​DISTANce  ORGANIC VEGETABLE 
GARDENING​ Consulting​

HELP IN YOUR STATE BY E-MAIL & PHONE WITH GROWING FOOD
​BASED IN PHOENIX, ARIZOna Where Summer Temps Usually Reach 118 F and Winters are Mild

​FOR PHOENIX, SCOTTSDALE, aRIZONA, TEXAS, NEVADA, NEW MEXICO, CALIFORNIA, AND MORE

LEARN TO GROW FOOD ORGANICALLY EVEN IN CONTAINERS
wEBSITE IS lOADED WITH pHOTOGRAPHS | cOMPLIMENTARY bLOG FOR cUSTOMERS
​mORE Information, pHOTOS & vIDEOS FOR cUSTOMERS​

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~"I'm getting my Ph.D. in urban agriculture, and I've never seen a potted fruit and vegetable garden as impressive as yours. You should be in Phoenix Home & Garden magazine!"
A neighbor in 2021

​A NEIGHBOR IN 2021

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  ​(Glory to Jesus, our creator, for His designs including organic vegetable gardening itself which ​allows us to feed and nourish ourselves as simply as possible with natural materials!)

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"If I could, I would vote yours garden of the year! Seriously, you have it all going on!"
​A neighbor in January, 2019

​A NEIGHBOR IN 2021

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About ​How to Grow Food Organically in
a Somewhat Small Space (Read: Mostly Container Gardening) and in the Supremely Hot and Dry Low Desert Climate of Phoenix, Arizona (and of Maricopa County)

First, please note that my website is most easily navigated from a computer and looks better from one in some ways.

Whichever device you use, click any photograph within a row to open up a 5-photograph slideshow for that row to see bigger photographs from my organic vegetable gardens. You can learn a lot from my photographs and website content even if you are not yet ready to hire me as a consultant.

If using a phone, you have two options. First, turning your phone horizontally will allow you to see the layout I designed for computer viewing. Alternatively, with your phone positioned vertically as when holding it to your ear, wait for the large photos to load so that you can view them easily just by scrolling down the page.​

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"You've done a great job! Seriously, it's all beautiful!"
"​I love all of your plants!"
​Two neighbors in 2018 or 2019

​A NEIGHBOR IN 2021

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About Me

For those who want to read about how I got started with vegetable gardening and what motivates me, click the following images to be taken to those pages.

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"It's like a mini Amazon!" :)
A neighbor in 2019

​A NEIGHBOR IN 2021

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I Provide Phone and E-mail

Your Own Organic Vegetable Garden, Arizona
(PLUS NEVADA, TEXAS, NEW MEXICO, CALIFORNIA AND OTHER AREAS WITH COOL TO EXTREMELY HOT WEATHER)

 and my 
Private Organic Vegetable Gardening Blog
 for Customers ​Now Has 275 Posts! 

In-person Consulting may be available in Phoenix, Arizona
upon inquiry, but photographs and/or Videos should prevent the need. Much can be accomplished from a distance via phones and computers.
​​

PRICING​

 Pricing for my organic vegetable gardening consulting service
​is listed on this page.​

SHARE HERE

(Please note that consulting is presently only available to those in the United States.)

For my Organic Vegetable Gardening Consulting Customers

I have a private blog that is complimentary for consulting customers (those who sign up via the Consulting Options page) ​and loaded with photographs and bite-sized tips--tasty bits of my experience, research, techniques, observations, and more from over the last 5 years of organic vegetable gardening in Phoenix, AZ (the last two years have been almost exclusively container vegetable gardening) for helping you to decide what you want help with and to formulate your highest priority questions. The 275 posts on growing food organically should also reduce the amount of consulting that is needed and get the idea-wheel turning. One blog post contains consulting ideas/topics, and I've added a section below with some of those topics.​

 I recommend giving yourself time to read through the blog content before starting your own organic vegetable garden and contacting me with questions once you sign up for consulting.​​

A Few Consulting Ideas/Topics

The goal of my complimentary private blog + consulting is to greatly shorten the learning curve for you with details galore!

