest just didn't present opportunity...

So, one day my husband said, he had an opportunity to work and make a great income to help make our decision a bit easier... well it helped but only to make us realize being apart was to great of a payment...
We thought that doing something up in the mountains might be an opportunity... but for what we wanted, the price was to high in a lot of aspects...

Then we started to look at another avenue... while my husband was working in Florida he found a beautiful property with price in our range, and well, the dream started to form into an opportunity  that seemed to make logical thinking easy...

I left my family and great friends behind... not a lot of people understands what a lonely feeling it is to believe in something so great for oneself...

But after almost 7 months of transition in to our new world, we are here at our new life...

Welcome to New North Florida Tangent...
http://newnorthfloridatangent.blogspot.com/

Please come join us on our new epic journey of learning and living...

thanks for all the support...

 

Hell Hath no Fury!!

Gates of Hell has opened...

Man! The temperatures are incredible, above record...  Some people are recording temperatures of

upwards to 120 degrees.  How can any garden even survive... 

A lot of Gardeners have conquered weather like to this degree...  I can say my garden isn't fairing greatly, my tomato leaves  are curling, and I won't see much coming from my peppers... 

So other things in my garden that enjoy misery is 
my Bougainvillea...  AKA ... Ms. Vampire
Mainly because you can't be around her without 
drawing blood... Time to prune her fangs and claws...

 My butter cup is doing "ok" but not great... I think mainly that it is in shade of the tomatoes... But maybe success when temps decide to even out some...


Well 11:00 a.m. and 91 degrees will stop my production of fruit and veggie until pretty much until September... 

My yellow squash, just can't seem to get a break, no matter what I do... except maybe one more thing mulching it... 



I have come across some ideas and knowledge for different vegetables and how to grow them... really good info too...can't wait to act on that info...

My first thought is the  Chayote squash, it's a perennial I believe...  

but slow to get going in the beginning but can't wait to get tasting it...

Yard long Beans... I have tried these before and ok to grow no real troubles... But I didn't know how to grow them either... Now I have knowledge and want to try to grow them again...

~Well I have some not so happy news~.... 

My Crimson sweet watermelon cracked at the bottom and I don't think it is save-able... all the other little melons turned black, so I am not sure if I will be getting to see it reach 16 lbs... Well I am sure I won't....

My tomatoes are coming along other than the leaves curling, and Hopefully I will be able to harvest most by this weekend...





















So there you have it ... the torturous weather ...  

The term people say  "The Gates Of  Hell Opened Up," for the time being...
Being that I have lived here pretty much all my life.... 
It is just what it is... We deal with it the best we know how..
No matter the situation... Garden wise you know...

Summer Sweet and Endings

     Growing things in Tangent has always felt like an experiment. I put plants in the ground, or in the raised beds, (you know, the beds that I should worry about) being grown in cinder blocks...
But, I think the main worry about this, are the roots... They are taking over from the trees...

My daughter wanted watermelon this year... So she went out and bought some seed Crimson Sweet, and her and our little neighbor girl decided to plant them...  for about two weeks, nothing happened.
I was thinking that maybe the seeds were buried to deep... So, I went back out and replanted them.. about 5 days later here they are, growing...  This happened a certain amount of weeks back... It's now May 29th, 
Look at these amazing Melons... 

This only shows two, but I have like five more... The anticipation of readiness is overwhelming...   

I am also growing some Squash, I just set in the ground Pumpkin and buttercup... Now I have no idea what to do with buttercup squash but what better way than to give it a go...

buttercup squash

Pumpkin

I have stepped into the canning world and I think I will be canning them... Yea, that is another tangent I'm on... more to come on that soon enough..

Endings, well not really, but Spaghetti, yumm... sure many people's favorite.. but well probably not in squash..

Yep, spaghetti squash...

Now, I was given a spaghetti squash from my mother, who in turn got it from a friend of hers.. Although, she likes this particular type she either didn't have time to prepare it or it was a preempted moment delivered to me to do something with... (I think that's the reason)... yea sounds good... Well, I took it and ran with it!...

