Cholla Monster

The dogs woke me up at 5:30 am on Saturday so I decided to go out and tackle some weeds.  I worked from 6 to 8 and made some progress but the trash cans were full and it was getting hot so I quit.  I don't think anyone is going to complain about my weeds because most of the neighbors haven't cut theirs either.

I was able to find a place that can help me with my weed problem.  It is called the Primavera Foundation and they help people find work as day labor for such things as landscaping, moving, and restaurant work.  I can hire 2 people plus a supervisor for 2 hours for $260 including hauling the trash away.  That is much better than $600 (assuming the job can be done in 2 hours).  Or $13.25/hour per person.  I'm not really sure how that works.  I'll have to call them and find out which way is best for this particular job.

This cholla, prickly pear, desert broom tangle is what finally made me quit, well, that and the heat.  The other guy that I called for a quote called me back and said that he doesn't clear weeds anymore.  He does tree trimming and landscape design.  He asked what kind of weeds just out of curiosity and when I said cholla and grass he said, nooo cholla!  Ya, I'm not too fond of cholla myself.

So, my new plan is to wait until July or later and then hire some day laborers to clear it out.  I would hire them now but I would feel bad if they died from the heat while working in my alley.

Speaking of heat, I have been giving my plants and garden extra water and they look great but my water bill has tripled.  I found out that the water company has a rebate program for people who install gutters and rainwater collection tanks.  Supposedly, they pay for half.  I'm seriously thinking about getting gutters and rain barrels.  I know I'm not planning to live in this house forever but it might still be worth it with a rebate and a lower water bill.  It is on the list, but not for June.  June is full already and it is too hot to do anything extra.

Cactus and Weeds and More Weeds

My first quote for weed removal came back at $600!  Ugh.  That's twice as much as I expected.  I went out to the alley after work today, pulled a few weeds, got stuck with a cactus needle and was really hot and sweaty in only 10 minutes.  It is over 100 degrees here.  I called 2 more people for quotes but since it was after 5 on a Friday, they didn't answer.    

The cactus could stay, it just needs to be hacked back.  On the other hand, trying to weed around cactus is difficult.  It would be easier to take it all out.  I do worry about erosion though since the block wall is on a bit of a hill.

I don't know if I should bother going out there and working on it in the morning or not.  If I end up hiring the first landscapers, I'm sure they aren't going to give me a discount for cutting down one cactus and the nearby trash can is full already which means taking it down the alley to the next can.  I seem to be talking myself out of it but then $600!  Hopefully, I can get a cheaper quote from someone else.

Escrow Surplus Happy Dance

Back in 2006 and 2007, I remember getting unpleasant letters from my mortgage holder which said something like, "Your escrow fund is less than your estimated taxes for next year.  If you send us $300, then your mortgage will only go up by $50 a month".  It was quite the shocking surprise.  I didn't know mortgages could go up.  This year, I got the good letter that said this:

Woo-hoo!  Escrow surplus!  It went on to say that my monthly payment will go down by $6.  Money back AND a lower payment!

So, what will I do with my $102?  Well, unfortunately, I just realized that I am responsible for keeping my part of the alley weed-free.  It's a jungle back there.  If someone complains, I can be fined $100 to start.  I called a landscaper and will find out the quote tomorrow.  I hope it isn't too much because I really don't want to spend my early mornings on the weekend hacking down weeds and cactus.  I mean, I will if I have too.  I do own a weed-eater and a rake but sometimes I would rather pay other people to do things especially when there could be snakes in there.  Ick.

Looking for Inspiration in Rocks and Blocks

3 day weekend!  Whoo-hoo!  I'm excited!  Tomorrow will be chore day, Sunday will be spent with my mother, and Monday will be my own personal holiday.  My mother and I are going to go stroll through the garden aisles and pick out gifts for each other since it is both Mother's Day and my birthday.  Then on Monday I will plant whatever I got.  That's the plan anyway.

Every day when I get home from work, the dogs and I wander around the backyard admiring the flowers and dreaming of what to do next to spruce up the yard.  Well, that's what I do anyway.  The dogs are usually peeing on things and harassing lizards.  I've been observing my newly imported gravel and I am leaning towards buying more concrete pavers because walking on gravel is unstable, noisy and the dogs track it on to the porch.  It is still good for certain areas but I would like to have a larger paved area.  I noticed that there are many kinds of pavers already in my yard.

