Your Garden and Bees!

     Every garden needs some bees. Why you ask? Well, without bees the majority of organic plants and veggies would not be able to flower at all! Bees help pollinate and cross-pollinate every single flower on your plants, making new genetics such as hybrid plants.

      Just like Albert Einstein stated ," If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe than man would only have four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man."

     So it is very imperative that if you are trying to start your own organic garden or trying to live a healthy choice life (like me) and want to grow whatever crops of your choosing, you need to have these amazing bugs around your garden constantly!

    There are some key things you should know about attracting these life giving bugs to your garden!

 ¤ Nectar and Pollen!
 Every single flower gives off a sweet aroma to these bees and that aroma comes from the nectar and pollen. It's completely irresistible to these bugs. Some gardeners I know put geraniums and peonies on the border of their gardens, just for extra re-assurance that bees will definitely visit their abundant gardens.

 ¤ Having crop plants that attract frequent bees!
 These plants include melons, squash, fruit and certain varieties of leafy greens. Most of these plants have bright yellow flowers. Some varieties include flowers with white and yellow stripes, some leafy greens also produce purple flowers.

 ¤ Not using any form of Pesticide or Germicide!
I do NOT recommend any form of pesticide nor germicide for this main reason. It can harm the bees and stop their production completely. Plus it can harm your crop from getting the full natural nutritional value. If you have a bug problem check out my post on Neem Oil.

 ¤ Have a form of windbreak with sunshine!
Bees love pollinating in the sun, so plan your garden to be in a good spot for the sun. I recommend a spot that gets at least nine to eleven hours of sun during spring/summer, and seven to ten hours of sun during fall/winter seasons. Alas, if you live in the desert like I, you'll suffer with high-winds quite frequent. I pass this completely by planting my crops a little closer than the recommended space in-between. Which causes a natural wind break and gives the bees an easier time to pollinate rather than fighting their way to the much desired nectar hidden in their delicious flowers.

Dearest Readers and Gardening Enthusiasts, we all have a job to do. That job is to keep the world alive and healthy! Do so by planting flowers or your own food garden to keep the bees busy and happy! We are nothing without these wonderful bugs. They keep us fed and we keep them happy!

Thanks for keeping interest and until next time, Keep it Green and Keep it Growing!
Ciao!


HyperSmash

Garden Summer Update!!!

              Hey guys! I'm giving you a glimpse into my place of peace, my Desert Garden! I haven't done an update for a while and I felt like I needed to show you what has been thriving!! First off I'd like to say it's awesome to grow my own food. I get the tastiest, freshest food....about 15 feet from my kitchen backdoor! Who could resist that?! Anyways here's some shots of what is doing amazing in this crazy 104 F + heat!

¤ These are my Chocolate Cherry Peppers. They are sweet and I cook them up completely whole. They are completely addictive and delicious.

¤ These are Fajita Bell Peppers, and yes they have a slight kick to them!

¤ Here are my Heirloom Italian Roma Tomatoes. These tomatoes taste like no Roma tomato I've bought at any market. Completely sweet and not that acidic.

¤ Yea that's right! I'm starting my Winter squash run...in July! Why you ask? Well Winter Squash do extremely well with the heat but not with the sun. SO... I decided to try out a theory of giving my winter squash complete shade and seeing if it still produces as much as it would grown the normal way.

¤ Of course I had to show you guys some beautiful flowers! Specifically my watermelon flowers. So you guys know watermelons LOVE the heat. You have more of a chance of getting fruit in a place that has heat for about 2 months or so.

Man oh Man!! I'm so excited to cut into this watermelon. Unfortunately, one of my fruits cracked due to the constant sun so I gave them more shade than before. But, I got to smell the inside of the cracked fruit and WOW! It's so sweet and actually made my mouth water. lol

Well, that's it for this mini update guys! I hope you like whats growing cause I know it's all looking pretty! Thanks for watching and reading my channels, blogs and vlogs. As always, grow some food for yourself! It's super rewarding and satisfying! Until next time guys!

Keep it Green and Keep it Growing!

¤ BYE!! ¤

HyperSmash

How to thin out your Onions!