I prepared it and it was tasty, only to me though... but that's another story...

I kept the seeds also... I rinsed and dried them and let them sit for a couple days... and said to my self, "Self lets go plant these suckers!"... 

That's what I did...

I waited about a week, nothing... Feeling a bit deflated, I went to plant the pumpkin in its place... 

 But, By the Gods of the plant world... 

Here they are....

Yesterday's picture

Today's picture

I can not wait to see what what happens next... Can you?


 Well, What's the saying or something like it?...

"If you have a garden and a library you have everything."


I'm working on it...



There are really  no endings in the Garden, are there?
That's fine by me...

An old Gardener Learning New Methods....

I have stumbled across such great information for desert gardening.. besides my very favorite books I like to refer back too...

"Desert Gardening" by George Brookbank 

"Extreme Gardening" by Dave Owens "The Garden Guy"

I dont usually talk about youtube videos or such things, but this has lit a proverbial fire under my thinking for gardening in such in climate weather...

There is a youtube channel I have been watching that put out such pertinent information...

He calls himself  "The Vegan Athlete"...

@ You Tube VeganAthlete

True to his title, he sustains his life style on an incredible backyard full of plant life...
Not only fruit trees by the dozens, but great varieties of garden vegetables that grow incredibly well in this type of environment...
He has mentioned, there are quite a few types of trees that should be added to the backyard garden... 
This is exciting even though I have no more space for trees, but for those who might ....

Moringa Tree

Date palm trees

Citrus, even some varieties of stone fruit and tropical trees just to name a few...

Watching his videos has uplifted my way of thinking for gardening in the desert... Making it a paradise of sorts. 

Jake Mace teaches and runs an online school, has tours and an online store, he has information on the best way to plant trees and what type of mulch and how to make your own type of compost that works in this heat...
He shares links to places that are owned and grow locally... 
I have become a believer in being sufficient from my own garden...

So if your inclined or curious about The  Vegan Athlete pop over and watch a video or two and learn some new tricks of the desert gardening trade... You wont be let down... 

With new inspiration at hand I have some work cut out for me to get my garden in gear.

As for Tangent new thoughts are rolling around in my mind... 

Mother's Day

It's Mother's Day....

Happy Mother's Day to all of the caring hard working people in everyone's lives...

Sunday care and share...

Today, is cool and calm outside and Tangent is waiting for me to get up and start checking, cleaning and fertilizing...

The Tomatoes are doing amazing...  such nice full bushes ...

But the zucchini and summer squash aren't very happy,  not sure why !

They are both full of flowers and the summer squash even has squash on it... it has had fertilizer once every ten days but it just seems like it doesn't want to do anything better...

Pepper plants are still producing... Just look at them...

That is one limpy branch

and the grape vine is slowly coming around...I haven't seen any of the pesky little caterpillars... but I think I pruned a little to harshly because I only one cluster of grapes...   

There is a surprise visit from the Pea family that decided to produce...

I have some amazing Dill wanting to be harvested and dried too... among some of the herbs I love...

Now watermelon I cant believe how lovely the vines look...  I certainly have high hopes for some melons this summer...

Well, the winds are still happening and midnight thunderstorms popping up every other night... and hot weather threatening to rise it's hot head...  

Peppers, April Winds, Dusty Desert....

So,  In my area of the dusty desert, there are two months out of the year we endure the winds, some have said these are called San Ann winds or something. April & October..
Well, not only are these winds disruptive, but annoying... I get there are reasons for the winds to happen but when I come home and see the thick dust, and broken Bell Pepper limbs, yea aggravation isn't all I feel...

I kept these plants happy through freezes and sun scorch in the hot months..
Okay, maybe keeping them alive for two spring seasons is a little much.. But really why not...? Well, maybe mother nature is strategically telling me why keeping these plants alive longer than needed is not really wise,  The longer they stay alive the more brittle they become... I mean it's only been two days of heavy winds and each day broken limbs..  okay okay not a great ration.. 100% fail... but if the winds weren't so strong i can get another great batch of peppers out them before giving up on them.
With understanding peppers are potentially great keepers for a couple of good harvests...

