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| Eggplant is flowering. |
We are growers of "our~ganic" (not officially certified organic -
see below) fruits and vegetables in Catalina, AZ, slightly north of Tucson. Our aim is to be a source of freshly
harvested local produce for the Catalina area, including Oro Valley and NW Tucson. This web site mainly
functions to let everyone know approximately what we are currently harvesting, how to get here, and what the current
hours are. I update on Tuesday or Wednesday, and answer mail. If there appears to have been no update, the
veggies are the same as last week.
Directions to Our Garden are on the "Location" page (see links above)
and hours are posted farther down this page, along with the current harvest. See the "Contact" page to get in touch.
PS: please try to remember to BYOB (bring your own bag), but I have
a few for those who forget. I forget sometimes too!
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Hours:
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday
~9AM to Noon~
July's Harvest:
July starts out with Zucchini, corn (which has a short season), onions and garlic
along with any left over greens (chard, kale, raddichio, arugula) and works into peaches, tomatoes, okra, and grapes.
Peppers and eggplant are "on the horizon", showing up in the sunset of the month, which is now.
| Yes we have ripe tomatoes! |
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Garden news:
7/30/08~ Well that hurricane treated us like we were a desert,
didn't it? We had 0.7" of rain here, a nice gentle soaking rain, the type that causes no problem. We always remember
the year the poor weather service gave a 100% chance of rain when a hurricane was on the way and Tucson received
0". That's okay, we aren't that good at predictions either.
Peaches are a good possiblilty again (not 100% of course). The
Arctic Gem, a white variety, has a lot of good looking almost ripe ones and we sold some of them today. I think we are
convincing Jesse that firm is good so long as they come off the tree easily. You see, he's never bought peaches
and softened them on the kitchen counter. That's what happens when you grow your own. You see it with us with
our pickiness about corn as well. Yes Rebecca, we are spoiled! Everyone should be so spoiled.
Peppers are just starting this week. There is only a couple a
day at most of the sweet varieties, but if you want safe jalapenos we have them! Isn't it interesting that this seems
to happen a couple times a year now. Last year we had spinach, before that I remember the jet fuel lettuce, and now
we've had tomatoes that have turned into jalapenos. I sure am glad to be a small local player in the food business!!
Bride eggplant is producing well now. It's the one that is milder
than the black, and cooks up so quickly. People often like it on the grill. You can even eat it raw if it's just
been harvested. The black eggplant are a bit slower, but we have had a few of them as well.
We checked melons again today, and the plink has turned to a plunk
on 2 of the sweet beauty watermelons, one has a good ground spot as well, but the tendrils haven't dried on either and that
is usually a necessary sign of ripeness. Melons are my absolute favorite fruit! I always feel so healthy when
I can eat them daily.
Wayne and I are off to NM tomorrow. I'm going to add a page of
pictures of our progress to the website for anyone interested.
Jesse and Rebecca had a nice camping trip up around Sedona. It
was a first for Maizy and Rebecca's nephew Alex. Poor Maizy did her best to keep up with him on the boulders and
evidently wore herself out totally.
Well obviously I'm digressing so I'd better move on!
7/25/08~ Sounds like we have a flash flood warning and all that
goes with it, like a good chance for rain. If we do get heavy rain, as happened a few weeks ago, we might not be able
to open up tomorrow. It takes about an inch to make the driveway impassable and the garden too muddy for harvesting,
but if you have any doubt please call before coming over, especially if you are coming from any distance. We'll leave
an announcement either that we are open (probably the usual "we're out in our garden, please leave a message") or that it's
too muddy.
7/22/08~ And now we are getting close to peppers!
There might be a few hot ones this week. The milder ones still need to thicken their walls. We had a few Bride
eggplants last week, and will have more this week. Today Wayne found a cucumber, and I'll bet Jesse will find us more
peaches too.
7/12/08~ We are well into tomato season now. With grapes ripening and
other things as well, the birds are diversifying their diets! The corn that we have had for the past week or 2 is finished.
We thought we might have some on Wednesday, but what is left is over mature. Ah, the passing fancies of summer!
But soon there will be peppers to go with the tomatoes and onions and garlic. Rebecca told me she made salsa the
other day and I asked what she used for hot pepper.... Polish softneck garlic! Meanwhile the raddichio is still
doing just fine, as is the squash, of course. I'll go out remove the large okra this evening so we'll
have some nice smaller ones on Wed. Wayne and Jesse cleaned up the grapes last week and put
down some ant stuff from Arbico, so by Wednesday it should be safe to let everyone out to pick their own grapes. The
beauty seedless have been ripe for about a week, and the perlettes are just about there. So now we are
a pick your own for a little while in a limited way... what can ya say? Wayne says we'll have eggplant
soon, and I'll bet he's talking about his favorite which is the elongated white kind. We still have peaches under bird
netting, and hopefully they will be ready on Wed. too.
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| Super star onions. |
And you can click on this water color prickly pear to see some of Rebecca's art work. If you
are interested in purchasing any of her work, or contacting her for mural or other art-related work, just let us know.
Also, the San Pedro cactus below is a reminder that we also have native and climate-adapted plants
available, both ornamental and food producing, under the shade cloth in the garden. Jesse is the one to seek out
there for info.
