And restart

 Got a little extra money again and was able to get a bag of soil, fertilizer and a new tomato plant.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Four days ago, completely dug through and despite the dry top it was still dark underneath but still dry. Still digging out liquid amber roots from the logs and can't put a tomato cage very deep without running into the logs. More on that later.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Garlic was a failure as well. Just too dang hot and I couldn't keep them wet enough. Going to have to give up on anything with a bulb or tuber unfortunately.  I think radishes are still okay as well as carrots but will see how I feel about that later. 

It was 95 today and we had a couple of reasons to go out which is how I decided on getting the garden supplies. HD wasn't that crowded for a Friday, was able to finagle getting 10% off a torn bag and found a tomato plant (double in the pot!) I decided on.

Planter needs another bag or two to get topped off but was not in the budget or energy to do it. I used the Raised Bed and Potting soil because that was the price point and I have used it before. The tomato is a Bush Champion II, apparently more disease resistant (not really necessary for me) and is determinate only getting about 2-4 feet tall. I wanted to put a small melon in but of course, it would have to be from an actual nursery or seed and wasn't happening so settled on a good slicing tomato. Hopefully a good one. 

After soil dump, post stirring around with fertilizer and then after watering and placing the tomato. I watered, shoveled, watered again, let it settle, shoveled again, watered some more (soil was REALLY dry) so after the water settled at last I was exhausted, sweaty and shaking from exertion. I was just going to leave the tomato like that and thought, nope. It needs to get planted. There was still dry soil toward the back of the planter dangit! This soil I swear is the most hydrophobic stuff and then when it does get wet it holds for a while. It might have some peat moss in it but I'm thinking it's something else going on. 

 And there you have it. Since it's a bush variety I plunked it right in the middle with a cage which it will likely outgrow but oh well. Not supposed to plant tomatoes in the same planter every year yada yada.... I threw enough fertilizer in there it won't need any for a while. I snagged that pot when I saw it had two plants in it because more is better right? 'Technically' I could have divided them but wasn't going to take a chance on breaking them. I also couldn't bury them much deeper either so with a water well around them they'll be fine. I have some scallions that I can plant out around them and might toss in some marigold seeds and see what happens.

 I thought I got a picture of the west bed after I watered, but guess I didn't. This is after tossing the fertilizer on but before watering.  That soil also has a hard time absorbing water but has more clay and native soil in it than the raised bed. Go figure. I didn't do anything to the south bed, that's for another time or I might finally let Dolores have it but I think she's kind of winding down on doing gardening.

That's my exercise for the week. Yep, got my muscles worked and cardio, full workout. That's my story and sticking to it. 

All done... too hot to garden anymore

 I knew it would be sad and ugly since I didn't get out to the garden to water yesterday... my experience and intuition was right. It is 90 outside, low humidity and partial high spotty clouds so that means... garden in distress.

It is confirmed though, of those four plants, the two on the right and back are indeed bell peppers and the other two remaining were probably jalapeños. They are all now compost.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One midsummer empty bed. The two peppers that were on that plant are indeed bells but since they were only about an inch long, it was not worth caring for them in this heat. I would have to be down there every day, early morning before the heat to water them. You can see by the soil after I pulled them that there is very little moisture left.

I got the cultivator and started digging, what I did discover were roots. Lots of them and they smelled of Liquid amber trees. The gosh darn logs I used as filler are sprouting roots and growing into the bed. I knew there were roots in there before but it's even worse now. If I tried to use a root inhibitor product I wouldn't be able to grow anything in there. They're too deep and embedded to dig out and would increase the amount of soil I need to fill the bed. So just have to rip out as much as possible and keep adding soil to compensate. The roots of the peppers weren't that developed either which is testament to not having enough fertilizer or water. I really need about ¼ bale of straw for mulch during the summer.  Bark mulch is almost useless because I'd have to rake it out and it doesn't break down as quickly as straw.  

So, fertilizer and a bag of soil this week for that bed. The garlic I'm about to give up on as well, I should have watered but again, too hot to drag that hose out in the middle of the day. I have my grubby pants on and a t shirt so will see if I have the energy in the evening.

