Speaking of water, Phoenix is about to tie its records for the longest number of consecutive days without rain, 157, I believe. Slight chance in the forecast.
You are right, it has totally changed character in the 20 years I have been here. The major thing people relate to is that there is little catastrophic weather here. Not even heavy thunderstorms creating tornadoes. Just heat and a rapidly oncoming problem with water. Every year we have Boomer snowbirds that stop going north in the summer and hang around all year. You do get used to the heat after being here awhile, but lose your ability to tolerate cold, and I mean less than 80 degrees. It is hilarious to see folks here in their winter garb when the temp is in the 60s.
Phoenix, Las Vegas, Tucson are all cities that should not exist where they exist. Wholly dependent upon the water of the Colorado, San Juan, Virgin and Gila rivers, among others. Ingenuity of man has brought the water to the cities but the numbers of man have grown so large that there is no longer enough water to sustain these huge cities in such a hostile environment.
My State of Utah is suffering with a dramatically water-LESS winter. The mountains in which I live typically at this time of year have 40 inches of snow. Right now we have 9 inches. When Utah, Colorado, Wyoming and New Mexico suffer dry winters places like Vegas, Phoenix and Tucson are going to hurt. It's quite a dilemma.
Oh, and JohnAZ, many of the ski resorts here in Utah now often resort to snow making machines in order to open their slopes in October-November. You are right, things are changing.
JHK predicted the demise of the ski industry in the mountains based on the loss of oil to power it. I think we are seeing the effect of the atmosphere warming during the winter and the storm track moving north. Probably aided by La Ni├▒a. Like Jupiter, Earth has belts of wind generation. The three are Trades, blowing E to W, the Westerlies, blowing W to E, and the polar Easterlies, blowing E to W. The borders between these zones are turbulent and full of energy. They are the jet streams and the storm tracks. Think of hurricanes, the move E to W until the cross over the storm tracks then reverse to W to E. Anyway, where the belts lay across the USA determines where the storm tracks go with the water they carry as storms. Something is happening, moving the storm track north, which is a character of more equatorial heating AKA La Ni├▒a.
BTW. The water compact governing the Colorado River is very heavily slanted toward California, Fat lot of good that did.
You're such a polymath, JohnAZ. Is there NOTHING that you don't know EVERYTHING about? Oh, and how's your survival of the 'clot-shot' going? Still truckin' along, eh?
I know a little about a lot, enough to comment on the blog. As far as the clot shot, I have had sequelae on and off since I made the mistake of trusting the medical community. Covid twice, Pertussis once and I know two folk that have gotten auto immune disease as a result f either the disease or the Vaxx. If you will look at my comments over the years you will discover I have been an opponent to the Vaxx, based on data, not opinion.
Utah is an amazing place. I have three distinct geographic regions all within driving distance of where I live. To the west I have the Great Salt Lake Desert and the basin and range topography, to the south I have the red rock canyons and to the north east I have the high alpine forests of the Rocky Mountains. It is a stunning place to live and I love it here.
I am a native Arizonan, though, I only lived there as an infant. Born in Flagstaff. Moved to and lived in Page for a year and then taken by my parents to Idaho and then in my teens to Utah. Been here ever since. I love living in the west. It breaks my heart to see the unending immigration to these states from California and some eastern states. Utah is greatly losing its charm. I stay away from Salt Lake City now because it is becoming too large and too busy. It wasn't always this way. Montana is what Utah used to be. But even Montana is feeling the affects of the in-migration of Californians.
By the way, JohnAZ, I always enjoy your comments. I may not always agree with you but I always find your comments insightful and interesting.
Yes, that's what is understood. I actually have a squash soup in the fridge as we speak, made with some stuff from the garden from last summer/fall, including the squash (butternut-- easy to peel compared with acorn), garlic, a few very finely-chopped beet leaves and a splash of home-brewed apple cider.
I grew corn one summer before, indidentally, but planted it a little too late for our shorter growing season. In any case I figured that it didn't really give us much in the way of how much of the plant is edible, or at least perhaps reasonably so (just the kernals?). With some exceptions, ideally, I might prefer plants that are edible from root-to-leaf.
Also, although I plant beans all the time, at the garden we're at, the deer love it and they eat it all up, like the whole plant, not just the bean pods.
What I have intention to do this year is to look into the idea of surrounding some of the more vulnerable crops in cylinders of chicken-wire. I'd rather not have to do that, but if the deer can't be killed and eaten, it's a compromise. I'll try to let you know how it goes.
Grow potatoes. They do well in cooler climates, produce food that a human can survive on alone, and the potatoes, if stored in a cool area, can last for months. I grow a good supply of potatoes every year and store them under ground. The smaller ones I then re-use as seed potato and plant them in the fall. Come spring when the soil warms the seed potato sprouts and produces more.
