At least I got out and watered yesterday.

 The heat is ramping up and hitting 90 two days in a row. I went out around 7:30 last night and it was downright pleasant as long as you didn't stand in the sun too long. Absolutely no wind this morning which worried me but now it's gusty breezes, when we are closed up and running the AC.

 

This was when I had to take out the trash and water last night. Just clear skies and afternoon sun slanting in, the sound of air conditioners running in everyone's windows. Which means the garden was baked.

Nipping off the terminal growth on the peppers seems to have helped.They're not full and lush like they should be but they are budding at least. This was after I watered so the mulch is darker.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The one mystery seedling is growing a stem, with my luck these are going to be some noxious weed because that's what it's starting to look like. 

Pollinated another flower and the other fruit hasn't grown much, oh well. Lots of those really tiny sugar ants in the flowers at least. I had hoped to get out early in the morning to do the flowers but it warmed up entirely too fast.

I also remembered to plant some beans (the dark soil spots are where I tested to see moisture level and deemed beds needed watering). Six plants is likely entirely too much if they all sprout, especially the ones in the raised bed. I made sure to plug the seeds down at least an inch and a half before watering everything thoroughly. The beans, should they survive, in the west bed will be just fine I suspect since those peppers are so slow growing. When I looked at the directions for planting beans it said the soil temperature needed to be above 50 degrees. Oh let me tell you that soil was certainly warm enough.

Last years squash and this years squash. Tomato fail in the background and almost a fail this year as well. As soon as the tomatoes are done they are coming out and will wait until November to plant something else. I can't grow enough peas to be useful but might plant some sweet peas if I can find the seeds. 

Really can't wait until I can dig the beds up again so I can mix all that compost in there and add in more soil to get that raised bed up to the depth it should be. But other than lettuce and hopefully potatoes in that bed not sure what else besides root crops to plant. I haven't had a chance to get to the library and see what seeds they have, may not be able to for a long while.

Will see how this all works out as usual.

And maybe not correct

 I posted the pictures of the 'mimosa' seedlings and was immediately shot down by the resident expert on everything. Instead of doing one or two sentences how it might not be correct, she went through the laundry list explanation of seed dispersal. I have mentioned several times in that group how I had worked at a nursery for almost 20 years but apparently she didn't remember that. She doubted that it came from the compost because seeds aren't likely to survive. Well I beg to differ on this particular 'compost' wasn't really broken down. Any seed could hitchhike on wood chips and shreds.

Exhibit A: The seedling that is almost being covered by the squash leaf has leaves that are closed up. I had been moving the squash around a bit to get a picture of the flowers and possible fruit. The other seedling, still had the leaves open and almost flat.

It's still ripping hot outside, up to 91 yesterday and 90 today so not going out until sunset to check on things and maybe water. That south bed needs some higher walls around it, just need ten inch wide boards, only now remembering I have two side wall pieces from the raised bed but those are 17 inches tall and only two of them so will have to maybe scrounge at HD for some of their scrap wood.

That one flower that was kind of kinked over, non viable. Completely mutated pistil so just brok it off. The other one that I pollinated 'looks' like it might have taken but it hasn't grown much since then and I know how fast they grow so not counting it right now as a done deal.

 

There are two more females coming up and when I go out this evening will see about pollinating the larger one. If that squash is longer than my fingers tonight I'll be happy. Wasn't expecting to grow squash this year but here I am.

The tomato plants are just awful. As soon as they're done fruiting I'm yanking them out. The peppers are doing okay, growing a lot of side branches at least. That's a good sign but they should have been twice this size and fruiting by now. I need a greenhouse set up to start the seeds sooner or spend the extra money and buy started plants already. Can't be a successful gardener or farmer without a deep pocket to get the right tools and supplies.

Oh yeah keep forgetting to bring down the bean seeds to toss out there too. Had to double check right now to see if I should soak them before planting but consensus is no, they aren't like peas and have a hard shell. This is good, I'll toss a few out there and see what happens. Plant the seeds inch to inch and a half wow... will make sure to do that. Wondering if I should risk planting in the raised bed. Enough room in front of the tomatoes but with the worm issue and having to pull them up soon... 

Will figure it out. 

Crazy days of summer are here.

An amazing discovery...

So, several weeks ago I got the Miracle Grow In Grown Compost to use right? Well you figure, it's wood pieces, peat moss, compost and all the other stuff. Well, apparently some seeds got in that mix and weren't broken down.

 These little seedlings ladies and gents are Mimosa...most likely, Sensitive Plant.....  I have seen the plants up close and personal dozens of times.... even flowering. They're a lanky, wiry almost vine but can be a bush. They also have thorns and a cute pink puffball flower.

I looked it up after  I was watering and noticed the little ferny leaves had closed up. At first I thought I just didn't notice them closed up because the sun was behind the trees, I saw them before I watered and they were wide open that's what caught my eye. 

SENSITIVE PLANT SEEDS IN MY RAISED BED!!! 

