One of the succulents we transported from California is this epiphyllum or “Cactus Orchid.” Today, one of the flower pods opened to reveal this brilliant canary yellow flower. This variety is called Frülingsgold, which translates to “Spring Gold” in English. Click on the image to enlarge.
Poppies grow in the springtime in our California garden. I thought that we wouldn’t have them in Arizona, but I was wrong. We see them in gardens there too. I’m going to read up on growing poppies in the desert and plant them there too. Click on the image to enlarge.
We have a compost bin at the California house and we want to try to compost in Arizona as well. In California, when you set up a compost heap, the worms find it since they’re already in the soil there. Not so much in Arizona, though, so you need to supply the worms to the new bin.
Image: 250 worms just after they were introduced to the compost bin (inset). Click to enlarge.
Last week we set up a compost bin that we purchased at Lowe’s. We assembled the bin and put it on the west side of the house next to where we keep our trash bin. On further review, however, putting the bin where it can get direct sunlight is a bad idea since the worms can’t take extreme heat.
This morning, we moved the bin to the north side of the garage where sunlight is seldom seen. We put three bags of topsoil and added some kitchen scraps in the bin and wet it down. That’s where the worms come in – today we received our shipment of 250 red worms from Uncle Jim’s Worm Farm. I ordered them last week on-line, and today the post office delivered them. Literally, a bag of worms.
The worms were in a cotton bag packed in dry peat which keeps them protected from heat and cold. The instructions said to introduce the worms to the bin as soon as possible and cover with some wet newspaper. They will dig their way into the earth within 24-48 hours and start doing their thing consuming decomposed scraps and such.
By next spring, we will hopefully have a nice compost heap from which we can extract nitrogen rich soil for Verna’s desert garden.
Yesterday, we went to pick up the new compost bin for the Arizona house. Today, we assembled it and put it in the new place on the west side of the house behind the courtyard.
To get the compost going, we added topsoil and a bag of potting soil in the bottom of the bin. We already have put kitchen scraps and such to the mix in the bin.
Image – the new compost bin – click on the image to enlarge.
Bob ordered 250 red worms on-line and when they arrive next week, we will put them in and cover them with more topsoil and scraps. We should have a good compost going within a few weeks to produce our own worm casting garden soil for use in the vegetable garden this summer.
According to a commenter on the other blog, this flower is blooming on an eriocyse senilis, a cactus native to Chile in parts of the Atacama Desert. This is the first cactus flower to open since we brought several cacti from California last week. Click on the image to enlarge.
We have been getting bids from several landscape contractors for irrigation systems, rocks and plants for the Arizona property. Today, we were visiting one contractor at his garden shop where this lavender and white pansy was in bloom. Click on the image to enlarge.
