Mantid sighting, not much else

It was wonderfully chilly overnight, dipped down into the mid to low 60's. Going to climb up to mid to high 80's by the time I have to be out and about so closing up a bit later than before. Sadly, there is a heat wave coming next week, 90's for at least three or four days. No wind right now, but was windy yesterday so that is a big tell on how the weather is shifting. I watered really well today in preparation for the weekend and next week.

Just a picture of a crow feather dappled with water from the morning irrigation. I thought it was fascinating with the water droplets on the feather. No tree or sky pictures so that's it for the thumbnail.

 

One of the many reasons I can never find Manny is he blends in so well (duh, that's what they're known for). He's getting more green now so instead of blending in with the brown leaves, he'll be blending with the leaves. I sprayed the bushes real quick to see if he would move which is how I spotted him. Hopefully the water on the leaves will bring insects for him to eat. It's going to be really hard to put up with those bushes when they're really dead if he's still hanging around. I'm still wondering why they're turning brown other than age.

The tomatoes are doing good, probably will be harvesting by the end of September and into October, if the plants last that long. That big tomato will be ready by then at least, the other two small plants I transplanted later have flowers but they're so small. That bed needs soil so badly but I have no extra money again for doing that, maybe I can spare $10 for one bag of soil. 

Flower on the Fish Pepper! And wondering if those Jalapeños will ever get bigger. They're all still half the size they should be but as soon as they start changing color I'll cut them off to use.

So more planning for not only winter but next year is on my mind. Winter is going to be lettuces, cilantro, if I do carrots they won't be the honkers I planted this year. Sweet peas for the spring but again, dwarf variety next time. Radishes, again smaller ones than the ones I have. I will try the cauliflower if I have the room. And patience. What else for winter? Oh! Potatoes and onions of course. I have some celery seed and fennel, that might be fun to sprinkle in with the lettuces. I know Fennel gets huge and grows wild in the canyons oh I wish I had the room for an artichoke.

Yep Cilantro and Cauliflower needs to be started next month to plant out in October, Carrots the month after that with, Garlic (I wish), onions, but no potatoes on that list. Hmmmm.

Potatoes are January, if I wanted cauliflower I would have needed to start the seeds inside now. Carrots plant out in September.....riiiight. So will have to see what I have and what I want to plant that I can start now. The seasons are so screwed up now that you can't really follow a chart that was made even five or six years ago. 

Besides I don't have the room to plant anything out in the next month or so.