 So, here's the tour of my yard.

Here are some tiles which do not make good stepping stones but it was better than stepping on dirt.  And there is one amorphous grey stepping stone.

Behind the shed are a dozen or so pavers keeping the weeds down, I guess.  This might be a better area for gravel and then I can move the pavers to a more useful place.

Here is a corner of the yard without pavers but plenty of rocks and some old railroad ties.  I want to expand the garden along the fence if I can keep it shaded.

I found these 3 concrete squares scattered around the side yard.  They started my scavenger hunt for useful materials.  I'm sure I can find a use for them.

I am trying out a paver as a stepping stone in this gate area which is a low part of the yard and floods when it rains.  I think I would have to add more and make a wide path in order to fix the problem.

Over by the RV gate, there are some scalloped edging pieces, straight and curved.  They are blocking the exit for any dog who is thinking about digging under.  I could replace these with rocks if I thought of a use for them.

More scalloped flat pieces that the previous residents used as pavers in front of the shed.

I have 5 of these wall blocks as well as numerous large rocks.

What shall we call these?  Basketweave pavers?  They are along the edge of the patio.  I'm not sure how I feel about them.

More scalloped pieces and a whole lot of rocks.

In the side yard, I think I found where the scalloped pieces are multiplying.  Maybe I can use them as edging around a raised garden bed.

I've been wanting to get this pot off the ground because the plant is getting stepped on.  I found a block and a stepping stone to go underneath.  It could probably go a little higher.

And lastly, a wide shot of the dogs' side of the yard.  Plenty of rocks and railroad ties.  Now I have some materials to work with so I can try out different configurations before I spend more money.  The trees are doing great and I love how much they grow every year.  One day this yard will be shady again, right about the time I sell the house and move!

Frozen Cactus

Work was so busy for a Friday and even worse because I took the afternoon off. I went to Home Depot again and bought some more things for the house including tubing to fix the drip system. I don't know if it can be saved but hopefully it can. Tomorrow, rain is in the forecast and Sunday's high is only supposed to be 48F. That is quite a change from the 78 degree weather we have been having.

When we had that cold spell a few weeks ago, it froze and killed a bunch of cactus. They say that the Saguaro cactus, the big tall ones, could be dead and we won't know for 5 years while they slowly decay. I have two baby saguaros on my property and I am hoping they didn't freeze. They are growing under their nurse trees which in this case are two Palo Verde trees. They call them nurse trees because they protect the baby cactus when they are young but the cactus grow so slowly that the tree dies before the cactus gets big enough to reach the branches. That's what I read anyway. I hope the nurse trees protected my baby saguaros.

My big Prickly Pear cactus screen in front of my mobile home has finally died. It was big and healthy when I bought the place back in 2002. But drought and then too much rain have caused the bloated arms to fall off. The freeze killed off the last living bits. I'm not sure what I will replace it with. I would love to build a covered porch on that side of the mobile home. It is the south side and the sun beats in the sliding door in the Summer.

Those are all projects for later when the rental house is finished and rented and the mortgage is gone.

Giving Up On Gardening

Every year I attempt to grow something here in the desert and most times I fail. The only time I was moderately successful was when I landscaped the back of my house and added a drip system. Out here in the 'wilderness' where my RV is parked, there are numerous problems including water, birds, squirrels, dogs, pack rats...and on and on. For 3 years in a row I have tried to grow tomatoes. Last year I got a few and they were really good except for the thick skin. This year my tomato plant hasn't produced any fruit at all. I looked it up on the internet and read that some tomato plants won't set fruit if the temperature is over 90 degrees. I must have bought one of those types then because it has tons of blossoms and no tomatoes. That's what I get for buying from Target's 99 cent plant sale. My Mom said she had the same problem last year. They tried blossom set and everything to no avail.

My zucchini have produced small 4 inch fruits but then they shrivel. Now something is eating them. I think it's a bird. When I go on vacation this year I think I won't bother asking anyone to water for me. If they don't make it there's really no loss. Just one less watering chore. The only plant that I still have any hope for is the little strawberry plant that is under there somewhere.

