Staggering planting can help you prepare for the unexpected. In order to avoid burning our plants, I've found that the following two strategies work best: I used to be solely focused on ornamental plants such as perennials, shrubs and trees. The Spring garden will feature plants that like lengthening days, dry beans especially. Location, location, location. Garden Guru AZ can help you create a . Growing a vegetable garden in the southwest can be a fun and rewarding experience as long as you know when to plant your favorite veggies! Gardening in the Desert Southwest can be very challenging, but I can save you a lot of time and money by sharing my knowledge & experience. She believes it is possible to live fully and eat well while spending less. This item: Month-By-Month Gardening in the Desert Southwest. Check here for the plant hardiness zone near you: USDA Plant Hardiness Zones in the US. Many gardeners (myself included) believe that nasturtiums act as a companion plant, which help to repel bad bugs away from vegetables. Homesteading | Self Sufficient Living | Living off the Land, 36 Comments | Jill Winger | Last Updated: February 17, 2020. This means you need to consider how much time each variety needs between planting and picking. However, non-native veggies and flowers need organically rich soil, and ours contain less than half of 1% organic matter. Right now, we have not experienced our first frost of the season yet, so there are still some warm-season vegetables still producing like my green bell pepper plants. Avoid using garden soil that has weeds and potential disease. If you dont want to start seeds indoors, buy starter plants from a trusted source. Links are fine, but full text/large chunks of text are not. The rest of the year, select from warm-season plants. Tomatoes, peppers, leafy greens, herbs, potatoes, cucumber, eggplant, root crops, zucchini and other soft skinned squash, beans, peas, cabbage, and onions and other Allium. Start these indoors around March 2. For successful gardening in the desert outcomes, its important to study not only the climate and elevation. There are numerous resources here in the Southwest that break down the exact date ranges and elevations ideal for vegetable planting. When growing plants in desert climates the amount of light can be an issue in that there is plenty of it! If certain conditions are met, you can grow plants in containers in very small spaces. We share the challenge of gardening in less-than-ideal climates, and I love her ideas for gardeningin the desert. Know What to Plant When The low desert offers two major growing seasons, with different annuals thriving in each. The vegetables must be non-competing, often with different maturity dates and are planted in various patterns. Otherwise plant your cool-season plants in February for cold tolerant plants like snow peas and lettuce. I appreciate all the useful information on this site. There are many ways to grow additional plants in the same area. Plants can be established in the garden either by direct seeding or by transplanting. To start planting your garden, youll need to get some vegetable seeds. I allow my nasturtiums to self-seed and they come up again every year. There are many catalogs to choose from. Timing is a key to success . High Desertis an informal designation. There are great resources available to help you determine when to plant vegetables in your area. Believe it or not, for every inch of rain that falls on a catchment area of 1,000 square feet, you can expect to collect approximately 600 gallons of rainwater. March into May is the Spring garden. It's included as a part of my FREE digital homestead library. 2023 The Taunton Press, Inc. All rights reserved. Today Im welcoming Melissa from Ever Growing Farmto the Prairie Homestead. | Powered by Astra WordPress Theme, Water Conservation is Critical for Desert Vegetable Gardens. With regular attention, it is possible to control critter populations with non-chemical methods such as handpicking or a forceful spray of water. It takes work to have a successful vegetable garden, but it can be done if you know a few simple things. Gardening in the fall can be much more challenging than spring planting, because you are in a race to get your crops mature and harvestedbeforethe winter frosts begin, around September 29. 1. I live in Yucca Valley by Joshua Tree and my elevation is 3000+.very strong winds and even snow at times we have monsoon seasonsnew to this area so any tips on hi desert gardening in Cali is most welcomed!!! Another year, it was too hot for them to set fruit at peak season. How long for each watering? English Espaol View Publication AZ1713-2016 Keywords: garden container desert soil planting The way to be sure the soil is warm enough is to use a soil thermometer. Melissa Willis shares about her familys adventures in Urban Farming on 1/8 acre in the high desert of Santa Fe, NM on her blog Ever Growing Farm . The region hosts a range of soils and climate conditions that can be difficult for a gardener . Some plants will try to survive year round. MostTomatoes,PeppersandEggplant, for example, require around 100 days to harvest, so youd want to transplant those into the ground around August 12. Read our. Check the recommended plant spacing for specific vegetables. Albuquerque, New Mexico is in the desert, even though