A Boy and His Garden

Shortly after Phoenix Home and Garden visited our home we got to work on a garden bed just for Justin. We began small to make sure that he could tend it on his own (which he almost, sort of does). He chose the plants that he most desired: corn, watermelon, strawberries, and tomatoes.

Justin's corn harvest. One ear had only one piece of corn on it. Oh well.

He planted with the help of Ryan, he waters with the help of Ryan, but he mostly harvests all on his own (with Tyler occasionally stealing cherry tomatoes straight from the garden). He is always so proud when he gets to eat his own vegetables. It gives him a good sense of pride and a healthy self esteem. Yay for gardening with kids!

Garden State (Backyard) Fall 2009

I took stock of our backyard garden today while Tyler was playing (aka watering the sunroom). We are in our in between stage right now. All of the Tangelos have been juiced although we are up to our ears in lemons and greapefruits. Ryan tries to irritate me to death every weekend while he runs the electric juicer for oh-five hours at a time - trying to save every last ounce of juice and freeze it. Weeds are bountiful as well as bolting and flowering plants. We have very little sustenance coming from the garden, but know that soon our tomatoes will be ripe, our artichokes will come forth and our asparagus will be popping through the ground. Along with harvesting, one of my favorite things to do in the garden is collect seeds. I love to collect seeds. The monotony of it is somehow satisfying as is the frugality of it. I hate to pull up finished plants because I know if I am patient they will give me the seeds I need for the next planting season. So, without further ado, here is the state of our garden via photographs...

Tyler, as he continues to try to water the sunroom. The dammage had already been done.

Tyler snags a snap pea from the garden, after shedding all of his clothes.

In my pretty garden...the flowers are blooming. Nasturtiums and double ruffled poppies dot the back garden beds.

Bolted Broccoli that has gone to seed. These pods will dry out and we will steal the seeds from inside for next season's garden.

Red leaf lettuce that has bolted. It should go to seed soon and we can rip that sucker outta' there.

These two large tomato plants, Ryan swear he did not plant. We don't know where they came from, but we are happy to have them.

Oooh, look, a little artichoke is peeking through. Yum!

Phoenix Home and Garden Reviews

Okay ladies and gents, we want your reviews. How big does my head look on the first page of the article? Huge and long, right? It's a funy angle, right? Right? Seriously, we want to know what you thought about the article, let us have it and let Phoenix Home and Garden have it too. Below is an email that was sent to me from our writer Cathy Cromell.

Hi April,
Such a photogenic family! Thanks again for the useful info you and Ryan shared with readers. I hope it inspires others to garden with their kids. If you receive feedback from family and friends, it would be great if they'd also send an email to the editors at PHG (or you can forward it). They pay attention to what readers like, and if folks find organic, back-to-basics gardening info useful, we will be able to run more of it. The email address is: phg@citieswestpub.com.
Take care,-- Cathy Cromell

Because of the Economy…

Many people are out of work or have been demoted, or have lost some compensation for their work because of the economy. I know many people personally that are in these situations. Times are tough, money is tight and people and struggling. I just had a friend ask me for some tips on cutting her budget to help things out. I have always been frugal, even when I was young and not spending my own money. I wanted to get the best deals on everything. Now, that I’m an adult (well, sort of) and am raising my own family and spending my own money I have learned a few tricks here and there to cut costs. It is here that I will list a few tips that have helped my family to stay financially sound during these tough times because of the economy.

Grow a Garden
Growing a garden is actually quite simple. Start with basic produce items that your family will eat regularly. You can grow almost anything in Az if you plant it at the right time. You basically have to ignore all of the ‘outside of AZ’ gardening authors. My favorite gardening author is Dave Owens the Garden Guy. His most helpful book is Extreme Gardening. His insights work because he lives here in Phoenix.

Having produce straight from the garden, not only saves money, but it is the best damn produce you’ll ever eat. Gardening also develops a sense of pride and ownership and brings you down to earth (literally). It is a very humbling and satisfying experience to grow and eat and can your own food.