So the winds finished up some what... really made a mess of things with the dust.... but look at what I harvested so far!


My peach tree had an amazing batch of peaches this go around.. the peaches were a bit small but juicy and tangy sweet...decided to bake a peach cobbler...

This is whats left of this batch,  the birds were making sure they were getting their share so I had to pick a few that were a bit under ripe... I'm all to share some but not letting them be so greedy..

Oh by the way, the birds knew my game of tying ribbon and hanging CD's on the tree to try to keep them away... IT DID NOT WORK...   so other than using the netting not sure what else can be used...
Ideas anyone?

 Hopefully, being the start of May the winds will die back some and dust won't spread so much... and the may flowers will come with an abundance...

The Return of the Skeletonizers

Last year in May of 2015,  I had a war with the grape skeletonizer... 

My Executioner Husband will have a nasty Job to do again... Because they are back...

Either we didn't get them all last year or they just know the best diner in town is located here...

I did take a picture of them and made sure that they were the outlaws, before high noon comes...

So the death date is set, spray time is set, and there is no turning back... 

Grape vine

I have been away for so very long sometimes life gets in the way of best of Pleasures, and well its 
still true for now...

But.... New plans are being drawn up... Thats if other hopes fall through... 

The big picture and hope is getting on the ban wagon of homesteading or at least being a bit more 
self reliant...

But until we find that piece of heaven, we are maintaining our little heavenly backyard as of now...

Some clean up and chopping and growing are in progress...

Tangent looks pretty good so far... I will be letting go of the Peppers... They are weak and ready to be pulled next season
But Tomatoes look great...

My yellow squash set veggies... yay... 
Temperatures are ramping up and 100 degree weather is here..

Hope to have most of the plans or designs made up to share soon.

Grapeleaf Skeletonizer AKA... caterpillars...

      Trying to maintain home life, garden life, work life... Well, I must say is a challenge, but not knowing the enemies of a battle that is happening behind your back. Well that is a whole new challenge..

      So what does one do when you find beautiful little caterpillars and you think all is lovely and good in the world of nature? 

     Well, get vicious and start killing, of course... 

      No, really....  I have done my research and found out that these little deceivers can cause a load of trouble... Not only by touching them, they can irritate and cause problems by ejecting fine little hairs 

that could get into your lungs, eyes, mouth, etc... in which you really don't want to happen.. 

     They devour your incredibly manicured, bulging with fruit Grapevine.. 

     Which  would be a travesty... 

     So... I asked some very experienced Gardeners on a Facebook Group that I follow what should I do? After the suggestion from Mr. Hills.      

     I went to my local hardware department store and had to buy insecticide that had BT in it to start the war on the nasties... 

     I will be fighting this battle for about 6 weeks more... But thanks to my Executioner Husband... 

    We could win the war on my Grapevine.

 These nasties were on my grapevine...

They are called grapeleaf Skeletonizers...

They are devastating... 

Maricopa County Cooperative Extension Home Horticulture:
Environmentally Responsible
Gardening & Landscaping in the Low Desert

Grape Leaf Skeletonizers in the Low Desert

DESCRIPTION:
Small, black, yellow, and blue striped caterpillars which mature into a blue black moth which resembles a wasp with feather like antennae.

DAMAGE:

Larvae feed side-by-side in groups devouring grape leaves rapidly, leaving only the veins. Soon only the "skeleton" of the leaf remains.

MANAGEMENT:

Hand pick and destroy any adults, larvae, or eggs you see. Wear gloves and a dust mask because the larvae are covered with stinging hairs that may become airborne. Spray plants with Bacillus thuringiensis or carbaryl.

