b'THE ORME OASIS UPDATEissue #9 06/12/20G reetings from the Garden,I n preparation for the relentlessness of the heat that precedes the monsoons, flowers are opening up here daily. Ash Creek is bursting at the seams with desert willow blossoms all abuzz with many types of pollinators. Their pink petals resemble the face of a seahorse singing opera or like a megaphone with lips, if you can imagine that. The cardoons have just begun sending out their spiky blue tufted crowns and were all obsessed. Each flower has upwards of 20 honeybees zooming in and out at all times, sporting a level of activity usually only seen at the hive entrance. Its my favorite garden TV show. Sunflowers are showing off as well with both their bright yellow petals and their impressive heights. I know of no other flower so true to its title.L ast week in my introductory email I mentioned that the full moon had many names. One for this past full phase was the Planting Moon, and I was busy planting many things. As you may expect, neither is an accident. You see, for many years I have been hearing subtle whisperings about old traditions within indigenous agricultural circles about the power of us-ing the amount of light reflected by the moon as a guide for when to do certain things on the land. Indeed this is a very ancient practice, rooted all the way back in Africa where the original sky-watchers kept time based on celestial happenings. These observations informed the people on when to do most thingsplant, harvest, celebrate, migrate. Knowledge of the cosmos was integral to success as a people. T his idea flowed with humanity around the globe until the modern era when our understand-ing of time has changed into a rigid system of measurable units almost completely indepen-dent of the passage of the giant orbs in the sky. We put seeds into the ground according to packet instructions by counting back days from desired harvest and on whatever day of the week works for us, not on the full moon. What to plant depends on your Plant Hardiness Zone, not the tribe nearest yous centuries old wisdom imbued in the names of the moon-ths. Now this information is treated as lunacy since it is difficult to prove scientifically and is thus absent from industrial scale agriculture. But let me tell you: there is magic in the moon. Every single seed I planted near full phase emerged days ahead of normal. It may be just an anecdote, but as they say where my mom is from, The proof is in the puddin. H arvesting the last bits of the spring has been great fun. Though the lettuce is completely finished (unless you enjoy eating leaves so bitter your mouth hurts), the newest swiss chard is pumping out leaves just in time to replace the 7 tall stuff that we had planted in the fall. Carrots are popping out from a few different places and though they arent huge they are incredibly sweet. When first plucked the smell is almost edible itself. Most are a bright orange, but since I open-pollinated a few varieties right next to each other little bursts of purple will occasionally reveal themselves after a quick blast with the hose. I like to eat them raw but I also love making them into a pureed soup with hints of ginger and garlic, a splash of apple cider vinegar, and a topping of creamy whole-fat yogurt. Simple salads of grated carrot, lemon, olive oil, salt, and herbs are fresh and satisfying. In the garden I always let a few get old enough to send up flowers. They are another insect favorite and are stunning for the human eye. You get lots of seeds from just a few carrots and can ex-periment with variety. Additionally, carrot seeds are notoriously difficult to germinate so having loads of your own seed can empower you tothrow even more seed out there. Plus, its great fun! O ur first planting of Sonoran White Wheat has been reaped and is currently drying in the now mostly empty greenhouse. Though I will miss the gentle sounds of the stand of wheat swaying in the breeze and the honey color of the drying stalks, I look forward to seeing the yield and doing larger plantings. After it finishes drying, we will separate the seed from the chaff using threshing and winnowing techniques. Threshing is essentially beating or crushing the seed heads and winnowing is using wind/fan/lung power to separate the heavy seeds from the rest of the plant material. This particular wheat was brought to the area by the Spanish in the 1600s and soon became a staple in the region. It is more tolerable to the gluten sensitive as well as being drought and disease resistant and thus important for both human and soil health, just like the tepary bean.O h, another long one? Oops. I guess Ill end it here: Stay safe and curious out there. And as always, remember how much this land and I care about you.M any thanks, J. Wolfe'