Yep, it's gonna be a scorcher

 82 degrees at 11:45 am. One report says it will be in the 90's while my phone which is centered on my location says high 80's. As the saying goes, whether the stone hits the pot or the pot hits the stone, it's going to be bad for the pot.

Since Rocky wasn't cooperating this morning I got out and watered first. Everything was still damp but lightly watered anyway because.... hot. First thing I noticed was the shade structure was slightly askew. This could have been caused by the occasional breezes overnight and I didn't dig the hangars in very deep.

This heat and sun is great for getting things going, but new seeds it's murder. Pulled up the shade thing and watered the soil. It doesn't cover all the ground that has seeds but I think they'll survive.

After watering I took a look at the peas, carrots and cilantro and noticed the carrots getting a bit crowded and decided it was time for some thinning. It's a bit difficult being on the ground and my angle was not good. Do it again sometime? Container on legs or in a pot.

One of the carrots had a good taproot going, oh well, at least I know they're developing well for the most part. I tossed the culled plants on the pile as you should as long as they're not diseased or infested.

They are getting sun in the morning and as you can see, it will eventually have sun on it for half the day as the sun climbs higher. By that time I think the carrots and cilantro may just be done for the summer and will save seeds if I get them. Still have plenty of radish and carrot seeds and now have some lettuce to add to it for my fall crops. Will get some different types of lettuce for planting in that south bed when that happens. Have to get some string bean, lima beans or other edible beans. I have three bags of pinto beans in the cupboard we got from various places. Do not need pinto beans.

What to do with that south bed for summer though? Zucchini was kind of too much invested energy for very little return.One can only eat so many tomatoes, the green pepper seeds I planted never came up but might try again in a month or so.

The problem with planting a 'theme' garden is they aren't all the same season plants. Let's say I wanted to plant a 'salsa' garden. That involves, jalapeños, tomatoes, onion and cilantro, two of those are cool season and two are warm season. Three will keep for a long time and another won't, I still have cilantro in a small cup of water in the fridge and it's not looking happy from three days ago. The onions are long term keepers, tomatoes and peppers not so much. So how to time planting and use all homegrown veggies? Tomatoes and peppers start in the spring/early summer. Onions can as well but take longer to harvest size.

Another thing that is important is knowing what USDA zone you are in. I think I covered this previously but I am in Zone 10, San Diego is anywhere from 8-10 due to being coastal to inland desert. We get cold in the winter but not for very long and summers are brutally hot everywhere. So looking for a chart that has planting times I had to be very careful and find one that was for my zone. 

Brief explanation of zones: USDA zones are based on coldest and hottest temperatures in a wide band of geography. The Sunset Zone charts take into account micro climates and inland valleys coastal wind patterns and such. Much more detailed and in that chart we are a solid Zone 24. Useful info when talking with garden experts.

Meanwhile, I found a chart that will do for a planting guide and knowing how long it takes for a plant to get mature you can generally figure out what overlaps.

Onions are supposed to be planted in the fall...ooops. I planted the carrots, radishes and cilantro at the right time, same with the potatoes. A 'warm season' plant is not something you plant in the middle of the warm season, you plant ahead of that in order for it to grow and mature in it's ideal temperature range. Just like 'spring bulbs' are planted in the fall or winter so they bloom in the spring.

This was the most useful chart I could find. I paused when I noted the site that created it was 'Homestead and Chill' then saw it was indeed a chart for zone 10. You can click on it to get a closer look but the blue vertical line is last frost date and the red is first frost date. Like we ever get that much frost here so again, it depends on where you live.

I'll be paying better attention to what I plant and when now that I have this. Getting late to plant seeds where I am of most anything but will see what happens.