It's raining, it's not really pouring...

 So it drizzled last night after midnight so it counts as 'today' and the app said that it would be cloudy but only about a 15% chance of rain. Well, here it is almost 1pm and it's doing a good rain. Looks like I'll be sitting in my car and knitting when I pick up the boys instead of taking a walk. Rain is good, plants like it. I'm glad I don't have to adjust a work schedule around it and lose money. But I don't have very many photos also.

These were taken about an hour ago when it was just misty drizzle. I liked how the leaves were scattered very artfully on the sidewalk and plants though.

The Chantenay carrots are up that I planted about two or three weeks ago! Yay! Still very tiny so I had to mark them on the photo. Yay for something growing! Oh dang, totally forgot to take out the pea seeds from the water bucket and plant them. If it's not raining later I'll move them to the trellis line. Still no movement from the sweet peas. Was it something I said or did? As I've said, I'll try in the spring and if the snow peas are there I'll just interplant with the sweet peas.

I was trying to find when I planted that set exactly but didn't find the post using whatever search words I may have put in. I did find a lot of older posts about gardening successes and failures from the last two years. First try with peas in the south bed, the tomatoes, zucchini the first time and more tomatoes. I also found the planting chart and, so far, I am planting the right things at the right time.

Almost time to go get the boys, will bring my knitting and music for sure.

Not so sunny, rain a-coming, seeds and flowers!

 It has been patchy cloudy most of the day and app says a 50% chance of rain tomorrow, possible drizzles tonight. So what does any gardener do just before it rains? Plant seeds! (and maybe water a little bit). Puffy winter clouds ahead of the rain tomorrow.

But first, flowers!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Only took a good handful of the younger flowers since I brought my clippers with me for a different reason. Some of the older flowers are all brown and have formed a seedhead, will be collecting those soon enough.

About a year or so ago I posted about a mulberry that was growing under the trumpet flower right at the base of the trunk. Well I cut it down then and now, it's back up to even taller because the gardeners don't bother looking at anything other than the lawn they're mowing or shrubs they're trimming. So I got my pruners and chopped it back. You can see by the main trunk it was at least 3/4 inch big and where I cut it. It grew that new branch where the outer layer had been torn looks like. I'm sure it'll be back  but there's no way of digging it out. This was close to 6 feet tall.

Soooo, about seeds... remember that cilantro/coriander I just threw on the ground, knowing full well it would likely go to seed? Yup, it's coming up! I pulled a few but realized that would be silly to just pull it up because it's not in a planter bed. So they get to survive on their own and will harvest it when they are big enough. And that green plant? At first I thought it was wild mustard or something...then I looked at the potato over in the west bed...looked at this and remembered...oh yeah...potato nuggets were tossed over here too! Good thing about the cilantro, once it gets big enough I can just dig a shovel over there and lift them up, separate and plant them in the beds.

Hahahahhaha! So, here I am trying to grow things in healthy soil and taking care of them and getting less than satisfactory results and then nature says... pffft... we don't need no care!

Chantenay carrots and more cilantro planted in the bed. Barely covered the carrot seeds and then dribbled some water on them. Since it's going to rain soon, I wet the soil so they don't get washed away. The cilantro, pfft... it'll grow or not.

Romaine coming up in the pellets and the mixed lettuce is filling out nicely. More red leaves showing better now. I dribbled water on the pellets even if it is going to rain. I 'll go out a bit later and put covers on that and the supposed sweet pea tray as well.

Speaking of peas, I decided to drop several into the little container I'm using as a watering bucket for the containers in the raised bed. They all sank which if I remember correctly means they're still good. I think some of the original batch of sweet peas floated so that explains why they didn't grow. Just my luck the snow peas will thrive and the sweet peas will likely wait until spring to really do well. 

In the 'weird insect' category, leafminers on the lantana. I am used to the squiggly lines and random tracks of leafminers so this is a new and different mining tracks I've seen. They're following a rib, usually hte main one and then branching out sometimes on the side veins and other times just little side nibbles. Hard to see on the left picture but that larger upright leaf the larvae have followed the veins almost exclusively and hen on the right almost a runic style track up the main rib. Research says it could be a 'Herringbone Leaf Miner' which is common on lantana apparently. I also discovered that in some parts of the world lantana is considered a weed and invasive species. I did not know that.

Learn something new every day.

