Back To The Survival Container Garden

The sun is starting to brutalize my survival container garden so it is going to have to be shifted sometime in the next few days. 

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The peppers and tomatoes are hanging their leaves in the afternoons but are bouncing back in the shade of the evening. I still have everything growing and am tending to it daily.

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The Weather In Vegas For Gardening Is A Challenge

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Summer weather in Las Vegas will kill most plants It is the biggest challenge we have for gardening. I have some shady areas on my patio so I will move herbs and other plants that will accept diffused lighting. The system I installed for drip irrigation watering is doing wonders for my schedule. It is useful for flooding out the root systems when I do not want to water each plant specifically. I use it in the mornings if I am awake. Thankfully the pump that runs it is quiet. I still have to carry buckets to the porch, but at least I only have to pour them into the container that holds the pump.

There is more information about this here: Drip System Irrigation For Container Gardens

Banana Peppers Have Popped!

My Banana Peppers are finally popping for me. I think this image is really strange so felt compelled to share it all over the place! I am happy with this plant and it looks strangely happy with me. This was an easy to grow vegetable plant. I just set them into an 18" pot. There are 3 plants in this pot. They seem to have gotten along pretty well and not over powered each other so I left them as is.

Settle the bottom of the pot with stones or gravel to keep in the soil and plant a starter plant level with the soil surface. Leave about 4 to 6 inches of room in the container so you can flood out the pot. The containers tend to dry out and you want them to stay moist but not soggy for your roots. Set a catch basin under them so they have a little humidity to supplement the heat and catch any over flow.

My porch is a second story patio and the new neighbors discovered a gardener above them when they moved in. They were not happy with the dripping water coming off of the deck, so I am carefully monitoring what I need to prevent this. My last neighbor didn't have any issues with it, but I do not want to be a nuisance to the new residents. When the cool weather comes back around I will be sealing the area and deck so this does not happen. Wait till it rains.... that leaking I can't prevent.


Fertilizing In A Container Garden
I fertilize every month and it is time to do so again. This time I mixed the feed with the watering cycle and dumped it into the water reservoir for the drip system pump. It dripped out nicely to all the plants and I did not have to keep mixing. The container I used holds about 6 gallons of water at the same time so I added a mix of one gallon according to the directions on the Miracle Grow package. It weakened the solution, but that is ok in a container garden. It will not be too strong as to burn these tender plantings.

What are some of the odd plants you are growing? I would love to hear about them!

Thanks for visiting!

I Would Love To Raise Chickens

Raising chickens around my home is not a possibility because I am an apartment dweller. 

Chicken Embryo Educational Poster - Amazon

I do not think that constructing a coop on my patio would be welcomed by the property manager but it is always a thought! I will have to wait until I am in a home of my own with a yard that will allow room for a coop large enough for roosting and nesting. 

My 3 Hens 

I had 3 hens in Florida when I lived there and I enjoyed watching them grow from fuzzy little chicks into the beautiful hens they became. Two of the chickens were pullet chicks and the other was a Rhode Island Red. I brought them home as these tiny, little peepers and let them nest in a large, clear, plastic storage box in my living room. 

They had a clay pot with a light bulb fixture run through it for a heat source and a feeder. I believe I had a jar feeder for their water, too. I need to dig out the old images and see what this cage set up was so I can share it with you. In time I will diagram the cage and the set up. It had a thermometer in it and shredded pine in the bottom for soft nesting. When their feathers filled in and they were no longer babies but full hens, I placed them in the cage in the yard.

Life Cycle Of A Chicken Chart - Amazon

They were housed in a large steel mesh pen and covered with a plywood lid that was weighted down at night with potted plants on top. I had to make due with the materials at hand. This box was in a shady area and I could hose it down when needed. It was  roomy enough for them to each have a section to themselves.

Keeping chickens in an area that has predators is always a challenge. *

Around my yard then, there were raccoons, foxes, and stray cats that were a sure threat to my birds. I lost them one by one because I couldn't watch them every second and I did not have a screened in yard for them to roam in. I let them wander the garden during the day and they were picked off one by one. 

