Garden Magic in Kanab, Utah - Phase 2

When I left off at the end of the first phase, we'd just gotten started turning this 40' X 40' bare piece of desert dirt into a garden. I'd tried growing some things but the weather decided it just wasn't time to do that yet. This is why. No, it wasn't a heavy snowfall, but it snowed off and on for about three weeks, and with that snow came some below freezing temperatures. So, planting would have to wait. 

While waiting, I decided to make an addition to this first path. There was still a little mulch left and even several long branches. Some of them had been burned but no problem. I placed them so we wouldn't get black legs from running into them. And, several large rocks also helped. This view is from the rear of the garden, looking toward my rig and pickup, with Marcie and Jim's motorhome at the right.

Next on the garden agenda was building a raised bed. I found some lumber in one of the stacks near the front entrance and screwed them together. In order to keep from going completely broke buying garden soil, I shoveled and hauled many buckets of red dirt from behind us. Apparently someone last year planned to use that area as a garden but never did. Of course, I still had to buy some good soil because while the red dirt MIGHT grow cactus and sagebrush, it wouldn't work for tomatoes. Since the weather seemed to be warming up, I actually planted a few jalapeño plants. They did really well---until the NEXT frost. Well, goodbye peppers.

Since a really strong windstorm had completely demolished the first fence, it was time to rebuild it. This time I sunk about eight large limbs into the ground about a foot or so. Digging wasn't too bad AFTER I got past all the rocks. I then wired a length of chicken wire to the branches. Barring a hurricane or tornado, there's no way this fence will blow over. Marcie and Jim attached the rest of the branches to the fence foundation with plastic strapping, and we decorated the resulting fence with small ornaments and birdhouses. The rowboat got a new home on the opposite side of the fence, along with the whirly thing. In the foreground is a cactus that I dug and transplanted. It's doing VERY well.

The trees are now green and beautiful. 

For a while we hung the hummingbird feeders on branches. However, I found something even better for the little birds. Here's our "red" tree. I've seen as many as six hummingbirds at one or the other feeders, as well as some bright yellow orioles. It's fun to watch the bird wars when the male orioles chase away the hummers. The female orioles are very laid back and everyone co-exists nicely. But, those males seem to want it all to themselves. Of course, we've needed to refill the feeders about every other day.

Since it was still too early to plant veggies or flowers, we haunted thrift stores and garage sales for fence decorations. Here are a few of our early finds.

We also found a pair of child's boots for under one of the trees. Maybe it's our beginning of Boot Hill.

The end of Phase 2 found us with the basic bones of the garden, and getting really anxious to plant things.