Save Money
I know this sounds stupid, but it helps. I have family right now that is completely out of work. Because they had an emergency savings, they are doing fine. They are not worried, and are able to continually care for their family without too much stress or strain.

I personally have several savings accounts. Ryan takes care of long term savings because, honestly, I’m not interested in that and have never been good at it. I save for Christmas, and Household Projects and Vacations. Each year I pick a project to work on and have the money readily available. Each Christmas I am not worried about straining our finances because that money is already there to spend. I could start Christmas shopping now if I wanted to as I already have some money in savings. Another benefit to these odd savings accounts is that if I need them for something else, like groceries if Ryan lost his job, I could use it.

Create a Food Storage
We have a three month food supply and some other basics. Food storage is not only for natural disasters. If my family was out of work, I know that I can get by for at least three months with my food storage (and garden) and be just fine. That is so comforting. In fact, with the flu traveling through my home I have not been to a grocery store in about three weeks. Ryan went to Guadalupe Farmer’s market for fruit once and I went to Sunflower to buy diapers and medicine for the boys and that’s it. And the diapers weren’t necessary at all. We used our food storage for all of our meals while we were ill. Our freezer was stocked full of chicken, beef, and sausage and our cupboards were full of canned goods for recipes that we make often. It was nice not to have to worry about when or how I was going to get to the store.

Shop Smart
When I buy groceries I do several things beforehand. I shop the ad and look for the best deals. Then I get out my recipes and compare them to my ad. I create a two week menu and then I shop at the store. While there I also pick up any items that we use on a regular basis that are on sale. These items go into my food storage. I always know that I have purchased my canned goods, frozen meats and toiletries and household cleaning products at the cheapest price possible. That makes me feel good. I like knowing that when I wipe my bum I’m only spending .003 instead of .03 or whatever the math really is.

I also shop at Robin's Nest Ministry. This store is on the corner of University and Hardy. The goods for this store are purchased in bulk from local grocery stores. The items are generally just expired, dented or squished. Frankly I don't care. If I eat rice crackers that are one week old but I paid $1 instead of $4, then I'm ecstatic. We buy lots of canned goods and cereal here. As more stores pick up organic and whole foods items we get to purchase better and better products at amazing pricesat Robin's Nest. Sometimes I find soy flours, gluten free baking mixes and organic sugarfree goodies for my kids. The proceeds from the purchases go towards a church too. We also shop for buns here to feed the ducks. They are super cheap at $.10 a bag.

When shopping for clothing I have a few rules I’ve made for myself. I never buy anything that’s not on sale. Although there are a few exceptions to this one. If it’s for me and it has a specific purpose, I will buy it full price. But for the most part I stick to this rule. Secondhand shopping is a must if you have children. Clothing can take up a huge amount of cash and be quite burdensome on one’s budget. I enjoy Goodwill. Every day at goodwill is a sale day. Each day there is one tag and one week number that is on sale. If you donate items ask for a receipt. This receipt has a 20% off coupon on it and is good for any purchase over ten dollars. I almost always have something I can bring with me to donate to Goodwill. Thursday is dollar day, where one colored tag is one stinking whole dollar. This is a great day when shopping for adult clothes. You can really find some good steals. Every other Saturday is their 50% off the entire store sale.

Goodwill has honestly spoiled me. This past year has been really difficult shopping for me. Since Justin now has timelines for when he needs certain articles of clothing for school I’ve had to venture outside of Goodwill more than I normally do. That has been difficult. As I’m at Old Navy looking at a pair of jeans that are $8 all I can think is, this is worth eight jeans at Goodwill. To avoid the sorrow of shopping sales elsewhere I try to shop ahead of the season.

This is what $30.00 buys you at Goodwill.

