First Class available for limited time.

1. Sustainable Living Series Vegetable Garden Design For Desert Dwellers! Part 1 of 4 with Chris Byers June, 2010

2. What grows in the Phoenix Low Desert naturally.

3. What can be grown here.

4. More difficult growing areas of the Low Desert.

5. What can be done in an area similar to ours to grow plants. This is a coffee plantain in Yemen, very similar to the Arizona low desert foothills.

6. A greener terraced area, similar to our hilly areas.

7. More what we are hoping for here in the low desert.

8. Gardening Goals What do you like to eat? Why do you want to garden?Sustainability? Pesticide free? Financial Concerns? Are you trying to reach a target? 25% of your veg from your gardens? 50%? Are you growing to can, dehydrate, freeze? Realistic time & resources available? Questions to ask yourself.

9. Gardening Goals - Example Type of gardener – Lazy! Food preferences – green leafy & fruits Why? – I’m on flood irrigation prefer edible landscapes over just bermuda Not interested in maximizing food production, want to utilize plants that are easy, perennial and tasty! Willing to put in time to research plants and prepare garden beds, not lots of ongoing maintenance ~10 min daily, just harvest and prepare is my goal! What type of gardener are you? What are you looking for from your garden.

10. Where do you start? Take some time and think about it.

11. ＊PermaculturePrinciple＊ ObservationProtracted and thoughtful observation rather than protracted and thoughtless labor. Go to your potential garden area, spend some time really looking at it and visualizing what you would like there.

12. Observe Sunshine Water Wind Soil Grade or Slope Existing Conditions Microclimates Activity Zones

13. Sunshine – How it moves

14. Solar Access

15. Solar Access Time for the Sun Dance

17. Rainwater

18. Greywater

19. SRP Canal Irrigation

20. WellsMunicipal water – high in salts, heavily treated & chlorinated Rainwater – ideal for soils, is free, can pull salinity away from root zones Greywater – excellent and overlooked source of water for many garden situations, care needed in installation and use of detergents Canal Flood – perfect for orchards and agricultural applications, will bring in weed seeds and is untreated Wells – can be contaminated, should be tested before use

21. What Rain? Annual irrigation demand in Tucson, AZ of low water use, dry season adapted native mesquite trees met by rainwater supply from roof runoff From Fig. 11.9 Rainwater Harvesting by Brad Landcaster

22. What Rain? Annual irrigation demand in Tucson, AZ of higher water use dry season – susceptible, exotic citrus tree met by rainwater supply from roof runoff and supplemented with greywater in dry times. From Fig. 11.10 Rainwater Harvesting by Brad Landcaster

23. What Rain? Annual irrigation demand in Tucson, AZ of 225 sq ft section of water hungry turf met by rainwater supply from roof runoff. Tank Stores water in times of plenty to slowly dole it out in the dry season’s times of need. Note: It is much more difficult and costly to use greywater to irrigate the relatively small root networks of thousands of individual grass plants, than it is to irrigate the relatively large and expansive root network of a few trees and shrubs. From Fig. 11.11 Rainwater Harvesting by Brad Landcaster

24. Basic Techniques

25. http://www.virtualsecrets.com/annual-rainfall-water-calculator.html #2 - Calculate How Many Gallons Of Annual Rainfall A Geographic Region Receives : Select LocationThis calculator is useful when you need to determine how many gallons of annual rainfall are received by soil for a general geographic region. If you know the annual rainfall amount in inches for a specific geographic location, use the first calculator. Select general geographic region with annual rainfall recorded Press this button to have the calcuation answers shown below 0.10165416666666667 Gallons of water received weekly by one square foot of soil 0.4066166666666667 Gallons of water received monthly by one square foot of soil 4.8794 Gallons of water received annually by one square foot of soil 213686.24 Gallons of water received annually by one square acre of soil Good link for easy calculation of water you receive from the sky.

26. Wind Check your winds.

28. Low Organic Material

29. Alkaline

30. High in Minerals

31. Low in Nitrogen

32. Potential pollutants/toxinsLead from leaded gasoline, paint, etc can be in soil as well as a variety of other toxic pollutants. Chemical testing is available to determine if your property has these present.

