And the rain came down!

 Hence why nothing for three days, other than not much happening in the garden. Let's see, rained 'all day' yesterday, and the day before. 'All day' being at lest three hours in the middle of the day, rained overnight in a couple of heavy downpours. So the garden got watered...for sure.

Rain obscuring the distant hills and the one behind as well completely covered. It's been windy as well, fits and starts of breeze to light wind that actually broke off a sizeable branch overnight.

The base of that is about as thick as my forearm so it got whipped around pretty good overnight. Ground is soggy, but today the clouds are puffy grey and white scattered across the sky. Supposed to rain some more overnight or tomorrow. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yesterday and today. Haven't had a chance to get out today but doubt there's any change from that picture. The carrot tops are all fluffy and full just need to get a bit taller than that before they're close to being ready to pull. Potatoes are loonnng ways from being ready, although the purple ones might be ready sooner since they were the first to come up. The plant is floppy and not as green but that could be from not having it in a trench and filling it in properly that would support it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nature finds a way. That pipe is what is left from a lamp (6 foot tall antique style lights they have around the complex) that used to be there and a seed from the surrounding plants found it's way into the opening to grow.  Second tomato seedling has sprouted, yay!  Will see if the third one makes a showing in the next week or so but if not, all good. That's all I have room for currently. 

Which reminds me to start some peppers as well. Raised bed, cauliflower and potatoes will be gone by summer, same with the onions. The carrots in the other bed will be gone in a few weeks, might plant peppers over there. If I start the hot pepper seeds now they'll be of a size to plant by the time it starts warming up reliably. Same with the sweet peppers like the green bell peppers or if I still have them, the small pepper seeds I culled from ones I bought in the store. 

Only thing missing is bulb onions, those will have to be for another year if ever. Such a long time and space commitment for those. 

 

Windy, cloudy day. Just going to be cloudy and windy until tomorrow. Blustery day you might say.

 

Rain is coming?

 Supposedly a 'big storm' is headed for SoCal, now that is a large area and we are far enough south I'm not counting on a lot of rain. Supposedly 100% chance of rain tomorrow and it is cool, high level layer of clouds today. Detailed report says 'periods of rain' with a possibility of ½ inch and only a 90% chance, so precipitation will happen sometime in the next 24 hours.

 That is the cloud cover about four hours ago, the clouds have smoothed out like cake frosting now. Or a painted ceiling depending on your imagery. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Everything is growing fine in the garden with no help from me.  Cilantro is getting ready to flower and carrots are fluffy but still not big enough to harvest. I still have cilantro in the fridge. As much as I use that, I always overplant because it comes up everywhere anyway.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Romaine was transplanted and only a bit wilted later in the day. The tomato transplant did not survive 24 hours but the other Roma has shot up like crazy. Just needed some warmer weather I guess and some more regular water. The potatoes are bounding up as well and am waiting for that purple plant to show signs of finishing up but that may be a while as well. The cauliflower...well, they should have been at this stage a month ago, oh well not counting on big beautiful heads on those this time.

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The tomato seedling, Thursday and today. Still nothing from the other two pods but that's okay, if that one survives I'll be fine with that since it's a beefsteak type it may be a bigger plant than the Roma. I doubt that, but will see what happens. Been moving it from the window to across the room at night because it's still nippy in the high 40's and low 50's in that window. If there's daylight, they're in the window even if it's overcast. 

Took a walk outside last night to stretch my legs and apparently there was a rocket launch on Valentine's Day. Can't see it but the trail does a loop behind that tree and then makes a hook further to the right. Stupid skyline blocked most of the full length. It was pretty cool though.

So not much happening, as usual. And then two hummingbirds do aerial battle outside my window as I typed that. 

I should probably toss a lot of the seeds I have that I'll never plant, like cantaloupe and peppers that I kept from fruit I bought at the store.... 2 or 3 years ago. Limited garden space, not going to experiment with large plants or germinate seeds I'll never use. Haven't had a chance to get to the library and see if they have anything new, will have to wait until next month for that.

Three years ago August  I had tomatoes in every bed. Wow. It also rained. Will have to take a picture after it rains from the same angle. 

