Container Gardening:  Grow Your Own Food!

(even if you live in a tiny studio)

"One square foot garden unit measuring 4ft x 4ft -- only 16 sq ft -- will produce enough high-quality vegetables to feed one person every day." 

                                                                  -  JourneytoForever.Org

This is just one of the amazing facts you'll learn about "square-foot gardening" at

http://journeytoforever.org/garden.html.  If you can put a pot there, you can grow food!  Even without soil!  This great site will show you how you can grow food in tiny areas with simple, low-cost materials. 

Even if you can't grow everything you need, you'll still save money on food and the vegetables you grow will taste way better than anything they sell in the supermarket these days!

Growing Vegetables in Arizona

The AZ Master Gardener Manual is a must read if you're growing a vegetable garden in Arizona. 

Vegetable Planting Dates for Phoenix, Arizona:  http://myweb.cableone.net/tfcox/zone2.html

Monthly Garden Calendar for Phoenix, Arizona: http://myweb.cableone.net/tfcox/z2feature.htm

Growing Tomatoes

Have you noticed how expensive tomatoes are in the stores these days?  And how tasteless and hard?  Arizona allows you have tomatoes for most of the year. 

The AZ Master Gardener Manual page on growing tomatoes in Arizona.  Excellent info.

Another detailed site on Growing Tomatoes in the Arizona Deserts with photographs.

Power Tomatoes!  (for a sustainable agricultural revolution)  A simple scientific system developed by some good people at the USDA's Agricultural Research Service.  They'll even send you a free brochure! 

And a great list of sites on growing tomatoes.  More than you ever wanted to know probably....

Buying Seeds for Your Vegetable Garden

Victory Seeds sells both heirloom and open-pollinated seeds that you can save from year to year.  Please read about the importance of heirloom seeds for they are key to preserving the diversity of the seed stock available to us all.  Victory Seeds also provides an excellent guide to seed saving.

http://www.victoryseeds.com/catalog/index.html

NativeSeeds.org is a nonprofit organization that seeks to preserve crop seeds that connect Native American cultures to their lands.  NativeSeeds.org sells seeds and many other items that make great gifts (you'll also be supporting a good cause).

http://www.nativeseeds.org/v2/cat.php?catID=1

The Cook's Garden offers a fine selection of organic vegetables and herbs.  If you cook, you'll love the detailed descriptions and photos of these vegetables!

Natural Pest Control

If you plant it, they will come.  Insects, that is....  To keep insects away from your precious vegetable garden your best approaches are to grow various plants that repel these insects or use other insects to protect your plants. 

Natural Garden Pest Control:  "Natural pest control is less expensive than buying and applying pesticides, and it's safer for your garden, natural wildlife and the environment." 

                                                                                           - EarthEasy.com

Learn about batural pest control here:

http://www.eartheasy.com/grow_nat_pest_cntrl.htm

EarthEasy.com also has pages about Natural Insect Pest Control and Natural Slug Control as well as a slew of other great gardening tips.

You don't have to scrounge about to recruit your insects:  Buy them online!  (Please note that I have no experience with these suppliers.  Feedback is welcome!)

GrowQuest:  Buy praying mantids and ladybugs and more!  They also specialize roses and large trees, which they will ship to you.

http://www.growquest.com/praying_mantis_page.htm

Rosemania's Beneficial Insects seems more expensive than GrowQuest but they also have praying mantids, ladybugs and other protector insects.

http://www.rosemania.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/page29.html

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