Not much going on

 Sun has been shining days are getting warmer which means watering more often. I'm getting stronger and have more energy so that's a good coincidence. Was busy today with another grocery run but will get to the garden to water tomorrow for sure. It was in the high 80's today so definitely dry soil out there. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two different jade plants, one that is shaded most of the time and the other in blazing sun. When people say this is a full sun plant, they're right but I have proof they thrive in part shade with adequate water as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Potatoes coming along nicely, still debating on pulling the tomato and Romaine. I'm breaking all the gardening rules planting tomatoes and potatoes in the same bed and tomatoes in the same bed and location year after year. I used up the last of the gift certificate on something else so fertilizer will have to wait until next month. I gifted some of the onions to a friend as well as some cilantro from the south bed. That will likely be a recurring trade for other veggies, which is not a bad thing really.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The carrot seem to be growing much better now, still a far cry from pulling but maybe another month or so. Do need to trim back that oregano as it's encroaching on the lone garlic at that end. With as warm as it's getting it's too late for planting any lettuce and maybe even late for sweet peas. Oh well, fall/winter is another opportunity.

 I decided to plant three of the Terra Cotta tomatoes yesterday. If they all come up then yay, I've got them in the nice warm kitchen window and hope they do well. Two too many for my space but maybe after the carrots are gone I'll put one over in the west bed with a cage. Or pull the little Roma and have these three, time will tell.

I had a peeve I was going to rant about but now can't remember what it was. Hate it when that happens.  Oh I think one thing was people asking about when to plant something in our area and I''m over here thinking, 'what area do you live in?' We have dozens of micro climates and I can't be starting any lettuces even in the shade right now but someone on the coast can be going gangbusters with leafy greens still and even do peas and other cool season veggies The coastal marine layer keeps things spring like for weeks into my 'summer' weather. Now the winds kind of sprung up this evening so it's supposed to be cloudy and cooler over the next several days. Still not trusting the cooling trend because as soon as you do, BAM it's 86 again and blazing sun. Cooling is okay for a few days so the carrots and cauliflower can not get roasted. Nice roller coaster temperatures to ease into summer.

So that's where  I am, hoping for a different tomato crop this year, some good carrots and potatoes, and garlic of course. That's the plan. 

 

Sunshine again and new gloves!

 Almost summer weather! High 80's today so watering had to happen. Pale blue sky, barely a breeze so t-shirt weather for sure. Worked up a sweat in the garden (not difficult these days no matter the sun).

 Tiffany rose in bud today, it just amazes me still that they can be hacked back out of season and way too far but stilll come back. Resiliency of nature for sure.

Had to go to Harbor Freight for other reasons and decided to see what they had in gloves, $1.99 and just the right type. Kept hands clean, pulled weeds does the job perfectly. Yay! Used to a longer cuff but these will do for the right price.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two more potato sprouts broke the surface! Long, long time before any of them are ready to harvest but summer potatoes is okay by me. The tomato is still struggling unfortunately. Might have to pile more soil around the base which I tried to do with the hose. Everything got a thorough watering I hope, pulled more weeds thanks to the gloves and am still considering moving the two Romaine to that East side of the bed so they aren't as shaded as much. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Carrots are also a bit long time before they're ready to pull but you can see the garlic a bit better now. One in foreground and the other threee at the back. Caught sight of a Mourning Cloak butterfly on the viburnum while out with Rocky. Had to do a distance shot and several times before I got a good enough image. Monarchs are pretty with all the flashy orange but the combination of brown, blue and cream on these are a favorite.

So energy was much better today hence my enthusiastic garden time. Good weather, good energy makes for good gardening. 

 

And then it doesn't clear

 Thought it was going to be sunny again today (Wednesday) but it was high thin overcast but in the 70's. Supposed to get into the 80's by the weekend and a bit clearer, good thing I got out and watered today.

