Only thing good is the weather.

 Low funds and that makes me nervous about paying bills and rules out getting anything for the garden. Was going to look for seeds at Target then remembered they didn't have much of a garden department it's more of an idea with them.

Watered today and that's about it. Didn't take my usual morning walk with Rocky so no flower pictures so not much to report.

I just remembered I left some red pepper seeds to dry in the window that Rocky sits in and saw the towels that are normally there on the counter this morning. Ooops guess won't be planting those. Still have half of the pepper in the fridge with some seeds so no loss, just a minor delay.

Really looking forward to those carrots, not a big carrot eater but if those succeed I will be a happy gardener.

Not really happy with the lettuce, the brown is mostly soil from being watered but they just aren't thriving like the ones in the sun. The supposed bean sprouts are coming up and actually discovered there's three plants so yay! (So help me if those turn out to not be beans I'm going to very very upset).

My thumb is at the juncture at the tip of one of the potato plants.  I thought maybe it was some flower stems starting or insects but I think it's just the fuzz they normally get when starting. Just never noticed it before so will see what happens. Didn't seem like it was insect or disease but not really familiar with details of potato growth.

The lettuce are happy campers so far and I might dig them up and spread them out a bit when they get a bit bigger and hope they survive. Being a 'frugal/broke' gardener you try and save plants and seeds where you can. Oh, and notice all the purslane crowding up around the border? That would have been overtaking the area if someone hadn't left that there for someone to use.I suspect I would have figured out something with the wood pieces.

I dug around the marigolds for water wells and despite the soil still being dark it was very warm and would have been dry by afternoon with the weather being clear and very warm today.

One of the other residents I'm acquainted with came by when I was there and asked about my garden, told her I worked at a nursery for 20 years and she knew where WAN was because she had worked at the base near it. Told her about the tomato and we generally chatted about gardening stuff. So obviously didn't pull the tomato and told her I was going to have to yank it but gave her one of the smaller ones that was ready. 

I'm hoping to get that done by the end of the week and pull what tomatoes are ready. Will have to get out really early before it gets too warm to do that. I know the root system is going all over that bed so it's going to be done carefully to not disturb the marigolds. 

That bed is just prime real estate for full sun veggie growing but the soil is crap and very limited actual growing space. I saw a picture of some fava beans and they were perfect for putting in a spot like  that but those are technically not a true bean and closer to peas so they're cool season planting. Will have to wait until fall for those, peppers will grow well in that spot instead of peas. If I get rid of the tomato I'll have three poles to use for a fence/trellis so technically could grow tall beans.....

(I sometimes open another tab to do on the spot research while writing so hence...)

What I have just discovered is the difference between bush beans and pole beans is the same difference between indeterminate and determinate tomatoes. Former type grows tall and produces over a longer period where the latter grows and produces all at once. Fascinating. Now have to decide what to grow and saw that a Fordhook variety of Lima bean is heat resistant as well as being able to grow in 'adverse conditions' well hello there, I actually like Lima beans and corn.

As far as green beans are concerned it seems that the variety 'Contender' is 'heat and mildew tolerant' and has a very short harvest time, only 45 days to harvest. I've seen that variety in seed racks as well as the Fordhook lima. Hmmm. 

Or I could plant more flowers or whatever seeds I can glean from other veggies I bring home.

Another beautiful day

 Just watered today, got out at my usual time. Breezy and warm today but it's a cool breeze and it was a bit nippy overnight. So watered thoroughly but didn't cut/pull the tomato. 

I'm going to be deleting a boatload of pictures from my phone and google due to space running out. If you are looking at page here and it seems something is missing, that's why. I hope that blogger isn't attached to them, always scares me when it says 'delete from all shared devices' that i will lose the picture forever.

Going through my pictures I found when I planted the potatoes and it was on Valentines Day. that's about two and a half months ago.

Apparently it's roughly 80-90 days after planting or when it flowers, whichever comes first.These were 'Baby Gold' potatoes and technically just early Yukon Golds (which are delicious. So they grow faster than say a Russet potato since they're smaller. Just a tick over 60 days at this point so another month and will be rooting around in the dirt for potatoes. Yay!