33. Soil Percolation Test Photo Credit: ©2000 Dolezal Publishing/Reed Estabrook

34. Soil Jar Test Simple soil test, with simple equipment.

35. https://www.midwestlabs.com/content/view/61/199/ BASIC SOIL TEST PACKAGES S1A (Basic): Organic Matter, Available Phosphorus (P1 Weak Bray and P2 Strong Bray) Exchangeable Potassium, Magnesium, Calcium and Hydrogen, Soil pH, Buffer Index, C ation Exchange Capacity, Percent Base Saturation of Cation Elements With Recommendations: $10.00 Without Recommendations: $8.80 Link to a very good company to test your soil. Any test you might need for the garden, they will be able to do for you.

36. Maximizing Microclimates

37. Maximizing Microclimates Bucky naturally seeks out the cool microclimate under the peach trees along the north side of Liz’s house.

38. A large pecan tree with citrus banked for later planting under the middle, with a compost area on the right to keep it a bit more moist and working better. Also supplies some shade for the times it needs to be worked.

39. Activity Zones Another observation point is to see where you travel in your home and property and how often. As we design using permaculture we want to be as energy efficient as possible so knowing the patterns of travel are important to an energy efficient design. Make your own map usage map to make it easier to decide a good place for your plantings. Visit Multiple times daily Visit Once Daily Visit Weekly Visit Monthly

40. Grade This sloping area in a local park has berms and swales in place to slow water runnoff. A perfect time to check your property for naturally low and high areas is after a rain storm, look for any standing water.

41. Existing Conditions – “Softscape” Softscape – Plants, Trees, Grass, Groundcovers (living and mineral), … pervious surfaces Also look at this on your property to see what you want to keep and what you want to change.

42. Existing Conditions,“Hardscape” “Hardscape”- Buildings, Fences, Patios & other Impervious Surfaces A lot of newer homes have only patios and courtyard spaces predominately finished with impervious surfaces. Yet even in this environment notice the trees and green planting on the right, indicate areas where with very small changes you can grow vegetables for yourself. This also can be a good area for potted gardening projects.

43. ＣＡＬＬ ＢＥＦＯＲＥ ＹＯＵ ＤＩＧ 1st Critical step of Site Analysis!

44. Site Location Takes all observations into account! Light, well drained soil (no water pooling) At least six hours of sun Eastern (morning) sun exposure best Minimal slopes No cold pockets Protection from the winds Min. competition or shade from trees & shrubs No overshadowing buildings Good, previously gardened soil (notes on grass) Any size dimensions Use the cold pockets for any plantings with chill requirements, like apples, peaches, etc…

45. Basic Tools Needed Gloves would be good for most of us!

46. Traditional Gardening Basics Long-Handled Spade Spading Fork Steel Rake Does not take much to start. Hoe Hand Trowel

47. Optional Handy Tools When you decide to expand your tools.

48. Advanced Optional Tools Trencher Pros: Makes putting in drip irrigation MUCH easier! Cons: Large dangerous equipment, MUST know where utilities are located!!! Always Blue Stake first and know what you are doing or get someone that does. These types of machinery save a lot of hard work or can destroy a lot of things, depends on the operator.

49. Advanced Optional Tools RotoTiller Pros: Can aid in removal of grass without herbicides Cons: May not be effective on hard pack desert soils. Very versatile but needs to be used with care.

50. Advanced Optional Tools Back Hoe & Bucket Pros: Removing oleander roots! Create earthworks. Cons: Heavy machinery requires skill to operate, easily can destroy property & underground utilities Only for the serious problems and best to be done by experienced people.

51. Conclusions for Part 1 Gardening Goals are an essential part of planning your Gardens. Thoughtful observation is the key to success! The right tools for the job can be very simple to very complex depending on your goals and site location.

52. Homework Assignments Do your Sun Dance at various places around your property to ‘see’ sun pattern and movement Jar Test Percolation Test Rock Shade Test Bring your Jars with to the next class if you like

53. Additional Resources Hands on workshops Permaculture Design Course Monthly Sustainable Home Tours (we take the summer off…)

55. Soil Building

56. Types of Gardens

57. Style of Gardens