Folly???

Claret Cup Cactus (Echinocereus triglochidiatus)
This was originally growing beside the aspen
trees that have gone to a new home. During the
Winter I moved this cactus to the area I have deemed
for the Sage Thrasher which nests in thorny plants,
preferable Cholla.

Can you pick out the female Sage Thrashed sitting on her nest
at Plants of the Southwest? There are actually two
other nests tiered right below this present one
as Gail Haggard pointed out to me on a recent visit.
She refers to the nests as a three story house.
This Thrasher loves nesting at this site
 even though there is a walkway
right along side this Cholla.

Now that we have relocated to the severely drought stricken high desert, I am wondering if restoring, aka regenerating, the soil and planting food plants and wildlife habitat plants is folly. 

The limited supply of water has us thinking about catchment and greywater usage outside of our dwelling. We had a Permaculture consult to acquire more knowledge so we can make a decision.

Rain is predicted today here in Santa Fe, so setting aside our usual walk at Frenchy's Field and into the dry Santa Fe River beds, we stayed closer to home. Dark clouds and thunder occurred as Shasta and I returned from a walk through the neighborhood. We passed three other Stamm built houses we looked at during the Winter to purchase. "I am so happy with the decision to BE here rather than any of these," I thought as we walked by each one. The humans living in this neighborhood are delightful, and I am enjoying immensely  talking with each and everyone who stops by to chat when I am Working in the front yard where my vision is to use only native plants to transform the space from a look nice to sell to a welcoming habitat for all BEings.

It is now very dark outside as I write, with very loud claps of thunder which frighten Shasta. Much needed rain is falling; the sound is so lovely. 

Back to the issue bubbling up for me: is the path of transforming our backyard folly or a viable endeavor?

From some of the pictures below you can see that the expansive, for city property, backyard has previously been covered with polished river rock which I am moving to make walking paths. We (Dwight, myself and a very energetic, strong young man) built three raised beds out of cement block. Each was filled half way with sandy river soil from a huge eyesore (what the wonderful next door neighbor who has now moved back to Albuquerque called it during one of our chats). Some previous human living here had truckloads of this soil dumped on the San Felipe Road side of our property, just to Southeast of our double gate coming into the backyard. This "eyesore" is actually a treasure since not only is there sandy soil for the raised beds but also for growing one of my most favorite trees which will soon be planted outside our bedroom window and is pictured below:

Desert Willow (Chilopsis linearis) at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center in Albuquerque.
Not a willow at all but but in the same family as the  Catalpa Tree.
There are native trees and there are a number of cultivars; 
a red flowering one is featured below.

Also within the "eye sore" are rocks of various sizes which I am finding many uses for: stabilizing the front that has a steep slope on two sides, continuing the rock area next to the Northeast adobe wall and covering the soil on two sides of the shed.

Into the raised beds now filled to the top with organic mulch and compost from Reunity Resouces a few plants have been planted. First and smallest of the three beds is home to four varieties organic, heirloom strawberries purchased from Backyard Berry Plants.

The next bed, located leftmost in the picture below, was filled then planted with tomato plants I started from seed. There was an extremely high mortality rate from first tomatoes transplanted as seedlings to planting into the bed. Only about a third of the seedlings survived with all of the Silvery Fir Tree tomato seedlings dying, much to my dismay.

The final bed, featured on the right of the above picture, was filled then planted with mostly asparagus plants. Some asparagus was planted in the first tomato bed and six tomato plants were planted in the primarily asparagus bed. At MuRefuge marigolds, parsley and basil were companion plants to tomatoes and asparagus. In the future I hope to include these companion plants in these two beds.

In the backyard, in addition to the smooth river rocks, burrs of the Burr Clover abound, puncturing Shasta's paws, as well as TONS of Fox Tails that showed up during the Winter and bloomed early. The latter can cause catastrophic issues for dogs so Dwight pulled them out and I frantically mulched for Shasta's wellbeing. To provide Shasta with some grassy spots on which to nap, both Blue Grama Grass (Boutelous gracilis) which is New Mexico's State Grass and Indian Ricegrass (Achnatherum hymenoides) as well as June Grass (Koeleria Macranthra) have been scattered on my trusty and well used Todd planters.

A lovely Pueblo man who sells dried Indian Tea, aka Navajo Tea or Cota, at the Saturday Farmers' Market brought me a bucket full of plants so I could grow my own "tea". He gave me clear instructions on where to plant and how to care for the plants with admonishments to "water daily."  He would not take any money either at the time he gave me the bucket filled with what he dug from his stand nor when I told him from the bucket 4 plants have grown. "You have a green thumb . . . and it is my gift to you," he said.

 Three Cota ( Thelesperma megapotamicium) up close

Three Yarrow in the foreground,
the three Cota featured in the previous picture
and in the far upper right with the three "sticks" is the fourth Cota.
All are flourishing nicely along
a polished river rock walkway from back portal to the side gate.

Palmer's Penstemon, aka Balloon Penstemon
(Penstemon palmeri)

On our usual walk along and in the Santa Fe River bed, I have been drawn to the eye popping penstemon growing in the gravelly soil along the banks of the dry river bed (pictured above). During one walk I broke off a number of the drying brown stocks with pods full of seeds. After I culled the tiny black seeds from the debris, they were scattered atop a Todd planter filled with potting soil.

The Todd planter in the left side of the picture holds the Penstemon seeds
and gets watered lightly twice a day.
Sitting on the top of the wooden lid for our crawl space beneath the house
is an array of native plants that will soon find their new "forever" home.

All the while I doubt my Work and question if it is folly, I