This is the second year I've been gardening in my rock backyard. And when I say rock, I mean rock - Push away all the decorative stone and there's nothing but a hard solid surface. It's called caliche and you need a sledge hammer to get through it. Thank God we didn't try and put in a pool.
Luckily for me, gardens can grow in pots and raised boxes, and I have both. In a pot under my patio I have garlic chives, thyme and oregano. The pot gets about 6 hours of sun in the morning, but shade all afternoon long. The chives are unbelievably sturdy. The heat doesn't bother them, they go dormant in the winter, and when spring comes around they sprout right back. I love my sturdy little chives.
The thyme and oregano are new this year. The thyme has been in for several months now and seems to be doing great. The oregano was planted this weekend to take the place of the Basil that died. The woman at the nursery said the oregano would do just fine, but it's the desert so we'll see.
As for basil, this is the second year I've tried to grow it and the second time it's failed. I'd rather not talk about it.
New this year is my raised garden bed. There's really nothing special about it - Just some wood screwed together and filled with potting soil. But it's a great addition to our backyard. By luck, we built it in the partial shade of one of our trees, and this summer I think that shade is what will save my pepper plants.
In the garden bed I'm growing radishes, beets, bell peppers and anaheim chilies. I've already killed cucumber and green beans. They sprouted and then quickly withered. I'm not sure if it was the soil or the sun. It was probably a little of both.
If you've never gardened before, start with radishes. Yes, not many people like them, but they're easy and they grow quickly, giving you a little ego boost when the rest of your garden is dying off. I'll probably plant radishes every year just to prove that things will grow in the desert.
As for my beets, they're small and seem to be stalling. I'm going to leave them in the ground for a few more weeks and see what they do. My bell pepper plant already has four baseball sized peppers on it, and the anaheim chili is growing like a weed.
I have a lot to learn about desert gardening, but I'm having a blast. Next year I'd love to try tomatoes and even give basil another chance. I'm sure my husband would much rather have a nice basil, tomato mozzarella salad instead of radishes. But hey, those radishes were grown in Las Vegas, in a rock backyard that sits on caliche. That's hard not to appreciate.
My Sturdy Chives
I Love the Thyme
My Little Raised Garden
Radishes are Doing Great
Bell Peppers are Growing Too
Jealous of your cute little garden! We just started our first one...some of it's in containers, we'll see how it goes!
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