I just recently shopped at Goodwill to buy for next year for Justin. I spent a total of thirty dollars and this is what I purchased: 3 shirts for Tyler, one diaper bag for me, (the rest is all for Justin) 5 shirts, 1 pair of jeans, 1 sweater, 2 hoodies, 5 pairs of shorts and a pair of shoes. That is six complete outfits including sweaters and shoes (but minus underwear and socks) just for Justin alone. That’s a good deal. I bought Gap, Wrangler’s, Levi’s, various Target Brands including Genuine Kids and Mossimo, Osh Kosh, Billabong, and Old Navy. Good brands if you ask me. And this stuff is gently used too. I have people ask me all of the time where I find cute clothes for myself and my boys. In fact Jaylee’s favorite phrase seems to be, “Where did you get that? If you say it was $2.00 and you bought it at Goodwill, I’m gonna’ scream.” I love it. That’s how it should be. We don’t need to spend a lot of money when we can buy the same stuff cheaper elsewhere. Plus we get the satisfaction of sticking it to the man!

Greenhouse of Shame or Fame

It is no surprise that I have been making fun of my husband's attempts at greenhouses. The first was hideous and not very functional. I felt shame every time I looked at it because I actually allowed that atrocity to be built in my front yard. Stupid. It was white trash meets a landfill in my front yard. I hated it because it was not cute, regardless of how much food it produced.
Ryan's second attempt at a greenhouse was much better, although I still made fun of him. The man actually made plans for the thing using his engineering program, Autocad. I think this showcases his nerdery. This new greenhouse not only looks prettier but it actually works and has produced a lot of our produce during the winter months. Currently we are growing snap peas, basil, celery, lettuce, strawberries, tomatoes, bells, pole beans, and a few other green plants I can't remember. Needless, to say I'm pretty happy about this one, but I try not to mention it too much because then Ryan would get a big head to go with his green thumb.

Now, now it may be the cause of some fame to our little gardening oasis. We received a call from a woman who writes for Phoenix Home and Garden. She wants to tour our garden with an emphasis on our greenhouse. She is putting together a piece on how ordinary families with ordinary homes are getting back to the basics to provide for their families in hard times. It seems a bit silly to us since we have been gardening since we purchased the home in 2002, but whatever. We'll take what we can get. She is scheduled to visit our humble abode this Friday. I thought Ryan would be frantic with weeding and sprucing things up but it looks like the plan is to go as is; au natural.

My mother in law, Becky, initially warned us that we might be receiving a call. I laughed and figured it would never happen. Apparently my father in law gave away some berry plants to a client who knows this writer's husband. She was impressed that someone was growing berry plants and visited their garden. While there, Becky informed her that her son had built his own greenhouse and was having great success with it. So, here we are today...just a simple family, gardening to provide for ourselves, and BAM!, the next thing you know, we are on the cover of Phoenix Home and Garden. That would be so cool. Perhaps my nerdy engineering boy will have his fifteen minutes of fame next to the likes of his hero, Dave the Garden Guy. Wish us luck!

Oh How Lovely is our Garden

During our Christmas break our family dug up our sweet potatoes. We had a pretty good crop. I especially liked the ones that look like long poops. Justin and Tyler enjoyed using Ryan's new shovel that he got for Christmas from Justin. I actually think we need to buy another because the boys keep fighting over it. Our worms in the surrounding area were ginormous and our soil was black and lush. A very good sign. Hopefully it will stay that way until we plant something else in the area.

Our garen is lush and green now. We have lettuce coming out of our ears. We have spinach and onions, carrots, herbs, and broccoli. Our greenhouse is in full swing too. Anyday now we will start picking snap pea and strawberries. Mmmm. Delish! I love our garden, but the best part is eating the fresh goods and sharing them. Justin's teacher has already asked me for some lettuce so she doesn't have to buy any. I don't think many people garden, but it's more than that. I think that people in AZ don't know that you can garden here. It's quite cute actually.

Son of a Grub

My friend I had a conversation about grubs yesterday. You can read about it here. After I read about it I found myself feeling stupidly silly and replied to her with this bit of nonsense. She suggested I put it on my blog. It also references a fantastic book I just read called The $64 Tomato. This author is hilarious. The book is a compilation of his memories of gardening. In one particular anecdote he discusses how disgusted he was after spending weeks of his time trying to kill off the Japanese Beetles only to realize that they were creating grubs which were decimating his lawn . His response to this was a rightly placed son of a...! Like I said, he's hysterical. He reminds me of Ryan and his crazy gardening antics. If you garden or if your spouse gardens this book is worth a read. Anyway...

