Whether you're a seasoned gardener or still just testing the waters (or soils, as it were), you've probably discovered that gardeners & their approach to cultivation are as wonderfully diverse as the plants they tend and indeed, the folks themselves. What freedom and adventure our little patches of earth can offer us! But don't take our word for it, each month we'll be asking local garden folks 12 questions about their gardening (mis)adventures. We kick off this new series of blog posts with a Q & A with Elena Acoba, freelance writer and editor whose current assignment is writing gardening stories for the Arizona Daily Star. Happy growing!
1.) When did you first discover your green thumb?
I worked at a home improvement store while going to college and spent $1 on a gallon-sized plant that looked like it had been dropped several times. I nursed it back and discovered it was a gardenia! That’s when I felt I could grow things by myself (my dad had a huge backyard garden, but I only helped tend it).
2.) What is your favorite time of year (season) to garden?
I love getting spring started in February. Tomatoes, bell peppers and eggplants were my favorite things to plant—and eat—over the summer. In winter I just get too busy to keep a veggie garden going.
3.) Biggest gardening success?
Veggies: Every year I planted one tomato plant and it yielded enough to share with the neighbors. Ornamental: My potted vinca that my daughter gave me 17 years ago is still going strong and has several blooms every year. I have many plants from its seeds.
Flop? Veggies: It took me nine months to grow a six-inch carrot in my backyard. That let me know that my microclimate is lousy for veggie gardening. Ornamental: I killed a potted cactus sitting on a window sill. I learned that cactus does need water.
4.) Do you grow from seed or starts?
I like starts because I can tell then that something is growing. Seeds are kind of mysterious to me. Well, except for wildflowers, but that’s because I don’t care if nothing comes up in that first sowing. It’s sort of a bonus garden if something gets going even years later.
5.) Favorite recipe for your harvest?
Gazpacho using my tomato and bell pepper. I blended some with garlic and cucumber, added chunks of the veggies and cooled. Very refreshing!
6.) What special challenges do you face gardening in the desert?
Finding a place that provides enough sun at the right times of day. Right now the only place like that is my front yard and my HOA frowns on veggie gardens in front.
7.) What are you growing now? And what are you getting ready to plant?
I can't wait for February to come around so I can try my hand at a potted bell pepper. I know it's a little early, but I've often had good results putting seedlings in the ground in late February.
8.) Planting dates, do follow religiously or do you tempt fate and experiment with when to plant?
I do keep to the seasons, but push the boundaries. When I grew tomatoes, the starts went into the ground by mid-February. I have never lost one! I’m always late with seeding wildflowers, but I try to get them in by mid-November.
9.) Most indispensable garden tool?
Argh, am I supposed to know the names of these things? The weeder tool for the landscape. Are gloves a tool?
10.) What’s your favorite gardening book?
For veggies, George Brookbank’s Desert Gardening. For landscapes, Plants for Dry Climates by Mary Rose Duffield and Warren D. Jones.
11.) If you were a plant, what plant would you be and why?
I’d be a desert wildflower, any kind. I am just amazed at the explosion of color that rises from the desert. It’s magical!
12.) Are you a seed saver?
Only of flowering plants because I don’t get so whacked out if nothing comes up.
