It started with salsa. You can't live in the Southwest without good salsa. It's pretty much imperative. What else are you going to eat while you sip margarita's, and drink Mexican beer? Sure you can buy it, but nothing beats homemade. The trouble? Tomatoes that taste like tomatoes!
But gardening in Arizona? SCARY! The dirt is hard, soil and drainage poor, and all those critters! So while on the path to growing salsa with his sweet family, my friend Mike, who is very creative and excellent with design work came up with the veggie bin concept.
Some of the things my friends have successfully grown:
Mike's bins are galvanized metal with steel mesh on the bottom, and come in a variety of sizes. He runs drip irrigation and covers the bins with a framework of netting to protect his harvest from the birds. After the bins are set up all you need to do is plant and harvest! You don't even have to bend over! Those I know who are using his system have been very successful with their gardens. There is no limit to what you can grow!
I'm a child of the 70's! I rocked Sesame Street fever, "doing the Pigeon everyday!", shaking my beak along with Bert and Bernice. The sea of orange Shag carpet was my dance floor, my disco ball, a flashlight my mother shook (often from behind a chair! Bless her Heart!). Mickey Mouse Disco and Meco Wizard of Oz, also had the effect of sending my 8 year old self spinning madly across the floor. Those were the days, when it was all about a Macho duck and there was that great song about YMCA camp. I just couldn't understand when it wasn't like they promised in the song!
In college I came to own a pair of white high heeled clogs that had the ability to magically transport me back to the 70's. Do you have any shoes like that? Shoes that take you somewhere? I wish I had kept them for posterity, and for when I am feeling too old for my own good.
The other night I watched Mamma Mia, for the first time. I know, I am way behind, right? Of course it was silly, or course it was ridiculous, and I kept wondering if Meryl Streep was maybe a little too old in that role, BUT, the way it made me feel! ALIVE! Alone in the living room, my family in bed, I found myself dancing into kitchen for a drink, and days later I am still singing! If only I could remember the words!
When my children were still in strollers, I had a group of mommies’ I used to walk with. As the years have passed several have moved, some of us work, and life just seems different now that we are in the elementry years. When my oldest was just a baby I would walk with my friend Shelly. She has a daughter a week older than my Arden. We would walk in afternoon and then sometimes have wine at her house, or meet for play dates (how much do one year-olds play?), or coffee and pie after the kids were in bed. Then there were potlucks and 4th of July’s and Birthday Parties. It was such a sweet, simple and innocent time, before I learned to worry, before I was the mother of two.
Posts
All Comments
