Sunshine and watering..and a bonus 'planter'

 We had the food pantry pick up today and as we were sitting in the car waiting I realized it was a little after 10 am and nary a cloud in the sky. Clear and powder blue almost to the coast today so that meant watering was indeed needed today.

Lantana is in full bloom and the hibiscus next to it only has had about four flowers so far. Better luck next year. In the same patio the creeping charlie is completely overtaking two pots. Looking fantastically healthy but wasn't so much during the winter of course.

 

So for whatever reason when they were loading our car with the veggies (15 ears of corn, two caulflower and even more brussel sprouts) they just loaded the entire hard crate in the back. Usually they have them in clear plastic bags or cardboard boxes. I didn't see it until I opened the back when we got home. I initially thought...'wonderful, what the heck am I going to do with a crate!'.  Well it wasn't until I was partial shucking and trimming the corn (leaves now in the compost bucket) that I realized.... 

'THIS IS MY NEW POTATO PLANTER!!'

I used it to bring down the bag of corn leaves and the scrap bucket and took the picture then turned around and saw poor Layla's two little planter pots. SIGH... hard decision here. Donate it to her or keep it. We don't cross paths too often and I would insist that she get some actual potting soil to put in it so..I tossed it behind the jade plant next to the raised bed, in the corner. I think I have just enough raised bed soil to fill it and theoretically toss some potatoes in there. Wish I had some straw to line the crate.

Hard to see because I didn't get a good shot of the radishes but  I swear they doubled in leaf size overnight. I'm seeing some coloring on the ferny leaves of the coriander so death is imminent for a few of those plants. I could have made do with just three or four plants but when you're gathering a handful of the leaves a week for using, you need more than that. I also just realized that when I pull those up I'm going to need to replace the soil so that's where the remainder of the potting soil will be going. Or part of it at least.

The tomatoes aren't going to get much bigger as far as height is concerned so I will likely replant cucumbers on the trellis and maybe put some sort of protection around them. Have no idea what considering I have no idea what ate it in the first place. Might crush up some eggshell and sprinkle it out there with some cayenne and chili powder. 

Oh! A Monarch flitted through the garden briefly! It swooped around and as I was getting out my phone to get a picture it barely touched the onion flower in Layla's garden and swung around the coriander then flitted up and over the fence. Yay! It was gone before I could get my phone open to the camera unfortunately. It's likely the female that laid the eggs on the butterfly weed downstairs that is now completely munched to the stems because...1 plant cannot survive 6 caterpillars.

I did water thoroughly and still need to tie up one of the tomato pairs in the south bed. I have the green wire just forgot to bring it with me due to crate discovery. Also forgot to get a picture of the red trumpet vine cluster that finally bloomed. Oh well, next time, not a big deal.

We got tons of brussel sprouts, corn  and two heads of cauliflower with this run. Having to give away all the sprouts as I don't eat them fast enough and we still have some left over from last month. I also got a head of celery from the community table and just might cut off the bottom and use that to try and regrow some celery. Need to figure out how to chop and flake it for drying to keep longer.

 Good windfall, yay for veggies and butterflies, more food on the way tomorrow and things feel good at the moment.