Long day is done.

 The storm has passed so the skies were clear and I was able to get out to the garden and dump my kitchen scraps and check on things. I had about four and a half hours running errands and doing adult type stuff today so only got home about an hour ago. I was able to get out to the garden before venturing out so was able to get some pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cleared the top layer of logs off and rearranged the edging accordingly for the restart on the compost pile, then a single layer of leaves and the kitchen scraps. Will see how the gophers fare with this situation. The new soil in the bed was... still wet as expected but you can see how it's drier up in the corners and edges where the sun reflects off the white. 

If it stays this sort of weather I'll put out the last of my pea seeds and make the netting trellis for them to climb on. Maybe more lettuce in front of that and decide what radishes and carrots to put out with the onions. When things start growing is when I'll put the last of the mulch down that's still in the bucket. Still need to move the aloe plant out of the way so I can reach the back of the bed easier from the side.

I'm still just tickled at seeing rich black soil like that and I get to plant in it! It's in full sun just about all year round so it's going to be the hot spot for things like tomatoes, peppers and beans in the summer. Need to smooth it out a bit more, need a shorter straight stick or board to do that but for the most part, it's ready to plant. Yay! When it needs watering I'll remember to use a lighter spray or that soil will go flying all over. That's what mulch is for but won't need that for another month.

I am very excited about this. I keep picking up my seed packets and thinking, 'I should go plant these right now' and have to put them down again. Not yet....not just yet.

 

Two random pictures, the left is the aloes that are near the garden and as I was leaving, noticed they had flower spikes. Really early for them but will take pictures when they start flowering as well. The other is a random weed that was in a yard when I was picking up my grandkids today. The first name that came to mind was 'Henbit'....research says...dingdingding! That's correct! And I couldn't remember my EBT PIN today when checking out. Also known as 'Spotted Dead Nettle' it's just one of those interesting plants that come up in the spring here but you don't see them very often unless you go hiking in the canyons.

The hummer babies are filling the nest now and would have gotten a picture but my hands were full and was going somewhere but will hopefully get one tomorrow. 

 

Spring is springing in the gardens all over!

Angels do exist in friends

 A friend has gifted me with the soil I needed as well as other monies for taking care of some bills. She and I have known each other for a very long time and we were roommates together. I consider her my soul mate friend we got along that well despite her being old enough to be my daughter. She has helped me more times than I can count and am thankful to have her in my life. She knows we appreciate her and she knows I loved her when we were both struggling and still love her.

We didn't get home again until after 4pm and I noted there were clouds moving in, she said yeah it's supposed to rain for the next three days. Sure enough, I checked and we have a high chance of rain, instead of putting off filling the bed I did it tonight. The rain will water it in really well and compress it a bit.Three bags of 2cf was perfect!  I also got some garden netting (trellis type) and a package of green onion seeds. I bought Roma tomato and Cilantro seeds the other day at W-mart when we went shopping. It's still cold and wet weather so lettuce, onions, cilantro and will see about other stuff that I have. The tomatoes may have to wait a few weeks and Roma's are determinate so don't have to worry about them vining too much.

The raised bed is in more sun than the south bed so radishes and carrots might do better. I think the soil is too rich for potatoes, they do better in sandy soil. Might have to do a nutrient test on that soil for NPK levels because too much nitrogen is bad for root crops but great for leafy stuff. 

 

Well according to the seed packets it's too early for cilantro and tomatoes for sure. Onions can be planted January to April, Cilantro is Mar-May and Aug-Oct. So there's overlap there for those two then the tomato is almost the same as Cilantro. Which works out for making salsa and sauces but they don't count on the heat of the summer making it bolt so spring and late fall are best for that. Of course I'll save any seeds that the cilantro creates for either coriander seed or seed for the fall. Need to see if I still have some peas since I have the stakes and netting now.

So looks like March is planting month with maybe doing the lettuce first as it is already coming up in the ground right now in the shade. I can imagine what the radishes and carrots will do in the sun!

I am so excited to get planting now! Thank you to everyone who has helped me on this journey of a real garden bed!

 

 

No more wind..still clear with changes

 It's positively still comparatively from yesterday, barely a breeze but enough to ruffle the trees. Heheheh. Still wonderful weather and only need a long sleeve shirt if you're in the sun.

Well, I gave up on the compost pile as most of it was being dragged underground and eaten. Kind of useless and like my vegetables from last year. I made a decision to just dig it all up and throw some of the dirt around the edge of the raised bed.