When these plants have finished pretending that they are vegetable plants, I think I will buy a dwarf orange tree to go in my big pot. I got a Home Depot gift card for my birthday. Oranges trees need to be covered for the few winter days that dip below freezing but other than that I think they will be ok. Maybe in a year or 2 I can get some oranges. Gardening isn't supposed to be this depressing, it's supposed to be relaxing and rewarding! Oh well, I won't give up totally, I'll just change tactics.

A Free Gift From The Clouds

This unexpected storm has continued to gently shower me with rain all day today. I didn't expect to collect much water since it was such a light rain but when I checked the tanks tonight they had collected 500 gallons! Woohoo!


I have plenty of water now and I didn't have to haul it from somewhere else or pay to have it delivered.


They are even predicting that the monsoons this summer will be earlier and wetter than normal. I believe the official start date for the monsoons is July 15th so that is 8 weeks away. Now I have 1,200 gallons of water and I only use around 50 gallons a week. That means I can give my trees lots of water over the next 8 weeks and not worry about not having enough for doing laundry.

When I was checking my water tanks I saw my first Desert Willow blooms from my baby tree.

The flowers can be pink to dark purple. I was hoping for dark purple but these are pretty too.

Don't Do As I Do

This is not a sanitary idea and most likely isn't legal so I can't recommend it to anyone but...my baby mesquite tree was looking very sad. No new growth at all this spring and the few leaves that were left from last year were turning yellow and falling off. I was hoping that my baby trees would be established enough this year so that they wouldn't need extra water but nope, they aren't big enough yet. Since I don't have a lot of extra water to spare (I rely on rainwater for everything except drinking and cooking water) I decided to unhook my RV drain so that my grey water (water from the sinks and shower) goes to my Mesquite tree.

I've been doing this for a week now and today I noticed many, many new leaves sprouting all over it.


I am glad. I was afraid it was dying. Well, I guess it was dying.

What makes this an unsanitary set up is that the grey water and black water (for the toilet) share an outlet hose. I have the black water tank closed and I only have to empty it once a month. It will be simple to hook the hose back up to the septic outlet for that chore. The bacteria that does escape out on to the soil when I disconnect it again probably won't live very long. After all, it is supposed to be 100 degrees here tomorrow. They say that grey water shouldn't be used for fruit trees. I suppose that is because fruit can fall on the ground and get dirty. My Mesquite will be a shade tree when it grows up so I don't see a problem.

I fastened a crude cover for the drain out of window screen so that nothing can decide to crawl up it.


I keep all the plugs for the inside drains closed just in case. I suppose ants could still get up the drain if they really wanted to. When the temps get over 100 critters start getting desperate for water. Who knows what they will do.

Anyway, that is my desperate attempt to revive my baby tree. I bought these trees through my local electric company. They have a program which provides shade trees at a discount rate to help lower electric bills. My Desert Willow and Ironwood are doing well with the occasional bucket of laundry water. I can't wait to see what color my Desert Willow flowers are. Maybe in a month it will give me a clue. Whatever permanent habitation I end up putting on my property, whether it be site built, manufactured, or just rehabing the old mobile home, I definitely want to have a grey water system so that I can grow my own desert oasis with very little water.

Tucson Innovative Home Tour Highlights

I am back from the second day of the Innovative Home Tour. I'm tired again but I thought I would post some pictures of the houses that I saw.

The first house was made out of Rastra block. Rastra is concrete and styrofoam balls formed in to blocks with hollow centers. Once the walls are stacked concrete is poured down the holes to unify the wall. This kind of wall has a higher insulation value than plain concrete block. I'm not going to go in to the technical details, you can look that up yourself.

The owner installed solar panels on the roof which generate enough power for heating and cooling. They had a neat wall mounted air conditioner (I forgot to take a picture. It mounts high on the wall and only needs a very small vent, unlike the window air conditioners that have to be half way outside. (That would be perfect for my shed house)


The picture above shows the Rastra block in their storage room. It can be covered in wallboard or painted.


This house also used Rastra but the neat thing about it was the polished concrete floors and the concrete countertops. I like the concrete counter tops and they are cheaper than solid granite but I think if I build a house I will use granite tiles for my countertops.


This house was brand new and for sale. The project was a downtown in-fill development. The architect used adobe blocks that were left exposed on some walls. It was a very nice house. They used Brazilian quartz for the countertops! Definitely out of my price range. I think the price was around $700,000.


This one was spotlighting water saving techniques and xeriscape. They made there own 500 gallon water collection tank and connected it to their gutters. Then they dug large basins in their yard and filled them with mulch and planted fruit trees and vegetables.