 

 

Breezy, breezy

 Not much going on, flowers blooming, breeze is blowing what wispy clouds are drifting high up. Light sweater weather for sure, if you're in the shade definitely. Out in the sun, short sleeves if you're going to be moving a lot. Didn't get out to the garden today but that's fine, not much different really.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shaky hands make for blurry photos, sorry. Bird of Paradise and the rose in full bloom are what we've got right now. Someone in the garden group posted pictures of cosmos and red flax blooming and it made me wish for another bed to just have flowers in. 

 Oh and the iris in front of this apartment are the only ones blooming because allll the others in the complex that are scattered around were cut back a month ago. So they're only a few inches tall and won't bloom for at least another two months or more. Grrumble.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the tomatoes is peeking out of the soil in that middle pod! The garlic, surprisingly is growing roots with regular water in the bottom of the container. The greens are rather weak and grey green but not looking for cloves, just looking for greens so might have something to cut by fall after it gets in the ground for the summer.

So it's a beautiful day, feel like taking a walk in the park, specifically would love to go walk around Balboa Park again but.... the city in it's shortfall of income decided they would start charging for parking. The system wasn't installed well, people are staying away in droves and does not bode well for revenue this summer. They've backed off fees on some lots but not all of them, this park has had free parking almost since it's inception. It is the city's people park. Unfortunately, public transit is not convenient to get there either. The zoo is there, several prominent museums, the main botanical building is there that was just completely renovated. It is a wonderful botanical park just for walking around and enjoying people and the buildings. It is being changed into a place where you can no longer just drive down and park, enjoy the canyons and gardens for a few hours.  People are protesting, not just regular people but mayors and city councils are being very vocal about this having an impact on everyone. 

So, there's that and it is free seniors month for the Safari Park but that is an hour drive away and they charge for parking, then there's the food. So that's another trip that is off our books this month. Such wonderful weather and, due to other circumstances, not convenient to be enjoying it strolling freely around.

There will be other days of course, I have my breeze coming in through the window, private planes are making the rounds at the airport and I can smell the hills in the distance (which were completely shrouded in fog this morning. I could only see maybe two houses away). 

Still loving the weather. 

Funky SoCal Spring Weather

 It is now overcast but in the 70's, weather app says it might rain tonight. Maybe a 40% chance so not worried about the garden since I just watered anyway. Can't count on the weather to do that these days.

 This was a few days ago, a few hazy clouds on the horizon and the day after that it was overcast like today but warmer. Almost like a blanket but breezy, so so odd weather.

And full open for the rose, again a day ago since I haven't had much in the way of pictures and updates on the garden. I'm always conflicted when I see roses in bloom, cut it off for me to enjoy personally or leave it for everyone else to enjoy. Then it turns out someone else is selfish and cuts it off for them. So that sort of settles my mind to leave flowers for others to enjoy in public spaces.

 

 

Mystery stalk identified, wayward onion that wasn't pulled last week and likely just the top had been snapped off when I pulled the other ones. No big deal but still trying to decide what to put in front of the carrots, if anything. Or what to put in that bed at all this summer. 

 

 

 I cleared out some of the weeds, the ground was too dry and hard to really pull things up by the roots but at least nothing will be going to seed this year. While stuffing the leaves into the bucket I noticed a seedling in the compost.... and yep. Another tomato. With it growing in the compost and in a bucket with little sun it is light green and a bit weak, so taking pity on it against the trellis it goes. If it survives that's great if not, there's three other seeds that are waiting to come up to take its place. 

I was going to transplant the Romaine and forgot because I got tired after watering, working up a sweat and all that.  Now on to the travesty and tragedy of gardening.

Someone felt the need to completely butcher this planter area. That stalk on the left was a nandina two feet taller than the stalk. There was spider plants and other ground cover in that bed and then there's the palm trees. They were trimmed back except for the center fronds, which is right but then yesterday they decided the smaller two just needed to have the center fronds cut back too. Such an absolute unnecessary travesty of gardening. Luckily they didn't cut too close to the center growth point but it is much too close for my comfort no matter. So now what. Wait for it all to grow back in like we're in the middle of Minnesota winter or something? Stupid stupid ugly ...... grrr.

BIG BREATH... not my circus, not my monkees. 

Circus you can walk away from, this is something I'll see every time I go to my car or take Rocky for a walk. Hard to ignore it.

