Fall things and soil depth check

 With the garden winding down and weather cooling, not getting out to the garden every day. Got out there today and watered since I do have one and a half plants still in the ground. Bean is still doing okay, tomato is literally hanging in there.

Hard to take a good picture of the bean due to it being so far back and can't get to it. I did try a couple of shots though. The tomato is looking particularly sad though with the larger tomato pulling down the branch over the cage top.

 

Trees aren't the only ones with leaf color changing. Hard to tell but the top leaves are turning almost purplish. From what I remember that is either from a nutrient or weather condition. Both are true as the nights have definitely gotten cooler lately and it hasn't been fed in weeks. It is to be expected though, this late in the season so I'm not really concerned. 

Something else that is growing but not in my beds are more mushrooms in the lawns where there were bushes previously.

By no means are either of these edible but just thought they were cool looking and possibly good subjects for painting. I covered this previously that fungus is expected this time of year when there's more moisture and cooling weather. In some places, usually near parking lots,  I can smell fungus in the air as mulch and roots are rotting. I would never ever pick a wild mushroom unless there were three experts on site giving a definite thumbs up all unanimously.

Something else this time of year...rose hips.

Not all rose hips are usable, they won't kill you but they just don't have the same qualities as larger varieties, notably rosa rugosa or true wild roses (which no one grows purposely).  My favorite one that I grew for a short time was the Apothecary Rose (Rosa gallica) which dates back to the 1500's. Beautiful bright pink and wonderful fragrance! I had to give mine up as I had to move to an apartment with no porch or place to put it. Hope it's still alive.

Original copy of Redouté engraving

 

Rosa gallica

Anyway, most roses can be used but the bigger and more vibrant colored ones the better. I don't particularly use them in tea or whatever but they are packed with Vitamin C and are good. Just don't use any systemics on your plants if you plan to ingest any part of them!!

 

Now.. about that soil depth check.

I mentioned it simply because I was trying to get a second stick into the dirt next to the bean and again, due to angle of attack and  balance couldn't get it in very far. But the bean is also growing at the back where I didn't dig the soil as much. Big big difference.

Mud line about an inch

Mud line about two inches

First picture, stuck it in very close to the bean. Second picture was to the front of the bed near where the pepper plant was. It could have gone even deeper on the second one if I tried.

This is a good indication of where the roots are going to go as well. Still a lot more to do in that bed though before anything more can be planted.

 

 

Despite having wonderful trees that change color and are very photographic, there are things like angle, an umbrella, buildings and all, that ruin a good photo. this tree has changed color and started losing leaves like crazy. We had a good wind come up a few days ago so that blew a lot of them to the ground.

Gardeners will come around tomorrow and rake/blow them and take them away of course. Such is the way of city living otherwise I would be out there doing it and throw them on the compost pile.

First time in over twenty  years I have the opportunity to enjoy the seasons instead of dreading or thinking of things that I need to take care of wherever I was working. Right now in the nursery it would be rose, bulb and bare root season. Which I might go check out because I Really want to get some bulbs this year. Maybe even plant some garlic in the south bed. Garlic tops are good replacement for green onions or having a light garlic flavor to eggs. no lack of garlic in my kitchen that's for sure.

I love flowers and seeing them grow and bloom for me is just a very rich reward. Growing  most anything is a reward in itself which is why a lot of parents and schools use seeds and plants as part of curriculum. Cause and effect, cycle of life and processes of nature covers several categories.

Bulbs... hyacinth have to be my favorites with daffodils and their cousins coming in second. Tulips are pretty but too delicate and in my area most of the usual spring flowers like that won't come up a second season. I will have to wait until spring for the gladiolas and freesias which are my summer favorites. Gosh darn it I am going to have a flower bed! Or planter...of some sort. Somewhere.

I done did it and worked a little of the bed.

 I dug up the pepper plant finally. It's supposed to get very warm, at least 90 today but for now the air is cool unless you're in the sun. 

Mostly shallow roots except for one or two thicker ones running off to the side. This is an indication of a few things. Hard soil, or low nutrient soil (check) and infrequent watering (check). There should have been more thick roots going in all directions. In the process of taking a picture of the bean plant, I think I broke it. It had mud spatters on it so I kind of slapped it a bit hard to shake off the mud.

Kind of hard to tell from the second picture (The layout in edit is different so for me the second picture turns out to be the first picture when others see it) but that's the undersides of the leaves as it's leaning over. Sigh. I found a small twig and propped it up, hopefully that will suffice. I watered thoroughly and it got sprayed so had to prop it up again.