It's too dang hot! 

 

 

Today was the day

 It was still rather warm by 7 pm but watering had to be done. Everything was bone dry and frankly, I was done with the tomato and cucumber. I only got two pictures because once I got my gloves on to work, didn't take them off until I was headed upstairs and I was exhausted. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I pulled off the few tomatoes that were left if they even had a blush of red to them then decided it was time to hack it down. When I pulled the stump out the soil was absolutely bone dry, how these plants have survived going that dry between watering is beyond me. I then looked at the cucumber, checked the largest one and it was even more of a 'J' shape and none of the others had pollinated. Yup, not worth the water and energy so up it came. Also dry as a popcorn fart and very few roots. I then checked the peppers, decided the front right one was basically done and yanked that one but left the others. They may all come out by the end of the weekend.  

So I watered, and watered, and dug, and watered and will check tomorrow to see how well it soaked in. 

 If I pull up those peppers then what? Too early for peas, too late for beans and I would have to look for the right type if I did want to plant them. If I wanted to get actual plants then it's not too late for tomatoes and peppers. I was only planning on spending about $40 for soil and fertilizer so will see what happens. 

As always. Can't plan on anything because everything can change in a moments notice. Or not. It's Saturday tomorrow, not a good day to go to any garden center or hardware store but might hazard a trip to get some fertilizer, maybe some soil. And a pizza from Costco, maybe some chocolate.

Almost yanking time

The weather is ramping up as the tomatoes are winding down. This weekend will be yanking time hopefully, due to the mites on the cherry vine. Probable jalapeños with the cherry tomatoes. 

 The peppers are small but had a feeling they would not survive the heat and grow to mature size so I pulled them off. There's only a few more tomatoes left on the vine and thus, going to try and yank that soon.

The cucumber seems to be going gangbusters. That large one is a bit crooked and the others seem to be bending as well. One small one wasn't pollinated but that's okay, seems to be two or three more waiting to grow.

I pulled the Terra Cotta plant, just not worth the effort to keep it. I had watered the previous day what I thought was thoroughly, but when I pulled up the plant it was still dry as a bone where the roots were. I need to figure out how to keep the soil moist longer and deeper. Can't be out there watering every day, doesn't need it and sometimes every other day is too long. Just can't win with watering without mulch. Oh and the bell pepper, I think the plant to the right is also a bell judging from the base of the stem where the fruit is forming. So two bells and three jalapeño I guess and still wondering what to plant after these are all done.

 

 

 One or two more roses blooming and still smell heavenly.  The little pink single one that I trimmed back... not a repeat bloomer so that's done for the season unfortunately. The Angel Face that's hidden by bushes, never bloomed. Poor thing. Sign of the season, leaves freshly trimmed off the upper branches of the sycamores due to the migrating parrots. They're coming in again morning and evening now and they're selectively removing leaves from where they roost. Going to have to read up on the reasoning for that.

That's all the news for now, entirely too hot to go get soil today and I have other things to do in the afternoon. Will see when that gets done since I don't need it right away. 

  

 

More wonky weather

 It's kind of hazy overcast but 92 outside. Surprisingly with the door and windows open it's not so bad because there's no direct sunshine. So was about to turn the AC on since it's on fan right now at floor levele it's 85. No bueno. AC it is.

Post watering from day before yesterday, the cherry tomato is looking even worse and am still going to wait out the last five or six tomatoes before pulling it. Same with the peppers, they've got fruit on them and I suppose as long as I can keep things watered they may survive.

Good size when I picked it, very heavy and turns out it was more flesh than pulp. When I consulted other gardeners they all said it was fine, likely due to variety. Tasted just fine so I'm calling it a win!

 

 

That Terra Cotta tomato is really not worth saving at this point. There's tons of fruit on the cherry so it'll keep going but there's signs of mites and possible mildew. I'll be getting the trash bag and tomato cage set up when I cut that down.

I appears I have a bunch of cucumbers coming out! Definitely that one on the right and the others are still babies but will see if they develop. I think it senses imminent cutting down so it's putting out as many fruit as possible, but they still need pollinating. 

