Hi everyone,

Brand new here, reporting in from the mountains of Southern Utah, zone 6-ish at 6200 ft. I just listened to Dave's interview with Jack Spirko on The Survival Podcast: http://www.thesurvivalpodcast.... and knew this was a place I needed to check out.

I'll probably work the search function pretty hard before diving in with too many questions.

Welcome Jorja !

All Things Plants has a lot of nice people on it and tons of good information ! You will learn a lot and end up buying to many plants !

Hello Jorja!
I think Dave must have had quite a lot of listeners during the podcast. He's a special guy with lots to share.

We'd love to know what your gardening experience is at 6200 feet!!!!! Gee, isn't the Southwest such a very diverse area terrain, weather, people, altitudes?

Here in Phoenix it's about 74 degrees and very clear and sunny. Perfect.

Linda, Susie, thanks for the welcome!

Yeah, say 'Southwest' and most folks think desert and cacti; I'm in the pinon/juniper/ponderosa pine belt with some aspen, boxelder, cottonwood and maple in the mix plus lots of white oak (good acorns!) looking out the window at a year-round creek and naturally irrigated mountain meadow, currently covered in snow.

Anywho, we have pretty good sun exposure and can grow just about anything but melon-y stuff. I've had success with cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes & tomatillos (started inside of course), all kinds of squash and lettuces, kales, cabbages and all the yummy root veggies, etc. My neighbors have apples, cherries and sometimes peaches in a given year. And sometimes there's a hard frost after they've blossomed & we get zilch but most years are good. Another neighbor farther up the canyon always brings in a great crop of sweet corn. And asparagus grows wild but the danged cows & deer get most of it.

I'm fascinated with permaculture and trying to learn as much as possible and I want a greenhouse too. I know, who don't?

Gotta get back to work, my boss is a royal PITA (self-employed ) and I've got a deadline. Thanks again, later!

Welcome, Jorja!

I'm Dave's wife, BTW- Nice to meet you!

Jorja it sounds like you are in a beautiful environment. I would love to be able to look out my window at a year around stream ! It sounds like you are surrounded by lots of good home grown food as well. We love to see pictures here so please show us your beautiful area and garden when it is growing or when it is not !

Jorja,
You're describing a part of Utah I've never seen. I've been to SLC and passed through St. George area (pretty).

You'll find lots of help and inspiration cruisin' all over ATP. Do use that search function often.

... and talk to Trish often. She's very helpful and talented. Great with fiber arts, growing food, canning, well.... just about everything!

I'm kinda stuck in the house with a little quilting project(s) and not gardening too much. Just starting retirement from Corp. Amer. and doing what I like at the moment.

YAY, another quilter! I make my living as a longarm quilter, working from my home studio. It's a constant struggle to keep the balance of meet the deadlines versus go play in the garden. But aside from the food & fitness rewards there's no pay for the garden work so the quilting usually wins out.

St. George is about a 2½ hr. drive from here and it's like a whole different planet. But there are two awesome nurseries on the way in LaVerkin; Ballard's and Ali's Organics. Oh, my achin' wallet ...

If it's not too off topic I'd love to hear more about your quilting and whatever fiber arts Trish is into. Did she knit that watermelon? Linda, I'm hopeless with a camera but will try to post some pics eventually. I grow some of the best snowbanks ever, you'll see.

Welcome Jorja!!! I'm glad you found us!

Jorja, I think you will like ATP a lot!! I pop in here on the Southwest Gardening forum to chat and see what's happening in the warmer zones.

Ah! yes! Love quilting. I'm just getting back into it since retiring. It's #1 on my bucket list... I know, it's not like packing up and traveling to explore Kenya... but, I've missed doing it for about 30 years!

I don't long arm and doubt I'll purchase one... they seem to require a good sized garage to set up

I don't really quilt but I'm a huge fan of them. Does that count?

Jorja,

At this point in my life, most of my hobbies are in my head! My list of things to do "when I retire" is very long


I do enjoy sewing, I am entering in the world of quilting, I love to knit, and am playing a tiny bit with crochet while my girls learn. For now, I dabble enough to make things for my family as well as sell a tiny bit to my local customers as well as a very few things on my Cubits store.

Your place sounds beautiful - I'd love to see photos!