Sensual Northwest Glass meets the Rugged Southwest

I must admit that when I moved to the Phoenix area, it never occurred to me that I’d have the chance to see a major exhibit of a Northwestern artist’s work like back home.  And yet, Dale Chihuly has partnered with the Desert Botanical Garden of Phoenix to bring his brilliant works to the Valley of the Sun.  Set among the thousands of types of cacti, succulents, trees, and scrub are twenty some different installations.  This is his second exhibition at the DBG; his first was back in 2008 and was called “The Nature of Glass. ”  Given the myriad ways solid plant forms, translucent glass and light interact in the three dimensions, mere pictures cannot convey all there is to see, if one is able to see the works in person and at different times of day.  But I wanted to give my friends a look at the surprising beauty of these very different worlds.  If I am able to go back for a night visit and take shots worth posting, I may do a follow up, and if you can see it in person, definitely do so, but for now, here’s a look at the Desert Botanical Garden’s “Chihuly in the Garden” (November 10, 2013 – May 18, 2014). 

Desert Towers (2008)

Sapphire Star (2010)

Blue Fiori Sun (2013)

Citron and Yellow Fiori (2013)

Citron and Yellow Fiori (2013)

Octopus Cactus and little Agave plants

Left to right, Asymetrical Scarlet Tower and Asymetrical Yellow Tower (2005)

Red Reeds (2013)

Prickly Pears and a young, armless saguaro among the Red Reeds installation

A great mix of shapes, plants and glass

Neodymium Reeds(2013)

Black Niijima Floats (2013)

Yellow Herons (2007)

Massive Cardon cacti from New Mexico, dwarfing the nearby building

Summer Sun (2010)

A Roadrunner looking for crumbs at the Patio Cafe

Jade and Crimson Thorns (2013)

Bobbi among the clumps of Organ Pipe Cactus

Papago Buttes about a half mile (kilometer) away

Located on the Garden Butte, the 26 panels of Desert Neon (2013) light up at night in bright yellow, red, green and orange shapes

Black and White Reeds and Fiori (2013)

Black and White Reeds (2013) among the creosote bush and cactus, Papago Buttes in the distance

Scarlet and Yellow Icicle Tower (2013)

Blue Crystals and the bow of Sonoran Boat (both 2013)

Sonoran Boat (2013)

White Belugas (2013) is set amidst what looks at first glance to be driftwood, but which is in fact the skeletal remains of saguaros

Olive Reeds (2013) and a young saguaro

A nice little seating area with a small fountain

Yellow Reeds (2013) as the sun nears the horizon

Yellow Reeds (2013)

Cattails (2013) and Pickly Pear cactus and yuccas

Cattails (2013) set among yuccas and agave

Multicolored Polyvitro Chandelier and Tower (both 2005)

White Tower (1997)

Erbium Pink Fiori (2013) near, White Tower (1997) far

Totem Pole Cactus

Creeping Devil

Sapphire Star at sunset

Leaving at sunset, the Desert Towers (2008) are now lit by spot lights

Cotton Harvest Comes to the Valley of the Sun

One surprise of moving to the Phoenix area was discovering that cotton is a major business for Arizona.  I had only heard of cotton connected to the Southern states back east, but around here, fields seem to be primarily alfalfa or cotton (or perhaps corn, during the height of summer).  Most of the cotton is farmed in the south-central portion of the state where there is lots of heat.  In 2006, the most recent year I found data for, the National Cotton Council reports that the state’s farmers produced 273mil lbs of the white fluff, at a value of $138.96mil!  Since I’m guessing most of my Northwestern friends are as unfamiliar as I am with cotton production, I decided to take some pictures and put together a little info on it.

Here is a picture of a plant with both ripe and ripening bolls (the “pods” where the white fluff and seeds develop).  The typical plant seems to be about 2-2.5 feet (0.6-0.8m) tall.

Early morning, looking on a cotton field tucked in among the urban creep of housing developments here in Goodyear.

