The Three Sisters Have Become Famous

Every blog has a section named "stats", which the writer can access to see which posts have drawn the viewer's interest. I was completely FLOORED when I suddenly noticed a huge increase of interest in the Three Sisters post.
Could THAT many people be interested in Native vegetable planting techniques?

I investigated more carefully and found out that most of the "hits" were coming from far away...Singapore, to be exact! I am afraid I now realize what that means! In the future, I promise to be more careful when naming my posts!

The Annual ABDNHA Garden Tour

After weeks of iffy weather, Sunday morning dawned clear and without wind! The Anza Borrego Desert Natural History Association had lucked out again. This was the thirteenth year the event had been held. I have attended each year and every year offers new insights as to what may be accomplished in a desert garden.

I just LOVE that the school kids take part in the tour - and they seem to like being a part of it, too. My guide explained how the planters were constructed by the science students, showed me the compost bin, vegetables and the Spanish class bed of onions.( They had better start eating them! ) What a great opportunity for the kids to learn about healthful food.

The De Anza region had two gardens on the tour, and each graciously opened doors and offered visitors a taste of desert living. The secluded courtyard of the Frederick garden is an enclosed private area ...colorful potted plants,a water feature and plenty of shaded patios exude tranquility. The native artifacts within the home are an unbelievable treasure!

The Dax/Chambers home was also open. The modern theme carried out into the garden. The water feature and outdoor shower were dramatic accents, as was the pool and two chaise lounges, surrounded by nothing less than acres and acres of wilderness! You could imagine yourself lying outside on a warm evening,looking up at the starry skies!

I was very familiar with the Burch garden and had visited it in the past. It's always fun to see how things have changed. What caught my attention were the fabulous mesquite trees surrounded by tiny yellow wildflowers. His home, too, was opened to the visitors and contains a multitude of Mexican art. Another courtyard and shaded patio areas make for ideal desert living. This natural garden occupies acres of land and the owner has utilized and modified native plantings by the addition of other desert adapted plants.

In the Indianhead region was the Roberts/Redding garden (AKA the house on the hill). This, too, utilized native plants and scenery. A very steep driveway leads to the house, perched on a knob which overlooks a desert oasis which the owners have created for wildlife viewing. The home is surrounded by wilderness...rocky and rugged. I am certain they have seen a myriad of desert creatures utilize the oasis from their high vantage point! They have even integrated a carcel into the landscape!

My last stop was at the Meehan/Winters garden. I am also very familiar with this garden and have long admired the work of the previous owner, John Richen, noted metal sculptor and artist. The walled vegetable garden was completed by the new owners and is a gem. The garden has matured nicely. The back walls enclose another desert oasis, with pools of water, living and cooking areas and plenty of shade. The palms, olives and sumac
have formed a shady retreat during summer- so shady and inviting that my husband and I had to warn the owner that we had watched a young mountain lion cross our yard, the vacant lot next to us and jump over the Meehan wall with very little effort! John Richen left his mark...his sculpture will always define this garden!

TO SEE MORE PHOTOS, SCROLL DOWN.

Adjusted Plans

Fordhook lima beans are hard to find in the produce department...in fact, I haven't seen them there for years...and, we LOVE fresh limas! I had never heard of vine limas, but found them in the Burpee catalog! As soon as the peas stop bearing, the vining limas will take their place. I decided to plant bush limas between the corn. They are a legume, aren't they? They should give the corn some nitrogen, I hope the Three Sisters won't care...( To help them along, I'm mixing some chicken manure into the soil).

Along with the seeds came an interesting brochure about container vegetable gardening. If the system works, it would make vegetable gardening available to everyone...even those with limited space! It would certainly be worth a try, I think!

Yesterday was a real farm lady day for me! Harvested carrots, broccoli,lettuce ( bolted ), cleaned out planters, pulled weeds, turned earth and added new organic soil, readied beds for new summer vegetables. Picked peas. Sliced , blanched (2 min.then quickly into ice water) carrots, froze them. Blanched peas and broccoli (1 min.), also for the freezer. Started new seed flats of melons, vining limas and then took a nap! My great garden assistant was busy, too. He installed drip irrigation alongside each corn plant. When done, he needed a nap, too!

