One of my favorite seed catalogs

http://www.heritageharvestseed.com/

I love this seed catalog because it reads like a book and is full of historical notes. This company based in Manitoba Canada specializes in rare and endangered varities of vegetables, flowers and herbs. You will find varieties that date back to the Civil War as well as a of seeds brought to North America from early settlers. You can order the catalog by visiting their site noted above.

Spring Vegetable Planting Schedule for Phoenix

For those of us who live in Phoenix, we are fortunate to live in a climate where we can have 2 growing seasons! The following is a listing of vegetables that can be planted in the spring and the range of dates for best results!!

If you live outside the Phoenix area, please refer to your local cooperative extension for planting information or visit the Farmers Almanac website at:www.almanac.com. Remember, weather and watering can affect planting and harvesting dates.

Beets through 3/15
Beans, Bush 2/1 - 3/15
Beans, Lima 2/1 – 3/15
Carrot through 3/1
Corn 2/15 - 3/15
Cucumber through 4/1
Eggplant 1/15—4/1
Lettuce through 3/1
Onion (green bunching) through 2/1
Onion – set through 2/1
Pepper, Seed 2/1 - 3/1
Pepper, Plant 3/1 - 4/1
Pea through 3/1
Pepper, Seed 2/1 - 3/1
Pepper, Plant 3/1 - 4/1
Pea through 3/1
Potato, Irish 3/1 - 4/1
Potato, Sweet 3/1 - 6/20
Radish through 4/1
Squash, Summer through 5/1
Tomato, Seed through 3/1
Tomato, Plant 2/15 - 3/15
Watermelon, through 4/1

This is Jane's Desperate Garden! I am in the process of preparing my garden for the spring 2009 season. It is a 12 x 12 x 20 raised bed garden that was built in 1998 and sits in the northwest corner of my backyard. It was filled with organic soil and I continue to amend it annually by adding worms, organic compost and organic PWP. (Chicken do!!) My watering system is both overhead sprinkler ( for seeds ) and direct emitters (for plants) and is on it's own valve. I have tried several watering systems and this one works by far the best! By this time next week you will see a planted garden.

Here is the link for Maricopa County Planting Guide: http://ag.arizona.edu/pubs/garden/az1005.pdf

This will give you the planting dates for vegetables - both seeds and plants.

The Desperate Gardener is planted..........

Welcome to The Desperate Gardener blog.

We are Linda Barreira (garden enthusist) and Jane Dobbs (master gardener) who live in Phoenix Arizona. We are avid gardeners who met a few years ago at a garden club comprised of some truly amazing and talented women! We have decided it is time to take our wealth of experience and our love for gardening and all the ways it can enhance the home and family to the next level. So we planted.......... The Desperate Gardener .

As Desperate Gardeners we LOVE:

• growing organic gardens
• raising chickens
• providing organic food for our families
• getting together with other gardeners to share ideas about gardening and the ways it can enhance our homes
• teaching and encouraging others how to garden
• involving our children in the garden
• reading seed catalogs ( seriously!!)
• to cook using products from the garden
• planting roses, fruit trees and flowers
• going to farmer's markets and supporting our local farms

Our desire is to share all that we have learned about successful orgainic gardening and all the ways a garden can enhance your home and family. We will be journaling our ideas, thoughts and progress through this blog using our own spring 2009 gardens. Our hope is to inspire others interested in all things gardening to begin something - whether you are an experienced gardener or a novice.