African Bag Gardens in Arizona

I found another great technique for gardening from the Send a Cow organization called "Bag Gardening."  Although you are supposed to purchase this kit from the organization (if you live in the UK), the materials are simple and it would be easy to prepare, organize, and implement in the backyards of Arizona. 

The materials you would need for a bag garden are: a muslin bag, rocks, funnel, 3-4 large sticks, and garden soil.  Please take a look at the "Bag Gardens in UK School" video  and "Bag Gardens in Uganda" video to see exactly how children in other continents create and enjoy their bag gardens.  It looks like a fun project and easy to maintain for families in Arizona!!  Also, it would keep our local critters (gophers and rabbits) from destroying the harvests. 

Keep in touch with this blog, and later in the fall I will be hosting a Saturday workshop for families, learning how to make Bag Gardens.  Would you be interested?  Feel free to leave a comment.  :)

The Garden's First Haboob

As you may know by now, Phoenix experienced one of the largest haboobs in its history last night.  What's a haboob?  Hopefully any 2nd grader can tell you that (part of our state standards)!  It's a fast-moving dust storm that looks like an enormous reddish-brown wall.  When it comes over you, the air turns a brownish-red color and is full of dust.  It's difficult to breathe and see inside a haboob.

So I had decided to work in the garden last night, not knowing about the haboob.  When I was driving down the road to the garden, all I could see were very large, intense-looking thunderclouds moving closely to El Mirage.  They were so spectacular that I just focused on the northwest, keeping an eye out for random lightning strikes.

I spent about 30 minutes in the garden, digging up a new furrow for more pumpkins.  It was so nice and cool, the temperature dropping about 20 degrees.  The wind kept beating me hard, though, and I was getting sprayed with dirt and dust.  After I saw two lightning strikes getting closer, I decided to head into the car.  That's when I noticed this raincloud:

I was fascinated with it and all the dancing lightning bolts in the desert and the White Tank Mountains, so I drove to a nearby street, closer to the cloud, to take pictures.  (I was inside the car, but had all the windows down.)  I was facing the west, not know that a haboob was coming from the east.  ha ha!!  The sunset was spectacular, and there were several professional photographers on the same street, capturing the view as well.

I was wondering why the sunset was so red!!!  I had NO idea that this was approaching me from behind...



(Photograph from ABC15.com)



The garden survived the haboob just fine!!  It's just....... more dirty.  ;)

Keyhole Gardens

Besides providing the DES community with fresh produce, the school garden's mission is also to inspire families to begin their own vegetable gardens.  As most of the families of the southwestern United States have small backyards and rocky landscaping, it is inconceivable to some parents HOW to create a large, productive vegetable garden.  Throughout the school year, there will be hands-on workshops in the garden, teaching the students with their families different techniques and methods of veggie gardening.

One fascinating kind of garden that is used in South Africa is called Keyhole Gardens.  Please view the video, "How to Make a Keyhole Garden," to see for yourself how it's done.  (It's really quite fun to watch.)

"A Keyhole Garden is a type of kitchen garden that recycles as it grows. The design - which looks like a keyhole from above - incorporates a central 'basket' where compostable waste is placed and water is poured. They are especially useful in areas where good soil is scarce, often adding nutritious vegetables to diets. Send a Cow uses them as part of our training, and they get fantastic results; families start to grow enough to eat and sell.  Keyhole Gardens are also a great way of introducing children (and adults!), to sustainable principles such as composting and using 'grey water'. They are an excellent project for schools and groups to get involved in – perhaps as part of a bigger African gardening area?"  --excerpt from http://www.sendacow.org.uk/keyhole-gardens

Although the villages in Africa differ from Arizona by their high altitudes, they do have several similarities:

• high temperatures
• low rainfall

This will be one kind of gardening technique that DES families can sign up to learn about in the fall!!  Would you use it?