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. 

Keep forgetting to post

 Just updated a Saturday post and now for Monday/Tuesday. It's actually overcast right now at 7:30 pm on Tuesday which is good. It was mostly sunny earlier and now definitely not looking like summer weather. I watered anyway because I'm trying to get out there every other day (just realized I left the other hose unhooked on the spigot, oh well).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Still waiting on the cucumber to fill out, I have to really have patience with that because it's still very bumpy and prickly. Size is good but needs to put on some girth and smooth out. I made a decision to pull the smallest pepper. No growth and not as many roots as it should have. The other plants are doing fine, the one in the back left corner has bigger flowers and stems than the others so  I'm thinking that's either a bell or poblano. More than one fruit on the front right plant and looking like a jalapeño.  I hope I don't have 'pepper gate' peppers. But honestly any peppers is fine by me.

That terra cotta is going to come out as soon as it finishes up those last fruit. Just not doing as well as I'd hoped and if I remember correctly, the previous plants in that corner didn't do good either. Not sure what the deal is. Definitely going to need about six bags of soil and two bags of fertilizer when I turn over everything. If I have the money of course. Need to see what's on sale for soil right now and plan a trip. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The cucumber baby did not get fertilized, sadness and dismay. Oh well, getting one good one is better than none, will see what happens further on. And Rocky on Sunday is sniffing around where he actually caught a baby lizard and ate it! I was about ten feet away because he hates when I get too close going into the garden. So I saw him leap for something on the corner of the wall there and then do the little secondary catch and then dropped to the ground. As I came around to where he was I saw him working his jaw like he's eating something. Well, well.... you got yourself a treat little guy. My only thought was hoping it didn't give him worms or indigestion or something. So far he's been fine as far as I can tell. It must have been a really small baby because I didn't see anything sticking out of his mouth when I came around to see what he was eating. Don't have to worry about his hunting instincts..other than birds... he's learned they are much faster than he is.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Midday on Sunday, everything kind of slumped in the hot sun but was perked up in the evening. That soil dries out so quickly on the surface every other day is mandatory. 

I saw a little potted seed kit at Walmart today and was tempted to buy it. 'Italian Herbs' so it was Basil, Oregano and Thyme I think. Should have taken a picture of it, but I don't usually use basil unless it's in the Italian herb combination so not worth the $13.00. I also tried drying my own oregano and thyme in the microwave... didn't work as planned because I forgot a crucial step of stripping the leaves off the stems. Microwave smelled like oregano for 2 days. Not a good smell because it's Greek oregano. 

So that's all for now, more watering and whatevers as they happen.

Warm weather but not too bad

 Clear, breezy and just warm enough to run the AC a few days in a row but might survive today without it. Will see in a few hours.

The over achiever cherry tomato plant. The terra cotta tomato is not doing so good, half the height and not as healthy. Still producing but it may just be the position and variety. Definitely going back to an actual Roma next year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The cucumber is filling out nicely! Going to be a full size cuke in another week I think. It's gained about a half inch or more in length in the past few days for sure. Five more cherries plucked early because I'm paranoid about them staying on the vine. I need to find out how to get full branches of ripe ones without the oldest ones rotting.

I think this one is likely a poblano, it's not perfectly round like a jalapeño so will see what happens. All the plants have flowers and tiny fruit growing but I still wonder what the two smallest ones are. Will see eventually.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Size comparison and a close up of hopefully another cuke up at the top with the closed flower. Most of the flowers seem to be males unfortunately so not sure how much longer the vine has. It may be holding off on females until that one fruit is finished. Can also see how the terra cotta is not thriving as much and is having some issues with spider mites. I'm trimming off branches as best I can when I see them and luckily it's not affecting the cuke or the cherry vine.

Have to go out and water today for sure, got a late start on the day so morning watering never happened. 

Summer Solstice Day! (forgot to post)

 Longest day of the year for the Northern Hemisphere and it is also Father's day. It's clear, warm almost hot and breezy. Haven't been outside yet due to fixing a huge meal and all that entails. 

Hibiscus that Dolores has near her apartment. Semi-double? She is trying to take over as much area outside as possible for her plants. Lined up against the block wall and also in front of her apartment and also tried to plant some ginger mixed in with the landscaping along the sidewalk. I get the whole wanting go grow stuff but that's a bit ridiculous. 

Pulled up the second smallest garlic, just not thriving but according to the roots it was doing great. Not so much in the bulb area though so into the compost it went.

(Okay now four days later)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The remaining cucumber is actually growing, still very wrinkly but am hoping it will fatten up. Trying to keep the bed watered but can't get out there every other day and sometimes doesn't need it. There was one other tiny one but it wasn't pollinated so it withered up. This one is staying straight as well probably due to me keeping it away from the fence and trying to get it as much sun as possible.

 And getting actual peppers though the plants are still very small. I just do not have good luck with peppers, even when I grow them from starts. Not enough food and water no doubt. Still don't know what variety these are either.

The largest one in the corner is doing the best for sure with the smallest ones on the far side but those were planted out smaller as well. One of these days.... I 'll have more than squash, tomatoes and onions.

I'm getting about four cherry tomatoes at a time, picking them a bit orange more than red and give them time to ripen on the counter. The terra cotta is less impressive for flavor unfortunately but that could be from being over ripe on the counter. It's still way too early to plan for fall crops like peas and other things and I have some russets growing in the cupboard. But that's another crop that I've not had success with other than the first year. 

Still a few flowers left on the cactus that were likely opening that evening (this was taken yesterday). Go figure cactus are the only thing that survives on neglect and I am not a fan.

Things to plan for at crop rotation: An entire 5 lb bag of fertilizer just for the raised bed along with more soil. Split another bag for the in ground beds and try to figure out how to make a better raised bed framing for both. Right. In my dreams at least. 

That's all for now folks.