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...