That's not a bad idea, I'll look into it. It also kind of dovetails into a plan to plant rutabagas, which I quite like. I tend to plant a reasonably diverse garden plot-- about 13 kinds of stuff-- so I've still got options if some do less well than others.
Where are you located? What's your climate like or growing-zone?
I live in the Western United States in the Rocky Mountains. Our growing season is typically from mid May to late September. Warm dry summers and cold snowy winters. The potatoes do really well here. I will usually plant two dozen seed potatoes and harvest four 5 gallon buckets of softball sized potatoes. Red Pontiac and Yukon Gold do really well here. They taste fantastic when they are fresh.
Good to know... So, can I take any ol' potato, say from a grocery store, and bury it an inch or three in the soil? And can I plant a seed potato in the spring, seeing as I'm too late for the fall? I'll probably be looking the answers up and since I'm also looking at rutabagas, but any tips or tricks you might like to offer would of course be appreciated.
You can try a potato from the grocery store but it is my understanding that they spray them with anti-sprouting chemicals. They don't sprout as good as an "organic" spud, if you will. I usually buy a fresh crop of "certified seed" potato from IFA or Tractor Supply. They are cheap but you get better sprouting from them than from a super market spud. You only need one eye per hill so one seed potato may yield four plants. I would plant it at least 6 to 8 inches deep in the soil and hill the soil over the potato. The taller the potato has to grow the more potatoes you get as the plant shoots the tubers off to the side of the vine. And yes, it will grow if you plant it deep.
I plant in the fall, but you can also plant in the spring as soon as you can dig down into the soil. I like to do the fall to avoid digging in muddy soil :)
6 to 8 inches does not include the hill or mound. The hill or mound is in addition to. You will also increase the hill size once the plant has grown about a foot above the ground to keep the spuds covered and free from sun light. Sun burns the potatoes, turns them green and makes them acidic.
The three sisters. Once acre of corn, beans, and squash can feed an entire family if well done on good land.
And if you have a water supply.
Speaking of water, Phoenix is about to tie its records for the longest number of consecutive days without rain, 157, I believe. Slight chance in the forecast.
Phoenix. A huge city where mother nature did not intend there to be a huge city.
You are right, it has totally changed character in the 20 years I have been here. The major thing people relate to is that there is little catastrophic weather here. Not even heavy thunderstorms creating tornadoes. Just heat and a rapidly oncoming problem with water. Every year we have Boomer snowbirds that stop going north in the summer and hang around all year. You do get used to the heat after being here awhile, but lose your ability to tolerate cold, and I mean less than 80 degrees. It is hilarious to see folks here in their winter garb when the temp is in the 60s.
Phoenix, Las Vegas, Tucson are all cities that should not exist where they exist. Wholly dependent upon the water of the Colorado, San Juan, Virgin and Gila rivers, among others. Ingenuity of man has brought the water to the cities but the numbers of man have grown so large that there is no longer enough water to sustain these huge cities in such a hostile environment.
My State of Utah is suffering with a dramatically water-LESS winter. The mountains in which I live typically at this time of year have 40 inches of snow. Right now we have 9 inches. When Utah, Colorado, Wyoming and New Mexico suffer dry winters places like Vegas, Phoenix and Tucson are going to hurt. It's quite a dilemma.
Oh, and JohnAZ, many of the ski resorts here in Utah now often resort to snow making machines in order to open their slopes in October-November. You are right, things are changing.
JHK predicted the demise of the ski industry in the mountains based on the loss of oil to power it. I think we are seeing the effect of the atmosphere warming during the winter and the storm track moving north. Probably aided by La Ni├▒a. Like Jupiter, Earth has belts of wind generation. The three are Trades, blowing E to W, the Westerlies, blowing W to E, and the polar Easterlies, blowing E to W. The borders between these zones are turbulent and full of energy. They are the jet streams and the storm tracks. Think of hurricanes, the move E to W until the cross over the storm tracks then reverse to W to E. Anyway, where the belts lay across the USA determines where the storm tracks go with the water they carry as storms. Something is happening, moving the storm track north, which is a character of more equatorial heating AKA La Ni├▒a.
BTW. The water compact governing the Colorado River is very heavily slanted toward California, Fat lot of good that did.
You're such a polymath, JohnAZ. Is there NOTHING that you don't know EVERYTHING about? Oh, and how's your survival of the 'clot-shot' going? Still truckin' along, eh?
I know a little about a lot, enough to comment on the blog. As far as the clot shot, I have had sequelae on and off since I made the mistake of trusting the medical community. Covid twice, Pertussis once and I know two folk that have gotten auto immune disease as a result f either the disease or the Vaxx. If you will look at my comments over the years you will discover I have been an opponent to the Vaxx, based on data, not opinion.
