Summer weeds in Arizona

Pigweed time in the desert! About a couple weeks ago, we left the hose on too long, and the irrigation waters burst through the berms, spilling water all around the garden, giving a good soak to all that bare ground.

It is amazing: everywhere the water spilled, pigweed is growing now. Pigweed is quite distinctive because of its pink/purple underside.

Its purple hue gives it away: just like its magnificent large and purple "tame" cousin, grain Amaranth, pigweed is in the amaranthus family. The two common pigweeds are "careless pigweed" and "tumble pigweed". My advice: get the pigweed while it is young.

As it gets bigger, pigweed stems get really tough, making them hard to tear down or tear out later. This is especially true of the "tumble pigweed".

Not to be confused with the Russian Thistle, which is the true "tumbleweed".

I keep my main gardening area bare ground, so I can just scrape a hoe over the topsoil, killing them while they are seedlings. I just leave them there to decompose on the ground, which has resulted in a nice layer of topsoil as well.

The common purslane remains soft as it grows, so it is less of a nuisance later. Sometimes I will even let it grow quite big for awhile, letting nature provide me with some good compost biomass.

The "prickly lettuce" weed will be big and seed-headed now, if it survived as a garden volunteer from your spring planting.

Lots of "puncturevines" will pop up in your watered areas now too. As you can tell from the name, you really don't want to let "puncture vine" mature. They produce those "sharpy thorns" that make your kids cry when they step on 'em.

The UA book has this to say about "puncturevine":

"It is abundant, one of the most obnoxious weeds in southern Arizona, and is found throughout the state, principally in July and August. Each plant produces innumerable burs ... Home owners and their dogs probably dislike puncturevine more than any other weed because the stout spines can easily penetrate shoes, bicycle tires, and dogs' feet."

If you have an Palo Verde or Palm trees nearby, there is a good change you are getting tons of their seedlings pop up as well. Rip the Palo Verde seedlings out quick. As soon as they get just a little big they get barbs all over 'em.

Community gardens sprout up in Mesa and Tempe

Interesting article in the East Valley Tribune about the community gardens in Tempe, Mesa, and Chandler.

 

Mesa supposedly has no problem letting people establish community gardens.  But my question is, will they supply the water?   Setting up a garden on an un-used city property sounds easy enough, but if they aren't supplying the water, that is an empty gesture...

 

Here is the full text of the article (http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/local/article_2cc0e67c-a8e8-11e0-8702-001cc4c002e0.html):

 

For decades, cities figured that progress meant getting rid of agricultural land and replacing it with houses and businesses. But several East Valley cities are rethinking the urban-only mindset by allowing - and even encouraging - gardens to sprout in their downtowns and elsewhere.

The shift in philosophy is partly a reaction to the recession, which has left plenty of vacant land that's unlikely to develop soon. Communities also see demand growing for fresh, locally-grown produce sought by individuals, restaurants and nonprofits.

Tempe

But starting a community garden wasn't easy in some places. In Tempe, the city generally wouldn't allow developed land to revert to agricultural use. The city is moving to change that, hoping gardens will spring up on some empty downtown lots or within city parks.  Tempe Councilwoman Onnie Shekerjian has worked to encourage gardens because she believes uncertain times make people crave a simpler, more sustainable lifestyle. Residents tend the gardens themselves and some involved with a south Tempe plot have found other benefits, Shekerjian said. "They're shocked at how they got to know people," Shekerjian said. "It's the community building that has become more important than the fresh vegetables."

The city is testing gardens on city-owned land, turning over 15,000 square feet of land at Escalante Park to the Tempe Community Action Agency. That nonprofit started the garden this spring and splits food between neighbors who volunteer, the agency's food pantry and selling produce at a farmer's market to generate revenue.  The garden allows the agency to distribute healthier food to needy families, said Beth Fiorenza, the agency's executive director.  "Having the free fruit and vegetables really guarantees that families are getting a nutritious supplement, that it's not all canned goods," she said.

A new Tempe ordinance will allow gardens on private lots, with a $50 fee and hearing involving neighboring property owners.  Shekerjian figures there's enough interest in several neighborhoods to establish gardens within parks. These gardens would be overseen by a nonprofit that would provide funding and manage the project with neighbors. The city's role will be limited to playing matchmaker between residents and nonprofits, Shekerjian said.

