Billy wrote:
In article ,
Oren wrote:

On Sat, 08 Jan 2011 12:52:26 -0800, Billy
wrote:

In article ,
Oren wrote:

Hello,

I live in Southern Nevada (Mojave Desert) USDA Zone 8a.

This is a difficult place to grow a garden, but yesterday I found some
information that got me excited about growing tomatoes. The lady has a
book with many details for growing in the harsh desert.

Our soil here is hard packed, plenty of rock and difficult to grow
anything.

Snip...

The last time I saw real black dirt was when I crossed the Mississippi
River... wish I had some river bottom dirt. The desert dirt here is
like concrete.

The first thing a gardener does is to learn how to grow soil. Soil that
is economical, and nurtures, without poisoning the environment.

Many years ago their was an episode which I do not remember. The show had
this one guy with a beautiful garden in the desert. He had a high walled
one acre yard with a small home inside the walled area. The place was
surrounded by a brown dusty town and inside the gate a beautiful garden.
The high walls blocked the wind and provided shade for the plants.

He had a massive water management system that captured very rain drop and
an automatic drip watering system. The landscape itself had stone paths
that had water to flow into a cistern. He also had patios with open roofs
of two by twelves that blocked much of the harsh sun light for the more
delicate plants.

I have a feeling soil building is not going to be your main problem, it is
water and providing shade for the plants in a harsh environment. When you
add water to your soil soil does it turn: clay like, sand like or does the
water stay in it with nice loamy texture?

--
Enjoy Life... Nad R (Garden in zone 5a Michigan)