January 30, 2005:  This is my first journal entry of the new gardening season.  Although the snow is still on the ground, I have started planning this year's garden.  Some new crops I will be trying this year: Cucumbers for pickling, pole lima beans, and a yellow multiplier onion.  I will be ordering most of my seeds today.  I anticipate starting some of my lettuce seeds in about another 3 weeks or so.  Spring will be here before you know it!

March 13, 2005:  Well, spring has finally arrived, at least for me!!  I started two half flats of lettuce seeds one week ago and about half of them have germinated and were moved to the cold frame.  It has been very cold here the last week or so.  As a result, I delayed starting my lettuce seeds about one week.  The forecast is for more seasonable weather for the coming week.  I will be starting my broccoli, brussel sprouts, and cabbage seeds in another few days or so.

April 11, 2005:  It has been almost one month since my last entry, and I have been busy.  I planted my onion plants one week ago, and planted some of my lettuce seedlings two days ago.  That is just over a full week later than normal.  All of my seedlings are in the cold frame now, even the warm season plants (peppers and tomatoes).  The weather has been very warm for this time of year.  Yesterday and today the high temperatures were in the low 80's.  Some of my broccoli, cabbage and brussel spout seedlings that were in the cold frame were wilting due to the heat.  It looks like I will be able to plant these seedlings in four or five days, since they are of decent size now.  I have added one new raised bed (8 ft x 4 ft) and will be growing corn and beans in this bed (see pic below).

May 2, 2005: Well, the weather has been very cool now for about the last 2 weeks.  We finally received some much needed rain over the past few weeks, over 2.25  inches in one 24 hour period.  We had a very light dusting of snow about one week ago and we had some light frost yesterday morning.  There is still a chance of frost or freeze the next two nights.  I did get my broccoli, cabbage and brussel sprouts seedlings planted about 2 weeks ago.  There was some frost on them yesterday morning, but it did not hurt them at all.  I have not put out my warm season plants yet.  I will wait for another 5 days or so to do that.  My brother planted corn in the new raised bed yesterday.  The weather forecast is calling for warmer and drier conditions through this week.  My onions are starting to look better with all of this rainy and cool weather.  I side dressed fertilizer on the onions yesterday.  My lettuce is growing pretty good under the hoop house.  I should be able to harvest some in about a week.

May 17, 2005:  The weather has been like a roller coaster.  First it was hot and very dry then we received some much needed rain and then it cooled off considerably.  I started harvesting lettuce on May 10th, Yeah!!  My onions and lettuce seem to be growing pretty good right now (see pic one below).  I planted my bean seeds about 7 days ago, and they have started to germinate.  I am planting scarlet runner bean (pole bean) this year.  That is what the trellis is for (See pic two below).  I planted all of my tomato, and pepper plants out in the garden on May 6th.  I also planted my cucumber seedlings on May 6th, and they are really starting to grow now.  The corn in the raised bed germinated a few days ago and seems to be doing fine.  I planted my celery seedlings yesterday, even though some of them are really small.  My broccoli, cabbage and brussels sprouts are growing well (see third pic below).

June 17, 2005:  The weather has been very hot and dessert dry up till 5 days ago when we received 1.75 inches of rain from the remnants of Tropical Storm Arlene.  I was watering quite a bit up till then.  We still need more rain, but probably will not receive much for at least the next week or so.  I have been harvesting broccoli since June 7th.  With all the hot weather, all of my broccoli matured within about a one week period.  My lettuce continues to grow, but some has started to bolt.  My warm season crops have really started to grow.  My brother's corn is now about 3 feet high.  I have decided not to plant pole beans up the corn.  I think the corn would not be able to support them due to the loose soil in the raised bed.  My bush green beans have started to flower, so it should not be long before my first harvest from these.  My pole beans are growing quite well.  Some of my scarlet runner beans have already reached the top of the trellis.  My Eureka cucumbers have reached the top of my 3 1/5 foot cage and are growing like mad.  I even see some really small cucumbers on the vines.  My celery is growing pretty good, but I lost one plant shortly after transplanting.

July 2, 2005:  I FINALLY received some rain about 5 days ago.  I had about 1 inch of rain over a two day period, but it was not nearly enough.  It is still desert dry.  At least the weather has turned less humid and somewhat cooler.  I harvested my first crop of green beans yesterday!!!  My onion tops started to fall over about one week ago, which seems really early (see first pic below).  The onions seem to be bulbing up nicely.  I have started harvesting the cucumbers (Eureka Hybrid) about 10 days ago.  WOW, I am truly amazed on how prolific these plants have been (see second pic below).  The plants have fully grown up around the square tomato cages and have started to encroach upon my pepper plants (see third pic below).  The harvest from my broccoli is over and I pulled up the plants today.  My cabbage looks to be about ready, so I will be harvesting some over the next week or so.  My brother's corn is about five feet tall now, and is just starting to tassel (see fourth pic below).  Within the last week, I noticed that the japanese beetles have returned.  They are not bothering any of my vegetable plants, but seem more interested in the ornamental plants in the yard.

