On the Home Front

With just over a week until the big taller (workshop) that Prescott is hosting on "Legal Tools for Conservation," I have been running around like crazy to get everything done. I will be presenting a short talk on the birds of Estero Santa Cruz (and need to brush up on my spanish a bit!), and will be helping facilitate the round table discussions. Between that and my surveys I have been keeping  pretty busy, but I have had chance to start a small garden!


I love planting seeds and watching them turn into something you can eat! At first I was a bit skeptical of trying to grow veggies in the desert, but I've learned that it can be done. One of the more ambitious students from last semester planted a nice little garden at the station. When she returned to Prescott, she asked me to take care of it for her. I'm glad I did because it has provided me with many tasty salads (you can't buy much good lettuce here). Some of the other plants didn't do as well, but I think that has to do with the soil. Once these lettuce plants finish for the season, I will be fertilizing the soil, etc. so I can replant. I decided to start container gardening at my casita and transplant the vegetables to the bigger garden at the station once they are ready. It is really nice to use recycled materials (yogurt containers, bottles, etc.) that otherwise would be thrown out here  for growing plants. I have started beans, tomatoes, spinach, swiss chard, cucumber, and a bunch of herbs. Just last week they started to emerge.

On a quick Ocotillo note, the dog continues to be a source of  many frustrations, but also joy, and much entertainment. Here is just one example of him being himself... In these pictures he wanted to be near us so much, but with our little table there is no room for him next to our feet. He decided to crawl under the table

and slept up against the wall. Classic.