Oh and I threw the pepper plant on the compost pile then had second thoughts. Considering it is in the shade all the time now it's not decomposing as quickly. Large diameter sticks and twigs do not break down fast so I ended up cutting all but the main stems into finger long bits and tossing the stump in the trash.

Sizable pile of greens there, might have to take a cultivator and shovel to it. Found a small tomato that had ripened and picked that to put on the table as well. Yes those are still tomato cages in the corner, keeps the cats from doing stuff in the corner. Can't believe what this garden smelled like when I discovered it six months ago.

Oh something else I discovered cutting up the pepper plant is something that I suspected seeing fly around. Whitefly.

Standard 'greenhouse' whitefly not the more obnoxious tropical giant whitefly. I rubbed what leaves I could see it on to keep them from propagating too badly. One thing to look for is yellow patches on the surface of the leaf so if you see that and turn the leaf over, you might see these.

Oh and for continuity sake from the start of this project I take pictures of the bed from approximately the same position to hopefully make a montage sometime.

Angle of the sun is rather pronounced as well as it being thoroughly soaked. That was about 10:30 am and shows very dramatically how far the sun has dipped. Three months ago that would have been in full on blazing sun. Still trying to figure out what to put in the other bed. Cilantro and other greens for sure just have to get more soil and nutrients.

The weather will continue to warm and cool for the next month or so, like it does this time of year. I think this weekend will be the last hurrah for extreme temperatures. Right now it is clear, no wind to speak of and warm in the sun but cool in the shade. Likely about ten degree difference between inside and outside right now. We'll be back home after lunch before it gets too hot and settle in for the day. Oh, another photo of a painting just because.

 

Other things happening and catching up

 It's been cloudy, then clear, then cloudy again today so knowing that I don't have much to do in the garden I haven't been out there until today. I took pictures of the trees and such while walking Rocky but that's about it. Been doing my 'painting' a lot as well. 

I decided today was the day to cut back or rip out the tomato and pepper. I chickened out and just cut them back. 

Before

After

Two tomatoes were worthy of picking and pulled whatever peppers pulled off easily. The bean how has another set of leaves, is chugging along nicely but honestly not expecting much. It's been a little over two weeks since I planted the seeds so not too bad for having no nutrients at all.

Another after shot

Go little bean, go!

I pulled the weed grass behind it best I could with the gloves I have, better than leaving them to just propagate more later.

The trees are turning lovely colors now and framed against a blue sky made for a wonderful picture. I'm happy we have some kind of tree that changes colors in fall. The only trees I had around me growing up were native oak trees. Everygreen and one of my favorite trees but no color change.

So glad to be over summer now. It's been brutal since I was home every day, previous summers I have been working and therefore not getting consistent weather or temperatures. Sure does make a difference and gives me another point of reference for gardening and personal experience.

Oh, I took pictures of the 'compost heap' previously and now to show the difference between it getting full hot sun and shade most of the day. Full hot sun after one day the leaves were brownish green and crispy. It's been almost a week since I put cuttings in the heap and they were still green. 

 This is the same pile a week later. It amazes me every time no matter how much knowledge I have.

Now it's time for food and more ruminations on what to do with a winter garden in San Diego.

And then fall is back in again.

 Such is the weather this time of year. Santa Ana's leave and bring in cloudy cooler weather and then hot weather may be back again in a week or so. Beautiful clouds outside though and since it's cooler, not going to water or check on the garden. Though here are some photos from yesterday and others I forgot I had.

Bean sprout is putting out an other set of leaves, and the wild grass behind it is coming in as well. We usually get greening in the fall through winter and spring again. There are several tomatoes still, I picked the topmost one because it was cracked horridly on the shoulder and just tossed it in the trash. This was the day it hit about 85 or 90 outside and you can see how dry the soil is. Watered well and the remaining tomatoes will likely crack as well. The soil dries out very quickly and I should have been more diligent on watering every day but oh well, live and learn.

 

 If you can see the leaf difference you can see a problem. Those larger leaves in the middle are of a mulberry tree. How it got there I have no idea but it most certainly does not belong mixed in with a trumpet vine. Next to a pergola and patio. The problem is, because it is a tree and it is that tall already, the roots have completely gone everywhere it can. That means it can't be pulled out. In  order for it to be eradicated, it has to be dug out or at least cut off below the ground level and even that is not a guarantee. These are the trees that are most often 'pollarded', a form of pruning that takes the branches down to the main until there is only growth points left. Here are some examples:

 

Now the original reason why it was done was to promote lots of new growth for fruit production. Most of the mulberry trees in cities are the fruitless variety but the practice is used for maximum shade in the summer.

