Another cloudy breezy day. At least the plants are happy...

 except the peppers. I went to the garden without any of my tools or gloves because I just watered yesterday and figured there wasn't anything else to do. Well ya know what they say about hindsight...

The rose is about the right color and intensity, maybe a bit brighter but two more flowers, I'm looking forward and hopeful for good seed caps from them. And the view of the sky through the trees. It really is that cloudy and that little cloud at the bottom is now further north that I can see right out my window and it's been two hours. Seriously.

 

Had to get up close to the peppers to get a good shot. Looking a bit yellow, same with the tomatoes. The peppers weren't fertilized but the tomatoes were so not really sure what's going on other than the lack of sunshine and warmth.

I got tired of that one cilantro in the back leaning so far over so I pulled it. 4 feet tall, almost 5 because it came up to my shoulder! See where that root is sticking out? That was pointed over to the lettuce and peas. Daannng! I pushed the soil back down and once that area is clear I'll toss in some fertilizer and soil then stir it up a bit to replenish.

A small bee was hanging out on the cilantro, poor thing. It's too cold for it to really fly I suspect. It was a bit too small and no defined stripes for a regular European bee so wondering if it is a wild/native bee? Maybe just a small drone bee. It disappeared before I could get another look at it.

 

Pretty true to color for the tomatoes actually. Kind of concerning and they are all trying to flower! You all are supposed to get three or four feet tall not 18"! I'm checking every day for flower buds and will nip them out as I see them. It's getting to the point where I am to continue spring/winter crops through to June. With the cloud cover and temperatures it's spring weather for sure. It's in the low 60's today and won't get any higher than mid 70's for the next 2 weeks. Might as well plant more lettuce at this rate over in the south bed with the tomatoes. I was gifted a head of romaine lettuce so I might cut the bottom off and try to root that over there. 

Flowers from my walk yesterday. They are more blue than the pictures, the one on the left I filtered as much as I could to get close to the blue it really was. The entire fence of blooming Star Jasmine, so wonderful! It's encroaching on the sidewalk though as well as the morning glory, technically needs to be sheared back but doubt the owners are going to do anything about it.

The Brunfelsia bushes are in full swing, the biggest one is to the right of that group. This is the 'smaller' variety of the bush there is a larger leaf and flower version that is also fragrant. These not so much.

So breezy cool day, perfect for cool season veggies and yet too cool for doing any hard work in the garden. Was going to dump and switch the compost/mulch but still don't have the right cover for the ground to do it. I know how to do it though without having to dump it out. I think. 

Will see what I fell like doing.

Clouds still hanging around but seeds were planted!

 Today is a 'short day' and so compost will have to wait until tomorrow..or the next day. Breezy and cloudy all day and likely for another few days into the weekend for sure. 

The yellow flower that was such a sunny color is now a drab pale cream with pink speckles. Frog is sad to know it didn't last. There are no flowers on the yellow rose bush either but the red canna is blooming as well as multitudes of geraniums.

 

Hard to see because of the small jade plant but there are blue flowers on the tradescantia behind it. Yay for blue flowers! The cilantro keeps leaning and am almost tempted to tie it up because it's shading the onions at the front. Next time I plant that it will be on the far side or the south bed.

That tomato has a side branch coming out but not going to prune it, these are determinate and more pictures will show something. I just wove that side branch through the trellis as well. The pea plants are definitely on the way out, I saw some mildew on some of the leaves so those will be getting pulled maybe tomorrow or the next day. 

These are the tomatoes in the south bed. They managed to hide flower buds from me but you can't hide yellow flowers. I nipped them off of course because they are still way small for producing fruit. What the heck plants?!

I had nothing suitable to make channels for the radish seeds but there's plenty of room for them. So one long track along the front for the Crimson Giant and the other two for the Easter Egg and Red  Devil B.

I figured out how to use text on the picture too! Since the seed packets are labeled in pencil it disappears in the sun so this is good reference for future seed planting as well. Could have even used color on the text but didn't think about it until after edit.

Covered them up making sure they weren't too deep, used all of the Easter Egg that was left and about half the Red Devil, still plenty of Crimson Giant for the fall.  I also watered them in really well and gave the rest of the beds (other than Layla's who watered the other day) a light watering. I noticed they were a similar type as peas and when researching which came up first someone asked if they needed to be soaked. I didn't soak the ones I grew a year or so ago and most of those came up fine. The last batch though barely came up but I think it was too early in the season for them. Will see what happens this time. Much thinning will be done I suspect. Might try to do that seed tape idea in the fall.

Those peppers... the one on the left has a bit of purple around the edge of one of the lower leaves and they are both looking rather weak. With the way the weather turned it really is not ideal for them and they never really rooted in well. I have all three colors of pepper seeds now and will see about starting some in a week or so.

I sorted through my seeds and might try cucumber on that trellis after the peas. I forgot I had them. They're bush type but I remember the last one I grew had one long vine going up a stake. I suspect that was because of it being in more shade because it also never produced.

Once that cilantro is gone... more fun will be had on the trellis for sure.

More catching up and the clouds never left

 It actually misted overnight. The pavement was speckled and patchy with dampness and when I took Rocky out around 11 it was still misty. Not good weather for a traditionally sunny day to start the summer. Still breezy and cold outside with possibly more dampness on the way.