So, didn't have a lot to put out, some lettuce and coffee grounds and tomato ends. Seeing how the last scraps were completely gone I just dug it all under with the shovel then through about four shovel fulls on the raised bed then patted it flat.

I decided on throwing it around the edges because the perimeter wouldn't be planted  much and the heavier dirt was fine there. 

The seedlings are much easier to see but still nothing from the potatoes. Going to be chronicling that north bed as the sun begins to creep further and further north and the shade moves south. The soil around the trench is dry but still not going to water as the soil underneath is still damp. What are those two small logs for? Nothin'. They were there and just left them there for no reason as I'm not planting anything there at the moment other than the potatoes. Maybe I should have done a wider trench and lined it with the logs?

Speaking of logs, I cobbled together a pile of them and then put the edging back around as best I could. Will wait and see if there's signs of the gophers in there tomorrow. 

 I also double checked the camellia and found where it had been which means it just fell off and was happy to see no sign of Camellia petal blight on it. I will research taking cuttings of that if they ever consider cutting it back again. Speaking of taking cuttings...

I did smell the little roses and they are fragrant! Sort of an old world rose fragrance which is another thing on the checklist for identification. On a second search it might be Eglantine Rose (Rosa eglanteria) but again, this is such an unusual old world rose it was likely bought from a mail catalogue for sentimental reasons.

A little sleuthing, a little digging, a little wind and gardening is done for the day.

Breezey to blustery!

 Yes indeedy! It is a very blustery and clear day which is our Santa Ana conditions. Wind coming from the East but no Mary Poppins sighted yet. Hold onto your pots!

 I didn't get a picture of the bottom of that ficus pot but you can barely see... roots. Under the tray. If it had been put on bare ground it would have outgrown that pot many times over. So this is one of the many reasons that I would tell people never ever ever put a ficus pot on bare ground and get a solid ceramic pot and tray to put it in. Somewhere in my archives I have a picture of a 42 inch box planter with a 30' bamboo in it that was blown over in the wind. Tall plants act like a sail and catch the wind easily.

If there were any leaves left on the trees, there aren't now. Sycamore and Liquidamber are stripped clean along with their seed pots. Even Rocky was reluctant to go outside due to construction and wind noise. Everything's moving! 

Before on the left, after on the right. I didn't turn it at all yesterday, the gophers did that for me. There was a lot of stinky onion in there and they just didn't care. Not enough in the scrap bin to put out yet but as long as I can keep those little rodents busy with the compost maybe they'll leave my lettuce and other sprouts alone this time.

Well picture upload is being stupid again but you can definitely see the line of seedlings easier. The lighting is so weird with the cinderblock wall bouncing light off and the reddish clay soil..just can't win with photos this time of year.

 

 

I did check the camellia bush and I'm pretty sure someone must have cut it off. I didn't see the telltale branch end and there were no signs of petals below. Oh well, the thing about camellias is they have no stem to put in a vase. My mom had two shallow florist bowls specifically for floating camellias and gardenias in when they were in flower. Honestly barely remember what color the camellias were but do remember a light pink like a Debutante flower in the camellia bowl.

 

 

And the hummer babies! I got a better picture of them this time when momma was off the nest.

Is that a hair on the nest or a hair on my lens? No idea. From my recollection on how fast these little nuggets will grow they should be fledged out in about 3-4 weeks. Yep that fast. Which is why I will be taking pictures every chance I get but at least once a week.

It is just absolutely gorgeous weather, clear sky as far as the horizon, the hills are greening up like they do this time of year so with the wind blowing in it also brings dust and noise from the construction on the street just East of us. I got my wish for wind blowing through the trees but still have the other noises. This kind of weather makes me want to take a hike through a canyon or some windy hill trails with sporadic trees. Few and far between in my neighborhood but here's a 'painting' I did of one trail I used to love walking.

 I put 'painting' like that because I use a drawing app on my ipad and then just use different brush types on smudge and it looks like it's painted. That trail likely looks like that right now but it's about a 30 minute drive from me now so just have to remember the days.

It's spring for us at least! Warm weather in about two months.

 

Composting and seedlings

Another glorious clear and breezy day with sounds of construction, neighbors, planes and... occasional bird. I would rather it be breeze through trees, more birds than neighbors and no pounding.  The weather is going to hold with this trend for a few more days at least which is fine by me.

Piles of dirt and obvious signs of gopher movement below. Which, given the movement yesterday not surprised really. I completely filled the scrap container because I decided to try my hand again with salsa verde which involved a lot of tomatillos and their husks along with garlic and onion skins joined the container to fill it up. Oh yeah, and some cilantro that went bad.