Mesa

Mesa made sure community gardens were included in a recent revamp of zoning regulations, said Christine Zielonka, development and sustainability director. Lots of up to one acre can become gardens in residential and commercial areas. Mesa does not require permits or fees as a way to encourage gardens on unused land.

"One would hope that over time vacant parcels will become more valuable and they'll have a more beneficial use, so certainly a community garden would be a wonderful transitional use for that property rather than let it sit vacant," Zielonka said.

Mesa is looking to establish a garden downtown on one of the many vacant lots it owns. The city wants to open it this fall, having a nonprofit work with neighbors to get it going.

Chandler

About $10,000 from the Chandler Kiwanis Club will establish a garden that will distribute produce to volunteers and to the Chandler Christian Community Center. Harvest for Humanity will manage the garden, and one of its missions is to teach people how to grow their own food, said Denise Phillips, executive director. There's an increased interest in growing food locally in part because of e-coli outbreaks and food recalls, she said.  "People are looking for ways to save money and ways to be in control of what they're eating," Phillips said, "and it tastes so much better."   

Contact writer Garin Groff: (480) 898-6548 or ggroff@evtrib.com

Watermelonpalooza

Watermelons and Arizona summers are just meant to go together.  I get consistently better results with watermelons than anything else in the heat of the summer.

 

This year I put the watermelon patch near the back fence.    As you can see, the watermelon vines love it.   They are trellising right up the fence, and growing hanging fruits too!

 

The best of my watermelons this year are the Jubilee variety.  I harvested a 13 pound watermelon last week, along with an 8 pounder.    My Sugar Baby watermelons seem to max out at 4-5 pounds.  I've been throwing a lot of them to the chickens, they LOVE it. 

 

I have found that chickens also love the fresh cucumbers.   I break 'em in half, or cut 'em in fourths with my shovel, then throw them into the coop.   After they peck out the seeds, they eat all the cuc flesh.

 

Oddly enough, I have observed, a green watermelon tastes exactly like a cucumber...  The chickens will strip the watermelon all the way down to the hard rind.  Any soft flesh on the inside will be devoured. 

Phoenix Dust Storm - Best Of pics & 1st person account

The Phoenix Dust Storm has made the national and international news (as far away as New Zealand: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10736809).  I will say, it was probably the coolest weather phenomenon I have ever seen.

 

Imagine a 5000 ft tall thundercloud, AT GROUND LEVEL, stretching from horizon to horizon, rolling towards you, looking like the frothy front side of a wave.  It was more than a bit unnerving. 

 

The light was perfect, streaming right across the face of the cloud from the setting sun, highlighting the sharp shadows of the rolling clouds across its face, and bringing out its rich orange (from both the setting sun and the orange dust).

 

I was driving directly into it, on my motorcycle... without helmet, jacket, or even long pants.  I was coming home from a swim at the pool a few miles away, still in my shorts and t-shirt, intending to enjoy the cool air.    Instead I was driving like a bat out of hell, going 70 (mph) down cut-through streets to beat that monster home.  I did not relish the thought of the blinding grit pounding into my face, and I thought it would be a downpour as well.   I felt like Viggo Mortensen in that scene in Hidalgo, racing the dust storm (except I was racing INTO it, rather than away...).    Luckily, I met the face of the storm just as I pulled into my driveway.

  

Inside the cloud, the air was thick orange and dark, with swirling winds knocking everything about from all directions.  Turned out to be totally dry in the cloud itself, no rainfall whatever. 

 

I would have given anything to have a "panorama" camera when I was coming up to it.   I've attached a collage of the best pics I could find online.   Unfortunately, most of them were taken after the sun set, so the cloud front just looks dark, but a couple of them caught the spectacular orange. 

Bring the Heat!

AZ Victory Gardener is not afraid of the heat...

Hottest day of the year so far, but as you can see, our sunflowers are doing OK.



The "intensively planted" cucumbers are what is growing in front of the sunflowers. The intensive planting keeps the ground shaded using the broad leaves of the cucumbers.

I also planted them on the shady side of the sunflowers on purpose, to take them out of the heat in the late afternoon. Seems to be working well. The cucs were not even a little heat stressed today.



That is a six foot lady right there

Wild Chickens thriving in New Orleans

I think wild chickens running through the city is pretty cool.  I love birds, and that is just what they are, a beautiful species of bird. 

