Impatient gardener is impatient

 Slightly more cloudy today than yesterday but about 10 degrees warmer. Yes indeed it is 75 outside right now and from the snippet of the weather report I heard we are having a 'mild' Santa Ana condition. Considering I woke up in the wee hours of the morning to go potty break and sneezed as I got into bed. Yeah. Only time I sneeze seriously is when the air goes exceedingly dry suddenly. 

I still haven't figured out why my phone isn't automatically syncing the photos and have to open up google photos for them to upload when I get to my desk. I am thinking it has to do with the wifi and will test it.

It looks like it should be cold and dreary but nothing of the sort. Warm enough for only a short sleeve shirt and t-shirt. Actually worked up a sweat in the garden as the sun broke through the clouds a few times.

 

 

A bee was visiting a few dandelions at the base of one of the trees. Rocky was watching it and I warned him not to mess with it because I did not have the money to take him to the vet. He wisely chose not to and moved on to some grass to chew.

A different kind of bird flying overhead, a biplane was on final approach to the local airport with a very distinctive engine sound I knew what it was. Got a very cool photo with the sun clouded over and tree silhouette.

Mostly pill bugs in the west bed trap and the soil is rapidly drying out on the surface but still plenty  most down below. I will try and reset the traps if I remember this evening and see what happens.

 

The lettuce leaf I put down to check on chewers yesterday...not a single thing wrong with it. Absolutely untouched. So, from what I've seen, lettuce, carrots, cilantro and radishes are safe from slugs/snails and pill bugs. Who'd have thought. 

 

Millipedes and pill bugs in the raised bed but not much more than yesterday. Where are the slugs and snails that have been merciless on my potatoes?

 

Speaking of potatoes, impatient gardener strikes again. I have not been happy with the way this smaller plant looks and decided to dig it up. Some good size potatoes and some smaller ones were revealed. I pulled the largest one and some smaller ones that would be the same size as the 'baby potatoes' you can buy in a bag. I ate the last few I had gotten a while ago last night. Potato is potato.

 

 

Soil as I said is acceptable moisture below so will probably water tomorrow or this evening. I put the saved potatoes in the cloth piece and covered them to dry out. I then chopped up the potato plant, left some leaves in the bed and the rest went to the compost bucket. I also pulled the other potato growing in there as I really do not have need of another potato plant.

 

I also had a full scrap container in the kitchen with tangelo, onion skins, kale, tomato, potato skins and lettuce. Wonderful greens for the buckets and yet more fodder for the flies so I put the bag over it again. I then noticed a whitefly flitting around and you betcha I chased that sucker around until I finally smashed it. Saw another one and got that one as well. Last thing we need is rampant Giant White Fly population on the plants.

The peas are doing good, lots of pods coming on and once again need to hold off picking them until they're big enough. Those are still too small and it doesn't show but there's actually five or six pods in that photo with three of them in my hand. Going to need to move that crate soon.

Was trying to get an overhead picture of the west bed and somehow the carrots seem to not quite make it in the photo. Hard to take a picture when the phone is above your head and you can't see what is in frame.

The sun is definitely returning to the upright location in the sky, that west bed is in full sun and the shadows are very short. This was before noon of course but still plenty of sun for that bed and the raised bed. South bed is the one that will need work and careful planning and planting.

Whoever originally designed this garden area was not a gardener nor did they care. The south side gets almost no sun and is not good for planting anything but greens. Hmmmm..... but shade flowers would work. Will have to see what I can figure out since in mid summer the front edge gets full on sun but the back side gets more shade. Fuchsia should be in a pot, too late for bulbs, impatiens are ho hum... will have to give it some more thought.

Definitely had not thought of a flower garden there.