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AZ Plant Lady, Noelle Johnson, is a horticulturist, landscape consultant, and garden writer and you can see why! Now imagine this space planted to abundant veggies…
Why am I, a coastal low lander, writing this?! Because we are experiencing drought, using desalinated water, and it’s time to learn from the experts who have always had drought! Part of what we do will help drought conditions be less extreme. If the principles are applied on a larger scale, perhaps we will become heroes who remediate conditions and even prevent drought! At the very least we can grow more veggies in spite of our current conditions! As a footnote, our Santa Barbara CA foothills here are hot and plenty dry every summer.
At a whopping 479′ elevation in the Sonoran Desert, Palm Springs Ca is hot. They close their City community gardens in the summer. Their garden population is mainly seniors and many seniors don’t do well in the heat. First, take care of yourself! Appropriate clothing, headgear – be prepared for sudden weather changes. Stay hydrated. Work a shorter time earlier in the day or work in the evening, even at night! Make a rule for yourself! This is Sheila Custer’s: ’10 minutes outside or IF you feel dizzy or lightheaded ~ GET INSIDE NOW where it’s cool, drink cool (not icy) water, apply cool damp cloths. Heat prostration is no joke.’
In low desert, even Palm Springs, and high desert, intrepid knowledgeable gardeners carry on, learning as they go. Some have successful fruit trees – date palms, apples, pear, beautiful fast growing Red Baron Peaches, Santa Rosa Plums, figs, mulberries and pomegranates – they plant in spring! Have nut trees like pistachio, almond, for protein! Check out Peach Trees In Tucson – Las Aventuras Chris recommends low profile dwarfs that need less water and are easy picking height, can be covered to protect from wind! He gives other excellent tips from experience – be sure to scan the comments! Trees are important because they are the long term immovable anchor plants for your garden design.
Some of Sheila’s unique desert tree lessons are often learned the hard way.
- Do know that a brutal desert wind can ‘thin’ your tree of plums! What was on your tree in the evening is on the ground in the morning.
- Dang squirrels ate ALL except 5 peaches off Red Baron tree, and a couple weeks back I was SO EXCITED because there was over a hundred peaches on that tree, grrr…my fault, I forgot to replace the pinwheels beneath the fruit trees ~ they scare the squirrels, rabbits and birds away ~ shiny metallic pinwheels from the dollar store.
- Borers are my biggest problem with trees.
- There is a canker apple trees suffer from when in proximity to Cypress trees.
You see the details you learn? It may be wise to find some local mentors before you plant long term plants like trees. Combinations, companions, placement really do matter!
You take your chances! ‘Zero apricots this year due to a very hard freeze right as they flowered. Frozen blossoms. No bees = No fruit. I have lived in the high desert 22 years now. This was the ONLY year the freeze was so low that NO fruit grew. Other times, I worried, but fruit always appeared. Not this year.’
As soon as possible, for the long term, plant more trees like fast grower legume trees that feed the soil and cool the Earth or quick growing food source trees. Fast growth is good because the plant has better survival chances once it is mature. Plant them in Bioswales that hold moisture. The trees make shade, hold even more moisture, secure the soil with their roots. If possible, start where there is an initial water supply, but plant NO TREES 100′ of a well! Protect them from desert animals. Be sure mature trees won’t shade your garden.
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‘Vegetable Gardens in Unexpected Places’ like downtown Phoenix front yards! Noelle Johnson teaches you how!
Well before planting time, prepare your land for water capturing, holding moisture.
This image combines the use of Hugelkultur and bioswales! It can be modified to suit your needs!
For water retention, install Bioswales, terracing for slopes and hillsides for zero water loss. These can be graceful and attractive.
You can use Hugelkultur techniques for water retention. The Hugelkultur that most people are familiar with are the great above ground humps, but the humps are not necessary at all! You can dig down, install the logs and leave it all level or choose mounds! The logs still decay and build soil, hold water. The decaying logs produce a little heat that can keep your plants warmer at night, lengthen your growing season in cooling weather, and in spring you can plant a little earlier. Hugelkultur is also touted as water saving because after the first two years, it is self watering. In the desert you don’t have that luxury; you still need to keep watering but it may need less water! And over time, it still builds soil! Getting the logs and getting them to your site is the toughest part!