Holy Sweet Potato Ryan

Worm Ride, Anyone?

Justin and Tyler have spent a lot of time outdoors lately. Mainly because I need some space. I turn on the hose and try to lock them out. Oh, and the boys love to be outside too. This Saturday was no different. Tyler and Justin played in the mud making mud balls to throw at the wall and building volcanoes. Ryan was busy trying to de-grassify our back bed so I can plant wildflowers. As he did this Justin began collecting potato bugs and worms. Justin came running in the house at one point, to find me eating bon bons and watching survivor reruns, to ask an important question. "Can I use the wagon for worms?" "Sure," was my response. And he ran out the door.

Later in the day Ryan informed me that Justin suggested that the worms were bored. He thought that they would enjoy a ride in the wagon. I had to check it out for myself. Sure enough, Justin had created a mound, filled the wagon with worms and was indeed pushing them down the hill. When I asked him about it he kept saying, "Do you think they're scared? Do you think they like it? I think they're having fun." It was probably one of the cutest dang things that boy has ever done. He was so serious about all of it too. He was genuinely concerned for the boredom of his worms. Oh, man! You gotta' love boys!

Who's Afraid of a Grub?

It’s gardening time at the Sauer home. We’ve been readying our beds, pulling out weeds, and planting seeds and most of all finding grubs. Icky, gross disgusting wriggly grubs. Last week Ryan and Justin were pulling out the compost for our backyard garden. As they were sifting through it they were pulling out the grubs and collecting them in a large bucket. Justin loves to find bugs. He also likes to show me the bugs before he throws them out into the street. I try not to be a sissy mom especially since I have two boys, but come one, who wants to look at a bucket full of wiggly grubs? Not me.

Justin convinced me to look. Then he convinced me to watch as he dumped them in the street. This is the scene that took place...Grubs were strewn about the hot asphalt. They hurried their little bodies and wiggled about inching their way to what they thought was freedom. Tyler, who wanted to be with daddy, made his way out into the street but was so freaked out by the massive crowd of wiggling grubs that he stopped dead still and began shrieking for help. Daddy rescued him, but come on…this is just wrong. Is this how the rest of my life with boys will play out? In the street watching grubs wiggle away for their lives? Ick!

But at least, I’ll have lettuce and broccoli and other such good things to eat from our gardens. The troubles we go through for food. Ay yi yi!

Ryan recently surprised me with a bout of in-home leadership. It was so pleasing to see that I lit up, got giggly and began kissing him. “I knew this day would come!” I beamed as I kissed him on my tip toes. “I knew you would lead our family!” I know it sounds gay, and trust me it was, but I couldn’t help myself. Anyway, Ryan has been feeling like we are near a recession and has been rethinking our finances and future planning of funds. He actually suggested that we increase our food storage, save our vacation money for a surplus, and increase our home food production. I was shocked and humbled and excited and mostly felt inspirited by my leading husband.

Over the next few days we concocted plans and goals as to how we would go about this. We’ve also decided that once we paint our house (because nothing can happen until we paint our house, because I lead too) that we will convert our front yard into a bit of a mini orchard. We are thinking mango, banana, avocado, cherry, and apricot trees will take over the space that is currently being wasted by our beautiful but often dead grass. It all reminds me of a book I’d like to read but never will called Food not Lawns. It’s right up Ryan’s alley. I’m sure if I bought it, he would read it. Maybe Christmas. So, when all is said and done and no one can afford gas we will bike to and from our places of being and eat from our garden and orchard and read from the light produced from our solar panels. I think we’ll be pretty set. Now I wonder how much power it takes to run my DVR and TV simultaneously. Hmmm.

A New Crew Member?