The rainwater is directed to the basins to water the plants. They also use their laundry water to water the plants. They added 2 other pipes to their laundry plumbing. One went to their peach tree, one to their apricot tree and the other to the sewer when they didn't need any extra water. They also bought special laundry detergent so that the plants did not get too much salt. Digging basins for my garden and fruit trees is something I would really like to do. Maybe next year I will rent a bobcat tractor and do some digging.


This house is built with strawbales. It has a living room and kitchen with one bedroom and a bathroom downstairs and a loft upstairs that is used as a second bedroom.


The ceiling is very high making it feel like a much bigger house. The owner used natural plasters inside and did most of the work herself with some help from friends.

This is her solar hot water heater. Basically a black tank under glass.

The floors are a mix of clay and linseed oil. I don't remember all of the ingredients but they were as hard as cement and very natural looking.

The outside is covered in an earthen plaster as well. The wood peckers enjoy pecking holes in it. She said she will have to apply a layer of stucco to discourage the birds.

Those are the houses that I saw yesterday. I saw more houses today but I haven't downloaded the pictures yet. I wish I had another day off of work. My weekend flew by.

When The Economy Gets Shaky, Stick To The Plan

I try not to dwell too much on the news. I can't control much of what is going on. The best thing I can do is to stick to my plan...no extra spending, pay down the mortgage, keep my job, keep expenses low.

Another week of work is about to begin and I have a bad attitude. I have to keep reminding myself that it is my job that will enable me to pay off my rental house and retire early. That will only happen if I don't quit early.

Here's what I did this weekend to amuse/frustrate myself instead of spend money.

I attempted to complete my airbrushed flames project.


I wasn't completely happy with it so I watched the Flames video again and ended up painting over it and trying it again 3 more times. Now I am completely frustrated. I had to stop before I tested the motorcycle tank cover's aerodynamic abilities. Maybe I'll try again next weekend.

And now for my usual chores. I filled my RV water tank with filtered rainwater from my collection tanks.


I did my plumbing-less laundry by hauling buckets of water to my washing machine.


I used the wash water to water my baby trees.


I defrosted my freezer and threw out all of the ice blocks that were once edible food.

Before:

After:

Now I know exactly how much food I have. I thought I had a lot more but frozen shriveled hamburger buns and veggie burger ice blocks from last March really don't count as 'food'.

My RV fridge seemed to be cooling well at first. The freezer side freezes but the fridge side hasn't dropped below 50°F. I was just thinking how nice it would be to have all of my food in my RV instead of half of it next door in the mobile home. I could use the RV freezer and ignore the fact that the fridge side won't get cold or I could shut it off and go back to the way it was with my freezer food next door. What I am not going to do is pay the RV repairman $80 to show up and $70/h! If I have to buy a new RV fridge on the day before I sell this RV then that's what I will do (we are talking about over $2,000 for a new one). My mini fridge works just fine for now.

Planting Shade Trees To Lower The Electric Bill

I planted 2 of the 3 baby trees that I bought through the electric company. I had to promise to plant them within 15 feet of the house on the south, west or east side. I only had room on the west side so that's there they went. They should grow pretty fast. I took out some cactus and lots of weeds and made my path bigger. I need to do a little more work so that it looks nicer but I had to stop for the day because it was too hot. I have one more tree to plant, the Desert Ironwood. It is smaller than the other two and grows much slower. I don't have to plant that one close to the house (only 2 trees have to be planted within 15 feet) so I found another spot where an Ocotillo plant had died. The previous owner made a rock ring around it so all I have to do is remove the dead branches and I will already have a little showcase for my tree. Then I will need to remove more weeds and shrubs so I have a clear place to walk. It's hard to carry heavy buckets of water, avoid twisting my ankle on the rocks and watch out for rattlesnakes hiding in the brush at the same time.
This is my Desert Willow tree. I left the aloe plants around the bottom to keep the ground cool and help collect water. I still need to pull out the grass that has grown among the aloe. I wanted to plant the trees close to my other potted plants which are on the other side of the green house since I haul water to them already. I'll be hauling 3 times as much water now. These new trees are drought tolerant so I won't have to water them except in the driest months after they are established. The leaf tips of the Desert Willow were drooping after I planted it but it perked up again after I gave it two buckets of water. That's a good sign.

