Back after a hiatus - SFG in the desert, winter crop edition

So it's been a couple few years since I planted anything.  Life is what happens when you're busy making plans.

However, the last week has seen me clean up two of the three 4x4 foot beds I have, run all that debris through a little chipper/shredder and use the results to restart an old compost pile, water and fluff those two beds, and to my somewhat chagrin, plant them out with old seeds (lol).

Into the ground went two-year-old unsprouted seed garlic cloves (elephant garlic), purple cauliflower, purple loose broccoli, french breakfast radishes, golden and chioggia beets, three kinds of lettuce, and italian red bottle onions.  And probably more as well (all seeds, no starts).

We'll see what I get!

(and the reason bed #3 didn't get the same treatment?  It's already in full shade from the house the entire day, so it's not worth planting anything there)


Oh, and that small, dusty old untouched compost pile?  Went from ambient to 100degF in four hours (but won't go higher, unfortunately)

Welcome home, BC! I've missed you...

Glad to see yuo back, brainchasm!  Having just returned from a month-long RV trip to the Mojave Desert, I can appreciate the challenges of gardening in Las Vegas.

And, I just spent 7 days driving around AZ and NM!

Depending on the size of your compost pile, you can light it on fire by mixing in 1/2 to 1 cup of blood meal. Make sure it is moist.