When people think of Phoenix.....

Amadioranch · #1 05/26/14, 12:59 PM

They think of cactus, dry desert, rattlesnakes.....

But what they dont know is that this was originally a farm town. The rural outskirts of the Phoenix valley I grew up in was a sea of green fields. Ive watched this place change a ton in the 40 years ive been here. The craziest development ive seen in the popular culture here i that NOTHING will grow here. 99% of residents wont even try. They live in their two story box houses (another ridiculous item in a hot climate) on tiny lots crammed 3 ft from the next house. Most have no yard anymore, instead trading it for gravel and a few very typical types of hardy desert plants that look exactly the same as the other 5 million houses that have the same stuff. The laziness of the typical American family breaks my heart. Sigh.

Was up on the roof today and thought id snap a few pictures of a portion of our property and show you what Phoenix CAN be.

LisaInN.Idaho · #2 05/26/14, 01:01 PM

I used to live in old Litchfield Park and it was surrounded by desert and farm fields: grapes, roses, citrus groves, cotton and alfalfa. From what I've heard it's all red-tiled subdivision roofs and strip malls around it now. So sad.

Two story houses in Phoenix are utterly asinine

LisaInN.Idaho · #3 05/26/14, 01:02 PM

Where are you located, Amadio?

Amadioranch · #4 05/26/14, 01:08 PM

Yes Litchfield and that whole area out there has become a wasteland of carbon copy houses and strip malls. We are in a little traditional farming town up close to South Mountain (that most people have never heard of) called Laveen. Developers are busily building subdivisions on all our good farm land even here. We are about 10 years away from have no farming left except us small homesteads.

Anyone whos curious can follow our doings at www.facebook.com/amadioranch

LisaInN.Idaho · #5 05/26/14, 01:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amadioranch

Yes Litchfield and that whole area out there has become a wasteland of carbon copy houses and strip malls. We are in a little traditional farming town up close to South Mountain (that most people have never heard of) called Laveen. Developers are busily building subdivisions on all our good farm land even here. We are about 10 years away from have no farming left except us small homesteads.

Anyone whos curious can follow our doings at www.facebook.com/amadioranch

I know Laveen, I think I used to go to a tack store there and I know I bought hay from a farmer there. The tack store might have been in Tolleson.

Amadioranch · #6 05/26/14, 01:28 PM

Well im betting it was either Bargain Barn or Stockmans for the tack. As far as which farmer you bought hay from thats a little harder to guess. There were a TON of alfalfa operations out here once upon a time. Less and less by the week these days it seems. Surprise surprise alfalfa keeps getting more expensive. $14 a bale for the last few years.

LisaInN.Idaho · #7 05/26/14, 01:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amadioranch

Well im betting it was either Bargain Barn or Stockmans for the tack. As far as which farmer you bought hay from thats a little harder to guess. There were a TON of alfalfa operations out here once upon a time. Less and less by the week these days it seems. Surprise surprise alfalfa keeps getting more expensive. $14 a bale for the last few years.

Stockmans! We kept our horses right outside of LP at Cottonwood Stables and could ride out for miles into the desert. I think the stable is still there (renamed) but surrounded by houses.

Wolf mom · #8 05/26/14, 03:53 PM

I, too, lived in N. Phoenix for over 30 years and watched it grow and change. If people didn't want to buy those ticky-tacky boxes, they wouldn't be built. People don't come to Phoenix for a rural lifestyle. Laveen, yes maybe, Phoenix, no. I don't think they're lazy, just have different wants. You paint with a pretty broad brush.

You've got to remember that most of the people moving to Phoenix are transplants from areas where things do grow in the summer. 115 degree summer heat is a plant killer that most people have a hard time wrapping their head around. Phoenix has a water issue so golf courses and developments have to have a certain amount of open space devoted to desert like landscape and planting. Maybe that's what is bothering you??

I had a home close to the Phoenix Park Preserve and owned a boarding stable there. It was a great life, but I would never have thought of trying to have the garden (and lifestyle) I have here in the White Mountains.

BTW: I lived in a 2 story 20 year old house before I moved and it was great! The stairwell acted like a cooling tower so the downstairs was always cooler in the summer.

notwyse · #9 05/26/14, 04:10 PM

I have some property in the west valley...buckeye. I want to get a tiny bit farther out. I bought as investment and will purchase dream with the gains. I have lived most of my life in Arizona. Actually love downtown phoenix....palmcroft and encanto. Can't afford those....plus small. That ground will grow a heck of a lot more than where I am now....

LisaInN.Idaho · #10 05/26/14, 04:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by notwyse

I have some property in the west valley...buckeye. I want to get a tiny bit farther out. I bought as investment and will purchase dream with the gains. I have lived most of my life in Arizona. Actually love downtown phoenix....palmcroft and encanto. Can't afford those....plus small. That ground will grow a heck of a lot more than where I am now....

I love areas of downtown too. My kids used to go to school on North Central (All Saints) and we'd drive thru the Encanto area. Lovely place. I like the area around the Murphy Bridle Path too.
This thread is making me miss AZ!
Litchfield Park was a wonderful place to have young kids though. Parades and festivals, walking to school, and a great sense of community! The Wigwam Resort didn't hurt either.

arabian knight · #11 05/26/14, 05:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amadioranch

Well im betting it was either Bargain Barn or Stockmans for the tack. As far as which farmer you bought hay from thats a little harder to guess. There were a TON of alfalfa operations out here once upon a time. Less and less by the week these days it seems. Surprise surprise alfalfa keeps getting more expensive. $14 a bale for the last few years.