Hugelkultur is the long term sustainable choice. It can be a simple huge pile or an elegant graceful design like this one. Could be right in your front yard! Be creative! See more!
Microburst desert winds can flatten your garden in seconds. Install permeable windbreaks to slow or move the wind to save your plants and direct it away from where you want the land to stay moist. Some desert gardeners say wind is worse than the dry. Hot, or cold, the wind sweeps moisture out of the leaves ‘faster than the roots can replace it.’ Many desert gardeners get started with a perimeter of straw bales on their sides then plant right beside them in the lee of the wind. In their dry climate the bales last for years.
However, a permeable windbreak allows some airflow through and extends its wind protection a greater distance. With a dense windbreak a downwind draws the wind back to the ground quicker, drying soil and cutting the distance it throws the wind. Gradually grow in permeable windbreaks. Food producing trees interplanted with food producing shrubs takes time to establish, but so worth it! As it matures you can add taller vegetable plants. This kind of windbreak does triple duty ~ slows and diverts wind, your soil retains more moisture, and you get food!
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Maureen Gilmer’s Straw bales and Field fencing tomato cages. Notice she is planting short type determinate tomatoes, not tall determinate tomatoes in tall cages that would topple in the SoCal high desert winds. In a bed like this, decide which plants will get morning sun, which can tolerate afternoon sun.
Maureen recommends installing pest prevention wire around your garden. Desert animals are thirsty and hungry.
Furrows, trenches, are like mini bioswales. Plant IN deep wide bottom furrows, where the moisture settles. The reason I say wide is because plants take up moisture and nutrients from surface feeder roots* and we need room for those roots! Install trenches crosswise to the Sun’s arc so the plants’ root areas will be shaded by the depth of the furrow in early AM and late afternoon. If you make the sides of your trenches low slopes, and water carefully under your plants’ leaves, your furrows won’t degrade as much or as quickly from water washing the trench walls away and you don’t want to uncover the feeder roots. Nor will seeds or plants’ stems be buried too deeply.
*What do surface feeder roots do? Their main job is to absorb water and minerals. Near the soil surface, they have access to water, nutrients, and oxygen. [This is important because] These elements are more abundant near the soil surface than deep within the soil. (from Gardening Know How)
Plants grown in thoughtfully made trenches need far less waterings and for less time. As the plants grow, they also self mulch and need even less water and less frequent waterings. Trench planting is akin to the New Mexico Zuni waffle gardens, the ultimate planting system for sparse water areas for three reasons! 1) The waffle technique is ingenious in that the berms shelter each planting area from every direction. A trench can be a wind channel. Not so in a waffle layout! The berms cause drying winds to rise over the waffle and it stays more moist inside. 2) The basins can be flexible sizes, allowing the feeder roots ample growing and feeding room. If you look at some of the old images of waffle gardens, the waffles varied in size in the same garden to accommodate different plants’ needs. 3) Plants are separate enough that they don’t have to compete for water or soil. That equals more production. Similar sunken beds for growing food with less water have been used globally in arid regions, arising independently by Indigenous farmers. See more
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Curtis Quam’s waffle garden, which he tends with his family at Zuni Pueblo, NM = less water used, food security – by Greta Moran. Photo by Curtis Quam.
Depending on your soil conditions, whether you have shifting dunes or stable banks, you can install a Walipini Pit Greenhouse! If it isn’t at a low point and no storm water flows near or at the location, simplest and cheapest is to set up an underground greenhouse to equalize seasonal temps. Dig it right into the side of a hill or slope if possible. You want that shade and shelter for both you and the plants. You can live in it! Check out the Pros and cons of building bank barns? It can be improvised to suit your particular needs. Make it the right size, open to the right direction, etc.