The following are some of the topics we can discuss for helping your own organic vegetable garden (container or in-ground) thrive:​
soil preparations
types of organic fertilizer, how much fertilizer to use
local suppliers, products
tips for buying online safely (there are risks that many don't know about)
what to plant, when to plant, and where to plant
how much to plant
plant dimensions
pruning
productive and fast growing varieties
whether to start from seed
how to start from seed
how I choose where to plant seeds
how much waiting time before harvest
when to harvest
how often do the plants produce food and in which seasons
flavor notes
plants that are the most/least insect- and disease-prone
disease and pest management
in-ground, raised bed, and container gardening
how much space the plants will need
heirlooms versus hybrids
varieties that have performed well for me
some pest insects and diseases to watch out for
beneficial insects to protect
how much water
when to water
how I decide where to plant seeds
how much sun or shade
how much heat and cold can the plants take
how to make trellises
which pots
saving seeds
organizing seeds
to mulch or not to mulch
hand watering tools I love
how to compost safely
vermicomposting aka earthworms
​

A Video Sample from my Blog as it was in 2022

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"I always look at your garden when I drive by, and I've been hoping to catch you while you are outside. I have a plant to give you!"
​A neighbor in 2018 or 2019

​A NEIGHBOR IN 2021

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Plus I Can Give Tips for Growing Food In-Ground

Most of the food I have grown has been in containers (yes, container gardening in the desert!), but at my last home, I also had a ​large raised bed for my organic vegetable garden. I've also done some research on edible plants best grown ​in-ground or that can't fit into my relatively small space. And while I grow a number of newer cultivars called hybrids (NEVER GMOs), ​my preference is usually heirlooms for the stability they offer.

​For those new to organic vegetable gardening, the best time to begin to grow your own food was several years ago, but now is second best. ​Even if you start with just one vegetable, herb, or fruit tree, you too can learn how to grow your own food in your own Phoenix, Arizona desert garden (yard) or in any other hot climate! Container gardening is one of the easiest ways to begin a vegetable garden, and you may never need a raised bed even if organic hot weather desert gardening--not just cool climate or cool weather gardening--is what you have in mind.

Starting your education and planning for the following year four or more months before spring (October or earlier) is ideal, but with the right elements in place, you can even start some things for a fall harvest in the heat of summer. For example, I'm now successfully starting heirloom tomatoes from SEED outdoors in dry 114 F Arizona weather, and my Phoenix summer garden just became much more exciting as homegrown and heirloom tomatoes provide an array of flavors not found at the grocery store.

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~"Your handmade shade structures held up to four monsoons [--some of which broke trees in half or uprooted them all over the city]. I watched them through my window, and they kept standing! You did a great job!"
​A neighbor in 2018 or 2019

​A NEIGHBOR IN 2021

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Making organic Vegetable gardening consulting more accessible

When I looked into it a couple of years ago before inflation took place, a number of vegetable gardening consulting services began with a roughly hour-long, in-person consultation of about $150 and then cost $50+ hourly after that, and not all of them had an organic focus. Additionally, most did not have a potted/container garden specialization, had not tested as many heirloom tomato cultivars, and did not have the specialization of hot and dry low desert vegetable gardening which has many challenges of its own including too few clouds to soften the sun's rays, too little rain, and supremely dry air.

​One of my goals is to help more people than can be helped with those types of consulting services—through e-mail and phone consulting which works for both locals and those outside of my immediate area of Phoenix, Arizona, plus reducing the amount of time spent driving reduces cost. 