I left them out over night after a month of putting them outside and heard this squabbling noise. I ran screaming out the house. "LET HER GOOOOOOOO!!!" I did rescue that chicken but looked down to see that I was running almost in the buff. What a sight I must have been tearing out the door and off the porch in to the woods in my underwear!

The next time I set up a chicken dedicated home there will be some changes. I live in Southern Nevada now,

Fancy Chicken Coop - Image: MorgueFile.com
This coop looks more like a condo for chickens than a coop!

so the raccoons and foxes won't be an issue but keeping them cool will be. I am thinking about adding a misting system to the outside of the coop where they can stay cool in the summer heat. A/C would be a little extreme but I do love my critters!

I still have a chicken feeder that sits on one of my book shelves. It silently reminds me of the first three birds I kept and the long term goal of keeping chickens for eggs and meat again.

If you keep chickens, do you plan for their 72 hours of emergency supplies? For chickens their kit would require a bulk stock of chicken scratch feed and water for drinking.

Chickens won't need much. Leave them behind if you have to bug out unless you are prepared to drop them into a soft bag or a pet carrier of some kind. It depends on your crisis. They probably won't be very happy with you sticking them into a pillow case...

Related links and topics:

How To Build Your Own Coop: Chicken Coops On Skruben

Amazon Affiliate Links and Sales Pages 

Raising Chickens For Dummies

Free-Range Chicken Gardens

Summer Survival

The Winds Are Blowing Hot Air And It Is Not Even Election Season... 

Tempertures Rising!

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It is the imminent arrival of summer temperatures. In the desert of Southern Nevada it is necessary to re-adjust to the heat that greets us as we walk out our cozy, air conditioned offices and homes and face a brutal sun and the sizzling concrete and asphalt under our feet. The car steering wheel and seats lie waiting for our touch and it is like grabbing onto a hot stove. The air is blistering and anything you touch is heated to about 140 degrees or higher it seems. Stay out of the heat as much as possible. Summer survival is about shade and hydration!

What do we do to fight off the extremes of these temperatures? Me? I think of cool things. I have to. I work in this hot, arid air and start my day shined and ready to work but quickly feel like I am melting as soon as I get in my vehicle. I wear a full suit and tie and work out of a huge black car that can feel like a furnace at times. Thankfully, I do have a few spots I can stop and get shade and cool off occasionally. 

I do not recommend walking around at noon here in the valley during the months of June, July, and August. It is invitation to serious discomfort. It is amazing to me how may people come here, already in an unhealthy physical condition, imbibe in way to much alcohol, and then meander around the Strip in the heat of the afternoon. This is a disaster brewing.

Morguefile.com

The best thing we can do for summer is stay hydrated. The exhaust of our body water is dripping from our foreheads and down our backs and we must replenish it. Drink more than your daily recommended amounts of water.

We all know that the sun can cause serious sunburns but it also can be the kindling for internal damage as well.

Stay covered. head to toe. I don't mean walk around with a heavy tent on, but wear a wide brimmed hat and if you are going to be in the sun for any length of time other than for leisure,  wear light clothing that will cover your skin. The sun's rays are very damaging here and exposure should be taken in limited amounts.

What would you do if you were trapped in the wilderness and had to survive this heat? Find a shady spot and wait until the sun settles in the sky some. Hiking around at noon in this climate can be a death warrant. A lot of our city and area residents go nocturnal at this time of year. It is easier than having to deal with the higher temperatures here in Las Vegas and the Mojave Desert area. 

In the desert find a cliff face that has a shadow. Look for a nook that you can dig a pile of sand out of and give yourself a resting spot. Find a place to shade your body and let it cool down. A cool cloth on the back of the neck can bring some welcome relief. In the city, get indoors until you are able to cool off. 

MorgueFile.com

Being out in a high desert area brings on some necessary realities. First, there is the risk of sun exposure. Sun poisoning is a side effect of too much sun and it can bring on hypothermia just like exposure to cold can do. In this instance, you don't run the risk of losing limbs, but you may lose consciousnesses or become disoriented. Then you are really stuck. Find shelter. Stay hydrated. Stay out of full sun. Think of fishing trips to Alaska! 

For more about water and its cool benefits on our body see the following article:

A Dozen Healthy Reasons To Love Water