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Good Afternoon Everyone,

My name is LSJ (short for Lady Sarah Jane). You can call me LSJ or SJ, whichever you prefer. Eight is my favorite number (and why it is tacked onto my username). I am in the process of uploading an avatar (as soon as I find a photograph that I like). I live in the desert, which makes gardening very tricky for my family. My husband and I have tried (and failed) to have a garden for the past three years (ever since we bought our house). It goes great for a few weeks and then things either get infested by bugs or the heat kills everything.

I am determined to make next spring a success and to do that, I need to jump on the ball NOW. I usually think about planting a garden in April or May, but by then it is too late in our area (which is a big contributor to our garden problems). I'm hoping to get all of my ducks in a row this fall, so that we'll be ready for planting season when it comes and have a successful garden in 2015.

I appreciate all the help you ladies and gentlemen can give.
 
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Good Afternoon Everyone,

My name is LSJ (short for Lady Sarah Jane). You can call me LSJ or SJ, whichever you prefer. Eight is my favorite number (and why it is tacked onto my username). I am in the process of uploading an avatar (as soon as I find a photograph that I like). I live in the desert, which makes gardening very tricky for my family. My husband and I have tried (and failed) to have a garden for the past three years (ever since we bought our house). It goes great for a few weeks and then things either get infested by bugs or the heat kills everything.

I am determined to make next spring a success and to do that, I need to jump on the ball NOW. I usually think about planting a garden in April or May, but by then it is too late in our area (which is a big contributor to our garden problems). I'm hoping to get all of my ducks in a row this fall, so that we'll be ready for planting season when it comes and have a successful garden in 2015.

I appreciate all the help you ladies and gentlemen can give.
In which desert are you located in?
 

Ian

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Hi LSJ, welcome to the forums :). I'm looking forward to seeing how your garden planning goes!
 
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In which desert are you located in?

Sorry, I tend to be vague by habit. I live in Phoenix, Arizona. I've searched for books at our libraries and blogs on the internet but so far haven't found anything helpful. I learned from a friend last year, that they start planning their garden in November and planting in January, so I'm hoping to learn what I need for a successful a garden for next year.
 
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Sorry, I tend to be vague by habit. I live in Phoenix, Arizona. I've searched for books at our libraries and blogs on the internet but so far haven't found anything helpful. I learned from a friend last year, that they start planning their garden in November and planting in January, so I'm hoping to learn what I need for a successful a garden for next year.
What you will need to know first of all to have a spring and summer garden is the average date of your last frost. Second of all since you have little to no rain most of the time is how to irrigate. I suggest you look into drip irrigation. Thirdly, what type of soil do you have and what other gardners are doing that is sucessful. I am sure there are gardening clubs there and if they are like most gardeners will be more than happy to help you whether it be flowers or vegetables. Different vegetables such as brocolli and cauliflower are planted at different than tomatoes and peppers so that may be why your friends start planting in January.
 
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What you will need to know first of all to have a spring and summer garden is the average date of your last frost. Second of all since you have little to no rain most of the time is how to irrigate. I suggest you look into drip irrigation. Thirdly, what type of soil do you have and what other gardners are doing that is sucessful. I am sure there are gardening clubs there and if they are like most gardeners will be more than happy to help you whether it be flowers or vegetables. Different vegetables such as brocolli and cauliflower are planted at different than tomatoes and peppers so that may be why your friends start planting in January.

Thank you for this information. As I mentioned above, I defiantly want to get all of my ducks in a row sooner rather than later. We'll defiantly be sticking to vegetables, as our reason for gardening is to eat healthier and make healthier lifestyle choices. We haven't looked into gardening clubs, but now that you mention it, I do think there is one that meets at our library.
 
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Thank you for this information. As I mentioned above, I defiantly want to get all of my ducks in a row sooner rather than later. We'll defiantly be sticking to vegetables, as our reason for gardening is to eat healthier and make healthier lifestyle choices. We haven't looked into gardening clubs, but now that you mention it, I do think there is one that meets at our library.
I do know that your climate is drier and hotter than mine and that is saying something. I also think that you have alkaline soils like I do and alkalinity makes it a little more difficult to grow some things, but you can work around this by adding organic matter to your soil, the more the better. For a better understanding go to the Organic Gardening forum on this site. There is a lot of helpful info there that will help your understanding of the why's and how's of gardening
 
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Hi there, LSJ! So sorry to hear about your past attempts but hopefully we can help you out with whatever is going wrong with your garden. I just wanted to offer you a warm welcome to the forum :) It's always nice to see someone new over here :) I hope you have a great time over here and find it useful!
 
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I do know that your climate is drier and hotter than mine and that is saying something. I also think that you have alkaline soils like I do and alkalinity makes it a little more difficult to grow some things, but you can work around this by adding organic matter to your soil, the more the better. For a better understanding go to the Organic Gardening forum on this site. There is a lot of helpful info there that will help your understanding of the why's and how's of gardening

Thanks for the information, I will defiantly go check out the Organic Gardening area. I know that we have a lot of work ahead of us, but my husband and I are ready, willing, and able.

Hi there, LSJ! So sorry to hear about your past attempts but hopefully we can help you out with whatever is going wrong with your garden. I just wanted to offer you a warm welcome to the forum :) It's always nice to see someone new over here :) I hope you have a great time over here and find it useful!

Thank you for the welcome. I am very excited to get started and learn everything that I need to know.
 

zigs

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Welcome to Gardening Forums
 

Pat

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Welcome to the Forum SJ. I can image learning to garden in the dessert is a very large learning curve even for experienced gardeners. Our Chuck has lots of good information and is more than willing to share all of his knowledge with the readers on this forum. I look forward to learning right along with you all though I do not leave in the dessert.
 
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Welcome to the Forum SJ. I can image learning to garden in the dessert is a very large learning curve even for experienced gardeners. Our Chuck has lots of good information and is more than willing to share all of his knowledge with the readers on this forum. I look forward to learning right along with you all though I do not leave in the dessert.

Thanks! There are defiantly an entirely different set of rules involved when learning to garden in the desert. I never really gardened as a kid, but I picked up a few things, watching my parents garden, but they live in the Midwest. Some have suggested attending a garden club in our area, which is defiantly something that I am currently looking into to, so I can share all of my information with everyone. :)
 
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Hello LSJ, wishing you success this year with your garden. Your weather and mine are at the opposite spectrum. I am a small gardener and do it for my own pleasure than actually to feed on. Although I did grow some green beans, tomatoes, and green peppers. I am here in this fun forum to learn new things too. Enjoy your time here..
 

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