What? What's that? Ryan's joined the crew of Jesse's Landscaping, you say? No way! No way is right! It's worse, that would make him sane. A job is job, right? No, no, he has now taken to flagging down innocent landscapers and begging them for their grass clippings and other organic goods that they have nicely loaded into the back of their trucks. He slyly gets them to follow him home as he trots next to their trucks and then then quickly pounces onto the truck, garden fork in hand and steals their goods. Poor spanish speaking guys never knew what hit them, or that this handsome spanish speaking fly-for-a-white-guy could be so persuasive. Frankly, I think they took pity on him because clearly, he is insane. And one should never be mean to someone without all their wits about them. Ah, well. Let's hope Ryan sticks to poor unassuming landscapers and stays out of landfills. Seriously, fingers crossed guys, or someday I could be sending my boys off, gloves in hand, to help out their compost crazed father at the landfill!

Rooster Runs and Leaf Leaves

LeAnn's family lives in a rural area, well, it used to be more rural. Anyway, a few years ago Darrin was telling us that he had gone on a rooster run that morning. We all looked confused at him and he began to explain. Roosters are mean. They peck and spit at you and are generally grumpus, so when you have one as a baby you keep it while it's cute and then you get rid of it. First, you choose as neighbor that you don't like, or would like to bother. Second you enlist a get away driver. Lastly, you drive by the back fence, throw the rooster overboard, and speed away in your getaway truck...this is a rooster run. Hilarious I think.

Last week, we had someone pull a Leaf Leave on us while we weren't watching. Ryan came running inside to inform me that someone had left two large bags of leaves for our compost pile. Apparently we are so geek-greened out that we are getting compost drive-by's. But, whatever, the more the merrier I guess. What's next people will leave bidets and rain barrels on our doorstep? That would be nice. Then we could scratch those two to-do's off our list.

I blockbustered Living with Ed from HGTV. It's six episodes of Ed Begley's life as an environmentalist with his wife, who does not want to be all of the time. If anyone wants to see a day in the life at the Sauer Home watch this show. I have never laughed so hard at a television show. It hit so close to home. Some of my favorite quotes so far:

"I'm making toast." grins Ed as he rides his bike to supply energy to his toaster to heat it up.

"I can never leave this man alone. Each time I come home there's a new contraption in my house."

"There's always some new monstrosity in my backyard."

"I'm all for the environment but why does everything have to be so ugly!"

"I'm surprised you haven't used a magic marker to put the numbers back on the knob." Rachelle
"That's a great idea, I'm gonna' get a marker." replies Ed.

Ed's wife Rachelle is hilarious. They fight over each new green idea Ed has. It totally reminds me of Ryan and his first attempt at a TPT greenhouse, or his many jimmy rigged contraptions that are hideous but he is so proud of. Plus, he has some good ideas we'd like to implement.

He reminds me so much of Ryan. Ed Begley was composting while in an apartment. He would save his scraps, walk to the RR tracks, dig a hole and dump them in. Doesn't this remind you of Ryan's shed full of recyclables that the City of Tempe didn't recycle at the time? Now, that's dedication, a bit crazy, but dedication none the less. He has a new book out now I'd like to get, but I'm cheap...we'll see.

Our next goal is to obtain a bidet for our master bath. We need a small diaper pail and liner and wash cloths. I think I can find all of these supplies at a cloth diaper store. We will simply use the bidet to wash, use wash cloths to dry and place in our pail to wash later. Voila! We will have the cleanest bums on the block and will not be polluting the environment with rolls and rolls of tp. Plus we won't have to buy nearly as much tp too - very cost effective, I think. I'm excited. And to irritate Helena, it will also be great for my ladies days, or post birth to keep the area clean and fresh!

Check Out the Size of My Berries

Jealous much?

The life of a berry in the hands of a one year old.

Berry lover in a tree.

Greenhouse Abundance

A few years ago Ryan built a "greenhouse." I write "greenhouse" because to me it was a metal thing that made me and my home look like white trash. Many people agreed with me on this one, especially after Ryan added the tube socks to the corners so that the metal poles would stop cutting his hands. Anyway, the thing didn't work so well. Ryan had a hard time attaching the plastic sheeting and I spent my days hating the jimmy rigged white trash lookin' thing. It was not working.

Over Christmas break Ryan visited the Krause farm and was highly impressed and came up with some great ideas. He spent his vacation time creating a greenhouse (a real one), complete with an autocad printout of his plans. He purchased scrap wood at home depot which sells for cheap and began to build and build and build. He even built in a door with a handle. He loves this baby.