It does need some pruning in the winter but I absolutely abhor pollarding on any tree. It's ugly in the winter and the only thing I can think of that would need it is a grape vine and even then it's not considered pollarding.

Meanwhile off the soapbox....

If this weather trend continues for another week I will definitely be getting some compost and digging it into the garden. Still not sure what to put in the shady south bed that I will eat or use. Actually, maybe a flower bed isn't a bad idea, put some bulbs in there, some annuals on top and by the time the sun makes its way back up northward they'll be sprouting. Some pansies, stock, snapdragons..three mainstays of the fall and spring garden here. Oh to have a wonderful bulb flower bed for the spring and summer... dahlias, gladiolas, maybe some bearded iris. Sigh.

It's very breezy outside and clouds are moving to the south which means yes indeed, weather change is ere and possibly another coming behind it. According the the weather app it won't get out of the 70's for the next week. Yay!! Some sun but some clouds too so perfect fall weather to get out and dig in the garden, pull some plants and do some work in fresh air.

Right. Or sit at the computer and look for a job.

Lagging behind on posts and pictures

 Been lagging behind on a lot of things other than doing my painting and playing games. It's to be expected this time of year the garden is just kind of hanging until serious weather changes come. We will be having hot and dry weather again this weekend. I watered the beds yesterday and the evidence is clear once again that shade makes all the difference in the world. 

I trimmed the tomato again as well, it was leaning out into the path and just took some extra growth off. All of the branches but a few were ones with fruit so I trimmed to that point.

Also a few days ago I pulled the two pathetic bean sprouts in the south bed. They didn't sprout very well, likely being upside down and they were in the shade. So not worth having them struggle and not do much. I trimmed the tomato again as well, it was leaning out into the path and just took some extra growth off. All of the branches but a few were ones with fruit so I trimmed to that point.

Also, after digging up the south bed and not doing anything with it, it seems one or two of the cats had gotten out there again. Definite divots and paw prints in the soft, recently rained on, dirt. I worked it again, leveled it and then put tomato cages back on it for insurance.

The Liquidambars are changing color, yippee (note the few leaves that are on the ground)! That is the only fall color that California gets and I'm enjoying it. IF I ever get to a location where I can grow maples I will. They have less of an invasive root system than these do and have more interesting shape and branches.

I've been taking a lot of pictures of trees, landscape and plants to paint and took one of the Liquidambar that was changing color. That's the tree that dropped leaves in the garden and rather striking against the blue sky. They are such a funky tree species that one will be changing color and the on not twenty feet from it is still summer green.

Picked a tomato and one of the few peppers that came off easily. They are not growing any bigger quickly so it's only a matter of time before I yank it. The leaves are yellowing also which says that it's finishing up and nutrients are run out completely.

 

 

 

 

 

That pepper looks more like an anemic lemon tree than a pepper. The tomato had considerable corky marks on it and I left it and the pepper on the patio table. The penny was there already so I just used it as a size comparison.

The bean is doing good, about two or three inches tall now and nothing has decided to munch on it. If it starts getting taller I'll use a stick or one of the cages to support it. It's supposed to be a bush bean which means less than two feet tall. About the height of your knee so not really going to need support.

This weekend and next week may be the last hurrah for hot weather, crossing fingers. Santa Ana conditions usually don't last much longer than two or three weeks usually, sometimes a month but that's unusual and scary. It usually coincides with fires breaking out and so far we've had more fires this summer than ever before. Fire season is the equivalent of tornado season. It could strike any time and you can only keep your eye on the news and watch the horizon for smoke.

Time for lunch and waiting for packages to arrive from Amazon. As soon as more money comes in I'll get some compost and fertilizer to start working the beds.

 

"Double Shaded Trail"

Another example of shade and sun

The weather is holding with cool and breezy, partial cloud cover enough that a jacket is needed. Yay! This also means, again, that watering is not as critical. These pictures are from yesterday so today waited until late to water.

Sunny North side

Shady South side

This is where it gets confusing because when someone says 'it's on the south side of the garden' In the winter typically you would think it gets more sun but not if it's against a wall. This is why I have been confused in the past when a customer says that in the winter time it gets full sun but it's on the North side.'South side of an East-West wall' means more sun in the summer unless there are trees or buildings close by.

Oh and see that little tomato on the wood pile on the right of the first picture... welll yeah... left it there yesterday by mistake. Still there, no bugs or animals bothered it when I checked the beds and watered today.

 So the weather is the topic due to it being the biggest change around here. You noticed the ground was all clawed up? Got the cultivator and whacked the dirt a bit to break it up. It was kind of flat and compacted as this kind of dirt will do. That's another thing that mulch helps with is keeping the soil surface from compacting so much when it dries.