Anyway. In  my small way of trying to reuse things I have a 2 dozen egg clear clamshell container that just happens to have cells big enough to fit the peat pods. Holds water, can be closed for greenhouse warmth and if need be, can be germinating up to 24 pods in one shot. Not that I have that much room for that much but it's useful no matter what. 

Breeze is picking up outside and the clouds are getting more dense. It might drizzle in the early morning hours but whatever. Yay for weather I guess? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beautiful weather!

 Breezy windy, clear skies, mild temperatures...perfect spring weather! Just watered the garden so don't have to do that yet. Can smell the wild plants on the distant hills coming through on the breeze in the open window. Makes my heart kind of sing with this kind of weather.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tiffany opened up wonderfully so had to get a picture, blue skies courtesy of yesterday. Skies are more powder blue today but not a wisp of cloud in the sky. Weather says spring, trees say WINTER!

It's going to be summer weather by the time that cauliflower is big enough to harvest, same with the Romaine. Silly plants. Remembering my first crop of those plants and how proud I was of being so successful and yet here we are, every year is different. Looking back through photos, two years ago January I was growing potatoes in the raised bed as well along with peas on the trellis. A LOT of red potatoes. By March the Romaine was coming in strong and by May had sweet peas busting out all over. Having a journal like this and near permanent photo records is an amazing resource for gardening.

The single stalk in the front coming up, that's new. I thought maybe it was a garlic that had been eaten but looked back at other pictures and nothing was there before. Will have to get a closer look but it might be a carrot that got munched Mysteries in the garden for sure, will have to bruise it a little and do a smell test. I was walking Rocky so only got the quick look and pictures. 

Only been three days but still expecting those tomato seeds to start showing, what with being in a nice warm window all day.  I checked that other garlic bulb and it isn't completely scraped clean and the tops were starting to wilt. I put it the window in a small shallow container with some water, will see what happens.

Just feel very optimistic today with the good weather. 

 

 

Odd weather but watered

 It is cooler than yesterday but with high cloud cover it was still warm. Just an odd kind of weather day but good for watering and puttering around outside. Worked up a sweat for sure. Got down to the garden and unhooked the other hose, then went and started pulling my hose out and had to stop. Totally forgot I have gloves now! So, sigh... trudged back up to the apartment and back down again armed with my gloves. It does make a difference.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tiffany is blooming, I appreciate the good quality camera I have on my phone now but the colors aren't nearly that intense when I see them in person. The roses in that garden area are just surviving and sad to think they may not make it much longer. They're tough plants for sure, they've survived decades in the shade and hacking at so who knows.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another potato has broken the surface! Guess this is my potato bed this year. I think those are all the russet pieces which will be interesting by end of summer. Need to figure out what to put in the front of t he bed when the onions come out. Those are poking along as well, not bulking up very much but then they were scraggly and almost dead when I planted them. They're doing amazing for that start. 

 I was digging around the plants with my trowel as I was watering to make sure the soil was getting saturated and oops, got too close to the purple potatoes and skewered one. That's a really good size potato for a plant that small, fits in the palm of my hand so will let that one dry off, (oops I just tossed it on the pile of fruit on the counter, should probably get some paper or put it in the cupboard so it won't green).

I was given an 'imported' garlic bulb that had started to sprout. Why 'imported'? Differences in where the garlic is grown is whether the root pad has been scooped out or not.

 

Imported garlic is usually sold in the mesh sleeves and 99% comes from China. 'Domestic' garlic, grown in the US still has the roots intact. One source said that the imported is bleached to prevent sprouting..... wellll tell that to the dark green leaves that are sticking out of the core of my bulb. I will probably be breaking that down to plant or just toss the whole thing in the ground and use the leaves like chives. I only buy the individual heads at the store for this reason and the domestic bulbs are bigger. It's technically fresher (I've had some duds like most people) but since I found out the difference I never buy the sleeved garlic anymore. I seem to recall that the other reason for scooping the roots is  due to diseases and parasites. The bulb I have right now is completely smooth on the bottom, not a root looking nub anywhere, so that's going to be 'garlic chives' for the summer. No roots means I have to actually break the cloves apart so they'll root because there's nothing for it to grow on.

So watering happened, not too heinously hot, cut some more cilantro and the accidental potato.  Oh dang, forgot I pulled back some of the oregano and was going to bring that up to dry. Oh well. 

 

 

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.