Holding steady and weather the same.

 A verbal altercation with an old fart in a huge new truck ruined most of my mood today but now am calm and got out to the garden that sort of depressed me even more but also gave me an idea. 

Nothing new growing, everything growing is hanging in there and since the weather is sunny and very warm had to water really well.

I was reading an article on gardening and it mentioned keeping the soil cool and moist so the seedlings can emerge easier. It's a bit too late for that I think but gave it a shot anyway. While I was watering I looked at the log pile, looked at the bed and started building. A fort? A bonfire? Nope, a shelter.

Should have done this a while ago but will see what happens. Crisscrossed over the area where I planted the carrots giving partial shade to help cool down the soil. I watered the logs before I put them on there so they weren't radiating as much heat. I added just a few over the area where the beans are supposed to be but since those haven't come up either, .... sigh.

Some of the radishes are showing red stringy stem between the leaves and the soil so I doubt those will be forming any bulb. I really am trying to get this to work. Less than ideal situations give less than ideal results.

If I did open up the tomato it would go perpendicular to the bed toward the wall. Lots of morning and afternoon sun and doesn't cast shade on the rest of the bed. I suppose I could take one of the other cages and put it next to it like I did before. Hmmm. 

Anyway, it's feeling like spring again with clear skies, light breeze and warm sun. Wonderful weather for being outside and doing stuff in the garden or park or wherever.

Nothing to post yesterday, same as today

 So there are seedlings coming up but I don't think they are seeds I planted. Too small and scattered to and don't look like carrots or radish. Definitely not peas or beans. Sigh. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

South bed on the left, north/tomato bed on the right. What am I doing wrong here? That north bed is getting a lot more sun than the south bed and the carrots are coming up just fine. I did read that it can take up to three weeks and they need a lot looser soil. Such delicate little things.

Right. Going to be throwing some beans in that north bed pretty soon, the recently acquired ones and see what happens. Weather continues to be mostly clear, dry and cold. I didn't water when I looked today but watered yesterday and things were still looking a little damp I dug out some verified weeds before they got too much bigger.

The one on the left I think is an actual seedling I planted, the other stuff isn't. That might be a bean... maybe. Frustration of starting seeds too soon before it's warmed up sufficiently. Hence why I forget to post. Some may ask why I don't start in a seed tray or planter... because I don't have the room. Why not put it in a planter in the garden? Because if I'm going to start a seedling tray I need it to be close at hand.. currently the place where I could put a starter is occupied by the two buckets for cat box cleaning.  Can't put anything on the railing, as per rules. Technically might be able to get a rack of some sort and just shift things over a bit.  Gardening is not my life though it was at one time, it is a hobby at this point and something to do other than sit inside on the computer.

Besides, it would be another thing we would have to pack up should we need to move.

The tomato is just pumping out fruit and flowers that are all pollinating. I have no idea how they are going to turn out as one small one is turning lighter green already. Much too early.

None of the flowers are falling off, turning brown and holding on which means just about all of them are going to turn into fruit. I just might have to get a different trellis and extricate the current one so it can spread out. 

Saw a pair of red shouldered hawks mating yesterday. Kind of hard not to notice when the male is screaming, I looked up where the sound was coming from and .... dismount. Well at least I know there's going to be some fledglings soon somewhere.

Yay for wild nature! As opposed as the more annoying 'civilized' people that live around me at the moment.

Still cold and surprising mistake.

After the fact, I researched into how to grow carrots and it turns out they should have been doing much better on the sunny side than the shady side. My soil is all wrong for good germination and growth, not to mention the timing is bad. Go figure. I'm wondering if that south bed gets just a tad of sun in the morning but shade the rest of the day while the north bed gets shade early and sun the rest of the day. There was frost on a shady spot of a roof across the fence this morning. Most definitely winter for us.

Hmmph. I have to look back and see if I planted the Thumbelina carrots in the south bed because they will be okay being little shorties and don't need 12 inches of good soil to form the root. Don't have to worry about an abundance of nitrogen... which reminds me I need to do a soil test like I said I would do.

These were taken after I watered. Hard to see on the right bed where there's almost a canal of water along the log marker parallel to the wall. Well it turns out there is no rain gutter on that roof edge and with our recent down pours it made a shallow trough. I was smart to mark the limit of the bed right there.

I am convinced and am remembering now that there was a mass of burr clover in the other neighbor bed last year so that's what she's growing I guess. Good luck not disturbing your actual seedlings when you have to pull that out. Or not..she'll keep them of course because it's growing something. 