The Mesquite tree is supposed to be a very fast grower. I hear the foliage gets too dense if given too much water and then the wind blows them over. I doubt my tree will get too much water. This tree will shade my RV if I haven't sold the RV by then. It might take 5 years for it to grow big enough for shade.

So, 2 trees planted, one to go. Maybe I'll plant the other tonight when it cools off or if the clouds come back. I would love it if it rained. Not too much just a nice gentle rain.

Baby Trees Are Here

I love my trees. I ordered baby trees from Trees For Tucson through the local electric company TEP. There is also a tree program through the other electric company-Trico for those who have it. Even though the tree application said it would take a month for the trees to arrive, I mailed my check on Friday and they arrived the next Thursday (today). I am thrilled. Since they are early I haven't dug the holes yet but hopefully they will be ok until Saturday when I have time to dig.

I got 3 trees. A Mesquite which should grow to 30 feet, a Desert Willow which grows about 20 feet and a Desert Ironwood, I think it gets 30 feet also but it grows much slower than the other 2. I hope to replace some Cholla cactus with one or two of the trees. I have enough Cholla and not enough trees. All of the trees produce seed pods so I can plant more trees from the seeds. I wanted to get some trees started now because it takes so long for them to grow and I am not sure where my house will be built exactly. Then when I want to landscape around my house I can just dig up some of my own baby trees and plant them near the house. It's worth a try. I have time but not a lot of money so I might as well make the best of it.

Discount Trees From The Electric Company

Out here in the desert we are encouraged to plant native shade trees. One way they do this is to offer discount trees from the local electric company. I pay $8 for a 3 foot, low water use tree and promise to plant it so that it will shade my house and lower my electric bills. I used this program last year to get a Desert Willow tree for the backyard of my house and I loved that tree. It grew very fast and the flowers were so pretty.

Now that I am living out here on my property I need more trees. I have been gathering seeds and baby trees from friends but I want to speed up the process a little. Since I have $60 of fun money (from my grocery gift card purchase yesterday) I think I will use some of it to buy trees. I want a Desert Willow, a Mesquite (hopefully thornless but not guaranteed), and an Ironwood. They will grow fast and soon produce more seeds so I can plant more and more and more! I can grow my own little desert forest!

Right now is a good time to get the little trees because I have plenty of water and it will rain often. Next year they won't need much water at all.

What's Growing In The Mini-Garden

So far my little container garden is doing well. I started them off in my green house and moved them out to the kiddie pool when it got too hot. The peas didn't do too well. I think it is too hot for them already. The tomato plant really took off. It must be four times the size in just a month, and there are little tomatoes too. The sunflowers are good so far but they wilt if I don't keep the water level up. I fill the pool with 3-4 cans of recycled washing machine water twice a week.
The poplar tree babies are growing and the zucchini is still alive. The poor strawberry would love to spread it's roots but I don't have a permanent place for it yet. I think I only got 6 berries this year. The other red and Mexican bird of paradise and fairy duster are plugging along. They might be the only things that make it through the summer.

I am looking forward to tomatoes the most. I would like zucchini but I don't expect them to survive. I think everyone else can grow zucchini except me. Someday I will have a real garden plot with shade and protection from the critters. Until then I will have to make do with my kiddie pool garden and rejoice in the small victories (if there are any).

Another Chore Off My List

I had some leftover river rock from my backyard landscaping project at my rental house a year and a half ago. I hauled it out to my RV and stored it in some trash cans. If I ever had to live in my RV permanently (like now) I would use it to make a path so that I don't track in mud when it rains. I have put this project off for a long time. One of the trash cans I was using decided that it couldn't hold it together anymore and split in two places. Everyday more and more rock had spilled out and I knew I had to do something before it was all wasted. Plus, next weekend is supposed to be in the 90's so this was one of the last 70 degree weekends to get outdoor chores done.

I managed to load the back of my truck with paving brick before it got too hot today and then, when the front of the RV was shaded around 4:30, I laid out all the pavers. It took quite a while. I had to dig in to the rocky soil when the pavers got close to where my truck was parked because I would be running over them everyday. Then I spread the rock around the edges. Hopefully when it rains(probably not until July) I will be able to stay mud-free on the trek from RV to truck and truck to RV. Until I get a house with attached garage this will have to do.