A nice little kitchen garden

I was so excited about the amaryllis, that Darling Husband bought me seeds for a kitchen garden for Valentine's Day. How thoughtful! We have talked about starting a little garden for a while and it seems that I don't have a black thumb after all. The "miracle of the amaryllis" inspired me. If I can accidentally make that thing grow, surely I can learn to make other things grow as well.

Of course, living in Phoenix means that gardening can be a challenge. I was intimidated, but since my sister's family grows squash and some other things, I know it's possible. After doing some research, I learned some very interesting things.

Did you know some of Arizona's main exports include cotton and

tomatoes? Also, Arizona is a huge producer of tomatoes in the United States!

Most crops can grow just fine in Arizona with some concerted effort. The University of Arizona publishes the Arizona Master Gardener Manual which contains basically everything you could ever want to know about growing in the different Arizona climates. There's a lot of science in gardening. That's where the challenge lies.

I'm extra lucky because I already have my starter plants chosen for me: carrots, cucumbers, summer squash and cosmos flowers. Darling Husband consulted with his brother (an accomplished hydroponic gardener) what would be easiest to start with and those were his suggestions.

I did more research into container growing based on suggestions about our climate and found Smart Pots which are cloth pots that allow for water drainage and air flow. This will help keep the soil a bit cooler in the summer months so our plants won't bake to death. Also, it makes it easier to work with soil composition and that kind of thing. One snag: I can only find them online so far, but prime planting time for our first crop is now.

Never fear! We'll figure it out!