The summers here have been hot. I often walk around my neighborhood and take photos of all the dying trees. This my “Dead Tree Project” which I started in 2023 when I started documenting the effects on local vegetation after 54 days above 115F (46.1C) degrees this summer in Phoenix, Arizona. Dystopian bus stop. ThisContinue reading “Dying Trees”
Category Archives: desert
Desert Spring
It’s spring here in the Sonoran Desert. Here are some photos I snapped at the Phoenix Desert Botanical Garden. Enjoy your day! My books Memory Road Trip (e-book or paperback) and Time Traveled (e-book or paperback) are both available! You can also find them at most major international book sites.
No More Garden Salads For Me
It’s official. I’ve finally given up on growing salad greens in the desert. This year was the absolute worst. It stayed too hot for too long this October. I usually harvest my first batch of salad greens by the end of November. However, I had nothing growing this year, and it wasn’t for a lackContinue reading “No More Garden Salads For Me”
Garden Birds
A small collection of photos documenting the birdies that visit my garden. The Mourning Dove finally figured out how to jump onto the brick to get to the new seed dishes. I used to just scatter the seeds directly on the rocks since they are ground feeders, but it makes such a mess and theyContinue reading “Garden Birds”
Getting Ready for the Freeze
Garden update: January 8, 2024 It’s not unusual for the Sonoran Desert to experience an occasional freeze. Luckily, I work in a hospital and get to come home with loads of (unused) paper sheets. The amount of waste in the hospital is daunting, so I try my best to recuse/recycle whenever I can. These sheetsContinue reading “Getting Ready for the Freeze”
Welcome to the New Normal
As I write this, there have been 133 days this year when the high temperature reached at least 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.7C) in Phoenix, Arizona. It last reached at least 100° F on October 21, 2023, which is fairly late in the year for such a temperature to be achieved. In 2020, Phoenix that number was a whopping 144 days over 100Continue reading “Welcome to the New Normal”
How to Lay a Flagstone Path
Hello! In this post I’m going to show you how to lay a flagstone path whether you wanted to learn or not! First off, it’s proper to imagine that you’re starting with a weedy back yard that needs some serious taming. For lesson purposes, let’s imagine your yard looking something like this: The first thingContinue reading “How to Lay a Flagstone Path”
Desert Vegetable Garden
I used to want to be an urban farmer. Heck. I just told a lie. I still want to be an urban farmer, but the reality that I live in a desert has finally set in. (Water, Or The Lack Thereof) I always knew that water was a precious resource, but I figured a smallContinue reading “Desert Vegetable Garden”
Tales From the Garden
My yard is my happy place. I have learned a lot by watching my garden grow. A new theme for me this year is to document the change of seasons as they occur in my garden. Pictured above is an African Daisy I grew in my garden last spring. It was one of the survivorsContinue reading “Tales From the Garden”
Aridification
Definition: The gradual change of a region from a wetter to a drier climate. The American West is drying out. I live in one of the states where this is a concern, but most people I know aren’t talking about it. It’s almost as though people don’t want to know that water is depleting. As longContinue reading “Aridification”
Krista Marson 