So lots of stuff and I didn't even bother to cover it up. I didn't put anything particularly repulsive in today, at least for them. Oh wait, yes there was some chopped onion that had gone seriously rank in a container so that was in there. Should have made sure that was in the holes, oh well. Not going to dig through garbage to do that.

 

The cilantro may look okay but what's underneath are black and soggy leaves. Wasn't going to sift through that in the kitchen. Need to find some seeds for that and get planting. Speaking of planting....

And once again very bad photos of the line of lettuce seedlings coming up. Very difficult with my poor phone to get pictures of what is obvious to the naked eye. That garlic though... needs a lot more sun for sure. Crossing fingers the lettuce survives. If not and if I get soil this weekend planting will happen in a safer and sunnier location.

I am now picking up my grandsons from school three days a week and there is a very overgrown rose bush in front of one house. The flower looks vaguely familiar from pictures I've seen so doing a quick LeafSnap search:

Either Alpine Rose or Sweetbriar Rose. Neither of which is very common at all and given the age of the neighborhood and the house has to be at least 50 years old it was likely planted back then and possibly brought from somewhere from the original owners.

The issue is both those varieties seem to be single forms, a single layer of five petals and this one definitely has two. Will be getting a picture of maybe the hips or other flowers and try again. I didn't check the fragrance as these rarely have any. One thing of note is, it already has mildew on the new buds there's white on the bud at the base of my thumb. 

It's very unusual to come across a rose like this in suburban homes. They are 85% hybrid tea with the other 10% being shrubs, floribundas and climbers and the other 5% being 'other. That's a guess on my part but most certainly it is a very low percentage of unusual or antique roses.

Depends on the neighborhood but after seeing so many rose varieties for so many years at the nursery that's a good percentage guess of what we were selling.

In my humble gardening experience and opinion, roses and flowers should be spread between backyard for your enjoyment and front yard for everyone's enjoyment. My yard would have roses, gladiolas, dahlias, freesias, and depending on where the yard is in the country, peonies. I'm leaving out all the other bulbs I would plant and the seasonal ones. I would have a dedicated vegetable garden and large numbers of beds for flowers. 

Cutting and fragrance for sure would be a priority but there are a few that are just pretty on their own without fragrance but like many gardeners they are very few. Annuals like pansies might be sprinkled in there along with violas and little violets that would reseed themselves. Putting out plants every year just to have them die off in a few months is too much labor. Leave that to the 'professional' or 'commercial' gardeners that have the money and time. Flowers and veggies that either reseed or regrow are what makes a garden work on its own. 

So that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Well once again, gophers.

 Another resoundingly clear, cool, lightly breezy day. Sky is almost a 'Tiffany Blue' if you know what that color is toss in a little deeper blue and that's it. 

I didn't take a picture but the camellia flower was gone. It is entirely possible it just dropped off. That type of flower does that and I forgot to check the stem to see if that's what happened. Heard the lawnmower this morning but it was entirely too cold to jump out of bed and ask for some clippings. Not this time. 

The garlic is thin and reedy looking but still going strong, the compost..... sigh. Two holes with possibly two others. I don't have any mesh left or I would dig that out and put it under. Alternatively I may end up using one of the buckets I was going to plant in since they do have holes and all I need to do is dump it out and shovel it back in to turn it. Gopher proof for sure.

It appears that the lettuce is the first to come up. Go figure. Farthest back in the shade all the time and I know it's the lettuce because it's all mostly in a line. Radishes and carrots, nothing yet. They need warmer soil so it was a chance for sure.

And in the animal world: 

Leetle Leezard hanging out in the warm electrical closet. I  opened the door to see if I had a small piece of mesh left and didn't close it so it could sun for a while. Not a good picture at the bottom but the hummers have hatched! I suspected as much when she had to sit on the nest for two days during the rain and then saw her perched on the edge of the nest. I'll try and get a better picture but don't want to be too invasive. She watches every time someone passes by, sitting absolutely still and blending in with the coloring of her surroundings as she should.

So I may be getting some soil this coming weekend thanks to an old friend who wants to help me out. I am tempted to tell her I need help with my internet and electric bills more than soil but will see what happens. She and her husband have good paying jobs but she has had some medical issues the past year so they're trying to recover from that.

Any help in a storm right?

The breeze smells of fresh soil and spring leaves. Wonderful time of year.

