I really do feel great. It’s so great be back in Phoenix. (I can’t believe I’m saying that…) But it’s great to be alive and to be an artist and to be sober… (i.e. I’m not drunk-blogging)
Seattle was AMAZING and SO GREEN. And humid – I like humid. And I mean REAL humidity, not the 20-25% we get in Phoenix during the “monsoon season” (dust storm season, really) where everyone complains “Oh, it’s SO humid!” No. It’s not humid. 95 degrees and 90% humidity is HUMID, like in Alabama where I grew up.
In Seattle, it’s like 40-50% humidity and the highest it got while we were there was about 83-84 degrees (and of course, the Seattleites were complaining that “it’s so hot” – that was cute.), so it’s really the perfect climate for me. And the entire place is alive! Plants burst from every seam – even the freeways are surrounded in greenery and bridges are decked with creeping vines.
That greenery really inspired me – and not necessarily inspired me to pick up and leave the desert (though we will definitely become “sun birds” at the least) – but I was inspired to really transform my back patio into a green oasis and get back into gardening again.
I have a bit of a challenging environment in the back in that it is mostly shaded, dry, and hot (big surprise there, I know). Many plants that can tolerate the heat really want the sun, too, or at least a lot of humidity. So I’m gonna research this a bit and do the old trial and error method and just ramble on about my findings here on my blog.
Just to give you and idea, here is the main section of the patio today, with a mature Shammel Ash tree in the center. As you can see, many of my potted plants died while I was in Seattle. 🙁 I paid someone to check on them but that’s another story…
Below is the narrow side with the tangerine tree (please ignore the frying pan)… Of course, Emma has to be in each shot, the little diva!
So I’ve got a long way to go. And it looks like a lot to spend, too. Gonna try growing some herbs from seeds on my own and see how that goes. Might save on expenses in the long run… Below are some of my windowsill herbs just planted from seeds. We’ll see how it all turns out!
Jen and I started a garden back 09-10. It was a lot of hard work and lots of trial and error.
We had watermelon, lettuce, tamatos, zucchini, cucumbers, corn, broccoli and lots of herbs like mint, parsley, garlic, and a handful of stuff I’m forgetting to mention.
It was very rewarding and we learned a lot. Like using the moon cycles to prune and harvest.
We had salads from our garden every day. Oh yea! Eggplant, that stuff grew like weeds. We had tried eggplant in every possible way, eggplant soup to eggplant burgers. Delicious stuff and very healthy.
Enjoy your gardening endeavors and welcome back!
Thanks, Fausto!
The biggest challenge is that our yard is mostly shaded. Most of the plants you grew want full sun. I think I will focus on ornamentals as well as herbs. Basil, although it supposedly wants full sun, has done really well in my patio. The two big plants I had died while we were in Seattle. 🙁
We also had a small rosemary bush that did pretty well. Again, it died while I was gone. All the plants were over-watered. My instructions were too vague.
Anyway, I’ll be posting the progress here and it will be an adventure. 🙂