New plantings, moving plants and disaster

The weather is the same, no real change so not going to dwell on that and get on with garden things. Got my hands in the dirt today, determined to plant seeds and move plants into the ground. 

 

 

So yeah, same weather different day. Makes for on again, off again with the overshirt I was wearing but it's good weather for working in the garden and not getting too overheated.

Flowers abound in the garden and outside. I have walked past this plant three times now and named it correctly, now I can't think of the name and had to look it up. Watsonia. Only one flower stem so far which is sad because it had like five or six last year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Hard to see but that is what's left of the little pink rose bush in front of the giant BoP. Someone took it upon themselves to trim off the one seed pod and bud that was on it and pull off all the leaves. None of the other roses have any problematic pruning. Grrr. Seedlings are coming up just hard to see them.

 

Everything got a good cultivating to stir things up . Notice that little notch of untilled soil? That's the lone carrot over there. The onions are doing great, even the larger bulb ones. Hoping those survive the year long process of growing. As much room as that looks like, it really isn't that much in either bed.

Planted more romaine and mixed (aka BSS) lettuce in the south bed. Put out a lot of seeds in two rows with the romaine at the back of course. Will see how they fare.

Fish pepper seeds are in! Total of eight seeds in two rows, using the potting soil. Still have more in the packet but didn't really look to see how many. Please please please grow!

I then decided to move the smaller chive plant to the back of the south bed. After I put the seeds in. Always an afterthought with me but it'll all turn out fine. Oh I watered that west bed really well yesterday. It's almost bone dry again.

I then decided to move the oregano out of the pot and into the ground in the sunniest spot I had. Look at how root bound it is! No wonder it's struggling! Those roots were really tight too, I tore that rootball apart by half and sunk it in the soil then watered it in. I bet I'm going to regret putting it there in six months. 

I may well be planting the squash in the middle of the raised bed and put peppers in the west bed. Tomatoes on the trellis and the lettuces in the shade. I suspect there will still be room for two more peppers in the raised bed even with the squash in the middle. So two tomatoes on the trellis, squash in the middle, two peppers on the right and maybe another on the left. maybe some green onions (if I find seeds) along the front. 

Now on to the disaster.

It still works, screen isn't totally ruined but fumbled it putting it back in my pocket and it landed face down on the rocky soil. This is why I always got a case with a screen cover. I couldn't afford it this time and it happened. Packing tape on the screen and it still functions just hard to read, small orange halo around the biggest impact point on the left side. Sigh. Have to go through the same insurance as last time but have to pay $40 to get the phone replaced. Need to see how much it would cost to replace just the screen but initial search says it's more expensive.

First world problems.

Busy, busy, busy so catching up

 That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Mostly just get too distracted with other things and forget to post here. The weather is basically the same, foggy/overcast in the morning then partly clears and gets really windy towards sunset and then calm. No real chance of any serious rain.

 

 

 

Two different days approximately the same time so same weather, different day. Still very nice, only need a light overshirt when outside. Sun breaks through and it gets warm really quick then cools instantly when the clouds shift again.

 

Various flowers on my afternoon walk. I think that's Salvia officianalis? The entire front of the house has Mexican Sage and then the Aoenium and Calandrinia are in full bloom further down the street. Might have to get brave and ask if I can take a cutting of that sage.

 

I remembered the other day that the variety of cauliflower I have is more heat tolerant than other varieties. It can still be good up to 75 so as long as this weather continues it's going to thrive hopefully. Dolores has set up more pepper plants with permission to put them there. and two more on the other end. She grows them for herself and her family she said and she would have them in front of her new apartment but it's shaded almost all the time.

 

This is what the bed looked like yesterday. I've now pulled all the lettuce and all the onions in the west bed.

 

The onions were definitely ready, as big as if not better size than what I would get in the store. I didn't bother cutting the ends and saving them, I usually replant them twice and that's about it. 

The lettuce I just pulled all out, even that last little one and also pulled the radish. The leaves on that were very sturdy and it was growing fine but when I pulled it, the tip of the root was curled under.

Cilantro I have decided I don't need to flower and seed. I rediscovered the bag of seed from last year and will be tossing that in the south bed with more lettuce. So pulled up a few plants and noticed how dry the soil was so watering was done today. That little pepper has more of a chance now.

 

And the sweet peas keep coming, my little vase is getting stuffed now, but I'm a bit disappointed in the fragrance not being as strong.

 

 

Plenty of buds on the way though and hope there's still plenty in three weeks for Mother's day. I thought it was the first Sunday in May but it's the second. I'm sure there'll be plenty.

 

 

 

Dolores pulled out the tomato since it was looking rather sad and I told her that tomatoes typically do not do well the second year. She's not a tomato eater, she just let it grow because it came from her compost. Don't remember what she's putting in there to replace it but you can also see she's getting a lot more sun now.

 

I was able to get to the library yesterday for two reasons, one is I needed a new card and two, to check seeds. They had regular tomatillo (forgot to see which type other than green) and some Fish Peppers which I was absolutely tickled to find. It looks like two tomatillos have sprouted already!

"There are few peppers as beautiful, and as rare, as the fish pepper. Along with its lovely flowering plant, the fish pepper follows one of the most unique coloration paths (among chilies) while maturing. With a heat that’s capable of topping a serrano (a range from 5,000 to 30,000 Scoville heat units), the fish pepper was a favorite during the late 19th and early 20th centuries in Baltimore and the mid-Atlantic states, spicing up crabs and fish dishes in particular. But its popularity wained, and this jewel of a chili nearly became lost to us all. Now, though, it’s making a comeback both as a cooking chili and as an ornamental pepper plant." - Matt Bray, pepperscale.com August 14, 2022

I so hope they do well, going to drop some of the seeds in the other seedling container and hope for the best. The nice young man at the desk only gave me about a dozen seeds of each and said they would be restocking everything by next week. Not that I have any room to plant anything else. Still working on that.

There's tons of buds on the epiphyllum! Twice as many as last year for sure and I was able to get a picture of the trumpet vine that is blooming better as well. Just had to look up. Not seen very well is another two or three buds on the epi one one of the upper branches so it's loaded this year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 I might have to put that squash in the raised bed darn it, that thing is getting big! Still nothing from the other seeds other than the tomatillo. And Rocky in the garden again hunting lizards. When we got to the garden he spied one or two and they disappeared into the woodpile. That second picture is when he heard something on the fence.

I had to water really really well this morning. The soil just was not soaking in so I used the soaker setting to really dump water on both beds and the south bed also. Will try and do some seeding there tomorrow. Lettuce and more cilantro maybe those tomatillos and fish peppers in too.

I went through some of my old photos and this time last year I had tomatoes two inches tall and already planted out. Running behind on planting this year as I started planting too late due to weather. I'm sure it'll all catch up but those peppers need heat to start growing, that's why  I've got them out in as much sun as possible.

So that's the catching up for now.