Sunshine, labels and organizing

 Weather app says there is a good chance of rain tomorrow and Thursday. Right now it's clear and only slightly breezy so another perfect day for gardening, walking or something else outdoors.

Hard to see due to the lighting and angle but it's another grey/blue small butterfly on the zinnias. I see no reason to cut them down at this point since they are still gorgeous and drawing in butterflies. Not as many as before due to the colder weather (which is good because Dolores' kale has no chewing on it that I could see yesterday).

A few rusty red leaves are popping through in the lettuce seedlings so there is some different varieties going on. A lot of them are curling type but it's all good honestly as most of it survives. As soon as those get planted out I'll seed some more and have a constant supply going on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I took a closer look at the roses to see what's going on with that one with no growth. The one next to it has nothing up top but a sprout coming up at the base from bellow the soil level. This is okay. Miniatures are grown from cuttings to anything coming up from the soil is going to be the same color and variety. I tried to get a better picture of the bottom of the totally naked one to show there is a sprout coming out from the base there. So there is life, it's just behind the others on growth. I also took that tag out of the pot, it's a generic 'this is a miniature rose' thing with no specific color or identity on it so it's not needed. 

Me, who has been around plants for most of my life and have been curious about what they are and how they grow and all that, find it occasionally mind boggling that a rose, when in bloom still needs a tag telling customers that's what it is. Is it like a package of bacon that says 'contains pork'? Are there people out in the world that have never seen a rose or even a picture of one that they would need a tag that says what it is? I would think there would be a caution tag that says 'caution, has thorns and may cause injury' with all the other things that have tags for the less than insightful consumers out there.

I can understand having pictures on seed packets for non literate or non-english speaking people because that will show what the seed is for. But that can even backfire on some other products, in a famous anecdote a family came to America and saw a can of Crisco shortening that had a picture of fried chicken on it. They thought 'wow! America is so great! Chicken in a can!'  Because they couldn't read English well at that point, needless to say they got home and were greatly disappointed.

Now, over this past summer there were many accounts, a few here and there in the garden group then more and finally it made the news. Pepper seeds did not grow into what it was labeled as and we were calling it 'pepper-gate'. It's kind of quizzical that a seed company that has been in business for decades would somehow mix up what batch they were harvesting. It seems to have stemmed (haha) from one or two major suppliers of larger distributed seeds. Not sure which companies but Burpee, NK or some other one. Obviously, locally grown seeds were not affected if they didn't source from those companies. It seemed to be primarily Jalapeño seeds that turned out to be not. Some were multi colored 'Candy Stripe' sweet peppers' or some other sweet variety.

My guess is a batch or seeds got dumped or shifted into another batch and rather than tossing out the whole production batch someone made the executive decision to just keep things rolling and not worry about it. Could have been seeds that were stuck in a part of the machines that did packaging and when it was cleaned out or jiggled, the wrong seeds were mixed in. Whatever the reason it had the gardening community across the country all in a dither. So when that was going on I made sure to collect seeds from the peppers I bought from the store and hope that they are viable for next year. 

Just wish I had more room to plant all the peppers and tomatoes and the zucchini and cucumber and and.... everything. Even if I pack that raised bed full, I'll still only be able to have maybe four or five different things in there.

Just organized all the seeds into clipped bundles: 3 hot peppers: Poblano, Jalapeño and seeds collected from 'Hatch' chilies that we got from food table. 5 different bell peppers; yellow, red and green (California Wonder) and some mini pepper seeds, four collected from store bought fruit. 4 tomatoes: Roma, Aroma, Spoon and Terra Cotta. 3 flowers: Echinacea, Zinnia and some sunflower seeds from Addi's plant. 2 Cucumbers: Marketmore 76 and Spacemaster. The remaining seeds are Cantaloupe (collected from fruit), Purple Tomatillo, Yellow Straightneck and Blue Lake 274 Bush Beans.

I would need two more beds the next size up from the one I have right now in order to plant everything. Will have to narrow it down to things different than what I planted this year with a few exceptions.

Well something finally sprouted!

 The weather is trending to cloudy again and we may see some rain later in the week. At least the weather is now what new plants need for temperatures. I actually had to water today because I didn't check on things last night. That's when I discovered seeds sprouting on the porch!

At least two seeds in each pod are sprouting, yay! I now remember I reseeded those with romaine seeds but I still thought the onions were in there. Still nothing from the peas, and gave them another splash of water and additional afternoon shade.

