Gardening is the homey companion to cooking!

      There is a renewed and refreshing interest in things comforting: Sunday dinners; family night; gardening on a fresh, sunny morning; or pulling fragrant foods from the oven.  A new old-fashioned idea!  Cooking and gardening with your family.

       And it all can begin in the garden.

       The Herb Lady's gardens are located in the Valley of the Sun, Metropolitan Phoenix, Arizona. A seemingly arid and unforgiving desert known for its winter golf and blazing summers.  But in amongst the very normal lives of the Valleyites, there exists the very real urge to garden, and successfully!

       The primary consideration to gardening in the desert is knowing when to plant.  The soil conditions, water, placement, and sun requirements are necessary also to achieve what many outside the Valley believe impossible -- a year round garden -- in the desert.

        Unlike most of the rest of the USA our primary perennial planting season is not Spring but Fall-Winter - specifically October through February.

        And many plants, herbs in particular, go beyond seed packet expectations: Basil can be a 3 x 4 foot shrub; Sage can reach small shrub tree size; Lavenders and Scented Geraniums can be the driveway hedge row.

     Check out our gardening book "Edible Landscaping in the Desert Southwest: Wheelbarrow to Plate" - This book features a month-by-month planting guide, gardening tips and recipes. Order today, click here.

      To download a weather calendar from the AzCentral site click here. This is a helpful reference calendar that shows the prior year's temperatures for a specific month.  The current and immediately prior month are available.  Temperatures in the Valley can vary as much as 8 degrees depending on heat island effects.

What To Plant This Month, click here: