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10 www.DesertMessenger.com November 15, 2023 Gardening with Dennis Stay up to date with Town Hall Town of Quartzsite now offers text notifications on your phone through TextMyGov. iWorQ is excited to an- nounce a strategic partnership with @TextMyGov to expand citizen en- gagement with text messaging To opt in, text the word "QUARTZSITE" to 91896. What to expect: After the initial keyword is sent, you'll receive a confirmation message asking you to reply "YES" to verify opt-in. There will be 0-4 text messages per month with a notification from the Town regarding the categories you are opted-in for. Message and data rates may apply. Check with your mo- bile phone carrieer for more details. How to Opt-Out: Text "STOP" at any time to remove yourself from the notification list. Also are you looking for an- swers? Need to report an issue? Now you can Text the Town of Quartzsite directly. Introducing the new way to skip a phone call and use your mobile phone's text messaging to find answers to your questions. Text "hi" or one the words listed be- low, to 928-260-4442. "Trees, Sewer, Contact, Street, Wa- ter, Pothole, Weeds, Departments, FAQ." TextMyGov will help you to quick- ly find the answers your looking for or help you to report an issue to the Town. DIRT! By Alex Taft Anyone who has planted some- thing in the perfect place, in a large enough hole for the roots to expand, given it the right amount of water, and fertilized it appropriately and have watched it do nothing and then have watched it begin the down- ward decline; soon enough you realize that you might as well have just put a 20- dollar bill in the ground and expect- ed it to grow. Sometimes it's all about the dirt. In Quartzsite there are areas where dirt is not really a true description of our so-called soil. More likely, it seems like pulverized rock. The amount of natural nitrogen is meager and for nitrogen, native plants rely on the infrequent rains. There are also native plants that are experts at draining what little nitrogen there is, such as creosote. There are areas in town that have better dirt and they are usually close to wash- es where silt spills over when the washes run. Gardening in the soil we have re- quires some ground preparation through soil amendments. This is one reason that container gardening can be a good choice. For container gardening, there is simply a matter of using potting soil. It should not be mixed with local dirt because it be- comes too heavy in a container and makes it hard for the plant's roots to expand because the heavy dirt prevents air and water from getting to the roots. So, if you want to grow peppers and tomatoes in pots, dirt is easy. Potting soil works. Potting soil should contain ver- miculite or perlite which holds air and water to keep the soil light so the roots can expand. It should also have peat moss or coconut coir and compost. Most potting soils have these ingredients. If your garden is in raised beds, then it is still con- tainer gardening, on a larger scale. For an in-ground garden, some soil amendments are important to con- sider. Our soil, if you want to call it that, is pretty dense and heavy, as anyone who has dug a hole to plant something knows. Adding compost lightens the soil and aerates it so roots can expand and grow. In northern climates things like compost for soil nutrition and light- ness, and earthworms for nutrition and aeration are a given. Here they are absent. For compost there is peat moss or manure. Steer/cow manure and peatmoss are available at nurs- eries and hardware stores. Both will provide the aeration and nutrition needed for a successful garden by working it into our less than nutri- tious dirt. Dennis had his own for- mula which is more complicated than a 7-layer cake, but very suc- cessful for him. Dennis enjoyed the details. It starts with, "If you don't have clay loam soil, get some." Here is his recipe for vegetables and flowers and it mimics the soil that is in the cell pots you buy seedlings in: 8 gallons of sphagnum peat moss, 4 gallons of vermiculite, 4 gallons of perlite, 1 cup dry fertilizer mix, 1 ½ gallons of water. This recipe avoids the need to get clay loam soil. The fertilizer he recommends is Webfoot or Lilly's. These will not burn the roots. One thing he did was wash, soak and drain all the peatmoss be- fore integrating it with the rest of the garden's dirt. It took a minute for me to recognize the sense of that because peatmoss tends to be dryer here. Dennis en- joyed working with dirt. All of that is beyond my personal ambition at this time, which is why container gardening is cheaper, simpler and less strenu- ous. If you are fortunate enough to have an in-ground garden already prepared, then it only requires a re- fresher of compost which is much simpler than starting from scratch. Soil amendments can be organic or chemical. Some of the organic ones recommended are seaweed or a fish emulsion. Powdered fertil- izers can burn plants if you are not careful or do not use Dennis's rec- ommendation. Another fertilizer for in-ground or container garden- ing is Osmocote or any other time- release fertilizer. I have used it for in-ground gardening and house plants with good results. It is not organic. Soil amendments are an entire chapter of possibilities. You can choose to keep it simple or have some fun making better dirt. Note: for those who did not know Dennis, he was a part-time employ- ee of the town parks department, a Master Gardener since 1985 and instructor for the Master Gardener Class. He passed away in 2018. Craft Fair 1st Sat. of every month! Daily Activities! QIA 928-927-6325 235 E. Ironwood St., Quartzsite BINGO FRIDAYS! Starts Nov. 10th Opens at 5pm. Early Birds 6:30pm. Main 7pm. Concessions Available The Quartzsite GFWC Women's Club is sponsoring a blood drive with Vi- talant Monday November 20th at the Quartzsite Community Center, 9am to 1 pm. Donors will be entered in a drawing for one of 5 $5,000 gift certificates. Walk-ins are welcome. You can schedule a time by calling 877-258-4826 or online at www.donors.vitalant.org blood drive L1250. There is no age limit. Blood Drive

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