These John Deere pickers had finished this more rural field and were being cleaned up before heading to the field above.

A couple of hours later, the harvesters are in full swing. In the distance is a picker, while up close a tractor is tilling the remains of the stalks into the soil.

This massive bin is being filled with the cotton and is compacting it into a gigantic block using hydraulics.  A finished block of this size may weigh 20,000lbs (10 tons, or 9,000 kilos).

Here is a row of finished blocks, from the early morning field.  You can see chunks of stray cotton left in the dirt.

Later, semi trucks will pick up these massive bales and take them to a cotton gin for processing. Once at the facility, the fluff will be separated from the seeds and any debris and compressed into smaller bales, weighing around 480lbs (217kg), then sent off to mills for processing into commercial goods like fabric and batting.  The seed can be used for growing more cotton, of course, but it is generally sent to an oil mill where it is crushed to yield cottonseed oil for cooking and use in processed foods.  Once the oil is extracted, the seeds are ground into cottonseed meal, which can be fed to livestock, or used as a fertilizer. 

Cotton does not suffer from the heat of the southwest, but it is not a low water use plant and fields must be kept irrigated.  It takes nine months to grow, and depending on the markets, more money can be made raising other crops.  Additionally, the urban sprawl has reduced overall farmland available.  But for now, cotton remains a part of the Valley landscape and the local economy.

Playing in the Dirt

One of my cheap thermometers. The high temp occurred during the cooler part of the day, when the sun was directly on it and raising it far above ambient!

We have mostly moved in, which means I am finally able to do more of the nerdy data collection and experimentation I am so fond of.

Here are some thermo discoveries. First, I have three high/low/current-temperature thermometers which I have been recording from and using to experiment with changes in sun exposure around the three yards. Day number one let me know that an object sitting in the direct sun, on top of crushed rock mulch, with a southern exposure stucco wall for backdrop, WILL reach 147°F (about 64°C) even tho ambient temperature is 40°F (22°C) cooler (revealed by thermometer sitting in the shade of the patio all day). Can we say, “plants will be desiccated in a matter of a few hours”?! Eeek! I set up partial shade and discovered that cut the extra heat down to “only” 20° over ambient. Full shade on the south brought the temp equal to ambient on the north and east sides. Considering that direct sun is about +40° over the expected high, and summer highs can break 120°F, I now know only the hardiest trees stand a chance, and no self-respecting (food bearing!) shrub or plant will survive without shade. Which means either the area goes dormant every summer, until trees can grow large enough to shade the site, or sun fabric will have to be used.

In other events, I finally got to use my soil probe to see how deeply I could water our sad Chinese Elm (on the northern side of the house). After going on six hours of the drip system spraying a small stream of water, I could only get the probe down to a depth of approximately two feet. I dug a one foot hole and ran errands for a few hours, came back and there was still water in the hole and the probe would go no further than before. So, I dug further, concerned there might be a layer of hard pan (caliche) at the two foot mark. I did not find an even layer of that stuff. Instead I found a 2″ (5cm) copper pipe a couple inches above an unyielding layer of gravel.  Doesn’t make sense to me.  Which means, further digging is needed to figure out if this layer can be broken through or if it is solid. As for the pipe, it heads for the control box down by the street and is probably our water supply.  Definitely need to figure out where it makes the turn for the house, so I can take that into account when dreaming up the landscape! 😀

Soil probe in the mud

Remaining water a few hours later

The hole and the direction of the copper pipe indicated by the soil probe

It’s Ours!

