What I Don't Have This Summer and I Really Miss

These are pictures I took with my phone in 2012.

I didn't have time and energy for serious gardening so I enjoyed container gardening. Mint and arugula survived last winter and were doing fine until two weeks ago. Both of them died when I was away for a week.

Basil, mint, and oregano

Arugula

 Thai basil and a special guest, humming bird

What I need to do is to build a gardening bed of some sort with a fence. Fence! See the beautiful basil in the first picture? My iron gate has openings so it does not stop small animals from coming into my yard. When I came from a weekend getaway, BUNNIES ATE half of my basil. I'm sure they had nice basil-scented poop that night.

Gardening in Arizona

One of my favorite greens is arugula. It is a versatile super veggie I can use in many dishes including salad, sandwich, risotto, and pasta.  I first started growing my own in a container when I was living in Texas.  Although the summer heat in Texas is sometimes unbearable, the humidity was good for my plants.  That's something we don't have in Arizona, and gardening in dry heat has been a challenge.  Arugula is doing all right so far, but I have to water every day. 

Earlier this year, I planted rapini, or broccoli raab, in a container (pictured above).  Although it didn't get as tall as I wanted it to be(probably because I planted it too late), it was delicious sauteed.  I need to make a in=ground planting bed for this type of veggies for next year or this fall.  Greens seem to have hard time growing in containers.