I know how the yellow squash got there and it's entirely possible I just dropped the seeds in there and forgot about them or it could be from my compost.  But Mimosa seeds?? Something that is a tropical and not even remotely anything I would have had put in my compost or even Dolores'. I looked for other images of seedlings at this stage and all of them are  a few weeks older than this and the true leaves are stretched out on a stem but the cotyledon leaves are the same. 

I'm not going to pull them out and throw them away but may well move them because the squash is already growing over the one at the back I almost killed fumbling my phone.

Meanwhile the tomatoes are still being ravaged and just noticed an entire cluster have been eaten, that branch is off to the right and almost hidden, I didn't pull them off, those were eaten. The larger tomatoes are starting to color though so should have tomatoes ready by next month. I think the squash took. The other one is at the same stage as one of the males so will likely be pollinating that one tomorrow. 

I did some research and one variety of Lima Beans would do well in my area, Fordhook 242 are bush and tolerate dry and heat. I could theoretically get some seeds now and plant them but it would be almost October before they'd be mature. I don't know why I'm fixated on Lima beans when I have green bean seeds. I checked and I have some Blue Lake 274 bush Beans, worth a shot to toss them in the west bed. heck could even put a couple in the raised bed. Since it's after solstice not chancing anything in the south bed other than lettuce in another month. Beans need heat to grow and mature and these are faster than Lima beans. They're unfortunately for 2022 planting season but considering they've been kept in a cool dry place, I think they're okay still.

So, wonderful gardening adventures! May well have some squash the same time as tomatoes! Ornamental plants growing in my raised bed... not all seeds are rendered dead by composting and this compost was barely broken down. 

Yay!

Tad bit warm outside so not much activity

 Just going out every day to check on things, make sure nothing's been invaded, we've got a bit of haze from the wildfires locally but the breeze is delightful and blowing in the other direction.

 

 

 

Just after I took the picture of the oregano flower stalk, I shifted my fingers and it snapped off that entire section of flowers. No big deal there's several other stems flowering but it is definitely Greek Oregano. And what I thought was butternut.. nope, my own seeds from the yellow squash. That's the flower I pollinated and there's one just behind it that's kind of bent. 

 

So it's from my compost not Dolores and I almost killed the little one on the right when I fumbled my phone. Broke of one of the larger seed leaves but it'll survive. Kind of happy now that I know it's not going to be the humungus butternut that I wouldn't know what to do with the fruit. 

 

The peppers are filling out along the stems but they are still way behind where they should be for growth. I was scrolling through some of the older pictures and discovered the only time I successfully grew a pepper was when I bought a plant. Not expecting anything from the tomatillo and surprised it's staying that short compared to the other ones that were five feet tall. Still nothing from the seeds planted four days ago, impatient much? And now that I realize I already have squash growing, the two I planted in the pot with the tomatoes.. don't need them. Do need to get some zucchini growing. My ambitions exceed my growing space.

I took a picture of this bed about four years ago, I had noted at the time that the mint I saw growing would take over. Guess what... it did. All the green blanket along the ground is mint. Lord knows what else is in there but the plumeria is still leaning way out to get as much sun as possible poor thing.

I'm hoping I can plant some actual bulb onions in the fall along with some potatoes. The two crops that I use the most and don't have the room or patience to grow them. Speaking of onions, I have one lone green onion that is growing from seed in front of the oregano. Still not even close to being ready to pull and is a testament to how long it takes just those onions to grow, let alone the bulb type.

 

Will go out hopefully later in the day/evening to see if I want to water.

More and more caterpillars

 Never ending supply of the little bastards. I'm hosing down the tomatoes when I water and it knocks off a good half dozen then I look for more and end up finding at least another handful.

Next year, two bushes in roughly the same positions to keep them separated and accessible. I had hoped to have a longer narrow bed but the space wouldn't allow it. So stuck with the roughly 4x4 with limited access to the middle of the back. Live and learn.

Ruined fruit. I kept those other three on the plant but obviously tossed the other one and a few small ones as well. I am getting more than enough fruit but at this rate, hard to say what's going to be left due to not being able to really get in and move things around.

New seedlings. Two more unknown seeds sprouted in the same area as the squash, which I just pollinated one of the actual female flowers... will see what happens. And I pulled the last two cilantro in the west bed and hiding behind was one more pepper seedling. I should be harvesting now not getting new plants growing. Unplanned chaos gardening. I'm not a chaotic person, I like plants to grow where I put them not have surprises...even the cilantro last winter that came where I just dumped the old plants. And the tomato seeds I planted three weeks ago? Nothing, squat, zilch. I planted two yellow squash seeds and four more tomatoes in the larger pot and keeping that on the front porch. Seeing the seeds of the squash it almost made me double check the other squash but the yellow squash seeds are smaller. Also the shape of the ovary on the current plant is definitely bulbous on one end.