 

Cold breezy winter day

 Should have taken a picture of the whole garden for posterity but oh well. The weather is partly cloudy, cold breeze and only in the mid to high 50's so that's pretty nippy for daytime and dropping 20 degrees at night Yes it is getting into the mid to high 30's at night. Being in the sun is good until the breeze comes up and it is chillly! No rain expected until the end of the month but no watering is needed because of the cold temps.

This also means the soil is staying pretty darn cold so still no seeds sprouting or watering needed. I tossed the raised bed leaf layer with the shovel moving it around and turning it over as much as possible. 

And yes indeed, the gopher is tunneling under and through the compost. That hole had tunnels following the curve of the edging almost halfway around. I got the trowel and worked all that in really well, stuffing any onion cuttings I found into the hole and tunnels. Most definitely not going to be a planting spot unless I get some wire mesh under there. This was meant to make compost for putting in the other beds but it's just getting turned through the soil underneath now. It will be 'composted soil' for sure by summer.

It's an interesting experiment and satisfying in a small way to be able to take what would normally go into the trash or down the drain and put it in the soil. Even if the gophers might get most of it I hope to put in more than they eat. The worms are doing their work also but that, to me, is not good due to them turning organic matter into heavier clay type soil even though they are creating castings that improve soil, it isn't what my soil needs. It's used sometimes in potting soil to give it a bit more density which is okay but if you've already got dense, sandy clay soil, not good. 

I took as much as I could with my trowel to get some of the potting soil in the raised bed before I planted the potatoes in the north bed the other day. Not much but it's something right? It has perlite and compost and stuff so better than the soil they're growing in. Due to how dense the soil is I'm not really expecting  much in the way of god potatoes but I felt like I was doing something at least.

Oh something I was doing as I was turning the leaf layer was pulling out larger sticks and seed balls that I found from the sycamores and liquidamber. Hazards of getting lawn raking and parking lot piles of leaves. Not that they'll sprout anything anytime soon but they don't break down very quickly and would rather not have to fish them out later.

 Now, speaking of composting and a childhood memory. When I was little we had a house that had an east and west lawn. East lawn was Bermuda grass and gopher holes and had our septic tank there, west lawn was also Bermuda and gophers but had a slope so we didn't play there as much. Needless to say there was a lot of grass clippings those lawns would produce in the summer. Well, for whatever we were thinking at the time, we dug a hole about big enough for us to stand in up to our waist (not very deep being kids) and when my brother would mow the lawn he'd dump the grass clippings in there. Again with childhood logic, why we would put our bare feet in there is still unknown other than it was light and fluffy then we would dig our feet down and it was start to get warmer. That was magic to us. Wow! It's warm down there! So we would warm our feet in the composting grass clippings pit. 

The composting grass was creating heat, which is why you turn it frequently so the temperature doesn't get too hot and kill beneficial microbes.

Yeah. Well at least we weren't running behind a DDT truck getting sprayed.

Pictures, got pictures

 Nothing amazing, had some clear weather, then rained last night and now it's breezy/windy cold and clear. It's coming in waves thankfully, No. CA has had it worse than us but we are getting water from the sky to replenish some of what we need.

I'm having fun filling that little container with scraps then taking it out to dump it. Feels productive despite nothing else happening in the garden. I did plant some little gold potatoes that had been shuffled to the back of the cupboard hoping they don't rot but I have a few more still.

Before and after tossing it a bit with the shovel. Cilantro, tomato, celery, potato, tea bags and the forever to break down, onion skins. it's not going up much and when I was digging in with the shovel, there's worms down there doing the good work!

So two in the north, unprotected bed and one at the end of the south bed. That north bed will see the sun sooner than the other which is why the seeds I planted haven't come up yet. Dirt is still too cold to do much. Will see what happens with these little guys and may take some of the smaller garlic cloves and plant them around the potatoes. As for the seeds I planted, that bed has a lot of oxalis and other weeds coming up so it's going to be a diligent effort to watch for the sprouts coming up in a line and keep everything else pulled.

The garlic is still plugging along, with luck by mid summer might have something to use, likely the tops but that's fine. I saw some 'pearl onion mix' containers in the store and pointed out that those looked like the little onion sets we get at the nursery every year. Should have bought it for planting haha. Might still do that though, haven't grown onions yet.

The little rose on the way to the garden has one flower and one seed hip. Hard to catch the color of the flower as it's more of a scarlet red rather than pink.

The little hummer had to sit on her nest for the last few days to protect the eggs from the wet and cold weather. It's sunny right now and apparently we're expecting Santa Ana conditions...which my sneezing confirmed yesterday. Barely a breeze right now which means more weather on the way.