I might have to thin out the tomato plant branches before too long, it's just bothering me having all of that crammed into one cage and I am not going to cut the cage to open it up and take it out. It' s not mine and it would ruin it for anyone else to use. Really want the beans to grow at the back of the bed, must be too cold for them. I just got two bags of pinto beans from a food bank and since I don't do beans from scratch, going to use a few of them as seed. The other bags may well be too old despite the other three that I planted grew almost immediately. Will wait and see.

Our weather is so fickle, it's going to be in the 70's over the weekend and do up and down waves of high and lows during the day and night. The soil is cold, the air is cold (unless you're standing in the sun) the kind of weather that you face the sun until your front gets warm, then turn around so your back can get warm... 

Plants don't have that option. Unless you're an OCD person who takes their houseplants outside for 'fresh air' and brings them inside when it gets dark. I had to tell that person to leave them alone and explained how to take care of them. They were doing more harm than good and told them that's why the plants weren't doing well.

I got some English cucumbers with my veggies, some corn cobs and some tiny russet potatoes. Not going to plant those as they need a lot more depth and room than I have and sandier soil. Still waiting on the potatoes I planted. Need to research those as well, after the fact.

Ooops forgot to post yesterday

 Well it was cold and windy and wet yesterday so who can blame me? Mostly cold and windy... and cold. Believe it or not I went to bed worrying that the new seedlings would be okay.

It was cold yesterday! I mean it never got out of the mid 60's during the day and we had frost warnings and temps in the low 30's overnight. San Diego (and my area especially) are no longer the 'tropical paradise' of years ago. 

They were fine. The benefit of having a tall building on one side and a cinderblock wall on the other traps in warmth since the building is the last thing to get sun it holds onto some of the heat.  They all certainly got enough rain though which is good but even the north bed looks like it could use a sprinkle if I want to keep those carrot seeds moist. The soil is very cold in the shade so having some sun on the soil is a good thing.

I fixed some hard boiled eggs and made egg salad the other day. As I'm peeling the eggs it dawned on me that shells are a good source of calcium. Going to crush them a bit and then take them to the garden. Excellent! Also going to be getting a box of food tomorrow and may have some greens to throw in the compost as well. Anyway, I put the shells in a baggie and took them down this morning, mixed them into the pile feeling very farmer like.

Yay for recycling, adding some calcium and stuff to the soil! I didn't remember until after I got upstairs that I could have used the eggshells as a snail deterrent around the radishes. Oopsy.

 

That are still getting eaten, had to cull a couple of tiny ones that were nibbled to death. Trying to think of anything else I have in the apartment or that's cheap to put out there and keep them from getting eaten. I got nothing. Not even sand. Not going to put salt in there, vinegar does nothing and would damage the radishes. Need to find out where they're coming from maybe, the tomato is doing fine, no damage there so hard to say. 

It takes a long time for the eggshells to break down into calcium for the soil but then that compost is going to take a while before it's  useable. Still thinking about getting a cage type thing to use for it and maybe encourage other tennants to drop their veggie scraps in there. ONLY veggies. Not going to even think about what anyone else would consider 'compost' material. Paper yes but not shiny paper, no foil or meat products either. It isn't a trash dump is recycling organic products from the kitchen.

I swear I will do videos when I get a yard of my own. Get the tripod out and a camera and go at it. I've seen a few places that were affordable but being mobile homes in a park..'easy care landscape' means mostly rock and bricks. Shoulder to shoulder with neighbors..no thank you.

Something else I noticed about a lot of properties is, no fences. Just hanging out there with neighbors not far away and no fencing to keep out wandering animals or people. My decades of city life shows but still. I don't want deer or bears or whatever wandering through my yard and picking my garden as a buffet line. Of course would get some hardware cloth and make a cage for a garden but that's a lot of work and don't even have a property yet.

Anyway, keeping critters out of a garden of the 2 and four legged variety is a constant battle on top of the six leg and stomach foot types (gastropods that is). Every garden is going to have a small scale war going on every day with nature. It's inevitable and you just have to come up with methods and strategy that works.

More wind and rain and seedlings!!!

I didn't go out to the garden this morning immediately due to it being drizzly rain. Went out and ran some errands, had lunch then decided to go take a look anyway.  Ho hum, radishes are still being eaten... soil is wet so don't have to worry about watering.

Cilantro is going good, got rid of that pest seed and had to pull up the cilantro that I had tried to bury deeper. Checked the north bed for any progress, a few weeds sprouting, check the other bed...

Rosemary sprig planted right on top of the tomato that's not doing well. Sigh.