To Gardening and Landscaping in Maricopa County, AZ

Grape Leaf Skeletonizers in the Low Desert
visitors since June 10, 1998

Last Updated July 18, 1999
© 1998 The University of Arizona, College of Agriculture,Cooperative Extension, in Maricopa County. Comments to Lucy Bradley, BradleyL@ag.arizona.edu 4341 E. Broadway Road, Phoenix, AZ 85040, (602) 470-8086 ext. 323

http://ag.arizona.edu/…/garden/html/t-tips/bugs/grape-sk.htm

Still Composting....

As life's compost has been, well, composting... It has a lot of stink with the good... I, finally after many years, have a flowering jasmine... the lovely fragrance is captivating... every morning I check on my beds and plants I have the perfumed scent wafting at me as I pass by... It puts my mind at an ease that this spring will be good with full of things to come...

 I think there is a smudge on the camera lens... lol.. oops!

 The beds are vibrant and happy to be growing so far...

And the list of things growing are... with continued planting of empty spots around here, or there...

tomatoes
bell peppers
carrots
radish
lettuce
parsley
oregano
cucumbers
and sunflowers
squash
eggplant
bunching onions
green beans
cilantro...

This year will be a  lush and full garden of vegetables...
I hope...

I do have a big problem though and I don't  know what to do!
My Avocado tree has a fungus I believe...

A canker of some sort 

I don't know how to handle this particular problem... research, I guess...

But on the up scale my fur kids have a wonderful amount of catnip at their disposal....(this is just one secret stash, tee hee...)

So I leave you with this intensely green grapevine... (that I thought I pruned to harshly and left for dead) ...LOL... but... look...

Life's Compost...

It has been such a long time since the last post... seasons have come and gone and  it's still snowing in the northern parts...  

Gossip for Shifting lives of Tangent...

I have thrown myself a new path… Yes, not "found"!  Most choose a path, or find a path, may stumble upon, last blessed with following a path... No not me. I have thrown it down and made it a stone, paver, brick, whatever the thing to step on could or would be.

 I threw it down… bam, POW, kurplunk...

I am now a full time home hearth engineer... Husband constructs the technical red veins of the home, and I feed the hearth and cleanse the immune system of the house, and we manage the brain of function together... Well, mostly him!

So many people make "self sustaining" look so easy...  What a term! I see books, blogs and articles about such ideal situations picturesque...  Gorgeous areas of the home, gardens and pastures... 

I have  acquired this title just of recent months... Money, as for many, is a precious entity in our life...So, making things work, well must be worked at...

So now Tangent really isn't a tangent any longer... It is a need…

Tangent did well for me through summer and fall…

My tomato harvest lasted up until September… I had some Bell Peppers not many, a couple of Armenian cucumbers…

I was blessed with tons of figs, parsley, oregano…

I dehydrated an immense amount of herbs…  I have a great collection in my pantry… 

My grape vine has now made itself known to tangent… I have to prune it or figure out how to get it the way it will be happier, it was a huge mess...

Blackberries have not berried… Why?  Maybe because of where I planted it? I don’t really know…

But now it is Feb... I have life in the the Tangent yard... 

It went from complete neglect to an almost ready to produce the most yummiest veggies and fruits of life...

Before- work in progress, lookin' like a mess

Now - tomato bed

and the Pepper bed which looks even better then this now...

The diagram , I have drawn out is actually working... I am positive when this yard gets going, at least 50% of of our food purchases will be alleviated... 

So the list of plants that make up Tangent is:

3 San Marzano Tomatoes
1 beef steak tomato
seeded black cherry tomato

2 Armenian cucumber plots
1 grey squash

2 Bell peppers: yellow and green
1 Jalapeno

1 Eggplant Black Beauty

3 Hanging baskets with different varieties of loose leaf lettuce

parsley
oregano
rosemary
thyme
Chocolate mint
4 Varieties of Sunflowers
seeded Four O'Clocks
and 
Nasturtiums

I still have much room for other plants to grow, and see if I can take this 1/16 of a lot and make something out of it... Not just being on a tangent but a continuous way of life... So sustainable living, well no, more like Tangent reliant, could be the thing!

