March planting report

The birds won the battle of the corn. We have not one plant growing. Instead, we planted lima beans (see photo) and more squash, both of which are up and growing now. The lima beans are an heirloom variety that can grow up to eight feet tall, so we'll need to round up some bamboo cuttings for them to climb. I am looking forward to the hubbard squash as this is the first time we have tried it. In past years we have grown butternut or acorn squash.

Fortunately, corn is a hot weather crop, so we can try it again later in the season. I may do that where the peas, carrots, and beets are currently. These will all soon be harvested, leaving an empty spot where we could try something heat tolerant like beans or corn. We have especially enjoyed growing various flint corn varieties, even dark red popcorn. These seem to do better in our hot weather than sweet corn.

Fruit and Nut Trees

I've added a link to fruit and nut tree information. So if you are thinking of an apple, peach, pear, apricot, or similar tree there is information readily available. Bear in mind that Maricopa County typically gets 450 chill hours in winter, so fruit tree varieties requiring over 500 chill hours are likely to only bear fruit in colder years. This was discouraging at first, as we wanted to grow Golden Delicious apples and that simply can't be done in our warm climate. There are other apple varieties that can be grown here though, and we have really enjoyed the apricots and almonds.

Grapes Break Dormancy

Here's a photo collage from today. We have several types of grapes along the block walls of the yard, which provide beautiful green color all summer long. In the winter they go dormant and drop their leaves, and are just now breaking dormancy. These photos are (starting clockwise from top left): Frontenac, Thompson Seedless, Black Monukka, and Christmas.

After growing Christmas for several years, finally, today, it occurs to me why it has that name. No other variety we have grown has so much white fuzz, or such dark pink edges on buds and new leaves. So, of course, it must be named Christmas for the green and red and white!

Each of these varieties produce very different grapes:

Frontenac - seeded, red/burgundy color, very high sugar content, excellent pink juice.
Thompson Seedless - seedless (obviously), light green color, eat fresh.
Black Monukka - semi-seedless with astringent skin, dark purple/red, beautiful red juice.
Christmas - large grape, similar to Concord. Apparently does not ripen in our hot climate, although the seller claimed it "is Concord for hot climates." Concord will not ripen in our climate.

Let that be a lesson. We've spent five years nurturing this Christmas vine only to learn that not once has it ripened, or colored. We even bagged the clusters to keep the birds away and left them until they had no acidity, just pure flat sugar flavor, and they never colored. Heat affects a grapes ability to color as it ripens, and apparently this variety in this spot in our yard will never ripen properly. Too bad, since it is such a pretty leaf and much less susceptible to grapeleaf skeletonizer (must be the fuzz).

March Planting

For those who haven't planted yet - it is not too late! The following can be planted from seed in March:

Squash, (summer or winter)         Carrots            Beets (first half of March)            Corn
Cucumbers                                 Watermelon     Cantaloupe                                    Beans

Thanks to the birds, who have eaten the corn we planted twice already, we planted soy beans, bush green beans, and some golden zucchini yesterday. Note that our experience with zucchini is that the green variety (such as Black Beauty) is more productive than the golden variety. It's nice to have both colors on a dinner plate though so if there is room we plant both.

We'll probably give the corn another try once the peas and broccoli are done, since the cat and the dog are too domesticated (or fat) to scare off the birds.