Guess I'm getting impatient about harvesting since the plants are so big but I've seen pictures of bigger plants for sure. Even if I only get a handful that's fine, don't need a bumper crop of potatoes and still have a bag of the baby golds I bought, should really fix those soon. Also have a red potato in the cupboard so I might cut that one and plant it in the tomato bed.

There is a definite difference between the lettuce growing in the shade and the ones in the sun, same with the peas.

Just might have to transplant a few of them to behind the potatoes to get more sun.  They're much weaker than the others other than the one that gets more sun than the ones in the back. The beans are coming up well also, the carrots are going to be ready in a few weeks for sure, they're getting so big. 

Pictures were taken after watering on the right so everything is flattened but the lettuce especially was flattened by something before watering and there was a glimmer of snail/slug trail... sigh.  Well this has certainly been a lesson for planting. Won't recommend planting things in the shade if it's constant shade like the back of that bed. I don't think it even gets sun in the early morning due to the building and other fence. Same with the corner behind the compost pile, that corner is in constant shade and I was thinking of what to plant back there if I got to that point. Would have to be ornamental for sure like azalea or camellia or some such. Then again the soil is soooo crappy back there it would take a heckuva lot more work than I want to do. Shade succulents?

I took a picture of the roses but to show the difference between the root stock flower and the one that's actually the variety.

I mentioned previously that the rootstock that is standard is called 'Dr. Huey' have no idea about it but the smell is peppery and they are prone to mildew last I remember. It's only suitable for a rootstock so if you see that coming up around your roses, and the bush is older than ten years and looks a bit less than it should, time to get it out and put in a new variety.

Still haven't figured out what the other rose is that's the single pink, pretty little thing and apparently doing okay in the shade. Can't really search for 'shade tolerant' roses because the other bushes are supposed to be full son but they're shaded as well and doing fine. You just never know with plants. 

 

Almost didn't get to the garden

 Another wonky day starting out with it being overcast and almost rainy. It rained on the coast and when I went out to Costco (no where near the ocean) we could smell the salty air from the coast. So cloudy means water isn't as necessary but since Rocky didn't get his walk this morning, decided really late to get outside as in it was 4pm.

The pine is being nurtured but is still struggling.  No one has staked it up and the man that planted it didn't try to correct it in the hole. None of us will be around whenever that gets big enough to be a problem.

The tomato is really bad but I wasn't going to yank it that late in the day and decided things can wait for watering as well. It was cloudy half the day so wasn't going to worry about it.

Oddly enough the south bed has more sun than it does earlier in the day, hmmph. the peas are still in full shade though other than that tops of course. the beans and lettuce are doing good and I pulled another carrot that was half the thickness of a pencil and maybe two inches long. They'll be ready in no time and are forming just fine thankfully.

The lettuce behind the potatoes are doing good also and technically needed to water them being so small but I think they'll be fine. The mites are still very evident despite me using the fan spray and hitting as much of it as I could.

I will be pulling it for sure but that's a hard job to do and so wish I had my Foxgloves. Long gauntlet knit gloves with a textured palm side for gripping. I went through about six pairs after we started carrying them at the nursery. Mostly because I kept losing one or both but they are very nice for general gardening. NOT thorn proof but I can handle a thorny stem carefully and they're washable! The ones with the texture are called Foxgloves Grip and are worth the $27 for how good they are.

 

Not a paid endorsement (unfortunately)

They come in three our four sizes and 8 colors so very easy to get extras. Stupid HD... my gloves were in my locker and they didn't think they were something important. Should have asked for a money card for it. 

Speaking of roses, better picture of the two bloomers:

 

 

And the compost pile is...smaller than it used to be which is good, but also most of it is being worked on by the worms into the existing soil so it's hard to mix it without digging more soil up. I used the hoe and dug up some weeds in one spot to add to the pile.

 Not exactly sure how to fix that pile to be more useable, might need to use the shovel and turn it over completely instead of just using the hoe to pull the sides up on top and mix. There's a LOT of weeds in there I can chop up too. The eggshells haven't broken down yet, likely won't for a long time. 