Speaking of Romaine, those three seedlings are still hanging in there. The one that was munched is still growing and nothing has pestered any of them since. I didn't get out until after noon so the bed was in full shade by then. I watered everything lightly since it's been cool the subsurface is likely still damp.

That's all the pictures I have right now. Not much else going on. Still want to rake up the raised bed and just toss a bunch of seeds in there because having 'fallow' soil is not good for the structure. I just don't have anything else to plant that isn't coming  up already. Oh, I did cut three eyes out of a russet potato that had sprouted so those are drying on the front porch right now.  Not entirely sure where those will go right now. It's a gardening thing, save all the seeds and sprouts because you may find room for them later. Goes with hobbies too, lord knows I have more yarn than I will ever use and projects that need to be finished. I have an entire flip top storage box of cross stitch patterns and magazines as well.

Right.

I'd use the quote from Mary Poppins due to the wind coming up but the wind isn't coming from the east and not sure what may be starting other than  change of weather.

No seeds left to plant this season

 Weather is continuing cool but sunny, just absolutely perfect fall weather. In the 70's during the day and at night into the 40's and 50's, apparently one or two nights in the next week might be 39. Brrrr, yay!

I haven't cut any flowers in a week and they're still pumping out buds. Definitely a go to plant for the spring/summer next year as long as I have room for them. I don't think the cauliflower transplant did well. The leaves are wilted, hard to see but it's there. I put the cover back on it as that was keeping the soil moist and warm.

I poked some cilantro seeds into the corner of the bed. Other than carrots,  that's all I have left that hasn't been planted yet. Filled one of the containers with water and watered them in too since the soil was pretty dry in the surface. Got my lettuce and cauliflower, the dang peas are taking their time, might have to go with the sweet peas in the spring and sugar peas now. I'm out of green onion seeds, need to go find some more of those but still have the other onion seeds. I think those burgundy onion seeds are too old, that set I put in the six pellets haven't broken out yet.  No wonder people use starts and onion sets, half the work is already done. Will try and get to the library beginning of next month when I have money and a full tank of gas.

Have to make do with what I've got. Christmas is coming and as far as the garden is concerned all I would really need is a gift card to HD. Fertilizer, more soil, seeds/plants, seedling tray/pellets or soil mix. Watering can would be nice. Just a few things is all but they would last for a while. 

Little things that feed the soul, and the stomach.

Day after turkey and weather is falling in line

 Yesterday was very nice. Got to be very windy and then remembered looking at the app over the weekend and it said it was going to rain. Last night as I was walking back to the car after having a wonderful evening with family and delicious food, I remarked that it was windy and cloudy and was going to rain this weekend. And it did this morning. Nothing showing of rain for the next week and a half but cloudy, cool and very chilly at night.

Sure enough, it drizzled this morning. I heard the drip drippity drip of the downspout as I was waking up. It is now post or pre-rain cloudiness and windy. 

 

High puffy clouds, grey with moisture and possible rain. I should do some photo editing and take that lampost out. Or maybe move all the way to the wall and get a better picture.

Fall colors for sure. Both pictures are leaves of the same tree, despite what that leaf on the left looks like.

 

Line of mushrooms in the grass, haven't been on that side of the buildings in a while, the ones in the foreground are pretty much open and done. They are likely following the root of the trees that are there still. Speaking of trees, the Norfolk pine(s) are thriving now. Still curved but by the time those are big enough to cause a problem most of the people in the complex will not be there anymore. 

I thinned out the cauliflower seedlings along the back of the cup, just tossed them toward the jade bush. When I put the cup down I saw that two of them had landed in the soil. I thought, well what the heck, took one of them and drilled a hole in the soil and tucked it in nice and tight. I watered it as well. I did this with my most prolific tomato in the spring last year so who knows what will happen this time.

I used one of the plastic things to cover it as well so hopefully won't dry out as much (it's next to the seedling in the picture). There are still three Romaine seedlings, well two and a half oddly enough. Haven't covered them the last two nights and nothing has bothered them. I should get some fertilizer at some point though. Everything could use a shot of it right now.

The lettuces are still going good, still too small to thin out but when I do those and the cauliflower I'll just dump them out (carefully) and separate them. 