Wait a second...the other radishes...and

The carrots are finally breaking through!

Well this is going to be awkward. Yes those are carrots coming up, I remember what they look like and know that I planted them there. YAYAYAYAYAY!

Will have to be careful thinning those out as the soil is really a bit dense for carrots. Don't have to thin them right now, can wait until their much bigger but the radish seedlings are going to be interesting to say the least.

Hoping the north bed is energized by the cooler weather and start sprouting as well. Big difference between the weed grass seedlings and the carrots.

 Hard to see but the little single green leaves coming up are not anything I planted. Those are from the grass weeds at the back of the bed. Completely different than the carrots for sure, certainly not peas or radish.

The weather is blustery and cloudy with spitting occasional rain. It's wonderful for staying inside and doing other warm and cuddly stuff. Right. I broke out an infinity scarf a friend had gifted me with and it's keeping my neck nice and toasty.

Different topic but related to gardening, they're called Temperature Scarf or Temperature Blanket. You assign a different color for ranges of temperatures and every day you knit/crochet a row or two or however many you want for that day, then the next day do the same on and on for a year. It's a wonderful project for gardening because it reinforces checking the weather to see what color you'll be using. Technically you use cool colors for colder temps and warmer for higher temps so it give a wonderful rainbow effect. It takes a bit of math but there are lots of patterns to help with that.

Anyway, wonder if it could be adapted to growing seeds? Brown for dirt, one row for each day before they sprout, then when seeds start sprouting add in a green color assigned to whatever is coming up and then change to whatever color the vegetable is when you harvest. Innnteresting.

But yes, cloudy  and rainy weather means no gardening today other than checking in. Yay!

A love story discovered?

I went out to check on things of course and despite it being cloudy planned to water. Because the seeds need to stay damp ya know. For whatever reason, picking up the hose where I had tossed it, I noticed something that may well have been there all along and could have been covered by leaves all this time.

 

I saw the names and figured them out sort of, 'Pete .... Norma', this looks like it's been here for a while but why have I not noticed it before? Likely because I was busy looking at other stuff and it may have been covered by dirt or leaves. I got the hose and after watering washed the dirt off and made it even more touching. 'Pete 💛 Norma' it looks like the pieces were taken from somewhere else and put there given how the breaks are placed. Double checking the business card we got when we first filled out our application, Norma is the owner of the complex. Awwwwwww. So it may well have been something that was done when they first made the garden? Built the complex? I have met Norma and she is 90 if anything and like to think that he was still alive when the complex was built and he inscribed this on a sidewalk somewhere on the property and it was moved here. This place was built in the 80's

I think it's even more imperative to do good in the garden .

 I felt the breeze come up late in the day yesterday and then saw little puffy clouds coming in so should have expected it being overcast today. It's fine, need the break in the weather, just wish the clouds would drop some more water is all.

It is clear that the soil even in the new bed gets crusty when dry.

This is one of the potato holes and you can see the soil has pulled away and cracked from being wet then dry and repeat. I watered again of course, maybe I should toss some seeds over there in the corners of the bed . Potatoes need more sun than they're getting and am hoping that they aren't in that ground rotting instead of sprouting.

It is getting more cloudy and windy now so it will either get worse tomorrow or clear up. Weather app says cloudy all day today and possible partly cloudy tomorrow. As I was heading out at noon it was getting a bit drizzly but due to the wind it was glowing all over so just spitting rain as they say.

Now something else I noticed that I mentioned previously as 'pest plants that need to be eradicated' is this little thing.

See that papery thing in the corner with the two black seeds? That was blown in by the wind and is the seeds of Koelreuteria bipinnata...yeah otherwise known as Chinese Golden Rain Tree or Golden Rain Tree... a few other names but not going into those. Those two seeds can grow into a seedling faster than anything I can plant. People usually only notice them in the fall when that papery husk is a bright salmon color and think that's the flower. Nope, the yellow flowers came before that and they are noticeable but aren't as catchy as the seed pouch. 

I can tell you right now that is out of my bed and if by chance a seed or two happened to get in there I will notice it and be pulled with extreme prejudice. All gardeners have plant prejudices, can't help it and it is especially bad after you've had three semesters of plant and tree ID.  You learn a lot about how they grow and little known facts about why certain trees became popular and how they aren't so popular anymore.

Remember to do extensive research when planning on adding a tree or bush to your yard. Pick up any copy of a Sunset Western Garden book you can find, anything post 1990 is good. Older is okay but that's about when information was getting more detailed in the listings. Successive printings are another bonus.

