The garden this week. It's starting to look very full. Remember the first pictures of dirt rows? The watermelons are just taking over and I am going to plant watermelons wherever Iwant to shade the ground /roots of plants.

After I left Luchia's, I took a back road that my grandsons and I took when they were here on Spring Break. There were some of the most beautiful old saquaro's and this gorgeous green valley with rock outcroppings and a little stream. It's beautiful.

Saquaro's have flowers on top that look like birds nests or bonnets. When I went to Texas this Spring I stopped in Tucson and listened to a lecture on Rainwater Harvesting. During the lecture they showed pictures of the Tucson valley in the 1940's . It looked much like this, full of mesquite and a stream running through it. Then they showed consecutive pictures as the years went by and the trees were gradually cleared. The river disappeared. The lesson to be learned is that the trees hold the water and keep the water flowing. This is a beautiful valley in the middle of hot desert land but there are hundreds and hundreds of mesquite growing in this valley. It is green and lush with grasses as well.

Overlooking the valley that has many mesquites and stream. Beautiful Saquaros.

Beautiful outcropping in valley with stream.

Beautiful little valley with stream running through it. Many mesquites and willows.

This wateremelon was planted as part of a three sisters group. It is doing a good job of shading the ground. I plant these in a tire like the one in the foreground. Behind the corn is the swiss chard that is coming back after being eaten by rabbits. The zuccini row is also behind the corn. I will be having some more zuccini tonight as I saw at least two that were ready to pick. Under the baskets are beets. I'm very pleased with the results of planting in tires, the seedlings are protected by the tire until they are large enough to stand some nibbles by rabbits and quail. The critters don't seem to go inside the tires to eat the seedlings even if I leave them uncovered. When I remove the tire I plant another group and the crop should be continuous. Hopefully clear into December.