BTW, your state of Utah is gorgeous.
Utah is an amazing place. I have three distinct geographic regions all within driving distance of where I live. To the west I have the Great Salt Lake Desert and the basin and range topography, to the south I have the red rock canyons and to the north east I have the high alpine forests of the Rocky Mountains. It is a stunning place to live and I love it here.
I am a native Arizonan, though, I only lived there as an infant. Born in Flagstaff. Moved to and lived in Page for a year and then taken by my parents to Idaho and then in my teens to Utah. Been here ever since. I love living in the west. It breaks my heart to see the unending immigration to these states from California and some eastern states. Utah is greatly losing its charm. I stay away from Salt Lake City now because it is becoming too large and too busy. It wasn't always this way. Montana is what Utah used to be. But even Montana is feeling the affects of the in-migration of Californians.
By the way, JohnAZ, I always enjoy your comments. I may not always agree with you but I always find your comments insightful and interesting.
Thank you.
Yes, that's what is understood. I actually have a squash soup in the fridge as we speak, made with some stuff from the garden from last summer/fall, including the squash (butternut-- easy to peel compared with acorn), garlic, a few very finely-chopped beet leaves and a splash of home-brewed apple cider.
I grew corn one summer before, indidentally, but planted it a little too late for our shorter growing season. In any case I figured that it didn't really give us much in the way of how much of the plant is edible, or at least perhaps reasonably so (just the kernals?). With some exceptions, ideally, I might prefer plants that are edible from root-to-leaf.
Also, although I plant beans all the time, at the garden we're at, the deer love it and they eat it all up, like the whole plant, not just the bean pods.
What I have intention to do this year is to look into the idea of surrounding some of the more vulnerable crops in cylinders of chicken-wire. I'd rather not have to do that, but if the deer can't be killed and eaten, it's a compromise. I'll try to let you know how it goes.
Grow potatoes. They do well in cooler climates, produce food that a human can survive on alone, and the potatoes, if stored in a cool area, can last for months. I grow a good supply of potatoes every year and store them under ground. The smaller ones I then re-use as seed potato and plant them in the fall. Come spring when the soil warms the seed potato sprouts and produces more.
That's not a bad idea, I'll look into it. It also kind of dovetails into a plan to plant rutabagas, which I quite like. I tend to plant a reasonably diverse garden plot-- about 13 kinds of stuff-- so I've still got options if some do less well than others.
Where are you located? What's your climate like or growing-zone?
I live in the Western United States in the Rocky Mountains. Our growing season is typically from mid May to late September. Warm dry summers and cold snowy winters. The potatoes do really well here. I will usually plant two dozen seed potatoes and harvest four 5 gallon buckets of softball sized potatoes. Red Pontiac and Yukon Gold do really well here. They taste fantastic when they are fresh.
Good to know... So, can I take any ol' potato, say from a grocery store, and bury it an inch or three in the soil? And can I plant a seed potato in the spring, seeing as I'm too late for the fall? I'll probably be looking the answers up and since I'm also looking at rutabagas, but any tips or tricks you might like to offer would of course be appreciated.
You can try a potato from the grocery store but it is my understanding that they spray them with anti-sprouting chemicals. They don't sprout as good as an "organic" spud, if you will. I usually buy a fresh crop of "certified seed" potato from IFA or Tractor Supply. They are cheap but you get better sprouting from them than from a super market spud. You only need one eye per hill so one seed potato may yield four plants. I would plant it at least 6 to 8 inches deep in the soil and hill the soil over the potato. The taller the potato has to grow the more potatoes you get as the plant shoots the tubers off to the side of the vine. And yes, it will grow if you plant it deep.
Never grown rutabagas before.
Thanks, Cankerpuss. Again, can I plant in the spring? (You said you planted in the fall.)
Also, does the 6 to 8 inches include the 'hill' (presumably that means mound?) over the potato?
Good point about the anti-sprouting thing. Hadn't thought of that and it kind of reminds me of those 'terminator' seeds.
I plant in the fall, but you can also plant in the spring as soon as you can dig down into the soil. I like to do the fall to avoid digging in muddy soil :)
6 to 8 inches does not include the hill or mound. The hill or mound is in addition to. You will also increase the hill size once the plant has grown about a foot above the ground to keep the spuds covered and free from sun light. Sun burns the potatoes, turns them green and makes them acidic.
I cover up my beets like that too.
" like to do the fall to avoid digging in muddy soil :) " ~ Cankerpuss
So you have the happy face and it looks like I'll get the sad one since I'll be planting my potatoes in the spring's muddy soil:
:(