High thin clouds but no sunlight got through, not quite sweater weather but not t-shirt or overshirt temps either. Since it hasn't rained and it hasn't been cold, watering really needed to be done, and expended a bit more energy than I expected because.... weeds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All the weeds in that cage and around I pulled best I could, tossed them on the compost bucket. Watered, watered and watered. Probably still not enough but only the top two inches were dry so had to dig in and open that up to make sure the roots got watered. Will try again on the weekend hopefully.

Before watering and knocking the carrot tops down. Still a long way off from being ready to pick of course, no lettuces to be seen gosh darn it. The four garlic are still going strong and hope they got enough chill to form a good bulb. The oregano is slowly creeping all over the place and debating on pulling that back a bit and looking for tarragon and something else to plant in that plot for the summer. Still thinking of making that the summer herb plot with whatever else I can think of to toss in there. Something like thyme and other herbs I don't use a lot of really but might be good for trading in the future.

So watering happened, weeding partially done, energy expended and things progressing as they should. Spring has sprung! 

 

Weather is clearing

 Got better pictures today, weeds and plants growing like crazy of course. No energy to do watering sadly, have to figure out how to do that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Great phone pictures, sky is less deep blue to my eyes at least when I take the picture. The entire back corner is choked with weeds which is another chore I don't have energy for at this time. The jade bush is in full bloom of course and bees may have been out there but couldn't tell.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tried to get the best shot of the carrots and the four garlic that are growing. Cilantro of course coming up wherever it wants.  Sadly, the tomatillo was munched on, at the base likely by either mollusks or cutworms and the top chewed on as well. Not a big deal, plenty of time for planting more seeds if I want them. Carrots don't seem to be pestered and don't see any lettuce growing unless it's that one rogue one outside the border, but that could be some prickly lettuce/weed as well.

Just the same thing in the raised bed. Definitely needs some water and that tomato is still lagging behind. A little divot near the newer potato but not concerned about it, nothing else showing and if that's all that comes up that's fine too. The onions finally are taking off with the warmer weather and yet the romaine still are just poking along. Cauliflower are doing okay but still moving slow, that potato though, going to shade out the other veggies for sure and the tubers will likely disturb the roots of the other plants.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Best spot in the garden for leafy greens like cilantro. And weeds. I still have that one bunch I cut before, really need to figure out how to dry it for future use or just plant less. Right. The weeds are practically overtaking that corner and the bucket, hard to see where the cilantro ends and the chickweed and prickly lettuce start.

Jade in full bloom, wish the timing was better for when tomatoes and squash are in bloom. Pollinators will find it and that's just fine. 

My current energy levels due to being sick may not go away any time soon and that's a bad thing for my garden ambitions. Will have to do what I can with what I have and hope for the best, it's a hobby for me  not a needful addition to my food sources. Gets me out and about in the sunshine.
 

Good news bad news

 It's been cold, cloudy drizzly for a week. Only had to water that once and since it's inclement weather, things are doing okay.

Definitely winter cloudy weather for sure. I think it drizzled late last night but that's about it. Good news is, everything is doing well and a potato has broken the surface! Didn't get a chance to take many pictures as I was out with Rocky.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Potato in far right corner broke through, the tomato is still doing okay but not as strong as it should be. The onions are finally growing taller and straighter. Romaine is still struggling and might have to transplant them somewhere else. So that bed is going to be long term veggies this year. Might put another tomato in later. Carrots are still going strong but a long way from being ready to harvest.

Now on to the bad news. While trying to take a picture of it with pride, I didn't hold the pod seperately and the little rose seedling rolled over and broke in half. Not completely snapped but I'm not holding any hope it will survive. 

 Last good picture I have of it but it is now laying sideways at the break. I got the other five pods and watered them thoroughly hoping that those seeds will sprout. I picked two more hips from the same bush this morning so will wait for those to dry and then plant those as well. More chances for sprouting hopefully.

I am still not up to full energy capacity, there's a lot of health things going on that may well be long term and will cut into my gardening sessions. Hoping things are better by summer but will see. 

