Much cooler today and a chance encounter

It started out in the low 60's this morning and heavy overcast, remember my mention of 'May Gray'? Yup, morning overcast in my area that gives way before noon, on the coast it can linger all day until about 4 or 5 just in time for the evening coastal eddy to roll back in. 

On my way out to the garden (sans phone) I saw the older gentleman that I suspected had been the one watering. I told him (unfortunately a bit brusquely) that he did know not to water the gardens, he nodded and I went on my way. It wasn't until I came back with my phone that we connected. He is very well meaning and first asked if I was the new manager. I said no but I've worked in a nursery for 20 years and he says she's been gardening for 35 years. He cares about life and everything (not in a demeaning manner) if he sees something wilting he wants to put a little water on it. He's also the one that replanted the pine tree and is taking care of that. I'm sorry, his idea of 'a little' is not what he was doing. So I told him I am taking care of my beds and nothing has died from lack of water, we came to an understanding and I told him I appreciated his caring but I've got it handled.

 That is not how I left the hose yesterday and is not how the other lady leaves it. The other beds were wet but mine weren't.

So anyway.... everything was still damp enough I didn't water this morning. I dug around the potatoes and almost tried to dig up one of them but decided against it.

Dug very carefully around the lettuces and peppers, and only now realized I wanted to fertilize. Oh well, something to do tomorrow or this evening. Soil is still hard packed in spots but mostly at the edges or in between the plants, not really concerned about that.

I did decide to transplant three of the marigolds and that south bed on the other hand, softest dirt I've ever dug in. Thanks gophers.

That tall pea still has no flowers but looks like it might be getting some buds tucked in the leaves. The other pea has two or three pods on it already and ...still waiting for those tomatoes to ripen.

 

I got out there very much earlier today as you can see by the shadows, so that south bed gets early morning sun and by summer it will be full sun almost all day. The Jade bush is shading the east end of the potatoes so it's interesting to note the shade and sun times of year.

I dug up the three marigolds closest to the tomato as a precaution and I encountered a lot of roots not only from the flowers but the tomato. That sucker will be tilling the soil when I dig it up whether I want to or not.

The other epi is blooming as well, yay! Hard to get a good shot when the cat is pulling on his leash. I had forgotten what color it was and am tickled that the vine on that side is in the same color palette (if it would flower more).

So feeling a bit more productive and relaxed today with the lower temperatures and a bit of progress in the garden. I hate confrontations and I'm sure I could have handled the conversation a bit better but I was feeling very defensive about 'my' space that he was invading. It's a hard lesson to learn that has taken me all my years of retail to just say 'not my circus' and walk away.