So it's been a long while since I visited this site.  Much has happened in that time.  Two chickens lost to dog attack, started a full-time job which caused my 2012 veg garden to suffer greatly, got divorced... it's been a busy time.  However, my new best friend lives across the street and can't wait to help me revive my once thriving practice -- growing food in my 10 raised beds, tending my mini fruit orchard, and helping me acclimate the two new pullets I’ll bring into the family this…

  I am so thankful for having time, the resources and health to share my gardening life with others. This past weekend I once again made a trip to the south valley to visit http://www.skarsgardfarms.com/. They once again had a tour of the farm, which we missed and took time to photograph the piglets and barn instead. They had a gentleman who spoke to a group of us about composting. He not only spoke to us but brought along some of the what and…

I got to ask Mel Bartholomew father of the Square Foot Gardening method what he thought about the issues some people see around peat moss. I learned a bit - enjoy http://www.melbartholomew.com/whats-up-with-peat-moss/

Are you a Square Foot Gardener? What's your experience? How many beds do you have and what do you grow?

4000 Gallons + Rainwater Tanks. They are currently full.

These Pictures are from last year. This is our first yard we started cultivating about five years ago.

We now have 65 Fruit Trees and vines.

Grapes, Peach, Apples, Nectarine, Apricot, Fig, Jujube, Plum, Current, Hackberry and ServiceBerry.

Sharon Astyk is one of my favorite thinkers on resilience and sustainability. She brings it down to the ground where it belongs. In this blog she covers what we need to get sustainability working in our neighborhoods. It's going to take more than canning, kale and clotheslines. It's going to take getting involved at the municipal level as an organized group and at a national level. Many of the things that make living in the burbs potentially sustainable - are actually illegal at this time.…

According to the USDA:

"The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today released the new version of its Plant Hardiness Zone Map (PHZM), updating a useful tool for gardeners and researchers for the first time since 1990 with greater…

At a personal and at the community level we are all looking for ways to thrive in tough times. It is surely a struggle our families and our friends. So much change, so much uncertainty even as we hear the economy is improving.... It is not improving for many of us. This is a list of my favorite books to help you get way beyond survival. We can dream bigger dreams while recognizing our interdependence. There is a new vision emerging...join us!…

During the growing season, and then again in the fall, we flail chop wheat straw and apply it to our raised beds. Fall applied…