Rain

It's been raining and fairly cold (as Phoenix goes) for the past few days, so I haven't gotten much accomplished. The grass in the pathways is dormant and brown and more of the yard is in shadow more of the day. Some of the beans appear to be frost-nipped, although it hasn't actually gotten below freezing. Most of the deciduous fruit trees have dropped their leaves, the asparagus fronds are yellowing, and the tomatoes I planted in large pots as an experiment...well, let's just say they are surviving and leave it at that. I only planted one pony pack of broccoli this year, and I picked that (and enjoyed eating it my favorite way, roasted with a little olive oil and a squeeze of fresh lemon)

We like rain in the desert, and will take all we can get whenever we can get it. It's better for the plants; our tap water here is very hard and salt damage is a major problem in the summer because we have to rely mostly on irrigation. A good rain helps leach all that stuff away from the plant's roots. This time of year, it's also fun to go out and see all the different wildflowers that have begun sprouting. It is not so fun to see all the different weeds that also prefer to germinate in cool, moist soil.