It's warming up today and veggie ruminations

 I'm in a t-shirt and long pants seem like it's too much. It's 78 right now just after noon so definitely going to be warm and it's clear skies and gentle breezes today. I just watered yesterday and the soil is already looking too dry. Also kids are back to school so will be walking my route again.

For some reason I didn't remember getting pictures of the sky until I was headed back to the apartment. Oh well. It's pretty much the same all around us right now. Enjoy this while I can because in two months I will be running the AC and not be bothered with pictures of the same blue sky.

Looks like Layla took my advice and trimmed back her plants. She also has that black pot with water in it. Wonderful. And I wondered why my legs were getting bit to pieces from mosquitos. Everyone has sun now and enough room. Oh and those wood 2x2s mystery was solved the other day when Dolores said they were hers and used them for her planter.

So the sweet peas really are getting out of hand. Leaning wayyy o ut away from the trellis so I grabbed the first piece of green wire I found to tie them back. A bit too short as you'll see but it'll do for now.  I might even get my clippers and thin them out a bit.

It looks like a wayward branch got through the fence and whoever was there just broke it off and tossed it over. Silly. I'm not offended or upset, they just don't realize what it is and they'll have a lot more then branches coming through soon. So I flattened them against the trellis a bit too tight which may cause some fungus issues later.

All of the cilantro is bolting, which is fine. I pulled up some of the wild stuff in the corner and am picking off leaves from the other plants. I didn't take a picture but I stirred up the south bed with the potting soil I dumped and now realize I can move the rose and oregano to other pots with the new soil. As soon as I can find new pots.

I also realized that I'm not a fan of the Chantenay carrots. They're wider and shorter than 'standard' carrots and I know I got them because I thought the soil in the ground was going to be shallower and more clay so I needed something shorter. But I can grow radishes in the ground and the carrots and other things in the raised bed just fine.

So, about carrots. The variety most people see in the stores is called 'Imerator' and is the longer and narrower variety. They need sandy loamy soil to get their full length which, technically I don't have in the raised bed. There's plenty of other varieties that are longer, most average about 7"-8" and take anywhere from 70-78 days to mature and include all the colorful carrots as well. I might give those a try for the fall. 'Scarlet Nantes' and regular Nantes are a bit shorter but also have a shorter maturing time but not by much. They also do well in heavier soil and can stay in the ground longer without going 'pithy'. They only get about 6-8" but aren't as wide as the Chantenay, and I thought I had some of those but may have used them up when  I first started gardening. So it sounds like any of the 'Nantes' types are going to be for my fall planting season, as soon as I can find them.

Now on to what is going to be happening in the next few months. I checked the squash seeds and stirred the soil in the cup they're planted in. I found one that was barely cracking the outer shell and buried that one again. Going to be another few weeks before those make it to the surface. I think one of the seedlings I thought was a tomato might actually be a pepper. Those peppers have been so hard to grow for me. Hopefully with the warmer weather now those will all start busting out and I will be ready to plant them in May sometime. That's the plan at least. 

West Bed: 1 maybe 2 squash (or a pepper with one squash.) The tiny thai pepper and chives will still be there. By the time the cilantro is flowering there the other seeds may be ready to plant.

Raised Bed: 2 tomatoes on the trellis (probably both Roma types), 2 or 3 green peppers a Jalapeño and going to try a poblano. Green onions will continue on the east and west sides. Not sure about any room that might be at the front.

South bed: lettuces and cilantro (and if I didn't have a huge bag of dried parsley I'd try to grow some of that as well).

Oh about the squash, I saw someone use a tomato cage to keep the leaves up off the ground and the base of the plant exposed, will have to check more details on that. I also just read that they don't take to transplanting well and should be grown in a peat pot. Oops. Might have to go out and get some more of those pellets then. 

Another year of gardening experiments. Always an adventure for sure.