When I went out the other day to check on things, this caught my eye in the dirt. It wasn't there before and it has a needle stuck through it. I suspect it's one of the other ladies and from the location I found it, I'd say it's probably Laylas. It has had the red clay dirt rubbed into it so that coloring will not come out. I haven't washed it but only rinsed it off. Will try some stain remover and dish soap to see if that helps. It's hand made  not machine and the thread that it was attached to the garment was still on the back. When I get it as clean as I can I'll put it somewhere obvious, maybe at the patio.

That's all the excitement for today, other than taking a toodle around town and saw some trumpet vines that were on a railing and trimmed so they were essentially a ball. Not allowing them to trail along the railing at all. Oh well.

Speaking of that, I'm bushed..... 

Bleh.... not much going on

Weather is sunny and very gusty breezy which means the weather is going to change again. Wonderful temperatures with the breeze/wind and since I had to go out to water it was lovely.

The tomatoes are still being torn to shreds by worms. I picked another handful off yesterday and when I hosed the bushes off today while watering knocked another ten off of all sizes. The oregano is definitely Greek with that cluster of soon to be small white flowers. Need to find an Italian oregano plant now and a small thyme for that bed.

Definite female flower right there and the male flowers are either done or not close to opening. Will see what happens. The ovary shape confirms it's one of the butternut type squash and am still wondering how Dolores got it to grow up like a vine. It's definitely a squash and if I get just one it'll be fine. The peppers I am still worried about.

There are side branches sprouting on the stem where the leaves were all chewed off thankfully but at this rate they won't be big enough to produce until September. The tomato seeds.... I noticed yesterday looking at them closely, at least two seeds had been washed to the surface. I need to start them inside or on the patio to keep an eye on them. I might drop a couple of fertilizer pellets in that soil. 

If I had a soil screen or fine mesh sieve I'd be sifting some of the 'compost' for seed starting mix. Something else I realized looking at the 'compost' layer I'm using as a mulch, it really is more like fine bark mulch rather than anything like compost. It's got large pieces of wood and it may be a soil 'compost' but it's not going to break down any time soon. The raised bed and the in ground soil will be better for it when it gets all mixed through but there are still some mighty big chunks of uncomposted wood. Seriously just wood chips really and I would likely uses that at the bottom layer of a bed on top of leaves or what have you so it will break down faster. But if I could get something to sift through the mulch and compost I would be able to have some nice seed starting mix for free. There are still bits of eggshell and other stuff in the compost bucket from either Dolores or my compost. Whenever I see someone say 'you can always use eggshells and coffee grounds in your compost' or even worse, in the soil, I get so .... perturbed. A lot of DIY garden people are now saying to use a small blender to grind up the eggshells and then soak them in water to get any benefit from them. It's still not going to release the calcium needed very quickly. 

Anywho, not much else going on, Jacaranda is still in bloom, bees are buzzing in the tree and the occasional hummingbird flits by.

View out my window, slight haze from some wildfires to the east of us. The tree sprouts on the left have made a comeback like gangbusters and landlord or tenants aren't doing anything about it because it's a good visual screen. The shadecloth is blocking the doorway view because of nosy neighbors, ahem, and the mallow that was up to the bottom of the larger window is now brown and shrunken so you can see the two wooden chairs against the wall again. The pepper tree is once again visible as a bush on the stump. 

For reference, this was back in late March, can't even tell where the tree is with the green mallow behind it. But a little bit of the stump is visible to show that it was once a tree. Not sure if they're going to hack it back again or just let it grow over.

So, good thing is, the root suckers from the tree is a nice green wall and the birds are slowly making a comeback. Doves and other birds are more evident from the calls I've heard in the morning. 

For a Saturday it's rather quiet and calm so far, wonder where everyone is.

And the days keep coming....

 

Fourteen the other day and another six today, those bushes are just being shredded. The peppers aren't growing very much at all, the squash is putting out male flowers and the tomato seeds in the pots haven't showed at all. I watered really well in the evening just at sunset it was wonderfully cool at 77 after it being 86 and stifling during the day.

So yesterday Rocky caught a lizard and I saved it, today I walked into the garden and saw an almost invisible Alligator Lizard hanging on the edge of the West bed. I snapped a picture really fast then when I bent down to see if it was alive, it skittered away into the oregano. Guess what, it's the same lizard! It's missing half the tail, now named 'Stumpy'. Well get on little buddy! I should have caught a bunch of caterpillars and put them in a little dish for it. Didn't dare drop them into the oregano randomly because they might have decimated that as well.

Three good size tomatoes and two small ones had been invaded... dangnabit! Oh yes, a find on the table... neon pink kitchen gloves!

A tad small for my fat fingers but better than nothing. Great for digging in the dirt or looking for worms in the tomatoes.

 

August 2023 and June 18 2025.

It rained the day before in that first picture, here it is June and summer is in full swing.

May of 2021no border on that west bed, nothing but the jade bush at the back. Lemon bush is the only plant that's thriving. Not sure why that picture is darker than the others, must not be HD and looks to be about noon given the shadows.

This is why I take so many pictures to have a record of how the garden has evolved.