Yes, the legalities have been finalized, so we are official residents of another HOA, this time in Buckeye, Arizona.  It was over 100 today, so I spent some time soaking my feet in the pool.  They obviously haven’t bothered watering the yard in at least a couple of weeks, so the patch of grass shown in previous pictures is so dead now that when you walk on it, it disintegrates into crumbles reminiscent of the sweepings left on the ground after haybales have been moved.  The sod rolls obviously were grown using VERY clayey soil, as they have become rock-hard slabs with the roots embedded in them like they were adobe bricks.  I’m moderately annoyed that the seller basically cut the water to the plants off as soon as they realized they had a buyer (ah, business…!) but then I am loathe to waste thousands of gallons of water on a patch of useless greenery, and this will make it easier to remove it in favor of something WORTH growing, so…. (shrug)  

As for my homesteading goals, those keep on a-truckin’.  I’m studying using earthworks to maximize any rain and what irrigation is used (thanks to a book by the previously mentioned Brad Lancaster).  And looking further into the plants that will produce the most (foods and or shade) for the least (water and fertilizer, etc.).  City-boy and I even attended a class on raising rabbits for protein, taught by Hostile Hare, offered through the Valley Permaculture Alliance.  Whether having bunnies would fly with the HOA or not remains to be seen; I will have to actually contact these guys.  Sadly, GENERALLY speaking, HOAs hate anyone who does anything out of the ordinary, even when it has no real impact on others, but ESPECIALLY if they think it will result in someone somewhere having fun.  I mean, it lowering their property values.  (sigh)  It sucks that you can’t seem to buy a decent house that is NOT in the middle of the godforsaken realm of middle-managing, Big Brother Associations without giving up some conveniences.  But then, some of us do believe freedom trumps convenience.  NEXT time, we buy in the country! (don’t remind me I said that when we sold the condo…)  😉

So, there’s what’s up in the land of cacti and high heat.  Happy beginning of June, y’all!

Water Matters

Earlier this week I visited the Buckeye City Hall, in search of a plot plan for our new property.  While no plot plan remained on record, I had a good chat with one of the girls working there.  I discovered that, per Arizona State law, our HOA can NOT, in fact, tell us where we “have to” place solar panels should we decide to install them.  They can voice their opinions, but that is all they can do.  Not that they don’t try to make it sound like you are at their whims.  But bluster and authority aren’t the same thing.  Thankfully!

While there, I discovered the city works departments were going to have an info-fair today near our housing division, so I got myself there mid-day and picked up a bunch of handy publications on landscaping with low-water plants, the sanitation and street sweeper schedules, information regarding various services AND managed to sign up to do some volunteer work for the parks dept. whenever they get around to having “community project” events.  This last bit seemed like a good way to begin to get to know the community and some people, and I do like helping make things look nice. 🙂  I also discovered that there are water-credits to be had for using HE front-loading washers, so I will look further into that.  We have to buy a washer to use anyway, so why not get a credit from the city for doing what we were already planning to do anyway?  😀

In an effort to decrease the pool’s impending water-sucking season, I hit a pool supply store, looking for some kind of cover.  Ultimately, they recommended a solution that is supposed to create a single-molecule layer on the water surface, cutting down on evaporation.  You have to add it weekly, but one $30 bottle lasts two months.  Considering that one of the pool guys said pools can lose 3″ of water a day during the summer, it seems like a good thing to cut down on evaporation!  Not that the locals seemed to think it was important; one noted the extra cost of a pool during the summer is only about $30 a month.  And yet I’ve heard other locals say 4″ is often the yearly amount of rainfall (that goes up to 6″ in a good year), and there is no river nearby to draw water from.  Which tells me, these guys are thinking with their wallets not their brains, water is undervalued by the water municipality, and I will be making an effort to conserve a resource they are taking for granted.  If I am going to “spend” water, I want it to do more for me than keep a pool filled. 😉

Tedious Progress

Yes, that seems to sum up the efforts of the past week or so. Handfuls of paperwork were requested by the loan folks and turned in by us, the appraisal came in at value, the seller agreed to see to the few requests we made after the inspection, and the process continues.

