Another fine, clear day.

 Sunny and cool. The hawks are calling in the tree, heard the Eurasian doves as well almost right outside my window. Must have been in the Jacaranda tree. Hummingbird baby is chasing mom around, next thing you know it will be coyotes in the distance in the evening.

Oh yes and bees buzzing in the jade bush. Why can't it bloom in summer and draw in the bees when I need the pollination? Not that I'm going to grow squash again but I might. Once the cilantro starts growing and blooming that will draw the bees back in. Need to look for some more flower seeds as well, I did say I wanted to plant alyssum and never got any.

I have started to get gardening pages coming up on my Fb feed and a afew are informative, others are just because they have pictures of flowers. One that came up was a seed company that was advertising Chinese Pink Celery. At first I thought it was a variety of rhubarb or something but saw that it was celery. Research time! 

Beautiful coloring, it's described as having a much stronger flavor than European celery but it can be cooked slightly and bring the flavor down. The stalks are thinner than the standard celery and retain their color even when cooked so it could liven up some soups or other dishes.This just is a color variant of the usual Chinese Celery that is used in Asian dishes. If I decided to grow that (available only as seed) then I would need a market or restaurant that would want to use it.

I realize now in hindsight I should have taken four bags and not three of the soil. The rain has compressed the soil down a lot. Which means that by the end of summer I'm going to need at least one or two more bags. Also I erred on the side of less is more with planting. There is plenty of room on the left side near the cilantro for a row of carrots or scallions. Nothing is still coming up in the middle other than a few random radishes. Will have to sow a lot more all over to get better results. 

I am still disgustipated with the trellis but have to wait another week to get some of the metal mesh. Weave the stakes through three of the sides, maybe get some zip ties to hold it together (why didn't I think of that before?). Going to be another $20 for the larger rigid metal mesh, essentially remesh sheet for doing concrete. Chicken wire comes in rolls that are too long but that's the only way they make it. Has more uses if I want to line the other bed where the potatoes are and can pile soil up higher as well with a little support.

They really had no idea about gardening when they created this area. The soil is terrible and unless you are younger and more nimble the ground at ankle high is not attractive for gardening. I am thankful every day going out and seeing my raised garden. Thank you