Yay for winter weather and seeds!

Weather is about the same, down to near freezing at night and only up to the 60's during the day. But it is clear and crisp weather with little breeze. That means soon enough it will change.

The trees and sky from this morning and yes, that is close to the true color of the sky for a change. There was a hawk in that tree a few days ago and of course the crows like to hang out with unobstructed views of the area.The parrots are still migrating but not hanging out in the trees here because they being tropical don't like open branches. They'll hang out later on closer to summer when the trees are filled out again. 

Speaking of trees. Remember the Norfolk Pine? I got a good look at it and since it was planted it has grown about a foot. I can see where the new growth starts and it's about right for where it was two years ago. I certainly won't be around when it gets big enough to cause an issue. I don't think anyone in the complex currently will be.

The peas are finally finding the supports and latching on. There is a big difference between the growth habits of the two. The one on the left is a Sweet Pea and the other is Snow Pea. Mostly upright for ornamental and branching for edible. Planting the sweet peas thicker is better so they fill in more, which is why I planted three more in between the existing three.

And the pests continue. The picture on the left is from a few days ago just after I had dug up that soil to loosen it. Well, it seems that a possible cat decided it was a good place to pee. I smoothed it over and then watered everything well and replaced the wire cover. So far, so good. Then there's the continuing saga of the snails. Yes, that is snail damage because there is a shiny spot (marked in white) where the slime left a trail. 

And this was yesterday. I did take some of the eaten leaves to put out as bait but it wasn't that bad when I did it.

Anyone who says that dandelions are the first flowers bees need in the spring, obviously doesn't have a Jade bush. I was checking the raised bed and heard buzzing, looked over and there's two or three bees already on this bush. I think the dandelion thing is for places that get snow and more cloudy weather like midwest and back east.

So I got to the library but there wasn't anyone at the desk so I had to make do with what was on the clip rack on the counter. Luckily there was green onions and I forgot I could have taken two packs.This one seems to have gotten damp at some point and only had maybe ten or twelve seeds. Hope to get there again soon. I then went to HD and their choices were less than inspiring. Four to be exact. Champion, Cherry Belle, Sparkler (red and white) and a white long one I think was Icicle. I decided on the Champion for some reason because it got the biggest I think. Supposedly can get up to 2 inches across! I wanted more of a radish flavor as well. I may look again somewhere to find another variety to plant in the spring.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Radishes down the middle of the raised bed and along the front edge of the west bed. I was going to circle the taller potato then remembered I wanted to try and build up soil around it and it's too close to the other potato as well. I planted what little I had in onions on the east side of the raised bed between the carrots and cilantro.

 I watered lightly because there were seeds in there that needed to stay moist and then I saw that the strawberry was putting out new leaves. Yay! Those stinkin cauliflower and the lettuce are just stalled out. Wondering if it's the cold weather and being in a container.  I may never plant that cauliflower at this rate. If I don't I'll start them in late summer for fall winter.

I have restarted priming the compost and this entire container of itty bitty Brussels sprouts went on top of the buckets. I dropped a couple in the raised bed with the tomatoes I found but no nibbles on those yet. 

I now have a veggie container started in the kitchen as I bought lettuce and other veggies for making more salads. Need to figure out where to get a small amount of soil to help inoculate the buckets. I suspect part of the issue with the composting is being in the shade and cold during the winter. Not enough sun to warm things up so it just sits there. It'll be warming up soon enough and hope to have some prime stuff for the summer.

Cool breeze, clear skies and winter blue above the landscape.