Two Tomatoes For $2.50

Well, the tomato struggled and finally came back. I picked 2 tomatoes yesterday before the birds discovered them. I paid $2.50 for that tomato plant and watered it carefully (except for the week I was out of town and my substitute gardener forgot about it and it almost died). I have put a lot more time in to that plant than it was worth but next year I will probably try again.

I never got any zucchini. One grew but shriveled when I left for a week. I planted some yellow squash seeds. Perhaps I will get some this Fall.

Planted Trees Today

Here's my happy little Desert Willow. I planted it on the West side of the mobile home near my greenhouse so that I wouldn't have to haul water much farther than I already am for the little garden. I didn't clear the aloe away from the spot. I am hoping the aloe plants will keep the soil from drying out and keep the soil cooler. So far the tree looks happy.

The Mesquite tree is hard to see but it approximately 12 feet from the other tree and will grow very fast to give me some shade. I need to dig a wider basin around the bottom of the tree to collect water. Eventually I want to direct the water that comes off the mobile home roof to go to the two trees. That will take a lot more work since the trees are a little higher up and it's hard to put gutters on a mobile home. I need to design some way to catch the water as it comes off the roof and pipe it over to the trees. That would be easier than trying to dig trenches along the ground I think. It needs more thought.

New Trees From "Trees For Tucson"

I ordered baby trees from Trees For Tucson through the local electric company-TEP. There is also a tree program through Trico Electric for those who have it. Even though the tree application said it would take a month for the trees to arrive, I mailed my check on Friday and they arrived the next Thursday. I am thrilled. Since they are early I haven't dug the holes yet but hopefully they will be ok until Saturday when I have time to dig.

I got 3 trees. A Mesquite, a Desert Willow and a Desert Ironwood. I hope to replace some Cholla cactus with one or two of the trees. I have enough Cholla and not enough trees.