Since the landscaping angle is more fun than the paperwork, I’ll give a brief update there. I measured the north side yard more carefully and plotted it on graph paper. I took more notes on direction of prevailing winds and shaded areas, for future reference when choosing what plants and features to put where. The seller had a landscaper out who trimmed a few things well, cut the low branches on the elm (not quite as well), and for some unknown reason sawed down to the ground the oleander that was NOT up against the garage. I can’t say I was attached to the oleander, but reasonless butchering of a healthy, beautiful plant just offends my sense of decency. I have been told that it will probably regrow from the roots without trouble, but that just makes the butchery even harder to understand. Oh, well! I also took two more dirt samples. Again, the amount of clay and silt differed, but sand with 1/4 to 3/4 inch rocks seems to account for over half of the volume in the side yards, which is even more than in the first two samples from the back yard. None have any organic matter to speak of, but that is normal for a desert.

We received a cd from the HOA, along with the “we will abide by this” contract. In reading the Architectural Committee section, updated 2011, I was happy to see that they do NOT require pre-authorization of backyard landscaping, you just can’t use any of a half dozen listed banned plants. You can (generally) put in whatever hardscaping you want, as well–as long as it is not taller than the 6′ high fence. Their rules for installing solar panels seem a little intrusive but probably liveable. And it seems that gutters MAY be installed; I’m still not sure if they will accept the water going into barrels or holding tanks, rather than letting it run off. That will require clarification. But it’s at least a start.

So, there is an update! 😀

Quick Look at the Backyard

The back of the house from the Eastern wall. The yard is wedge shaped and isn’t aligned to the four compass points. Approximately, the eastern wall is 92′ long, the southern wall 70,’ the western side 52,’ and the northern wall is 41′ long.

The pool, to the south-east of the patio. A little under 4′ at the shallow end,  5.5′ at the deep end.  And yes, that funny rock pile is a built in fountain.

Weird patch of grass in front of the patio. It seems to be resting on a clayey soil as it drains slowly.

Soil samples from two different places in the yard. Left, clay soil with lots of sand, almost no silt. Right, silty soil with little clay but lots of silt and substantial sand. Neither was easy to dig up! I shall be buying a pickaxe in the near future!

Inspections and Planning–It Begins!

Well, here we are, jumping in to purchase a new home.  The interior has obviously been newly remodeled (only a few tacky bits remain from the last person), and the yard minimally spiffed up.  Tomorrow we have an inspector going over everything to look for subtle problems with the house.  Since I may be there then, I will be doing what I care about: assessing the outdoors for suitability for growing both ornamental and productive vegetation!

A previous surveying mission on my part served to establish the plants we are inheriting: a 12′-tall Chinese Elm, a couple of 4′-tall pink Oleander shrubs, an Orange Jubilee climber by the front door, and a few lumps of a low-growing, fleshy shrub called “Boxwood Beauty” hugging the house next to the front walkway.  The only green in the backyard is a funky oval-shaped area with newly laid sod; everything else is concrete or decorative gravel.  I don’t know yet what I will do, but for now all plants have a stay of execution/removal. 😉

In the mean time, I have researched the soil types in this area with a national database of soil maps, and now I just need to do some hands-on exploration to clarify if this is sandy- or clayey-leaning dirt (the area contains both types, varying locally and sometimes depending on the depth you dig to!).  I am not outfitted to perform really detailed analysis, but even with my limitations I will have a better idea what my challenges are likely to be as I start playing with the dirt.

One great resource I’ve found for the Southwest is www.harvestingrainwater.com.  Brad Lancaster lives in Tucson and is very committed to sustainability and therefore managing consumption of water and energy (among other things!).  I am attempting to compile a “one page assessment” for the land, using criteria and suggestions he makes, so I can better decide what plants will do well and where on the property they should go.  Soils are one aspect, weather, solar angles through the year, and the micro-climates around the house are others to keep in mind, so tomorrow I will be taking notes on those things as best I can.

I will post pictures sometime in the near-ish future, and randomly share my discoveries and plans and schemes with y’all.  It will be a learning experience! 😀