Here it is, mid June. Gardening in Tucson is soon to become a sort of hell. Don't get me wrong, this doesn't mean it isn't worth it. This simply means, with our heat, you fight with the devil himself for your plants! Right now, our gardens are really vigorous. Fruit is ripening everywhere. Just a few minutes ago I picked some cherry tomatoes, a huge Japanese Eggplant and a beautiful yellow Banana Pepper. I simply ate the one strawberry I found without bothering to take it into the house. Our plants are just beginning to mature and the rewards are just around the corner! Chiles! We have about eight or ten different varieties from the "World's Hottest" to some nice tasty but mild ones. I can't wait for the fresh salsa. I am sure we will can or freeze a lot of our harvest for later use. Tomatoes! Wow, we planted probably a dozen varieties of them. Lots of the usual kinds, just to make sure we have plenty of wonderful, tasty, REAL, tomatoes. I picked a few of our first Celebrity tomatoes from our vines the other day. They absolutely blasted us with flavor! The Early Girl vines are loaded with nice big green, orbs that are tantalizingly close becoming ingredients in our cooking class recipes. Our Roma tomatoes will be mostly used for paste and are coming along little later than the others. We also planted a number of endangered heirloom tomato plants. These are mostly indigenous to the desert southwest and Mexico. I even was able to acquire and plant some heirloom tomatoes from France given by a friend who "discovered some seeds had somehow become stowaways and made the trip home with him." Several of the heirloom plants are a little happier than others but we have some great looking fruit on some of those too. I am really excited to taste these and see which we like best. Of course, those will be chosen as candidates for next year's gardens. There are many other choices while browsing among our plants; onions, (I've been grilling them and they are fantastic!) baby carrots, fennel, and so many different herbs, it's hard to mention them all. There are squash and cucumbers and artichokes and Leeks. I let some of the onions go to seed so their beautiful puffball flowers stand sentry over the other plants. About that title.... Here is the bottom line; we live in the desert and it is very tempting to grow some grass, plant some wonderful looking, water guzzling, leafy landscape plants and have a beautiful yard. Just like back home. You will work your butt off to admire something that just does not belong here. One other alternative is Xeriscape. A sort of water miser, barren, cactus studded.......area. UGH! Don't take this the wrong way. I know, I know, our water is precious and in short supply...and expensive. I just think there is a wonderful compromise. In fact I think this is better than a compromise for a number of reasons. So, if you want to have beautiful landscaping (and eat it too)... Here is what you do. Plant a garden! Go to your favorite nursery or Home Depot, Lowes, hell.. even Wal-Mart and buy some plants you would like to eat. Prepare your area. ( it doesn't have to be very big) You are not starting a farm, you're only planting some stuff you like. Three feet by eight feet of space will grow a lot of veggies. I have about five different spaces this size arranged around our yard. This is a manageable size and you will be able to reach in to the middle to harvest. You can plant directly in the ground or create raised beds. I have both. Dig down about six to ten inches and turn the soil. Take your time and enjoy, you don't even have to do this all at once. Use some of the soil to build little berms around your garden space. This will help keep your watering where it belongs. Add some dry composted horse or cow manure (usually free on Craig's list, I got six cubic yards delivered for free!) and some garden compost to your existing soil mixture and turn it to mix evenly. I use about one third of each. Now, among your veggies, plant a few colorful flowers. Petunias and marigolds are great. They look pretty and chase off pests. You can add stock or daisies for a little height. It's a win, win. Your garden will naturally use more water than the arid type landscapes we see here so often. But, you are now growing edibles and not just grass and decorative plants. Hey, someone somewhere is growing, and watering the veggies you eat anyway. And, God only knows what chemicals they are putting on their crops, (your food) but you will know exactly what went on yours, won't you? No longer will you be paying a fortune for "hothouse grown" "vine ripened" tasteless tomatoes. Yours will be bursting with flavor and healthy vitamins and all that other good stuff. Walk out the door and pull a few onions for tonight's spaghetti sauce from your own garden. Snip some homegrown oregano and a little thyme. Wow! You are going to feast! Many of the herbs will grow year round here and most of the other things will need to be replaced with your next crop. With a little planning, and not a lot of work, (honest) you will have a beautiful, edible, landscape. This time of year you may have to water everyday or even twice if it's windy. But. You won't need to worry about e-coli or any of those other pesky critters that can make people sick, or can even kill us. The water you use will have been used somewhere on your food anyway but now you will reap the rewards of wonderful, tasty and wholesome vegetables and herbs. Go ahead.......eat your landscape! From our Newsletter; BiteMe on www.CuisineClassique.com