             
                     Hey guys! I've noticed a lot of people don't really know how to thin out their onions or the reasons as to why this process is needed. Most people just sow their seeds randomly and just leave them tightly spread together, which will cause them to be super small and not grow properly! Even be more prone to illnesses! I learned how to thin out my onions through research and experience. I used normal tap water that wasn't too cold. The water helps the bulbs not dry out too fast in the direct desert sun when thinning out, or transplanting as some call it. The onions you will see in the video are both Italian varieties. One is a red torpedo style, and the other is a stew onion. I love these two distinct onion flavors and color. I wanted to get decent sized bulbs so that is why I am thinning them out. Anyways, here's the video! ☻


¤ Well, that's my process for thinning out onions! Hope you guys learned something new and something useful! Thanks for watching and reading! As always, Until next time folks!

Keep it Green and Keep it Growing!!

¤ BYE!! ¤
-The Desert Gardener ♥


HyperSmash

First Garden Update!

Hey guys!
I'm gonna show you some of the stuff I was growing in direct sun! I got several fruit and veggies, some greens and even herbs that just love the sun up until the end of June beginning of July. First I'll show you a mini video tour of my garden. Then, I'll list what I'm growing in no particular order.


¤ Here's a list of what I'm growing organically ¤
-Lemon Thyme (Herb)
-Sage (Herb)
-Tuscon Rosemary (Herb)
-Thai Basil (Herb)
-Sweet Marjoram (Herb)
-Sweet Basil (Herb)
-Lemon Basil (Herb)
-Greek Oregano (Herb)
-Sugar Baby (Watermelon)
-Honeydew
-Cantaloupe
-Italian Torpedo (Onion)
-Cippolina (Onion)
-Rocket (Arugula)
-Roman Wild (Arugula)
-Black Seeded Simpson (Greens)
-Caesar Romaine (Greens)
-Carrots
-Spinach
-Red Russian (Kale)
-Vivian (Greens)
-Yellow Bell (Pepper)
-Green Bell (Pepper)
-Red Bell (Pepper)
-Sweet Banana (Pepper)
-Pimento (Pepper)
-Cubanelle (Pepper)
-Hungarian Wax (Pepper)
-Santa Fe (Pepper)
-Roma (Tomato)
-Brandywine (Tomato)
-Hawaiian (Tomato)
-German (Tomato)
-Yellow Pear (Tomato)
-Purple Cherokee (Tomato)
-Green Zebra (Tomato)
-Beefmaster (Tomato)
-Super Sweet 100 (Tomato)
-Italian Heirloom (Tomato)
-Heirloom (Tomato)

Thanks for watching and reading again guys! Remember we can change everything if we just each grow one plant or start a small garden anywhere! We can change people! Until next time.... Keep it Green and Keep it Growing!


¤ BYE!! ¤


HyperSmash

Harvesting Walla Walla Onions!

Hey guys!
Got some amazing things to show you in this post.....My onions matured!! I'm so excited. I don't know about you but my household is an Onion one. We use onions almost every single dish! I especially love these onions because of how sweet they can be. Once I pulled these suckers out of the ground, let me tell you.... it smelt so amazing!! It was the most fresh, organic onion smell I've had in the longest time. I pulled these onions a little early because I didn't want to have too large of a crop. I wanted just the right size I could store! If they had gotten bigger I wouldn't of been able to enjoy every single one like I did!

¤ Anyways, here's my video on harvesting onions from the desert garden. ☻




¤  Well hope you guys had as much fun watching this, as I had filming and growing those onions! I always encourage my readers to grow something they can eat. It's the most rewarding and healthy thing you can do for yourself. Just start out with one plant, and if you are successful... Maybe you got an inner "Green Thumb" in you! Until next time readers and fellow green thumbs! Keep it Green and Keep it Growing!

♥ Bye!


HyperSmash

Harvesting Micro-Nutrient Rich Leafy Greens!

     Hey guys! Sorry for the delay, I'm back! This video's all about leafy greens, mainly Vivian Romaine Lettuce and Escarole. Anyone and everyone should be eating some type of green everyday! It's one of the healthiest things for you! I love these two greens because of the distinct flavor they have for my salads. They pair well together with most vinaigrette. They also do well in smoothie combinations. Well.......Here's the video! ☻


¤ About the Tip ¤
      The reason you cut 1 in - 2 in above the stalk of the greens is to promote the plant to regrow. Usually when you use this method, the greens will have several heads form. Around 2-4 from my experience.

This just goes to show, you can grow some amazing things in the desert. Remember guys, it's our choice and chance to change how we look at food. "Great things come to those who wait." I don't know about you, but I'm willing to wait for some delicious, nutritious, healthy food. Thanks for stopping by and remember....Keep it Green and Keep it Growing!
--The Desert Gardener


HyperSmash