As you can see by the light level and damp soil it was very much overcast and cool weather. Lots of picnickers and beach people likely canceled plans today. For me, it's another trip to the garden to make sure everything is still standing.

I swear that tomato crept up another half inch from yesterday and the cilantro is leaning over even more due to the breeze coming up the garden. Once those plants are done it'll be easier to see the tomato behind it and whatever else I'm going to put on that trellis after the peas.

No, I didn't pull the peas nor did I toss the compost. Got a late start and just not the right weather for airing out compost.

 

Nothing ate the peppers and they looked none the worse for transplanting, the weather is actually a bit too cool for them. On the other hand something is nibbling on the tomato gosh darn it. I need some BT or Spinosad for that.

Today's scrap dump. Lots of orange peals, avocado skins, egg shells, one of the pea plants I pulled yesterday and cantaloupe rinds. Next scrap dump is going to be orange skins, potato, cucumber and tomato along with more cantaloupe and some romaine ends. Yum! Oh and Jon got more coffee so some of those are in there too. 

I decided to cover it up with the bag because the gnats and flies were really bugging me. I'll have to find a lid for it at some point that has ventilation screen. If it's warm enough tomorrow I'll do the bucket switch looks like it's going to be in the low 70's and partly cloudy for the next two and a half weeks. Oh well. Good weather for lettuces and cool weather crops for sure.

I suppose if it's going to be that cool some radishes might be okay for a few weeks maybe in front of the peppers and tomatoes in the south bed. Yep I think I'll do that tomorrow... nice long line of radishes. They should be up and growing before the peppers get too big for sure. Hoping the peppers survive the cold. Those I may have to replant if they fail. Stupid unpredictable weather, it's never been this cold and drizzly on Memorial day in recent memory for me.

Yep planting radishes tomorrow and see what happens. Maybe some carrots?

Busy yesterday and the day before so catching up.

 I had a busy day yesterday and the next day and...yeah. Didn't get to the garden until later. Wasn't in a mood to post so here it is three days later. Weather is wonderful as usual, cleared off by noon and was still clear around 5pm. Memorial Day weekend is usually full of other things than gardening but that is what I have today and tomorrow. That also means no school pick up on Friday so no pictures from my usual walk.

Good news/bad news... good news the wonderful bright pink epi flowered and is the same as the one over at the gazebo. Bad news...someone cut all the flowers off the rose bush. ALL of them. That's just rude and inconsiderate really. Don't care if they were taking them for some memorial, it's public space and I only took one to leave the rest for others to enjoy. Someone else thought otherwise.

 

It's hard to tell but that cilantro is leaning over toward the camera. As I said before, the wind circles through from that direction and they're tall enough to just bend with it. I could likely pull about half what's there and still have enough for seed next year.

I actually needed some cilantro for dinner and had to run down and pick some leaves. Still haven't figured out how to dry it to use later.

The onions are almost long enough to pull. Again I would have to figure out how to freeze dry them or something to keep them until needed.  I dug into the soil to see how wet it was and it was good but with as warm as it was today, I watered anyway.

The pepper plants have not been happy. Barely growing and showing signs of stress one way or the other so I put two of the cups where they would be planted two days ago. Today I looked at the one left by the wall and it looked worse and one was wilted so I pulled them and there's hardly any roots. I think they rotted.

I also pulled one of the garlic the other day and forgot I tossed it behind the flower box. Just a single bulb but it was in a spot that was being shaded by all the other plants in the bed. It just wasn't growing.

So today I pulled the other cup of peppers that didn't look good and that is the roots on them. None of them are rooting out much compared to the tomatoes. I decided to toss those and then plant the last two with the tomatoes in the south bed. Crossing my fingers they survive.

 

Again forgot to add fertilizer I think I still have some because I don't remember throwing the bag away. If these two don't survive I'll have to figure out how to get some pepper plants to put in there. 

The peas are done.

The picture shows better how much the stalks of cilantro are leaning. I'll be pulling the pea plants tomorrow (hopefully) as I just picked the last of the peas today. Not much left on them and they are showing signs of finishing up. Hope that lettuce doesn't get displaced in the process. There's still hope for planting beans there I suppose.

The tomato is slowly inching up the trellis really well. I like that idea for tomatoes better than a cage, at least for determinate types. It works better when you can get on both sides of the trellis though as I've discovered with the peas in the situation I have. Between the jade plant in the way and the buckets and logs, it's hard to get back there to see what's on the fence side as well as trying to pick in the middle.

If I had stopped and thought about the size of my areas, and knew I could configure the raised bed any way I wanted, I would have made a shorter narrow configuration for the south bed. As I said, if the Jade and logs weren't in the way it would make getting around the bed easier but it's still a 4 x4 rather than 2x5. 

The compost is filling again since we got some oranges and peppers from the food help. I've now got cucumbers and romaine lettuce and some tomatoes so lots more veggie scraps going in the bucket. Wish I could cover it though, the flies are really congregating there, which is to be expected when you have raw veggie and fruit scraps just laying in the open. I still need a small tarp or a large yard bag to dump it out on. OR another bucket to put it in. Which may well happen anyway. I just might combine the two mulch buckets into one so I have an extra bucket. Yep, that's the ticket. I'll have an empty bucket all the time and the compost in one and mulch in the other.

 But this still means I need to dump the mulch and leaves out to mix them. Will figure it out.