I wonder if someone's done a garden blog out there called, 'As The Compost Turns'.... ehehhehehe

A bit more hard work in the garden than I planned.

Didn't get out to the garden until noon again, despite waking up at 7. Sat up for a couple of hours, then decided to go back to sleep so wonky schedule today.  Well with the new glasses comes a clearer vision and holy cow the tomato was horrid looking with spider mites! When it gets to the point of webs, time to cut and chuck.

These are turning out a lot greener than they look in person. Oddly enough the sunny side has the majority of them with the interior being really bad.

I also discovered one damaged tomato on the interior but no other signs of chewing. Since most of the tomatoes that were larger had splits and I can't seem to get the right combination I might just have to completely cut it down and dig it out. When that happens I can examine the roots for any other swollen sections. This is the aftermath of my pruning massacre.

The picture of my fingers is to show all the mite dust. That's not dirt, that's dead mites and their frass (poop) from handling the branches without gloves.

After the massacree

Before

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes I added an extra e on the end on purpose, if you know what it's from and can say it with the right southern twang then you're as old as I am. The before picture was from about three days ago but as I said, I just might sacrifice the whole thing because of the other plants around that might get infected. Next year I will plant a tomato either at the other end of the bed (east) or in the bed where the potatoes are. Will see what happens as things develop.

And more pictures of the roses because... they're roses and pretty and smell good.

And the seedlings coming up are definitely beans and they are in bad locations for growing. They're also pinto beans not green beans and once the tomato is out I might transplant them over there. Making sure that the ground is thoroughly saturated with neem oil before planting of course because beans are just as susceptible to mites.

Looking forward to seeing how the carrots turn out and if I'm not mistaken I think the tallest pea is trying to put a flower branch which means, they're done. Yes they're supposed to flower but if it's just one plant and two flowers, why grow it?

Just have to figure out what to put in there after the peas. The lettuce is still going and have weeks before they're big enough to harvest, so will have to look into what is tall but not needing support that tolerates some shade and won't turn into a monster (looking at you brussel sprouts, broccoli and cauliflower). Good luck on that. Not growing okra, don't have any use for exotic veggies or herbs like that fenugreek. Not growing soybeans either, besides those needing full sun is out. Still a few more weeks before full summer and the shade from the wall will be minimal during the height of day, the zucchini did okay but was a bit large and pollinated weird. May choices but needs research.

Good day for doing nothing after the garden.

Still warm but not that bad and beans!

 Well the weather is holding warm but breezy though still not comfortable temps. It only gets worse from here out unfortunately.

The roses are blooming and the iris are continuing. Why did they only plant yellow? Another shot of the bougainvillea as well that is just busting out!

Yes! A lavender rose with red edges and of course I'd hazard a guess it might be Angel Face but I owned one and that's not it Fragrant Plum is more likely. The peach colored one is very fragrant and I think last year I thought it was a Tiffany but again, don't know for sure. I stood in the shade for the boug picture and shaded the phone with my hand so it's much darker than it is but still a good color.

 Even the wild purslane is blooming! Downstairs neighbor has two cultivated portulaca in hanging pots that I think she got last year because they were blooming really well. Just starting to put a few flowers out right now. 

 I do believe those new sprouts are actually BEANS! After all this and they're finally coming up! Wow! So now have to wait for those to get bigger so I can transplant them to the north bed. They're both close to the lettuce and peas and I think there's a third one as well so they have to get moved. Will sacrifice the north peas, maybe move those behind the potatoes?

Then there's this injustice:

Remember that fantastic planter bed that has the plumeria and all the plants that they cut back or removed? Well TWO bags of those honking 3 cf garden soil are sitting out there. Really? You freaking don't need that much soil for that small bed! Those weigh 50lbs each or more, I know, I've tried to pick them up and 45 is my limit. They must be on sale or something but I would need to move it with the dolly and one of those would amend all three beds there's that much soil in there.

Anyway... hoping to get my new glasses today and news of more money. Just keep growing, just keep growing.....