Getting Ready...

It's time to get planting areas ready for vegetables. For those who are interested in flowers the big box stores (Lowes) just got in their flower bulbs. We put in some Gladiolus this year.

Vegetables are not really available yet. Bear in mind I say that because we are looking for 6-packs of tomato plants. We took a hiatus from planting tomatoes from seed this year so are really hoping to see the seedlings show up in nursery's soon. I did start some seeds yesterday as a backup plan and to keep my anxiety level down...

Bare root fruit trees should be arriving in stores this month if you are looking for apricots, pomegranates or the like.

Now is the time to plan what you want to plant and where, and get the soil ready. We usually till the garden and add a bit of fertilizer a couple weeks before setting out anything. The weather should be warm enough in about 4-5 weeks to set out tomato seedlings.

Irrigation Maintenance

Now is a great time to do irrigation system maintenance. Things to check for include bad valves, timer settings, timer backup batteries, leaking lines, broken or plugged emitters, damaged or plugged sprinkler heads (especially if you overseeded the lawn) and broken pressure regulators on drip lines. Our half-inch drip lines are ten years old and one has been splitting seams. My mission yesterday was to replace that entire line. However, upon opening the control valve boxes I discovered that the valve feeding the drip line to the trees had gone bad. We hadn't noticed but I'm sure the trees were feeling starved for water. There was also a bad pressure regulator on the line feeding our grapes which was responsible for flooding the irrigation valve box.

Instead of laying new drip line, I re-built the valve and backflow assembly on the two damaged lines. This is the third time the smaller, cheaper pressure regulators have failed, so I spent the extra money for a larger, better quality regulator (I have three of these that have gone ten years with no issues). Done! Now I know plants are getting water when the timer says so. Next weekend we'll do the line replacement.

Onions

The box stores have onion sets for sale. For $2 you can plant 60 onions, so for our family $4 means we'll have fresh onions for another year without purchasing any more from the store.

These are different than the ones sold in the spring. These are like very small onions, while the ones sold in spring look more like tiny leeks.

Planting Garlic

 The easy way to plant garlic. These two bunches will be enough for backyard BBQ marinades all next summer. Separate the bunches into individual cloves, dig a trench about 3-4 inches deep somewhere that already gets regular water (in this case the roses). Place each clove pointy end up about six inches apart and cover with soil.

If we don't use them all some will grow again next year.

September is for Winter Gardens

September is the time to plant winter and spring garden vegetables. Things that will do fine through our mild winters include:

onions
garlic
peas
beets
carrots
broccoli
cauliflower

Planting these now will get them up and growing before "winter" sets in. Then in the spring they will "spring" into bloom and ripen before it gets hot in May.

Onions and Garlic

It's time to plant onions and garlic. The onions we raised from seed last year are still in the ground (those we haven't eaten) and are starting to grow again. Seed is easy to start on a wet paper towel. Place an empty egg carton upside down, put a damp paper towel or napkin inside, and sprinkle seeds on it and close. Within a few days the seeds will sprout and you can set them in potting soil. When they are 2-3 inches tall you can set them outside about 6 inches apart. The winters here are not cold enough to hurt them and you will soon have an always-fresh supply of onions. For the less adventurous, wait until the home improvement stores have onion sets in stock and set those out in the yard.

For easy, fresh garlic, pick up one or two bulk garlic at the grocery store and break them into individual cloves. Plant these about six inches apart pointy side up somewhere in the yard that gets water regularly and you will have fresh garlic all summer next year. Like onions, our light frosts won't bother garlic.

Seed Order

Today we ordered seed for fall and next spring. Most of the time the seed packets or seedlings available in local big box stores are just fine. I like to try new plants and learn about different varieties, so usually place an on-line order. For example, Guatemalan Blue squash, two types of garlic from Germany - one is hot and the other is sweet, Bulgarian Carrot - a hot orange pepper, a yellow paste type tomato, a 7-inch long paste tomato (both the same shape as Romas), and I had to stop myself.

Every year we like to try something new to see how we like it and how well it grows here in Arizona.

Time to plant fall gardens is about a month away, so now is the time to plan and prepare.