Each winter break we focus our energy on an aspect of the whole Our Garden operation, while also
taking care of the regular crop maintenance. Last winter we managed to get the shade structure built for the plant area,
and this winter's goal was to get the floor done.. weed control! Another part of the goal was to build some benches..
that wooden spool just is not big enough. But that was all sidelined in order to enlarge the garden shed so our customers
wouldn't bounce off of each other on a busy day. We've done a lot of general clean up too, and the plant area looks
better but is still awaiting the above mentioned improvements.
We now will have a second outdoor table space between the building and the garden, a nice enclosed little area that will
be in the shade come those toasty days. No more looking out at the pile of plastic pots and the old broken down rototiller.
I think this space will draw people to sit a while.
And another new feature, I've got some volunteer sales help promised! That may be more exciting to me than it is
to you, but we all know that anything that keeps me from being crabby is a good thing! Once when I told Al I was originally
from back east he said, "Oh, that's what it is!" Hmmm, a little discrimination from the northwest possibly?
Everyone knows easterners have sugar sweet personalities.....!
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| My Blooming San Pedro |
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| Zurik drives over from next door. |
It's okay if you forget to bring your bag. Zurik
just loaded his veggies straight into his trunk. I forget to take my canvas bags into the food store more often than
I'd like to admit, so I also have paper bags available. We used to take in your excess bags, but I really don't
have the space to store them. And mainly, I'd like to encourage the idea of personal reuse so that we can all waste
fewer resources and try to clean up our world.
From time to time we are asked if we can save some veggie for someone who
will be in at a later time. I appreciate the idea and would love to accomodate everyone, but we've been there/done that.
You never know when something will come up and prevent you from coming in altogether, and then that item that could be in
someone's evening meal is now wasting away in our frige. So we are sorry but we have to stick with first come, first
served. Really that is only fair to those who do make the time to come over when things are available.
Zurik is linking you to another Catalina web site, OurCatalina.com. This site
keeps up on local issues and interests, things to do, resources, etc., and is well worth checking out.
So put your pointer on Zurik and he'll take you there.
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| Pistachio Flowers |
"What are those trees?" When we first started doing this we thought people would enjoy driving through the orchard.
I took this picture of the flowers in early April one year, so they will soon be flowering again. To learn
about the orchard's history and odds and ends about us, click on this picture.
We had a pretty good harvest last year, with much volunteer help. The machinery to do it all ourselves is cost prohibitive
unless we win the lottery, so we'll continue to do it all "by hands" for several years more anyway. The crops
are generally heavy every other or every 3 years, with light ones or next to nothing in between.
If we are harvesting while you are here, please go over and check out the operation. If you volunteer some time you
can even leave with some fresh pistachioes, not to mention an idea of the time involved in harvesting from just one tree.
Often this answers the question, "why don't you do anything with those nuts?" Don't worry, we will some day, with machinery.
Meanwhile, take advantage!
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| today's harvest |
We call it "Our-ganic"
Just a word or two (okay, I'm a wordy person) about the word "organic" here. Finally we have a government definition
for a term that's been tossed about loosely for years by gardeners. Some gardeners probably still don't know the meaning
of 'organic gardening', and some may dispute the definition adopted by our wise public servants. My feeling on the subject
is you are best informed by asking the grower how he gardens. This means you need to know what your own priorities are.
Wayne and I have always considered organic to mean without the use of chemical pesticides (commonly known as 'spraying')
and without the use of chemical fertilizers such as ammonium phosphate, sulphate, etc. We
both feel that the main issue is the spraying of chemical pesticides, insecticides, which are very harmful to us
and the environment. However, chemical fertilizers are not exactly harmless and it is possible to do without
them as well. While we are not certified organic, we are honest about telling you that the food we sell is grown
organically in the true sense of the word, thus "our-ganic". However, there is a lot to be said for the nutrition in
fresh local food however it's grown compared to that coming in by truck from who knows where.
I recently saw a sign on a contractor's truck that said "Unlicensed by Choice". Right on ~~ me too. A license
doesn't automatically mean a good job done, and a lack of one doesn't mean a lack of quality or honesty.
If you are really looking for organics, ask the grower not only if his crops are sprayed with pesticides, but also what
he uses for fertilizers. Don't count on our government to protect you (think 'mad cow'). Really it is up to each
of us to take the responsibility to be as well-informed as we possibly can.
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| corny sunset |
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And, a tiny little word about pricing. So many new callers ask about our prices,
and I say it how it is- priced according to the local market (Wild Oats and TJ's) for organics. What we have over Wild
Oats and Trader Joe's (both of whom I really appreciate, don't get me wrong) is the freshness. Where else can you get
organic vegetables out of the garden the very same day unless you have your own garden? And if you have had your own
garden, you understand one of the major expenses. It's the water bill, isn't it! For us the water bill is
electricity to run a big enough pump to irrigate, not to mention the occasional thousands of dollars on repairs. Don't
look for bargains here. Look for quality.
What Wayne always says, and he is not a wordy person, is, if you have to ask about prices you don't
want to come here.
Personally I believe in paying a fair price for the effort put out. We are not big enough to
sell tons of veggies on the commerical market and then roadside stand the leftovers at bargain basement prices. If it
doesn't work this way, we'll go back to just growing our own food... which is definitely the economical route for those who
can't afford to pay someone else to grow it for them.
Again and again, it is a matter of priorities. Ourselves, we don't even have a cable TV bill.
Just a matter of priorities.
Live well.
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