Here is a University of Arizona Hoop House in action! From freezing winter nights to blazing summer days, hoop houses are terrific and less work and less expensive than most greenhouses! From a row cover to whatever size you need, they are flexible to make! Cover with shade cloth having the perfect shade % density you need, usually 50%. Cover the entire house or part of it – front or back, just on top or one side, roll it up as needed. Change things per season, add or completely remove per season! Have both hoop houses and outside gardens. The University of Nevada Reno uses fifty percent shade cloth on the outside of the hoop house in the spring, summer and early fall. Six mil plastic is used on the outside in the winter months, and is rolled up on the sides to allow for ventilation. Per XtremeHorticulture of the Desert: #1 TIP! Greenhouses in the hot desert should be as tall as possible to get the heat off of the crop. Temps in small ‘hobby’ greenhouses are hard to manage. See several other great tips there!
PREPARE YOUR SOIL
If you will be gardening in a new area, a soil test may save you a lot of heartache. You can easily do it yourself. Soil test kits are inexpensive. Get good with your soil from the get go! If your garden is slowing down, maybe something is used up, now missing. Check it and get growing again!
Desert soil is mostly sand and gravel that water drains through while you stand there, and clay. For water holding capacity, add a powerful lot of compost, organic material, garden soil, worm castings. Add more every year. Compost your kitchen scraps. They are gold!
Las Cruces NM nursery owner Gary Guzman says while the city, and maybe others, offer compost for free, he recommends buying bagged compost. I’m with him. You get a complete compost, read the ingredients, with water holding capacity often better than the compost you make yourself! I give my kitchen gatherings to my worms, don’t have access to brown ingredients, straw takes too long, so I combine my 100% fresh worm castings and nursery bought compost!
If your soil is really dry, has clay-type sand, and shows no sign of natural moisture, you might choose to use raised beds and adjust your windbreaks accordingly.
GATHER YOUR SYSTEMS, INSTALL IN TIME TO TEST THEM IN PLACE BEFORE PLANTING
As a home or community garden gardener, there are many techniques you can use. As a farmer you would likely use well secured shade cloth covered hoop houses. Many commercial grower techniques can be scaled down to your home garden. Use row covers when appropriate. Use flexible systems to be able to adjust quickly to changing weather conditions.
PLANTING CHOICES
Plant low water needing trees, like various fast growing Australian legume trees, that feed your soil so your soil is restored and neighboring plants will be fed too, right on the spot! Plant them at their right time of year so they will have enough water to get started. Some of these trees produce food and are grown for a fire wood source for those cold desert winters. For our purposes here, let them be the perimeter of the beginning of your Food Forest. Plant shrubs to fill in the spaces between trees, to keep the tree roots shaded, cooled, moisture retained, leaves to fall to become mulch. The shrubs provide a natural permeable windbreak that slows the wind, reduces drying and soil erosion. A food producing shrub is even better!
In your off season, weather permitting, grow a soil feeding cover crop! Living Mulch! When, Which and Why?! This link is not written for Desert or Drought conditions. Select the right soil feeding cover for your area. See your local farmers, farmers market, nurseries, cooperative extension, nearest university.
VARIETIES OF VEGGIES
The University of Nevada, Reno, did some studies about growing veggies from 3 to 6,000′, from ‘warm’ to cold. When we think about HOT we forget that also means Cold! Select heat, drought tolerant food producing trees and food plant varieties that can also withstand cold desert nights! They advise: Varieties that develop produce quickly, less chance of weather damage, may perform better than crops with more days to maturity, especially in higher, desert locations.
Heat lovers are nightshade or Solanaceae (tomatoes, peppers, eggplant) and squash or Cucurbitaceae (cucumbers, melons, summer and winter squash) plus corn and beans. Heat tolerant varieties of basil thrive in the hottest desert summers. Perennial herb Thai Basil is slow to bolt.
Laura Miller has a great post on growing herbs in Texas where summer temp highs average 90°F! See her varieties recommendations! She says: resist the urge to plant Texas summer herbs in containers. Pots and planters dry out too quickly in 90°F (32 C.) heat. Instead, plant outside herbs for Texas gardens directly in the ground. If you must container garden, keep the herbs inside the air-conditioned house where they can enjoy the sun from a bright window.
But depending on your location…this in Palm Springs CA:
Tomatoes! Varieties such as Early Girl, Better Boy and some cherry types performed more consistently. Tomatoes have been shown to perform better when provided a protective cover of shade cloth. Field trials had New Girl tomatoes yield 78 to 84 percent higher under shade cloth covered hoop houses than the same tomatoes in the field without cover. Heirloom tomatoes required more care because many are prone to disease.