Bell pepper seems to be doing okay, here's hoping it gets to full size. The other peppers seem to be growing but one small bush at the back, no fruit. Sigh. Going to do better next year.

I am now convinced I need to super load the raised bed with soil and fertilizer every change over and make sure it's topped out. All the light composty stuff is pushed to the back corner since that's the only direction I can water. Might have to make the back a bit higher than the front so the water carries everything to the front. Dump a half bag of fertilizer into that bed along with raised bed soil is going to be the method. An 8 lb bag of the Garden Tone fertilizer is now a little over $15, other brands are 6 and 4 lb  for only a few dollars less. If I've got the money, might as well get the bigger size. Raised bed soil is still $10 and change, nothing on sale at the moment, missed the spring sale on the other soil I suspect. Two bags of that and the fertilizer is about $40, not too bad for the budget I have at the moment. 

I may put a collapsible cart on my Christmas list this year, usable for groceries and garden supplies which is a big need for us when we do our monthly grocery haul. Only other thing is some sort of hose caddy or winder that fits in the electrical closet. Everything I looked at were the big unwieldy ones that I am very familiar with from working at the garden center and wall mounted ones. I was tempted to switch back to the fabric covered ones but those are such a pain in the butt to decompress and are so prone to breaking. I might get a new spray nozzle too that swivels because currently the curve of the hose is in the opposite direction of where the head is pointed. Makes for awkward and uncomfortable handling and sometimes the head twists then of course squirts water from the coupling. I do not have the budget for a $100 hose or reel. 

 The search goes on as does the gardening, oh it seems the Jacaranda is still blooming again.. interesting. 

 

 

Another minor update

 It's been warm, I've been busy but managed to get out and water the other day... day before yesterday for sure. I don't want to water in my new pants so it'll have to wait until tomorrow when I remember to change into my shorts.

View from below of the last of the Jacaranda flowers still in bloom. Most of the fragrance that has been drifting into my window has been from this tree the last few months. I don't mind at all but a friend of mine is allergic to them, didn't realize it until she moved to San Diego from Michigan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cucumber from a few days ago, almost ready to pick and the peppers. I swear those are not jalapeños. They never get much bigger and this one started rotting at that size. So yeah.... but that other picture is definitely a bell pepper. It's much bigger now as the next photos will show.

I picked the cucumber today, it was very heavy and almost completely filled out. I didn't want to take any chances with it starting to develop rot or something. The ridges were almost filled out and the prickles were easily rubbed off. The peppers, sigh. I have some extra money so will be getting fertilizer and soil hopefully. They just never grow up to full size unless they're actually full size now, going to try and head to the Armstrong's nursery and see if they have San Diego Seed Co. seeds and actually get guaranteed correct variety seeds. As much as it is near sacrilege, I will toss most of the seeds I have since most of them are more than 3 years old (some are close to 6 years old!).

 The tomatoes are pretty much done for the season. That cherry is looking very tired and old and as soon as those last orange ones get a bit more red, going to pull them and then cut the vine down. I already cut the terra cotta in half after pulling the two that were ripe. 

There are two possible cucumbers at the top of the vine, if they don't develop, I'm yanking the entire bunch of vines off the trellis. About ready to give up on the peppers as well since I already pulled the slow growing scallions out yesterday. Need to go look up what to plant this month for this area. That I will eat.

 And there you have it, not a heckuva lot. The blocks are planting dates and if I wanted to start from seed then now is the time. Carrots, cilantro, garlic (HA!), lettuce, onions, peas... all the cool season stuff. But with our weather it won't be cool enough for them until November at least. Ah well. 

When we have complaints about not much to grow due to warmer winters, think about where it does snow. They have an even shorter growing season and no planting in the winter at all. You have to grow enough to get you through the winter months until you can plant in the spring 'after the last frost and when the ground is workable'. Or have a seedling greenhouse or area in a garage to start them. 

I have sufficient extra money I might look into a smaller raised bed frame for either the south or west bed. I'm not using the greek oregano and if I pull that up and then put a frame in that area it'll be deep and wide enough to be a bit more successful. 

Off to research costs and all that jazz.