When nurses and doctors ask if I do any exercise and say I do a little gardening they immediately think, large plots and lots of things going on. I have to tell them no. I go out, look at my beds most activity  might be pulling a weed or two and taking pictures. Yes it's getting outside and have to walk down and up some stairs but that's about it. Only heavy activity is maybe once or twice a year. So have to lower their assessment of my activity level several notches. But it's fresh air, deep breathing and some walking around. More than some seniors for sure.

So that's it for today. Will see what happens in the coming weeks and will likely take more pictures of the new potato plant. 

I have been sick

 Not only sick but ended up in the hospital overnight and then my phone finally seized up and died. So now I am feeling much better, have new phone so was able to get out to the garden and get pictures and water and all that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Despite new hand technology, blogger is still being stupid.  But new phone has much better camera so much better pictures. The jade is blooming, though not as profusely as I had thought and the skies are  not quite that blue, a bit over enthusiastic camera on my phone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hard to tell due to angle but those onions are very tall and so is the cilantro. The carrots are doing okay and the four garlic I planted have sprouted!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The potatoes have not broken the surface and when I watered it filled in the holes more, oh well. The tomato is looking rather weak but I suspect that is due to lack of water the past week. The onions in the raised bed are still far from being usable, but that's okay I have TONS of them from the other bed.

 

As I said, the cilantro is thriving. I only cut about half of it and have no idea what to do with it. I was going to use scissors but then realized the  undergrowth would be cut too so I just started pulling sharply and they broke off easily. I pulled all the onions in the west bed rather than cutting the tops. I ended up chopping all but maybe three and put it in a baggie in the freezer. The cilantro I just put in a baggie in the fridge. Will see if I can figure out how to dry it in the oven or microwave.

 I had to mark the approximate locations of the garlic coming up, they're about two inches tall right now so here's hoping they will be ready to harvest by summer and have good size and flavorful heads. 

 

I watered very thoroughly and still had to dig in the soil because in some spots it was very compacted. I had to be careful around the carrots and onions in the raised bed. I used up a lot of energy watering but won't likely have another chance until Wednesday. May need to go to the store tomorrow and then have dr. appointment on Tuesday so it will have to make do with what it got.

 

But it's been sunny and warm, which is what the garden needed after a cold two weeks. Spring is here for sure.
 

 

 

Slight change in weather

 It was COOOLLLD last night! Now probably not freezing because according to the app it only got down to the 40's in the early morning hours. My hands got cold around 8pm and I could not get warm! What does that say about the garden? It's winter! So today there's a mild Santa Ana wind, warming things up to the mid 60's but it was 58-60 in the apartment this morning. The soil might warm up just a tad near the surface but not nearly enough to warm up the spuds in their little divots.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Clear wintry skies with bare trees, that's what we've got going on the last two days.The sky is actually a lot lighter blue than those pictures, almost slate blue to baby blue and the wind was blowing the leaves around for sure.

 Just for reference, this is chickweed growing in a planter pot and is exactly the same thing in the south bed. Not worried about it, helps later on with 'natural nitrogen' when I pull them out and mix them in with the compost. 

Speaking of the south bed, I harvested a handful of cilantro from a couple of plants. Stems and leaves are a bit soft and lighter green but that's to be expected growing in the shade. 

 

As I was about to take a picture of the potato and stuff, the wind blew a near perfect little red leaf into the onions. I picked it up and attempted to toss it to the side but aerodynamics and wind said otherwise and it landed in the bed again. So there you have it, got a picture of the little leaf that wanted to be remembered. The potato is getting rather tall really and shading one of the other potato divots but there's plenty of time for them to get their sunshine. Cauliflower and Romaine still plugging a long not every quickly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And cilantro doing what it does, another tall plant coming up where I tossed seed last summer. The carrots are doing just fine actually, should have a nice crop in another month or two. Which will coincide with sun coming back more to the north and giving them all more warmth. 

I haven't watered in about two weeks I think. Cold, rain, then clear but cold, by the time it feels like it needs water, it rains again. Such is the way of the weather and as it should be. 

The hills are all lush and green across the county, if there's any brown, it's rocks or cliffs. San Diego Spring is late winter and snow for the rest of the country. Wouldn't change it for the world.