Provider Beans.

Fall.

wildflower seed balls. 

provider beans. 

harvest of pink and tepary beans and tomatoes. 

Fall Garden.

    marigolds. 

    broccoli sprouts. 

    cucumbers. 

    provider beans. 

    mini peppers. 

    saving these okra for seeds. 

    cantaloupe still going!

Garden gone wild.

Corn, okra, tomato, basil, parsley, tepary beans, cantaloupe, pumpkin. 

Pumpkins and Okra.

August Garden.

60 day Tohono O'odham corn. They weren't kidding when they said it was fast-growing! I planted it 9 days ago. 

Okra. 

Basil still going strong. I really thought it would have bolted by now, but I'm getting to dry and save a lot for our pantry. 

We didn't plant this cantaloupe, but we'll eat it just the same. 

Tepary beans growing up expired corn stalk with pumpkin at their feet. Sisters!

Summertime.

   Starting seeds inside for the fall garden.

   First harvest of O'odham pink beans. 

Corn silk.

    Sweet Yuman yellow corn

    Canary melon

    O'odham pink beans

    Pumpkin 

    Conqueror tomato 

    Super sugar snap peas 

Growth.

     Bean flowers. 

    Melon flowers. 

    Corn buds. 

    Arugula flowers. 

    Unknown flowers. 

    Lettuce harvest. 

Adventures in Speed Composting.

John and I built this compost bin on April 5th, 2013.  We spin it every time we add to it, every other day or so.  It stays hot and moist inside, and makes quick work of our composting.  It's 5 1/2 weeks later, and I filtered what's in there to use in the garden.  Our composting method doesn't involve a period of time where we stop adding to it and let it finish "cooking," so filtering it allows us to use our compost sooner.  Doing it this way doesn't break down all of the seeds that make it into the bin, so we do have some uninvited guests in our garden, primarily tomato and pepper sprouts.  We have to be careful not to add weeds that have gone to seed, of course (we make "weed tea" out of those--a potent and super stinky drink for the garden).  

The Urban Composter by Sweed's Fabrication.

My low-tech compost filtering system.

I shoveled some of the contents of the composter into the milk crate so it was about 1/3 full.  Then, with the milk crate over the tub, I mixed the compost around with the hand rake to break up clumps.  Then I gave the milk crate a few good shakes, then mixed it, then shook it some more.  What was left in the milk crate went into the blue tub till I'd finished filtering everything in the composter, then it went back into the composter to break down further.  It was 7 batches in the milk crate, and took about 20 minutes.

What went back in the composter.

Finished compost!

A little over a month's worth of kitchen scraps, coffee grounds and filters, dryer lint, paper napkins and weeds mixed with about the same amount of straw. 

Book work.

Book creations from late 2012.

Handmade instructional booklet

Instructional booklet that I made for the Urban Composter by Sweed's Fabrication. Printed on repurposed paper. 

It's a start.

The corn is providing some nice shade for its sisters, Bean and Pumpkin.
The Sugar Snap Peas are coming up, and Jo is happy about it.

Progress.

Growing...