 

I know for a fact that everyone loves wild peacocks in their neighborhood.    Chickens are just as cool looking if you ask me, not as spectacular as the peacocks, but a lot better looking than the peahens.  Chickens are highly ornamental. 

 

The article mentions that Phoenix has had difficulties with wild chickens, but I have never heard of it. 

 

I don't know how they survive in a city with wild cats, but they are making it work, apparently.  The article mentions predatory birds, but not cats. 

 

Check out the story:

 

http://www.nola.com/pets/index.ssf/2011/04/feral_chickens_have_proliferat.html

AZ food prices to rise 6% this year

Good time to be a Victory Gardener!

 

The following is a reprint of today's Republic article, here http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2011/03/22/20110322arizona-food-prices-up.html

 

Arizona consumers who have been hammered at the gas pump by soaring prices can expect to get slammed at the grocery store in the near future by a sharp rise in the cost of food.  Higher wholesale prices for vegetables and various grocery staples, coupled with a jump in fuel and energy costs, are expected to push food costs up as much as 6 percent this year at metro Phoenix stores.

That would rival a 5.5 percent jump in 2008, which was the largest gain in almost 20 years. Such a surge in prices would end two years of declining and flat food prices. Blame winter crop damage, higher commodity costs and global grain shortages.  Coupled with the rising gas prices, the situation creates another tough economic challenge for consumers, many of whom aren't getting pay raises, are living on fixed incomes or, worse yet, are unemployed or underemployed.

In addition, the cost increases mark the first major rise in food prices since Phoenix voters approved a 2 percent sales tax on food last year.

Margaret Koziba of Phoenix already has noticed higher produce prices and expects costs to escalate for other products with the hike in fuel prices.  "Everything is going up," she said.

While Arizona Farm Bureau has yet to complete its annual first-quarter survey of statewide grocery prices, spokeswoman Julie Murphree reported that preliminary information shows higher prices for many products.  "It's basically across the board," she said.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture predicts retail food prices will rise 3.5 percent in the U.S. this year. But a sharp jump in wholesale food prices reported last week by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics could portend a much larger increase in retail prices than expected.  The government reported wholesale food prices rose 3.9 percent from January through February, marking the largest monthly increase in more than 36 years.

Tim McCabe, president of the Arizona Food Marketing Alliance, believes prices could increase between 5 percent and 6 percent this year. The Arizona Food Marketing Alliance is a trade group that represents the state's grocery chains and other food retailers. "It's a perfect storm," he said. "All of the commodity prices are up at once, you have the impact of the freezing weather in the South and now you have rising fuel prices."

The increases come when overall food prices are still relatively low, however. In January, the Arizona Farm Bureau reported a basket of 16 grocery staples cost $45.44, more than 20 percent below an all-time high of $57.46 reached in the third quarter of 2008.

Consumers also could catch a break in Arizona because of the highly competitive local grocery market.  In the past, Arizona food prices have risen more slowly than those nationally because local grocers have been compelled to keep prices low to remain competitive. Ann Reed, vice president of Fry's Food Stores in Phoenix, said the chain is under constant pressure to keep its prices low to hold onto its position as the market leader.  "It's very competitive," she said.

McCabe said that Arizona grocers frequently eat some of the wholesale price increases to keep prices competitive. But he added that with prices rising so quickly, it may be hard not to pass them on.  "When you have all these prices going up, the consumer is going to take a hit," he said.

The rising prices are tied to a number of factors.  Winter freezes in Florida, Texas and other Southern states damaged crops and sent produce prices through the roof. Several major orange-juice producers have announced price hikes as a result of the unseasonably cold winter.  Prices of corn, wheat and soybeans have increased sharply in the past year. Higher commodity costs have increased the price of animal feed, which in turn has boosted prices for eggs, ground beef and milk.

Grain prices have been pushed up by increased global demand and shortages due to crop problems in the Black Sea region, Canada and Australia. Russia has banned grain exports since devastating fires and drought wiped out crops. The ban could be extended until the end of the year. 

Ephraim Leibtag, a senior research economist with USDA's Economic Research Service, said prices for some food ingredients are up 40 percent to 60 percent over last year. Those increases are going to "ripple out to the public," he said.  More recently, a spike in fuel prices has driven up both food production and transportation costs.

In Arizona, gasoline prices are up roughly 40 percent since September and 13 percent in the past month. Those prices are being felt now by consumers at the pump and will be seen at the grocery store in a few months as higher transportation and production costs get passed down to shoppers.