Peppers! Jalapeños, Poblano (when dried called ancho) and sweet banana peppers provided high quality and good yields. Peppers vary in whether yield and quality improve under protection from shade cloth. Jalapenos yielded better in full sun. Sweet banana peppers have been shown to be heavier and higher quality when grown under shade cloth. In desert regions at around 4,000 feet of elevation, sweet bell peppers often fail to develop a thick fleshy wall, especially upon ripening, and their quality can be poorer than store-bought bells. Specialty peppers (hot or sweet) of different varieties should be tested in your region to determine how well they do.
Eggplants grow well in the open desert. Studies showed a disadvantage to using shade cloth over eggplant. It is best to pick varieties that remain fleshy on the inside with few seeds. Avoid varieties that will quickly set a large amount of tough seeds on the inside (a slender green and small striped plump variety). Some chefs prefer small, slender, fleshy and flavorful Japanese types (variety – Magnum).
All types of summer squash tested grew well in the desert. Chefs preferred fruit with amazing color, nice texture, and consistency throughout the fruit. Consumers favor golden zucchini (variety – Golden Dawn III) over yellow crookneck due to a firmer texture and more flavor after cooking. Squash blossoms are a great add on crop that is highly specialized and sought out by chefs and food lovers. It was estimated that a third of the male blossoms could be harvested without impacting pollination and full female blossoms with a tiny squash attached are premium priced. Golden zucchini can yield 4.5 pounds of fruit per square foot in addition to yields of one blossom per square foot per week for the 15-week harvest period. Squash bug infestations are the major production problem that needs to be controlled for all summer squash, regardless of the variety. Control with several pesticide applications can be achieved if started early. Organic control systems are not consistently effective. Vacuuming them off the plants, covering with row cover, and diatomaceous earth has been recommended as having some benefit in controlling them.
Brilliant Golden Dawn III zucchini fruits and squash blossom
Of the winter squashes, butternut and pumpkin consistently produce a crop whereas some others grew slowly and would lose quality and yield due to immaturity with fall frost.
Melons, cantaloupes and some watermelons performed well, whereas Crenshaw, casaba and honeydews were less reliable. Often the shorter season types and varieties produced higher yields and better quality product reliably such as Ambrosia cantaloupe. Melons require a LOT of water.
Cucumber advice! Cucumbers can be inconsistent in quality because of gaps forming inside by the seeds and different viruses invading crops. Variety selection for disease resistance and consistent watering can help to address these problems.
Greens! Southern Exposure Seed Exchange strongly recommends Red Malabar summer spinach to anyone who hasn’t tried growing it yet. The crisp, slightly succulent leaves stay mild in high heat and maintain healthy growth all summer. The gorgeous red vines need to be trellised or caged, keeping the leaves clean. They’re excellent as cooking greens and in salad mixes.
Blueberries and strawberries are not generally favored, sigh. One gardener says strawberries will grow in early spring but MUST be protected from the wind, they like northern exposure. Strawberries maybe if in a container… And, some gardeners say their area does work for blueberries! Talk with locals to see if they have had success.
In cold weather, growing in greenhouses, a plastic covered hoop house or plastic covered low tunnels is a game changer! Leaf and root crops are doable! Cold-tolerant crops grow even when temperatures fall well below freezing. If you are doing this kind of growing, research your options online!
Cool weather crops are the most suited for spring and fall production but due to extreme temps and periods of temps remaining for too many days, they are a challenge. Hoop houses, low tunnels and frost blankets can help. It’s important to choose varieties with shorter days to maturity (50 to 60 days to maturity) that can achieve more harvests. Ironically, though harvests may be small, they have high quality due to less disease and good flavor. UNReno says ‘Experienced producers commonly adjust estimated yields like those published in Johnnie’s seed catalog by reducing them by one half.’ That gives you an idea of your challenge. Remember, the farmers are looking at salable produce. Home gardeners don’t always need to have that commercial top quality.
Use cool spring and fall weather to plant beets, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, lettuce, onion, pea, potato, radish, spinach, turnips!
