Spring Fever

Well, the poll results are in and you guys are all over the place. I wavered for awhile before finally casting my vote with spring. In the past, spring didn't top my list. Don't get me wrong, I liked the breezy weather and flowers and green stuff, but it was just a pit stop on the way to summer. But that was before living in the hotter-than-hades-during-summer land. Autumn could probably get a vote from me too, but the best autumny living I've done was in New York, so it doesn't cut it for me here. Our little two week attempt at fall just doesn't quite live up to my expectations. As for winter, I have two words: winter blues. Enough said.

But spring! And here in the desert it is spring already. Even though it was overcast today, the temperature hung right around 70 degrees in the afternoon. Perfect! And with all this spring weather, I've decided to take on a project that I've wanted to tackle for a long time. Something I've attempted several times and always failed miserably at:

Growing a garden.

Yes, I've wanted to be one of those people who had vegetables growing in their backyard. Shoot, even flowers in my little planter would be nice. The first time I lived somewhere as an adult with an actual yard I got all excited about growing things, but it didn't go so well. That was in Sanders, and well, when you live on a dry, dust-blown plateau 6000 feet above sea level, you learn that things just don't like to grow in those conditions. Some determined people were successful at it, but a novice like me? NOT A CHANCE.

So when we moved down to the "valley," I thought I'd give it another go. In fact, I've tried three years in a row just to plant something. Anything! But getting things to grow in the Sonoran Desert is not for novices either. Especially novices who have children and dogs who dig up your planter right after you get the seeds in. Last year we finally managed to get three sunflowers to sprout and survive awhile, but it didn't quite satisfy me. Especially since they got knocked down before we got any seeds from them.

This year will be different!!!! I discovered Square Foot Gardening this year, and supposedly even garden idiots like myself who live in a freakish area for actually growing things can succeed at gardening this way. That's why they teach it to people in places like Africa. (Where we live can't be any worse than Africa, right? At least I don't have to walk 14 miles to get my water for it!) Anyway, I spent a small fortune getting the supplies I needed and I'm headlong into getting my planters ready. But I thought I'd chronicle my garden journey for you guys, mostly to help motivate me to keep going with it. So at least once a week, I'm planning to update you on where it stands and maybe post a picture or two. Hopefully, by May or June, you will see me in a picture holding up some actual produce that I grew!

Wish me luck, though. I'm going to need it.