Still in a quandry about the oregano, rose and strawberry plants. I could put the oregano out in the west bed toward the back but there's cilantro there right now. I had hoped to use the window box but need soil to do that. I have so many plans for all the beds for the spring/summer planting I have to think carefully about what's going to take up the most room the longest period of time. Still have two onions to plant that haven't done much of anything really other than exist with only a single leaf still. Big difference between fall and spring planting is things are slowing down for the most part this time of year due to less heat or sun. Except for those plants that love this kind of weather like the cauliflower, cilantro and lettuce. Those are still moving slower than they did in the spring. 

Can't wait for spring  and try to plant all the things I want to. Zucchini, peppers, tomatoes, more cilantro, green onions, maybe cucumber again. If  I do a cucumber I might do it on the trellis instead to save space. Do that on the left and tomato on the right to switch things up on the rotation. That will leave enough room for other things in the main growing area AND keep the cukes off the ground from pill bugs.

When I moved one of the pots earlier in the raised bed I think a baby cockroach darted out and snugged up against the bed wall in the soil. It moved as fast as one and what little I saw from the side I would say it was. Not an earwig, those don't move that fast. ::danger music increases::

 

 

Picnic weather for sure.

 Day before Thanksgiving and the weather is holding for a typical time of year. I think I've only encountered different weather once or twice. It might have rained one year recently but that may have been Christmas. Anywho, breezy which cools down the temp that I think peaked at 82 in the sun. We had a Thanksgiving pot luck in the complex, other than clashing with one resident over politics which was an unspoken rule of not mentioning. Guy was being a brat as his friend told him. Anyway back to the garden.

Well, so much for covering keeping the seedlings safe. There were four Romaine coming up but now t here are three. Whatever ate it must have come up from the soil right next to the missing seedling.

Just a comparison of the two potatoes. The one in the ground seems to have smoother leaves but then there's also an age difference between them as well. No picture but there were three more cauliflower seeds coming up in the pot yesterday, I left them in and hope to use them for trading later.

Given the near failure of the Romaine in the ground I tossed some seeds in the pellets. Those were almost bone dry and made the mistake of putting the seeds in first then trying to water. Well, without soil to cover the seeds they went everywhere. Used a paint brush to pick them out of the tray and put them in the pellets. Brush to pick them up off the water and then the handle end to tamp the soil in on them.Multiples in each pellet for better chance of success. 

And that's a wrap for today, likely not much going to happen tomorrow since I'm going to daughters for Turkey Day. 

May all your gardens grow and your family and friends stay close.

 

Ditto from yesterday weather, not much else.

 

Clear and sunny for sure. Not a speck of moisture in the way of clouds in the sky. Supposed to be 80 today and it does feel like it standing in the sun even this morning. Fall colors are transforming the trees as well. Showing off my very urban and not so rural views around me with these photos.

I  checked on things early this morning and spritzed some water on the plants and soil that needed it due to the dry warm spell.

That top picture is one of the romaine seedlings that appears to have been chewed. Three others are doing okay but I think it's time to put some protection around them for tonight. Might have to get the other three clear flimsy cups and cut the bottoms off.

Raised bed in full sun, I watered the rose and oregano because.... peat moss. The lettuce sprouts got a bit of a spray also because they're little. Not shown is the pepper plant that I moved to the ground in front of the bed because the black pot was awfully warm. Doesn't seem to be anything new from the strawberry so I'm hoping it's not failing, and of course the onions..just hangin in there.

The potato is starting to lose the deep green and I have no fertilizer left. This could be from the lack of good direct sun and the soil staying too moist. Cilantro and chives seem to be loving it. The zinnias are still popping with flowers! 

Not sure if it's the same one but they are loving the late season nectar! This one went from the pink to the orange and back again. Even got video.

It's only 24 seconds since it decided to flit and flounce out of the garden at the end. And on other news, I pitched the orchid, discovered it was soft at the base which is a sure sign of rot sadly.

You can see the darker area at the base, and this is after I repotted it but didn't water. I tossed it on the compost and the pot went to my collection. Oh speaking of compost, haven't opened either of those buckets at all and the one that was on the counter I stopped feeding because it had almost turned to water. I just took the whole container out to the dumpster and chucked it in there. Wasn't going to take any chances on that. If I feel ambitious about the compost buckets I'll see about starting another scrap container for the kitchen.

So that's it, good sporadic breeze blowing outside, gardeners using the blower for all the leaves. At least the rain washed most of the dirt off my car.