Crushin' Cans

By request, I've added a very amateurish video I took last year. It demonstrates the Sun City West Way to crush pop cans. You'll get the gist.

Diggin' spuds

I love to eat potatoes. Never grew them, tho. The planting season here starts January through February, with 90-120 days til harvest. So when I read a blurp in the paper that potato seeds were available at the local garden center, I jumped at the opportunity to cultivate my own patch of paradise. Why buy potato seeds when any ol supermarket tuber is one sprout away from taking over the veggie bin? Two reasons: if it doesn't sprout, it is probably because the plant was treated with a growth inhibitor. In addition, seeds are certified as resistant to most common diseases. There were 6 varieties of potatoes to choose from at the nursery, in 5 lb bags. I picked “Pontiac Red,” based solely on the yummy picture on the label.

The planting bed was perfection. Nothing had grown in it since I dug in nitrogen-rich soybean plants in September. I then over-wintered a large pile of aged horse manure. The clincher was that the soil had never known disease-prone crops from the nightshade family. No (Irish) potato blight here, knock on wood.Planting took place yesterday, with a promise of rain today. Perhaps I should start a few chives to compliment the harvest. . . .

Phoenuts

(Even though the post date says Feb 2010, the actual plant -harvest dates were July through October 2009).
What can be better in the heat of the desert summer than a lush bed of nitrogen-rich peanut plants? The "seeds" were bought at the local natural food store as raw peanuts (in the shell). Planted without the shell but with the red skin intact, they all sprouted quite quickly.

Pretty, pea-like flowers.

The flower sends out (down) a "peg" -a sort of modified root which grows a peanut when it makes contact with the right soil conditions. The red circle indicates the fading flower at the tip of the downward-growing peg.

A bountiful harvest.