It’s crazy that “spring fever” hits me hard around October 1st, but that’s prime gardening time here at the edge of the Sonoran desert just under 2000 ft elevation.

Our summer high temps range between 105-115 F depending on the weather and the monsoons. But from October through April has consistently sunny 70-80 F days (minus a few cold spells). The Hardiness Zone map puts us in Zone 9b. Just a couple miles down the road at my mom’s house is zone 9a and there are other “warm” or “cold” pockets in our area. Knowing your zone is crucial for planning your planting and knowing what orchard trees to grow.

Now that we have a water well on our property (Thank you, God!), we are going bigger with more fruit trees, shade trees and what will soon be a year-round vegetable garden.

Following inspiration on a cheap and easy type of raised bed for my veggies, I picked up some 50’ x 28” welded wire garden fence, some light duty t-posts and some 3’ weed cloth to line the fencing with making it hold the soil in.

After much begging, pleading and cajoling, I finally got Josh to level and prep the site for my garden in the front yard with our skid steer. He graded it pretty well and brought in some wash sand to make a nice clean base.

Next, he filled the lovely garden bed I had set up myself and squared up perfectly. That’s when things went horribly wrong! My Pinterest board inspiration shows rounded garden beds connected in continuous circles. I had chosen to do a longer, rectangular bed to make better use of the space I have available. It turns out that was not such a great plan. As the soil began to fill the bed, the fencing on each side bowed out and the fence leaned over in some places. I was able to correct the worst spots by digging it out along the insides with my trusty shovel, but it will definitely not be the center piece of someone else’s Pinterest collection!

I should explain at this point how I created my own garden soil for this large bed. My native soil is not good. It’s predominantly gravel, some clay and a whole lot of the cursed caliche layer which is NOT good for growing anything in. It’s also very alkaline. However, I have horses, goats and chickens. The best fertilizer for vegetable gardens is slightly alkaline or neutral pH (6-7) and rich in a balance of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (N-P-K) with a mix of organic material to hold onto moisture. I like to plant my garden plants in aged horse manure and/or goat manure (mostly alfalfa scraps). It’s a cheap source of garden compost for me as well as being all-natural.

I drafted a plan of my garden design the other morning over coffee and planned to plant it to the max with cold-hardy crops like kale, pak choi, broccoli, and cauliflower, but also several tomato plants, lettuce, organic peppers and basil. For amusement, I’ve got three sweet potato slips planted right in the middle of everything. I know many plants that I can grow this time of year, but consulting the Zone 9 planting schedule never hurts. *Notice how for many crops there are TWO plantings per year!!!!*

Bonus information: Notice that tomatoes are not a “summer crop” in zone 9, even though the plants tolerate the heat of summer? You can grow the plants, but they will not set fruit on them if the night time temperature is above 70 degrees F.

I have the materials to do a second raised bed the same size as my first one. I will stager planting it with spring crops of bean, peas, cucumbers, more tomatoes and carrots.

Stay tuned for the coming battle with the chipmunks, rabbits and lizards!