Yes like this hay? Weighing in around 100 pounds a bale?
This was taken at a boarding stable that I worked part time at and lived there also. LOL The place was in Tempe. Was there for 10 years.

When people think of Phoenix..... - Homesteading Questions

When people think of Phoenix..... - Homesteading Questions

LisaInN.Idaho · #12 05/26/14, 06:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by arabian knight

Yes like this hay? Weighing in around 100 pounds a bale?
This was taken at a boarding stable that I worked part time at and lived there also. LOL The place was in Tempe. Was there for 10 years.

When people think of Phoenix..... - Homesteading Questions

I think almost all of the hay bales in the west are 100 plus pounds. Definitely not like east coast or midwest bales.

Amadioranch · #13 05/26/14, 06:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wolf mom

I, too, lived in N. Phoenix for over 30 years and watched it grow and change. If people didn't want to buy those ticky-tacky boxes, they wouldn't be built. People don't come to Phoenix for a rural lifestyle. Laveen, yes maybe, Phoenix, no. I don't think they're lazy, just have different wants. You paint with a pretty broad brush.

You've got to remember that most of the people moving to Phoenix are transplants from areas where things do grow in the summer. 115 degree summer heat is a plant killer that most people have a hard time wrapping their head around. Phoenix has a water issue so golf courses and developments have to have a certain amount of open space devoted to desert like landscape and planting. Maybe that's what is bothering you??

I had a home close to the Phoenix Park Preserve and owned a boarding stable there. It was a great life, but I would never have thought of trying to have the garden (and lifestyle) I have here in the White Mountains.

BTW: I lived in a 2 story 20 year old house before I moved and it was great! The stairwell acted like a cooling tower so the downstairs was always cooler in the summer.

Oh I totally get that a TON of the people that are part of the population explosion of Phoenix are from elsewhere. Thats part of the issue if you ask me. But none the less.......everyone gets a opinion and this is mine. Im tired of watching our best farmland and water get put under concrete.

115 isnt a plant killer *if* you know what to grow. Our watermelon, musk melon, squash, okra, sweet potatoes, and corn love it.

Amadioranch · #14 05/26/14, 06:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by notwyse

I have some property in the west valley...buckeye. I want to get a tiny bit farther out. I bought as investment and will purchase dream with the gains. I have lived most of my life in Arizona. Actually love downtown phoenix....palmcroft and encanto. Can't afford those....plus small. That ground will grow a heck of a lot more than where I am now....

Before we moved out to Laveen to our acreage I lived for 20 years in Encanto. Now THOSE were homes that made sense. Big lots, small study red brick homes, many with flood irrigation. Beautiful big trees and lawns. It was a place that invited people outside back in the day. Kids wanted to play in yards and run around. But life was different back then, kids were kicked out and told to go play, parents didnt mind mowing and maintaining a outdoor living space. Anyway....

Amadioranch · #15 05/26/14, 06:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LisaInN.Idaho

I think almost all of the hay bales in the west are 100 plus pounds. Definitely not like east coast or midwest bales.

Still is that way at the old mom and pop places. We have a farm outfit across the street from us that farms and sells alfalfa. Their bales are always at least 100 lbs and sometimes around 115. They do a good job of drying it well and setting that baler TIGHT! Sometimes its so heavy that they just about kill ya to move them.

Phoenix at one time was the alfalfa capitol of the world and we shipped it all over the country. We still grow a awful lot of it around these parts.

arabian knight · #16 05/26/14, 06:57 PM

The stable I was at contracted with a 'hay broker' and at times had up to 7 semi loads come in in two days.
Those big haulers that have their own 'squeeze' with them. After all we had over a 100 head of horses boarded.

Callieslamb · #17 05/26/14, 07:24 PM

When I was a child, my grandfather was the manager of several farms that are down Phoenix. He grew a lot of sugar beets, onions and cubed alfalfa hay.

MO_cows · #18 05/26/14, 09:00 PM

Western hay is beautiful stuff! The low humidity and intense sun really puts a cure on it.

I would like to go back to the Phoenix area as just a tourist sometime. Spent a week out there on my job, mostly out at the Ben Avery Range for an event. Love that sagauro cactus landscape, would like to explore some of it on foot. Kept seeing horse apples in all these odd places, in front of doors and some of the highest traffic areas. I thought the people who were riding there were being very rude where they tied up their horses for a rest or something. Come to find out, it was wild burros. lol

Paumon · #19 05/26/14, 10:32 PM

What are the water sources there? Are there water restrictions?

ejagno · #20 05/27/14, 12:20 AM

Wow, your soil is so light it looks like sand. Our soil is the color of a Hershey bar. If we don't get some rain soon it's going to fade to sand. Beautiful garden. Yes, people are lazy..................until the produce is harvested and then they all want to help you out by taking some. LOL

Be thankful that people have the idea that you are just all desert. I live in Louisiana where the media projects us as uneducated, filthy, toothless, back woods, all African Americans and every home built in the swamps with alligators for pets. LOL