July 19, 2005: Well, the desert dryness was temporarily broken when we received a 2.36 inch rainfall on July 16.  The soil is already nearly dry now.  I pulled up the onions on July 16 and have started to dry them on screens (see first pic below).  Despite the dryness, my onion crop did very well this year.  I am hopeful to plant green beans in this plot in about another 10 days or so.  Harvest has continued on the green beans.  I also continue to the harvest the cabbage and some cucumbers.  I pulled a few stalks of celery yesterday.  The corn is almost ready to pick (see second pic below).

August 16, 2005: Well, the weather has turned somewhat cooler and we did receive a little rain over the past week or so.  Since my last entry I went on vacation away from the garden for a week during the first week in August.  Before I left I did manage to plant a fall crop of green beans in two plots.  One in the corn plot and the other were my spring onions were planted.  My onion crop was very good this year despite the lack of rain.  The corn turned out pretty good with one good sized ear on every plant.  The harvest from my cucumbers far exceeded my expectations.  I decided to pull up the cucumber plants since they had already produced a really good harvest and were starting to crowd out the pepper plants.  I started harvesting tomatoes about two weeks ago.  The tomato harvest seems decent this year so far.  I planted my cauliflower and broccoli seedlings about one week ago, and they seem to be doing ok.  I also planted some lettuce seedlings at the same time, with more to come in about another 3 weeks or so.  I also planted carrot seeds in two other areas of the garden about one week ago, and they have just started to germinate with the help of some shade netting to keep the soil from drying out.  About three days ago, I started harvesting lima beans from my "King of the Garden" pole lima beans.  The size of the lima beans are decent, but some were small.  The plants seem to be growing well.  I had to trim back some of the runners as they had started to grow across the path into the other garden plot.

October 10, 2005:  It has been nearly two months since my last post, sorry!!  I have been very busy with other things.  Wow, can you believe it is already October.  Summer just flew by.  The weather has been relatively warm for this time of year, but it is still pretty dry. We have not had the first fall frost here yet.  Well, lets see what I have been up to since my last post.  I have just recently pulled up my six tomato plants since they have seemed to almost stop growing.  The tomato crop was average this year. I also pulled up my pepper plants today to make room for my multiplier and top setting onions.  I thought I would try these this year.  You plant these very hardy onions in the fall for harvest next spring and summer.  I will keep you posted on their progress.  My pole lima beans have grown really well for me.  The vines are almost growing too well, as I have to keep trimming some of the vines back.  The harvest from these vines has been decent.  I really like the look of the leaves from this vine.  I have been picking green beans for about 3 weeks now.  The late planted beans matured in about 45 days, which is about 10 days earlier than expected maturity.  My late planting of cauliflower and broccoli is growing nicely and I expect to begin harvesting a few heads of broccoli within 4 or 5 days (see first pic below).  I also anticipate harvesting some brussel sprouts within the week. My late planting of lettuce is also growing well (see second pic below).  I just harvested some lettuce today.  My carrots are finally starting to get some size to them now (see third pic below).

November 23, 2005:  I have been very busy and I am sorry I have not updated this journal until now.  We have since had a very hard freeze about one week ago with a low of about 18 degrees.  I hurriedly harvested my remaining brussel sprouts.  I had two cauliflower plants that were not mature and they were killed by the cold.  My broccoli has produced very well in the fall garden and I was also able to harvest many side shoots.  Overall, it has been a good fall for growing.  Up until the freeze, it has been relatively warm.  I covered my lettuce and my two plots of carrots with hoop houses, and they seem to have made it through the cold alright.  Some of my lettuce had burnt edges on the tips of the leaves, but other than that, they seem fine.  Currently, it is snowing outside and they are predicting temperatures to drop to below 20 degrees again tomorrow night. I think I might try to harvest some more lettuce before then.  Most of my lettuce is just about finished growing anyways.  I might also harvest some carrots this coming weekend.  The carrots have finally grown to a decent size now.  I think winter is here to stay and the growing season is quickly coming to an end.

December 29, 2005:  This will be my last garden entry for this growing season and the year.  I finished harvesting the rest of the carrots two days ago.  Some were small, but most were of decent size.  My lettuce has finally succumbed to the abnormally cold temperatures we have had over the last month or so.  I pulled up some plants, but cut off some others nearly to ground level to see if I can get new sprouts for an early spring lettuce treat.  I will keep the hoop over the plants (or what is left of them) to protect them until spring.  I will keep you posted on how they do.  My fall planted multiplier and top setting onions seem to be doing fine, although they have stopped growing.  I remulched them with more shredded tree leaves to keep the ground from heaving  to much from the freeze and thaw.  

The new garden catalogs have begun to arrive in my mail box.  Spring will be here before you know it.

May your New Year be a happy and successful one!!!!