It Rained!

Surprise! Sky God read my blog...sent rain. Picked up 18 corn seedlings at Bob Williams Nursery last Friday They are healthy Golden Bantum variety.
Today is a perfect day to plant them, along with a few pole bean seeds. The squash I planted in the seed beds has come up and has leafed. Soon, the three sisters will start helping each other!

The Three Sisters

If you have never heard of the three sisters, you are not alone! Someone told me about them a few years ago, but this is the first year I am going to try them in my vegetable garden.

Native Americans practiced companion planting before it was popular. They had three staple crops, maize (corn), beans and squash. Early on, they determined that these plants complemented each other. The corn provided a stalk on which twining beans could climb. Squash interspersed with the plants provided a microclime to comserve moisture and retard weed growth. The beans returned the corn's favor by providing nitrogen for the soil. Three happy companion plants!

I have heard that the native people planted after the first rain. Here, in Borrego, I don't think that would work. in fact, my planting calendar says it is time to plant corn NOW! I have devised a different method than the natives used... They created low mounds of earth about a foot high by about two feet wide. Corn was planted in the center of the mound. After it grew to about six inches, beans were planted near the stalk and squash followed. Often a fish was placed under the mound for fertilizer. ( Here, the coyotes would love that!)

I am going to create my mounds with Glenda's organic potting soil. A drip circle will be installed around each planting site. I still have last year's corn and bean seeds, so, here goes! I swore I would never again plant corn...never have had luck. This time, I'm hoping the three sisters will help me! ( Corn seed available at Ace Hardeware. Seedlings available at Bob Williams Nursery, 760-347-6397. )

The Borrego Wind

The low desert experiences a bit of wind from time to time. The wind that blew a few days ago is a wind I will certainly remember. It started during the night. I awoke to a gentle clang, clang of something hitting the side of the house, soon followed by creakings and noises on the roof.

By morning , it was blowing full blast. Now, when I mention wind, I don't mean the kind that carries houses away, along with dogs...but, for Borrego, it was enough to get our notice. I can remember only three other occasions since we moved to Borrego, that approximated the same conditions...once, mobile home roofs and awnings blew away and a mule was hit by flying debris from his barn roof. Another time, I saw a full sheet of plywood siding rise up in the air at least twenty feet. Another event when visability suddenly became less than one block due to a storm front filled with dust was followed by heavy rain, which turned our neighbor's pool into a slimy muddy morass. An updraft carried our relative's heavy outdoor umbrella higher than their aged eucalyptus tree and we found half of our mature mesquite tree about fifty feet away!

The most recent Borrego wind sent my brother scurrying for his patio chairs, which he collected two blocks away. He said the wind was so strong he feared he was going to be blown over, so he sat down on his chair and just held on!

For the past few days, we have been picking up things scattered around the garden...the two plastic tops from the seed trays, wooden bird houses, broken tree limbs, palm fronds...in all, the garden fared well. The tiny bean plants I had just put in the elevated beds were thirsty but still lived-many new red flowers were blown off the ocotillos,but many remain... a tall arm from the old man cactus broke off...nothing major.

Now, Nebraskans and Kansans might scoff, but Borregans do get a small taste of wind from time to time. KUSI, the San Diego channel, reported we had 65 M.P.H. gusts-and that's enough for us!

Someone's Been Eating My Carrots And It's Not a Rabbit

For the past few weeks, I have been noticing that my carrot bed looked rather messy...tops tangled, a few undersized carrots cast aside...greenery on the ground next to the raised planter. No gopher holes in evidence. No rabbits within the garden walls. Mice or rats had never before dined on carrots.

We became suspicious the other night when Lola asked to go outside. In retrospect, she had stayed outside longer than normal for the past several evenings. Would she dare? "Lola, Lola, come in." we called, "Let us smell your breath!"

Sure enough...CARROT BREATH! She certainly thought she was getting away with something...when scolded, she looked chagrinned- even guilty. Most dogs enjoy a crunchy carrot now and then...when I prepare carrots, I usually give her a few carrot crunchies.

So, I guess it's my fault that, now, we have a dog suffering from a case of carrot addiction!