Help with gardening in Dubai desert

Hi there,
I am going to relocate soon in dubai.
I want to grow a veggie garden despite the sandy soil and the summer heat (50°c)
I plan to grow my greens inside but i would like to transform the beach in the garden in a fruit forest.
Do you have advices to prepare the soil?
I was thinking about removing the top layer, put some organic matters and then place back a mix of sand, compost, potting soil and vermiculite.
And I plan to water with an irrigation system of grey water under a mulch layer
Thanks for your advices

Hello Virginie, Welcome to permies ! If you can you should look for the videos on Greening the Desert.

and screen the bottom, heard their are voracious gophers out there...

You might want to take a hydroponics package from FarmTek with you....

I instantly thought of hydroponics too. There are dozens of articles about hydroponic gardens currently being grown in the Middle East.

Thank you!

Sounds very adapted!

Can we grow this way outside? We will have a tiny house.

Is it possible to grow fruit trees this way?

Thanks again for your advices

Have you tried mittleider gardening method?
Could it be adapted?

All I can suggest is to google it. I don't want to put certain links on here because it wouldn't be right. Good luck to you.

Virginie De gheldere wrote:Have you tried mittleider gardening method?
Could it be adapted?

After some internet searches, it seem to be a lucrative business without any crucial information added...

there is a farm near my farm in Giza Egypt where it reach 40 c in summer of 20 acres of veggi , and they are doing just great ,they use drip irrigation but not in permaculture , i think you should give it a try in a small scale , using huglekultur , by the way agriculture books used to tell us it won't work in our region but they proved wrong

How do you intend to mitigate the extreme heat?

Do vines like grapes grow in your region? Can you make a sturdy arbor for a vine to grow up high and provide shade. This should help keep your space cooler, while still providing a yield.

Mulch will be your friend - covering the soil with mulch will both keep it cool and reduce evaporation. Even better if you can combine it with drip irrigation beneath the mulch. You might consider growing some species specifically for their mulch production. In hot/arid climates vetiver grass can be very effective - it's deep root systems are excellent binding sandy soil, it prevents erosion, and the leaves can be cut regularly to mulch other plants.

Beyond that, look and see what species people grow in your region already - try to pick plants that thrive with minimal intervention.

Virginie originally posted this back in 2013.  I wonder how the move to Dubai turned out.

What are some native plants to Dubai?

What do folks already have growing there?