Seems like it's going to rain and possibly snow in the mountains yay!

Not the best support job but it works.

 I went out later on yesterday because I couldn't stand not to do the supports and besides it was cooler and shadier. It works, could be better, would like it to be flat but that's for another time. The branches are too crowded and the brown leaves at the bottom are a testament to that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I used the hollow metal garden stakes and the green coated 'twist tie' type wire. Threaded the poles through the bottom two rungs, not the top one so they can spread a bit more. I get impatient sometimes and tend to rush a job that I know how to do correctly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The radishes are plugging along, no movement from anything else planted the same day or even recently. Hrmmph.

But then I am checking every day because I need to water and I remember going out after about a week and suddenly there were radish sprouts. Crossing fingers.

Walking through the lawn I saw a vaguely familiar plant and knew it was Burr Clover. Common enough weed in lawns and other places but then... 

That's what it looks like! Could it be that they were weed seeds in there all the time and just with her watering they sprouted?

Here's a better look at Burr Clover:

 

 

Now it could indeed be just a type of clover she threw in there, when it gets a bit bigger and flowers will know for sure.

The mint in that bed did a comeback I didn't expect. just hope it does a better job of surviving the summer this time around. 

Why am I concerned about the other beds when I don't take care of them? Gardener envy? Nah... Just regular old curiosity and educational point of reference you could say.

I am hoping to still be doing this in another year and if I end up planting another tomato it's either going to be a small one or I'll get one of the flat cages I had before that are great for climbing things and put that in.  

As I said, the cilantro is doing just swell and there's parsley in the other bed so hopefully will have plenty of bee and butterfly food soon. Speaking of that, a Monarch crossed my path on my way back upstairs! It was so fast I didn't have a chance to get my phone out to take a picture. Yay for butterflies!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 The tomatoes aren't doing so hot there but the mint and parsley are coming along.

Just might buy some peas or chives or something to put in with the cilantro and radishes. Nothing else has come up and probably won't.

Also tempted to put a cover or some sort on the north bed to shade the seeded area , that gets hot and dry very quickly which is one of the factors for it not being successful I suspect.

Lunch time and then off to other things. Beautiful Sunday wether, not a cloud in the sky, light cool breeze and picture perfect spring say.

Got some supplies and not much else.

 Despite being low on fertilizer I decided not to get more while I was getting the stakes and wire for extending the cage.

I got a late start today so will be staking up the tomato later today since it's kind of warm out. 

Cilantro is doing good, radishes seem to be holding up and of course I watered everything. Going to try and keep things wetter this time but also think that the seedling beds should be shaded more. Nothing is coming up in the south bed with the cilantro and it's been two weeks. So lettuce starts and chives will likely be going in that bed.

I'll have pictures of the finished framing next time.

Oh if you remember I took a picture of a pineapple that one of the other residents has in their front area. Well looks like it was ready to pick and no one noticed.

I think it belongs to the lady with the foul disposition so am not going to go knock on their door to ask if I can have it. Such a waste.

I hate to see fruits and edible plants go to waste like that. I've been that way since I was  kid and discovered the flowers in the front fields were wild radish and mustard. We had an avocado orchard to pick from too. That's the kind of yard I'd like to have. A few fruit trees, a veggie garden and some herbs and flowers here and there.

The garden should be pretty and useful as well. Plan for all the seasons and something I'm just now realizing is, don't overplan what you can't handle. I've got three beds and if they were in dirt that could be planted completely it would be just enough. I could do all the beds in that garden but then what would I do with all the stuff that would grow? I would have to give away most of it because I don't have that much room to store. (But then given my lack of success with the zucchini.. maybe don't have to worry about that.)

On the other hand, a flower garden... that is something that keeps on giving and people (who aren't allergic) would always welcome gifts from. I almost bought some bulbs at HD then saw a few selections that made me remember why I don't like shopping there for plants. 

They had Hostas and Peonies. Hostas in my area are okay, they need a lot of shade and hate the summer heat. They will die back in the summer and come back in the winter/spring but we just do not have the conditions or the soil that they like. Same with Peonies. They need a lot more cold than we have here for longer periods of time. Another reason I want to move further north to enjoy those sort of plants more.

The problem with that sort of store is they have one main buyer from one company getting the same things for ALL  the stores no matter where they are. If you want selections that are more suited to your area then go to a smaller nursery. Might be a tad more expensive but you'll be seeing the right things for your area. An example of price difference is a small hardware store had 6' green metal stakes for $5.99 each and at HD they were $3.99. Being on a budget I was apologizing to myself for not supporting a small business but that's why the big box stores are more popular. i have a little family run nursery right up the road, walking distance and have only been there three times and bought something twice. Again, the price on goods is what they need to put it at but the selection wasn't that great either.

