Even though I’m a
country woman at heart, I have loved living in midtown Tucson. I have admired
the little winter gardens I’ve seen in our Peter Howell neighborhood and envied
those who plant and harvest them.
In Kansas we
faithfully plant spring, summer, and fall gardens, but without a greenhouse or
a hoop house, we can’t have a winter garden. Now, here in Tucson’s mild winter,
year-round gardening became a tantalizing possibility.
One of my
Christmas gifts was a bundle of seed packets from Grant, who also loves to have
a garden. With the gift he promised to build a raised bed garden behind our
casita. Yesterday Grant and Dennis kept that promise. First they built a frame
three feet wide, eight feet long, and twenty inches high. Then they filled the
frame with a mixture of compost and Arizona dirt.
Then they planted
a third of the area in lettuce, arugula, and Swiss chard. After ten days, they
will plant another third. The staggered plantings will keep us supplied with
greens all winter.
Another part of my
Christmas gift was a packet of Arizona wildflower seeds. January is one of the
Sonoran Desert’s rare rainy times, and delicate desert wildflowers spring up to
carpet the desert. Last year I saw a few Tucson yards filled with blooming
wildflowers and I longed to have them in our yard, too. Now that wish, too,
will become a reality. Yesterday during a light rain Dennis and I sprinkled the
seeds around the front yard.
Now I have it all.
Happy New Year!
Copyright
2016 by Shirley Domer
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