Succession and Variety! ‘Crops can be selected to achieve the broadest possible range of harvest dates to provide produce all year long rather than huge crops a few times. A steady stream of harvests can be achieved by utilizing a variety of crops or different varieties of the same crop that differ in the number of days to maturity. In many areas, growers recommend planting seeds every week or two to spread out the harvest. The local desert research shows harvest dates are poorly related to seeding date and the harvesting date of many crops were more dependent on temperature. The crops matured faster if they did not spend too much time in too cold or too hot of temperatures compared to that plant’s optimal range. In the desert, spreading the harvest is best achieved through varying the crops and varieties.’
Famed Las Vegas gardener John Kohler’s favorites are Thai basil but grows several basils, okra, eggplant, dinosaur kale, red Malabar spinach, Swiss chard (in the shade), purple perennial tree collards! Perennials are always a winner because they don’t need to be planted/started over and over again, needing more start up water and waiting time for production. Many perennials can be harvested all year long! See more drought tolerant perennials at Grow Delicious and Amazing Edible Perennials! John’s Video
One of the things we are learning is to see what is growing successfully in other desert regions and grow them here! South American Chaya Tree Spinach is now being gratefully grown in Zimbabwe! The Maya ate legumes, including beans, which have fairly high protein content — 19.4% to 24.8%. Chaya leaves, on the other hand, have about 30%, higher than any other plant food known for the Maya and comparable to the protein content of animal flesh!
Definitely, information found in desert area publications from Universities, seed catalogs and from local successful growers can help narrow down and improve the choice of crops.
PLANTING TECHNIQUES IN THE DESERT!
The laws of nature shift when you change to desert territory!
LOVE these babies! Image by Rock Bottom Ranch, Basalt CO, elevation 6,611′. Note they are double planted.
As always, start seeds indoors for an earlier start, but your timing is different. Frost free days are key, and that can vary year to year, location to location. Check what they are at your place. Plant two or more rounds of seeds just in case!
Make first plantings near the warm house maybe in side-of-the-house mini greenhouses. Use buildings to buffer cold, and heat! Grow early heat lovers like basil, herbs, tomatoes near your house! Plant lettuces in the afternoon shade area.
Plant veggies with more space between them, usually about 18 inches. Planting in crowded rows doesn’t work. Your plants ‘starve’ for water. Give them room to survive. It’s like being root bound in a different way.
Planting depth becomes deeper so seeds will survive drying topsoil. Plant 4X deeper than the diameter of the seed. Put markers, sticks, a rock, where you plant your seeds so you know right where to keep that soil moist.
In general water lightly every 2 to 3 days or as needed in exceptional heat or high winds. When your seedlings get their 2nd, 3rd true leaves, let the soil dry out between heavy waterings to encourage deep root growth. This will make your plants more able to survive low water availability.
MAINTENANCE
If there is no wind, to help plants through midday heat, protect them with a fabric grow cover, especially young plants. Lay it on when temps soar, remove it mid to late afternoon. You can also use well anchored fabric cover to make a more humid environment, hold moisture in the soil.
High summer July/August UV shields Maureen Gilmer says: During the summer this exposure soars to such an extent that some plants just can’t take it. I use wire field fencing rolled into tubes in lieu of tomato towers. They’re perfect for another solution, using shade cloth attached with clothes pins to the west side of each wire tube. This helps plants during July and August when very hot afternoons can be tough on food plants.
Melissa Willis from Santa Fe, New Mexico says: I’ve found that Summer and Winter Squash benefit greatly from a bit of shade at the hottest time of day! You can achieve this by simply inserting PVC pipes in your beds as you would when creating a hoop house or low tunnel and then securing your shade only over the very top of the PVC pipes using small clamps so your plants get some sun, just not the hottest sun of the day.
WATER IN THE EARLY MORNING OR LATE EVENING TO LESSEN WATER EVAPORATION. Often there is a predawn lull in the wind, easier to water, soaks in better before it dries. A consistent watering regimen is key. In Santa Barbara CA’s droughty hot summers we water before 10:30 AM and after 4 PM as possible. I imagine in the desert those hours are much earlier and later in the day…
Our high desert gardener Sheila advises: ‘I find that watering before sun up is best for both plants and trees as it prevents mold, scalding (if one waters during heat of day, sun can scald leaves from water droplets) and water attracts rodents, of which rabbits do a number on anything less than an inch thick. I rinse leaves occasionally because they get covered with dusty dirt. Mold and insects are drawn to damp dark ground, not so good for plants overnight. Early morning watering is best. However, I do water more before full moon, always makes a big difference in growth.’