I helped here and there by holding up plastic sheeting so that he could enclose the garden for the cold weather. I helped again when the weather heated up by folding the plastic. But, I was the most helpful when it was time to collect and eat goodies from the garden. The boys were helpful in that area as well. We just like to go into the greenhouse and graze. Sometimes when I don't know what to eat, I will step into the greenhouse and just find something waiting for me. I brush it off on my pants and pop it in mouth. Good enough for me. Talk about organic and local!

It has been fabulous, I must say, even though I still don't understand why all of this gardening must take place in my front yard when we already have a designated space in the backyard. Oh wait I know why, because those piece of crap blackberries are shading everything back there and nothing can grow but weeds and nasturtiums. Ugh.

This year so far we have harvested lettuce, tomatoes of every shape and color, strawberries (for the first time they've actually produced), green onion, snap peas, shallots and bells. I love to harvest. I am a produce snob now. I'd rather go without a tomato then buy the crap from a grocery store. They're horribly mushy and gushy and taste like acid. No wonder why I hated tomatoes until I ate one from my own garden.

When our growing season is over I will return to Guadalupe Farmers Market I suppose. It seems every time I mention this place someone says, "Huh? What? Where's that?" Guadalupe Farmer's Market is a produce store with only a few shelf items. They have local and organic produce and some locally made tamales. Fan-freakin-tstic! It is located on the Southwest corner of Guadalupe and Priest. I highly recommend their produce, but I more highly recommend starying your own garden. Just don't do it in your front yard! Have some respect for yourself and leave the white trash look to us. We've got it covered!

In Honor of Earth Day

...Because we should all respect the earth at least one day out of the year right?! Alright, so here goes my attempt to explain the April Lady way of non-disgusting compost in a way that doesn't make you feel like an idiot.

Step 1 Purchase a good small trash can (the ones that have a good seal, so as not to let your house stink like rot after weeks of compost not being taken out, even though your husband swears that he just did it and argues with you about reasons why it would just be easier if you did it anyway) and place it on your kitchen counter. So far, it's easy right?

Step 2 Make dinners from scratch using lots of fresh veggies. Be sure to check your recipe first to see if you have all of the necessary ingredients. This is very important or you could end up on the floor of your kitchen crying. Trust me! Anyway, peel, cut and place all veggie waste into the trash can. (Leave cutting board on counter for several days until you decide to cook with veggies again, then wash it.)

Step 3 After using paper goods, such as paper plates, tissues, toilet paper, napkins, paper towels, even pizza boxes, place them in the trash can as well (you can also compost items that are 100% cotton). Leave the pizza box on top of the trash can until your husband takes it outside to the real compost. Fight about it for several days while feeling overworked, unappreciated and generally irritable. Irritation Pointer... If you are upset with your husband blatantly throw something in the trash that is compostable while he is watching. Make a nasty face like a five year old and stomp away. Opposite Irritation Pointer...if you are annoyed with your wife, simply flig your soiled tissues of q-tips directly out the bathrrom window into the garden. That way your wife can pick lettuce for dinner next to ear gooped q-tips.

Step 4 Have the responsible party empty the compost into the main compost pile in the backyard. Begin with a composter from the city (free of charge), then upgrade to a hand-me-down from family, when there is no room just begin throwing your compostable "stuff" directly onto the ground. This way you won't have to walk the extra 10 steps to put it into the free or hand-me-down compost. Live this way (you know with a designated rotting pile of garbage on the back corner of your home, until you have a mobile baby; then create your own with chicken wire and poles to keep the baby from eating rotten fruit with grubs nearby.

Free of charge hand-me-down homemade

Step 5 Care for your compost pile by watering it on occasion. Take the kiddies out to watch the humming birds eat the bugs hovering over it. Place all garden clippings on compost pile as well. Turn compost around on occasion with a shovel.

Step 6 When compost is ready it will be a dark brownish/black color. Use the compost in the garden that you will painstakingly create and then later ignore while weeds run rampant until you start all over again.

Happy Composting! April