It's actually Spring now!

 Technically first day of spring was the 19th and despite seeing many posts on facebook about it, I somehow was oblivious thinking it wasn't for another few days, like it has been in the past. So happy Calendar Spring!

It's been Spring in San Diego for a few weeks according to the weather and the last two days are testament to that. Warm, in the low 70's mostly clear skies and yet somewhere a report said we were getting more rain and snow on the weekend. Apparently an 84% chance of rain on Saturday and 53% chance on Tuesday. Well I hope it rains enough to water the garden otherwise things are going to get a bit on the too dry side.

Meanwhile, yesterday was a clear skies more so than today and I finally could not stand it anymore and pulled the only three potatoes on that plant. Yes they're supposed to be russets but I do not have the patience nor room to leave a sickly looking plant in the ground for very long. I really need to get that crate set up to put potatoes in for next year. That way they can just do their thing and I don't have to worry about them taking up space or competing for food and water. Will have to look into that for the fall planting.

I also cut the last Romaine head and left the stump,  still have the other two in the fridge so I happened to see one of my favorite neighbors out and asked if she liked Romaine. Luckily she did, and both she and another lady were surprised at how it tasted. I told her it was just cut not ten minutes ago from my garden. They were impressed it didn't taste like store bought, I told her it wasn't a full mature plant so younger and had less bitter flavor. It was good to give it to her and see how much she enjoyed it.

These are still pictures from yesterday. I left the plant in the ground in case there were more spuds growing. I only found the three and they were all on one side of the plant, not in the corner. Very interesting. The peas are slowly fading with smaller pods and not as many. Going to be interesting untangling them from the sweet peas. I noticed one branch of the sweet peas was tangled in there, surgical excise looks like it.

 That's the most obvious one that's tangled in there, lots of smaller ones and who knows how many in back. It's okay though because that's what clippers are for to take away what is not a sweet pea, much like how a sculptor takes away what is not the subject of his statue.

So today was a bit of clean up. I decided to pull the potato plant in the raised bed and in the jade. Those tiny little spuds were not going to grow well with the warm weather coming and the one in the jade plant, not enough sun and too heavy soil for anything to grow. 

 

Of those two small spuds only the lighter colored one was in the soil, the other was the original. So potatoes were a moderate success but I do need to plant more in the late summer/fall for next year.

Got tire of the radishes as well. They were going to take another few weeks and with the way the weather is going, I do not have that kind of time to hold off until they're done. What you can't see in the picture of the Romaine stump is the center of that was eaten by snails or slugs. There's slime shine and a definite track so that's staying in the ground as a 'trap plant' for them to eat instead of everything else. The soil at that end is very fine with very little organic matter, evidence of lots of worm activity leaving castings behind for a dusty textured soil. 

Hoping to get soil next month and I saw a post in the garden group about the green waste compost at the local dump. I totally forgot about it because it's a bit of a drive for me to get there. I also remembered in the past that people have complained about the smell. Will see what I can figure out for free compost. 

The carrots  I'm still waiting on, they've got at least another week for most of the larger ones, maybe longer. With our shorter cool season I'm glad to see at least two tomato plants have sprouted, still waiting for the peppers.

I'm sure there's more on the way but two is good to start with and I might still put in some of the Roma seeds from my plants last year. Those were amazing producers! The reviews and information about the Sweet Aroma variety is confusing. One source says it's indeterminate, another says they are stout, compact plants. Compact doesn't go with indeterminate very well, maybe compact side to side rather than high? I know Roma is a determinate tomato and the listed height for Sweet Aroma is 5 feet. About the same as the Roma I grew. Will have to wait and see, the plants should be ready to put out by the time both peas are all done.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Picture of the burro tail succulent someone put out that's flowering and the Indian Hawthorn at the bottom of the stairs in full bloom. Didn't get a chance for a good photo as Rocky had other ideas of where he wanted to go.

Yay for Spring and other stuff.