Her Tree watering tip! Trees will tend to grow out toward side they are watered. If the prevailing wind causes them to bend toward the northeast, watering them on the southwest side has them righting and sending branches toward that side more heavily watered, in effect balancing the tree.
Sprinkler systems lose a lot of water to evaporation. For extensive areas use subsurface drip systems. For smaller quickly changing gardens an easily movable soaker hose can be best. Plants get the majority of their nutrition from subsurface feeder roots! They need water to uptake the nutrients they are looking for. So, put water where your plant takes it up, at the roots to the drip line. Rather than a straight row line, only along the stems, circle your plants. If drip systems aren’t for you, watering by hand is the most efficient especially if you have a small garden or are doing a waffle garden. See how: Hand Watering Veggies During Drought? Big Yes!
Our high desert gardener gives these tips as well: ‘Soaker hose is great as long as squirrels or other rodents don’t chew on them. Sun and heat is hard on them here in the desert. Lines, hoses, must be checked to insure water flow often. Irrigation ditches help. Bathwater using only Ivory soap helps reduce aphids and won’t kill praying mantis on roses and vegetables.’
Cultivating lightly after rains disturbs the soil surface and stops water from wicking up and evaporating. Dry farmers use this technique.
Melissa from Ever Growing Farm also recommends ‘Water catchment, in the form of rain barrels, can be a life saver (if it is legal in your state). Allowing the rain water to be diverted from your roof and into large barrels or cisterns on your property can help offset your water costs (or alleviate some of the stress on your well) when used to spot water plants that require a bit more water than others. Alternatively, you can set up your rain barrels with hoses and a gravity feed or a timer to water your plants.’
Mulch, mulch, mulch! Heavily mulching gives your soil a chance to absorb water. Big wood chips, that won’t blow away, prevent light germinating weed seeds from sprouting, protects your top soil and the base of your plants from the elements, helps keep soil temperatures low and retains soil moisture. Use crushed tree leaves as mulch. Do regular checks and keep the mulch thick.
Impressively, Bryce Richard of Pata Viva Farm near Las Cruces NM, clay soil, says “What’s underneath the woodchips will still be moist three or four days later and the stuff that’s 3 or 4 inches away from where the woodchips are will have cracks in it!” He says: “An average vegetable crop tends to use about 30 to 35 inches of water in a season, a mature plant getting about an inch to an inch and a half a week, let the soil dry out half an inch to an inch down before watering again. Put mulch on top of the soaker hose to stop it from breaking and getting brittle in the sun.” The voice of experience!
I’m quoting Maureen Gilmer because she lives in the high desert. She speaks from experience. ‘May 1st is the most universal date of the last frost, then the growing season is fast for the first month or two, until it slows down in the depths of summer. During August your plants may rest in the heat, then take off again in September growing rapidly until frost. Be sure to feed your garden at summer’s end with a tomato and vegetable fertilizer to help them flourish in this “second season”.’
So, you see, it’s doable! Adjust your land and soil, you’re gardening techniques. Get the right plants and the right varieties being particularly mindful of the days to maturity. If these stalwart desert gardeners, always in drought conditions, can do it, so can we! Modify to suit your needs!
A xeriscape type veg garden is the ultimate! Start converting and use these clever desert tips NOW!
Updated 4.27.23
Many thanks to high desert gardener Sheila Custer for generously sharing multiple tips of her 22 years of expertise!
Love your Mother! Plant bird & bee food! Think grey water! Grow organic! Bless you for being such a wonderful Earth Steward!
The Green Bean Connection started as correspondence for the Santa Barbara CA USA Pilgrim Terrace Community Garden. Both of Santa Barbara City’s remaining community gardens are very coastal. During late spring/summer we are often in a fog belt/marine layer most years, locally referred to as the May grays, June glooms and August fogusts. Keep that in mind compared to the microclimate niche where your veggie garden is.
Green Bean Connection 