Anyway, the idea of having to dig a new garden from grass was something I thought about looking at various houses. One place had no backyard at all but had a small plot of grass in the front and side. The backyard was a two step slope going up behind the home with a line of birch or aspen trees along the ridge above. Not gonna work that hard sorry. The orientation would be okay as far as sun exposure but have to admit I'm not as nimble and well balanced as I used to be.

Work within your abilities and energy always.

Water... definitely and a mystery.

 Due to the now consistently dry weather the soil surface is drying out faster so watering it is. Everyone got water and then I noticed the neighbor beds had interesting plants coming up. The skies are clear and there's a light breeze. Wonderful 'spring' weather. 

You can see how I've dug the potatoes in, they're barely covered by soil and sprouts should be breaking the surface in a few days. I hope.

I think they're peanuts, could be peas. Clover?

Not peas. I can tell the difference. In the upper right corner of the right picture you can see some oxalis coming up, definitely not that. There are three 'cultivated' plants that look like clover. Peas, peanuts (still a legume) and clover. Could be something else I haven't grown.

 

 

I've seen actual clover (white and red as well as 'shamrocks' and the oxalis I mentioned) and this ain't it. I've grown peanuts and that seems to be more likely. Looks like some parsley down at the bottom as well. That would be totally cool but they don't have the distinctive peanut halves at the base unless she planted them really deep.

If you notice in the picture, the leaves are already divided into five leaflets. Two on each side with one at the apex. The leaves of the seedlings are definitely clover type with all three originating at a single point. Peas look very similar to peanuts without the clover shape at the end of the stem. Why plant clover though? Other than a cover crop at the end of the season.... given her confused idea on how to grow cuttings would not be surprised if she got something confused also. 

Look at me being a judgemental gardener! oops. Sorry.

Peanut seedling

 Definitely not peanuts or peas. Hmmmph. This will be interesting to see what develops.

Meanwhile back at the radishes..more holes.

Little bastards. Could be microscopic slugs or tiny beetles I just hope the plants grow faster than what's eating them. You can see the one seedling is laying over, I nudged it upright and pushed some soil around it. They're tiny seeds so you have to plant them shallow but then this happens and it looks like they need to be deeper. Too deep and they don't germinate. Sigh.

The other transplanted radishes are still doing well and so is the cilantro. Exciting stuff huh? Yawn.

 

Another clear and breezy day

 (Wasn't going to post but then it would break my streak right?)

Wasn't going to do anything in the garden then figured, what the heck, need to keep up on it. Only brought my pruners and a glove to maybe trim back the tomato. When I got there I decided I would rather get the supplies to make a cage extension than trim it. Sooo many flowers and they all look like they've pollinated!

 

(rastsafracking formatting)

I have memorized what to do to get photos side by side, I have  no idea why it works most of the time and sometimes it just wants to be a butt. I don't change any settings... grrr. So bear with the odd placement of photos occasionally.

I would rather have a burgeoning tomato plant climbing to the sky loaded with fruit then a pruned one that is too crowded for the cage. I might restart next time in the middle toward the back and use a lattice or a frame of some sort. 

The seed bed was looking a bit dry on top so despite not bringing my sprayer I just used my thumb as a diverter and sprinkled the top of the area. One of the potatoes was slightly uncovered so I pushed some rather crusty dirt on it again. Going to have to water that area tomorrow for sure. 

(sure and as soon as I warn about odd placement, formatting is behaving... go figure)

One of the cilantro seedlings was a bit too long on the stem so I pushed some dirt around it, but may have nudged it a bit too hard and I should have really watered it today. It was looking a bit wilted but the other two plants are doing fine.

When I was getting a picture of the radishes I noticed one or two leaves looked a little notched... hmmmm... 

Some of them are getting their secondary leaves yay! But those little nibbles are concerning. Not snail or slug for sure but definitely something tiny taking nibbles out. Will have to monitor those closely. They normally have that little indent at the end of the leaf but it's the sides of the leaves I'm concerned about.

Anyway... waiting to see if the seeds start sprouting in the next few days. Anything more than a week and I go buy plants to put in. Radishes and carrots I can't buy as seedlings but will figure out something. Lettuces for the shade and maybe chives or the green onions I have in the kitchen. 

Better be progress soon or I'm going to be very put out.