On Jan 9, 11:50*am, Billy wrote:
In article ,
*Nad R wrote:





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.

That's not the question that he asked. Oren asked,
"Questions: *What can I use and combine to make my own soil? *Are there
products that I can use to ensure the soil is safe?"

The first questioned was answered. As to the second question, it is a
lot like cooking: use the best ingredients and the best practices.

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?

Since cool air stays closer to the ground, walls act as a container to
keep the coolness from flowing away, and offer some shade. Overhangs,
like covered porches, protect the house's walls from being heated by the
sun, permitting them be a source of coolness.

The Moorish/Spanish walled courtyard would help moderate temperatures,
see pictures below. Most probably have too many paving stones, but they
will give you an idea as to what is possible.

http://books.google.com/books?id=Pi_...ntcover&dq=Hac
ienda+walled+courtyards&source=bl&ots=opXBFB_zf0&s ig=FBynp-jHIG4XLL5UjoIX
OHTgsU0&hl=en&ei=EgEqTf7FNI74sAPo0aHFCA&sa=X&oi=bo ok_result&ct=result&res
num=2&ved=0CCQQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q&f=false

http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2795709700034323750liNrcY
--


Pretty pictures, just the wrong conclusion, the Moors brought their
water gardens and irrigation for plants and trees to Europe which then
spread thru the New World. Water being the key factor here. That
"container/wall " cool air flow was a good theory but it doesn't work
that way. Especially at night when those large masses relaease the
heat and keeps cooking those plants.
The shade part is correct.