Green Grass

I would like to dedicate this blog to the wonderful idea of grass in the desert. Who says you can't eat your cake and have it too? If you are one of the many people who have grass in their block walled backyard listen up. Here is how you can have a beautiful lawn in the Sonoran desert.

2 Seasons of grass
We can have green grass all year long. The warm season grass will be from April to October. The cool season grass is from mid October to June. Warm seson grasses include Bermudagrass, Buffalograss, St. Augustinegrass, Zoysiagrass and only have to be planted once. The cool season grasses are Perennial Ryegrasses and Fescue they are reseeded every year.

Dethatching
This time of year (April) is when we want to dethatch our yards of all the previous years undergrowth. You don't want to have more than a half inch of thatch in your lawn. You will be surprised how much is our there. This process allows light and air to circulate so that the annual summer grass can come out of dormancy with ease. We want to slowly wake the summer grass up. If your out there dethatching your yard keep in mind that it is also a good time to aerate the ground. This step only needs to be done every 2-4 years but should be done during the growing season.

Watering
Once your yard is dethatched and aerated you will want to increase your water as we come out of winter. Usually everyone thinks that in the desert plants die of dehydration. However, plants usually die from overwatering. When I first moved here I used to think, well I'm thirsty so they have to be thirsty they are out under the sun all day. But really if you water your plants once a week with a deep watering they will do well for you. (in the middle of the summer it is possible to move towards 2 waterings).

The early morning is a great time to water, it has the lowest evaporation rate, less wind, and is a low usage time. I usually water around 430 or 5 in the summer, and closer to 6 in the winter (this winter i didn't have to water at all!)

Fertilizing
Along with watering our plants, April is also a great time to feed your grass. Our soil doesn't always have everything your grass needs to survive here but we can fix that. Turf Royale is the brand name of a fertilizer that has the proper ration of 3Nitrogen 1Phosphorus and 2Potassium.

Mowing
As the transition from Rye to Bermuda or winter grass to summer grass happens, we want to mow the lawn often and short. When mowing keep in mind that it's best to only cut 1/3 of the blade off at a time. If you cut more than that it often sends the plant into shock and looses it's photosynthesizing power.

I hope you find this information helpful. let me know if you have questions I'm always up for learning more!

Hope the grass is green wherever you are.

My Orange Blossom Sugar Tastes Like Sugar

I thought it was going to be so awesome. I thought I would be able to infuse sugar with the taste of the sweet scent of orange blossoms. The smell is there but the taste is so delicate I'm not sure anyone would be able to taste it. Maybe I will set up blind taste tests to see. I would hate to sell something that would be a disappointment. I have 50lbs of sugar in my pantry. You can count on me for desserts for a while. Hopefully my neighbors will come over and ask to borrow a cup or two or five.

In any case I hope you enjoyed being with the orange blossoms as much as I did. This spring in Phoenix has been so wonderful. I'm sorry to be seeing it leave.

If you are interested in how to infuse sugar I will give you the steps. Maybe you could come up with fun ideas to infuse sugar. Maybe citrus rinds, or cinnamon.

1. Gather orange blossoms, wash, dry, and bruise.



2. Buy Sugar

3. Put orange blossoms in sugar






4. Cover and let sit for 3 weeks.







5. Enjoy and hope it taste like more than just sugar.