As I have spent hundreds of hours researching answers to my questions and learning through trial and error, it is also a goal to save my customers much time, money, and effort! I’ve documented much along the way for sharing via computer.
​
My experience is with growing food organically—mostly potted and in a raised bed—in a supremely hot and dry, low desert climate (Zone 9B), but I can also help those in climates less hot than Phoenix, Arizona’s 105-118ish-degree summers, and I’ve done some research on plants best grown in-ground or that can’t fit into my relatively small space.
​

PRICING​

Pricing for my organic vegetable gardening consulting service is listed on this page.

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"This woman kept her plants alive this summer!"​
​A neighbor in 2018 or 2019 bragging to her family as they went for a walk

​A NEIGHBOR IN 2021

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"One of our neighbors on October 31 loved your garden and said she wants to come talk with you about your plants."​
​A neighbor in 2019

​A NEIGHBOR IN 2021

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​​e.g., Texas, Nevada, California, New Mexico, and other parts of Arizona

Though supremely hot and dry low desert gardening is what I have the most experience with, I can also help those in climates less hot than Phoenix, Arizona's ​103-122ish-degree ​summers enjoy organic vegetable gardening and growing food for oneself ​only or perhaps as part of a community of family and friends ​who each grow ​their ​own ​types of food and share the surplus.

Some of the many foods I have grown (mostly in containers) that are photographed in this section follow: cherries, sweet peppers, a first blackberry, cherry tomatoes, melons, guavas, buttternut squash, a vegetable that is similar to green beans, cactus fruit, kiwano melon, figs, kumquats, tomatillos, sage, carrots, a super sweet squash, a delicious spinach substitute, thyme, carrots, beets with mild edible leaves, olive tree, and nopales which are prickly pear flesh of the tastier and more tender cultivars, and kale.
​
To make the most of my desert climate, I am now adding cacti to my desert garden--types that are grown for the fruits and/or the flesh.

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"​I love your garden!"
"I love your yard! (waiving while driving by)
​Two neighbors in 2018 or 2019

​A NEIGHBOR IN 2021

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Tomato Lady

I want to say here that I'm quickly becoming a tomato lady (I was growing 70+ varieties in the spring of 2022) after having tasted some fantastic homegrown tomatoes and some of the best of the many varieties of heirloom tomatoes that people have treasured for decades.

I most love very sweet and very tangy tomatoes with complex flavors or even the fruity notes found in some varieties, but I also adore the very sweet tomatoes with mild to medium acidity. That said, I've even found great acidic varieties for those who prefer almost no sweetness.​

Longer Collection of Photographs

 I have not yet sorted the following collection of photographs from my own Arizona organic vegetable gardens. Click on the photographs below for larger versions if you want to learn how to garden in a hot climate or even a super hot and dry desert like Phoenix, noting that only about ten on the whole website are photos of food from other gardens or a store. You can learn a lot from my photographs and website content even if you are not yet ready to hire me as a consultant.

VEGETABLES AND OTHER Food-Bearing Plants I'VE GROWN
In MY SMALL SPACE SO FAR ARE LISTED BELOW
Vegetables, Fruit, Grains, Herbs and Spices, Seeds, and Nuts

I am adding photographs by food category below, and please note that a few of the flowers are not edible but are for attracting pollinators and beneficial insects. Also, not all of the plants on the list have produced food (some just need more time), but most of what I've grown has.

• Apples
• Aromatics like lavender, patchouli, and geranium
• Armenian cucumbers
  
• Arugula
• Asian vegetables like bok choy and napa cabbage
• Asparagus
• Beans
• Beets
• Blackberries
• Blueberries
• Boysenberries
• Broccoli
• Brussels sprouts
• Cacti for their fruit and/or flesh; prickly pears are one example
• Carrots
• Catnip for cats
• Chamomile
• Cherries
• Citrus: key limes, limes, kumquats, lemons, mandarins, calamondin
• Corn
• Cotton
• Cucumbers
• Dandelion greens
• Eggplant
• Elderberries
• Figs​​