the citysaltitudeis over 5,000 feet. Sign up for our newsletter. Watering will be crucial to plant health and development. Using a high-quality soil can make all the difference for a happy garden. Absolutely! Autumn gardens feature a few cool-season plants like bush beans and the warm-season that responds shortening days, like winter squash. Secondly it protects from wind damage. In my zone 9a garden, chives, parsley, sage and thyme will stay green all winter long. Garlic dates vary wildly around the country. Kristi Trimmer is currently running half marathons across the U.S. and blogging about her journey. If possible, order varieties with resistance to diseases that affect your garden. You do need a wind block and a drip system. That, along with a layer of organic mulch, greatly helps retain moisture here in the desert. If you plant too early you may be in danger of experiencing a frost event. Gilmer references the designs developed by the indigenous gardeners of the desert Southwest waffle methods raised beds, vertical gardening, container gardening, terracing, and traditional in ground vegetable plots. Find more gardening information on Gardening Know How: Keep up to date with all that's happening in and around the garden. Your email address will not be published. We have never grown celery before, so I dont have any advice about how to grow it, but would love to hear any special tips you may have. Commit to Lots of Water The high desert has a unique, incredibly arid climate which not only affects plants at their roots, but also affects the plants ability to draw water in through their leaves. Thank you. Our long and leisurely cool-growing season runs seven to eight months. The name, Valley of the Sun, is appropriate due to the projected 319 forecasted days of Sun per year. Read more articles about General Regional Gardening. Albuquerque and Santa Fe, New Mexico are prime examples of high desert. look for heat tolerant varieties they really do tend to grow best in the high desert area. Southwest container gardening doesnt have to be complex. If you follow a few simple methods to help combat the hot, dry, and windy conditions that are the norm in the southwest, you can be almost guaranteed a bountiful harvest. We are no longer supporting IE (Internet Explorer), Hydrangea Not Blooming? If you have any questions, comments or suggestions please use the contact form or the comment form. The main thing is to visit your garden every day in the spring, summer, and fall to review dryness, horn worms, etc. Here is a planting schedulethat will show you the best time to plant vegetables in your zone. Luckily his argument was that rain fall belonged to the city and it was laughed out. The plants do survive, most of the time, but tend to be a bit worse for the wear. Having said that, we note that your location has a shorter than average growing season. Lined the interior and bottom of the beds with at least two layers of offset 1 chicken wire to keep out packrats, ground squirrels, pocket gophers and other tunnelers. Absolutely! Do the same withlettuce and spinach. Extreme gardening in the high desert is truly extreme and it takes time to perfect it and a lot of attention to detail. This strategy of planting the same crop in waves, a few weeks apart, can help ensure a longer harvest. I also make sure to save all the water that I get from doing water changes on my fish tanks. January February March April May June July. Periods of intense heat are moderated by days of summer temperatures in the 90s. Seed companies have excellent websites to help with your choices. If you want to plant in containers in a sheltered area, you can have a Winter garden September to April. However, planting seeds directly into the soil where they will grow is the easiest and most basic method of starting vegetables in a garden. You need to rename this article high desert The desert in CA is typically the Low Desert. AroundOctober 6,take your cloves apart and plant the toes about 3 to 4 inches deep. I tried a large childs pool but the roots made a hole in it. 15 Beautiful Native Plants for Southwestern Gardens Desert Landscaping Ideas Explore Gardening By Region Gardening in the South Gardening in the Midwest Gardening in the Northeast Gardening in the Pacific Northwest Garden Guide for Southern California I will keep your paragraph formatting but otherwise match the font etc to the For Farm and Ranch Women page. Although, the information from the seed catalog companies is exceptional it is somewhat general since they are trying to sell to all areas of the country. This information can be found with a quick search through thehttp://USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map. I am doing it from years and had great results with that. Growing vegetables even in the most temperate climates can be tricky, so growing them in the desert is not for the faint of heart. Terrible conditions! 2023 Gardening Know How, Future US LLC, Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036, Read more about General Regional Gardening. I live in hot, dry, windy, high desert. Staggering planting can help you prepare for the unexpected. Herbs are also fairly hardy and easy to grow, along with peppers and squash. There are extreme differences in desert elevations and gardening is different for each distinctive desert climate zone.