In other parts of the country people are doing 'winter prep' with their beds, because...snow. Around here we do winter prep which means ripping out the old plants and digging in new compost and fertilizer and putting in seeds and bulbs. I think I'm going to go do that tomorrow, look for seeds and bulbs and stuff that is. The working part, have to do it so need to wok up the energy.

If I see one of the landscape guys I might ask them to move the wood piled over about a foot or so to give me better access on the side. Or I might just do that myself. I need to make a decision on how active a gardener to be. I've had this monologue previously, previously.

So I'll just go think about that and report back.

It's my birthday and didn't do anything special

I almost didn't go out to the garden until I realized I had missed two days due to the weather being so nice. So went out, did survey, forgot phone for pictures, went back and got phone and this what is happening.

So this is the north bed, behind the pepper and tomato. One sprout is up, the other one apparently got eaten by something. The picture on the left is the same angle as my original photo with the circles around the emerging seedling. Yeah.. all gone, oh well. That one is nice and healthy at least. Then there's the other bed where they are just breaking the surface. One of them was upside down for some reason.

Literally, like it had pushed itself over and roots were partially in the soil but the head was very under ground.

That's two or three coming up in the same spot so a lot of confused stems there. They'll straighten out eventually. The tomatoes are, sigh, plugging along and not very big, so are the peppers. I picked one small pepper that was changing color.

 

 

This is the tomato at the top of the bush not quite ready yet. Trying to think of what I'm going to do next. I know I've mulled it over a few times but right now I'm in a state of frustration from various factors so not having anything producing in the garden and having to work seems like a lot of trouble for small returns.

Might do something garden related tomorrow, find some fertilizer and compost maybe. Weather is absolutely gorgeous and cool so feel more able to dig in stuff. Maybe. Oh I saw three little holes under the pepper that were curious and possibly signs of what may have eaten the bean sprout.

Could be ant holes given how it's cleared around the holes which is something they do but could also be worms. If it's worms, yippee!  Will see what happens the next few days and hope the sprouts aren't attacked. Last time I tried to grow beans years ago they got to the size of the one with two leaves and then snails came in and mowed them down over night. Yes I know it was overnight because I checked them in the afternoon and the next morning they were gone, snail tracks everywhere too. 

So that's the update, another year another trip around the sun for me.

It rained overnight so went out and checked the garden

 Didn't need watering of course but knew that already. Two of the beans finally have poked their sprouts above ground!

 Tried to scratch a circle around them but the stick was too dull and that back one was a bit far to do it well. When I went out there I was thinking, 'how long does it take for these things to come up anyway?' Welp, there they were. Had to move two sycamore leaves away from the front one so I could see it better. (The dark dirt is shadows from the tomato). I need to figure out some way of stepping closer in the bed without crushing the dirt. I hate compacting dirt that I have to dig up again. Might get some grid or sticks or something to run from each end once i start digging.

Other than that, cool and overcast fall weather yay! The tomato is plugging along, the pepper is starting to look a little yellow so still handing fire on both of those. None of the peppers are getting any bigger than about an inch so it's a hard decision to pull now or wait. Killing something that is still green and growing and trying is a difficult choice. It goes against everything that we as humans are conditioned to do. But gardeners are a different type who know what's good and what's not, the weeds go, tall living plants you've nurtured since a baby... not an easy view because we usually wait until it's on its last legs before pulling.

Speaking of that, and I wish I had gotten before and after pictures, the apartment building on the other side of the fence from us had two, possibly three trees cut down. One was a podocarpus and the other a palm tree. They were growing right up against the building and there were parking spots right there so that may be the reason. The issue is, the podocarpus (Yew Pine) was providing a LOT of afternoon shade for that end of the building. The palm tree, not so much but that was a rather interesting way for them to cut it down. Tied a rope as far up as they could get with a cherry picker and take a chainsaw at the bottom. Controlled falling awaay from the cars around the corner. The sound of a full on thirty foot tall palm tree hitting the pavement was eerie to say the least. 

But now the parking area is open and not like it wasn't being used but easier to park and drive around it. Sometimes plants, trees, bushes have to be taken out due to poor planning usually. And again, it's hard to make the decision but those were easy. Roots could have been causing issues in the foundation, at least for the podocarpus, and the palm tree..well palms as a group are my least favorite tree so the fewer the better. Maybe two or three palms catch my interest and that's it.

Trees felled, plants growing, other plants coming up... weather changing for the better and life feels better over all.