Maybe the title will change to Tangent Reliance... lol...

June, Well Done!

I have been in so much anticipation for the bounty I received this morning...  This is the actual first harvest...

My set up this season has worked very well... But there is tweaking that I need to do...
I want to make rearrangements for different placements of plants and making of new beds... One bed, only of tomatoes, one bed only of peppers, a row of squash, cucumbers and eggplants in the buckets.. Also a bed of lettuce and the likes...

Learning of what veggies I truly love to grow and eat will be of help to know how many plants I need to grow..

I love bell peppers and well the success of having them haven't been...

     But the tomatoes have been beautiful, heavy and juicy...
My herbs all but cilantro have provided such great flavor, no success with it...

I have not checked on carrots yet, but I have some coming, Lettuce was successful enough but pests
came to feast...

I have had a run-in with stinkbugs on my squash errr... but since I found them, they don't dare to show again...lol

So it's a bit in shock and yellowing but , I'm giving it fertilizer and a little iron, I think it will help some...

But, making a better container soil, and using this system is probably the best idea as of yet!

These beans are amazing, I think having another couple tubs of them would be better for making meals with them... I'm think they work harder having to produce such long beans that its only a few at a time.. So more beans the better...

Cantaloupe is a survivor for sure, I don't have a drip hooked to it so I water it myself, and well getting the amount of water to it probably isn't enough, but it continues to do well...

So far so good in the Tangent Garden....

Journals

Garden Journals


First of all,

I am so very pleased with how the beds are coming along... the Beans look tall and ready to reach  high...

My tomatoes are blossoming with  bright leathery green leaves, the herbs suffered just a bit when
I split them in half, but gaining strength...

The squash and cucumbers are kind of resistant to things as of right now but, promising...

But really the fruit trees are quite happy and blooming, mainly my pomegranate, no flowers for my blackberry bush though, a bit of a bubble popper, but strawberries are nice and red, plumping up...

Peaches are amazing, we netted them so we have a chance at them before the birds...

I'm still concerned about the lime tree...  I'm assuming that is had or has Chlorosis..  A nutrient deficiency... I used an iron nitrate for this problem, and it is said to fertilize once a month with citrus fertilizer in the growing time... So that's what I have been doing...

The peppers are already flowering,  yay!

Peppers with flowers

Tomatoes being happy

Journals


I asked a question in my last post...

How many of you keep garden journals?

I suppose it is a common thing when growing a garden, is it not?
I have been trying to maintain one...

I really want it to be fancy, eye appealing, and fun to read...
I'm not sure how to make it this way, well, if it's to be functional...
So I'm winging it...

I would safely say that we can have it anyway we want though...
I began by:

Naming My Journal, it helps to make a real connection to the project at hand...

Drawing a little and having fun with color, adding some stickers, ribbon and quotes...
I press herbs and flower in the journal and put some thoughts, dreams and ideas
along with the usefully information...

This way I can remember the season's hard work and energy put forth for a successful
next time...



Here are some of my typical drawings:

Nothing special... just fun...

Latin Name:
Rubus Fruticosus

Blackberries








Butterflies:
Latin Name

'Papilio Pulcher'

My favorite insect in the garden....

Beans 

I planted "taste of Asia", I think that I did plant them to soon, but well... they are doing ok!

Then of course,

Tomatoes...

I planted "Better Boy."    Heirloom, " Mortgage Lifter, "  also Cherry Tomatoes...

These were "Early Girl" 2012...
Very productive for zone 9

Unfortunately, "Early Girl" variety were not available this go around,
no bell peppers plants this go around either... Had to make due with only a
couple green and couple red...

Bees

Latin Name:
"Apis mellifera"

And, well of course, Bees are needed aren't they... I hope that the realization of how needed they are
comes to be apparent...








So off to come up with more thoughts and information to insert into the "Tangent Journal"...

Happy gardening..