• ​​​​​​​​​Flowers to attract bees & other pollinators​
• ​Garlic
• Gherkins
• Goji Berries​​​​​​
• Goldenberries
• Grains like oats, barley, 

           sorghum, and Job's Tears

• ​​Grapes including muscadines
• ​Green beans--pole and bush
• Green bean alternatives
• ​Green onions
• Guavas
• Herbs and spices like parsley, sage, oregano, fennel, peppermint, rosemary, thyme, basil, spearmint, lavender, cilantro, bay leaves, celery, dill, caraway, ginger, lemongrass, turmeric, galangal, lemonbalm, fenugreek, and mushroom herb
• Hibiscus calyces for tea
• Hot peppers
• Jujube fruit
• Kale
• Kiwano melons
• Kohlrabi
  
• Leafy vegetables like chard, collards, mustard, orach, and shungiku
• Lettuce
• Louffa/luffa sponges​

• Melons incl. watermelons
  
• ​​​​​​Millet seed for birds
• Moringa ​​​​
• Mulberries
• Nasturtiums
• Neem tree
• ​​​Okra​​​​
• ​​​Olive tree
• ​Papaya
• Passion Fruit
• Peanuts
• Peas--snow peas, snap peas, and shelling peas
• Pepino melons
• ​Pineapple (just began)
• Pomegranate tree (my last landlord kept it, but I cared for it for two years)
• Potatoes
• Pumpkins, squash, zucchini
• Radishes
• Some rare fruit trees
• Spinach
• Squash
• Stevia
• Strawberries
• ​​Sunflowers
• Sweet peppers
• Sweet potatoes
• Tamarind
• Tomatillos
• Tomatoes
• Turnips
• Yerba mate 

ORganized by Food Category
Photographs of Some of the Food-Bearing Plants
 ​That I Have Learned to Grow 
(Vegetables, Fruits, Herbs, Spices, Grains, and Peanuts)​
In my Desert Garden (Technically Two Gardens over 5 Years)
​

Apples

Arugula

Asian Melons

Barley

Basil

Bay Leaves

Beans

Beets

Blackberries

Black Goji Berry Plant

Blueberries

Broccoli

Brussels Sprouts

Cactus/Cacti
For Edible Parts Including Fruit

Caraway Seeds

Cantaloupe-Type Melons

Carrots

Catnip

Celery

Chamomile

Chard

Cherries

Cilantro

Citrus Trees

Collard Greens

Corn

Cucumbers

Dandelion Greens

Dill

Eggplant

Elderberries

Elephant Ear

Feijoa aka Pineapple Guava

Fennel

Fenugreek / Methi

Fig Trees

Galangal

Geranium

Geranium leaves are edible, but they're mostly used for fragrance.

Gherkins

Goji Berries

Goldenberries

Grapes

Green-Bean-Like Gourd

Green-Bean-Like Vegetables

Green Onions

Guavas

Hibiscus Calyces for Tea

Hot Peppers

Job's Tears Grain

Jujube Fruit

Kale

Kiwano Melon

Kohlrabi

Lavender

Lemongrass and Red Malabar Spinach

Lettuce

Lettuce Substitute or Salad Additive

Millet
as Bird Seed or for Sprouting

Mint (Peppermint and Spearmint)

Moringa Tree
with Edible Leaves

Mustard

Nasturtiums

Neem Tree

Oats

Okra

Olive Tree

Oregano

Papaya

Parsley

Passion Fruit

Patchouli

Peanuts

Peas

Pepino Melons

Pomegranate Tree

Potatoes

Purslane

Radish Greens

Rosemary

Sage

Sorghum Grain

Spinach

 Spinach Substitutes (Five Excellent Ones)

Starfruit Tree

Stevia (Natural Sweetener)

Strawberries

Sunflowers

Sweet Peppers

Sweet Potatoes

Tamarind Fruit Tree

Tatsoi

Thyme

Tomatillos

Tomatoes