Many things and Manny sighting

 The weather has taken a turn for the cooler! It's only going to be in the high 80's in the next four days other than that in the mid to high 70's with very chilly nights dipping into the 50's. Huzzah for fall weather! This also means that garden beds are staying moist longer and one particular bed is now in shade from noon on.

Yes indeed, cloudy cool weather that I will not be complaining about. It may get down into the 50's during the day in the winter and colder at night but I can always throw a blanket on and wear more layers. Hot weather you can only strip down so far before it's indecent exposure.

Overcast mornings with just a hint of moisture in the air that smells like rain. I finally shook the bushes enough I caught sight of Manny heading for better hiding place. So he's there, just very very good about hiding in the leaves and branches. 

You would think as good as that bed looks I would be having a bumper crop year but not so much. I have one small tomato on that tiny plant, which Layla actually thanked me for. I don't know why since she's not paying attention to that or the other one that I pulled out. I put lots of logs and pieces of bark in the bed to keep out whatever critter was getting in there and so far it's successful. Keeping the chicken wire in the other two beds full time.

I picked up the bark and branches to water and discovered the only critters in the soil is still millipedes. They aren't going to harm anything so I'm not concerned about them being in there. The leaves and logs I put down as a base is likely broken down a great deal and I know there's worms in there somewhere so it's okay.

At first I was both pleased and disappointed two Fish peppers were coloring and then discovered the holes from some microscopic bug. That caused them to age rapidly so I pulled them off but there are still two more that are progressing just fine.

They're staring to show more pronounced stripes and the poblano is not being burned with the cooler weather. I picked the two tomatoes yesterday because they were starting to color but also showing signs of sunburn. They are currently in a bowl with garlic and peppers on the counter getting riper.

I had to water again today and did it from about six feet away from the bed. Seriously. I mentioned to Layla maybe we can all pool our money for a new hose. She didn't understand a word I said apparently because all she did was smile and say 'oh yeah?'. I tried to also mention it to Dolores and again, less then involved or aware of what I was saying. I suspect what I have to do is either buy it myself in two weeks or when I see Dolores have to stand firmly in front of her and speak clearly and slowly. Not be a pleasant garden person but a concerned gardener. The shortened length isn't a problem for her, all her plants are near the hose, same with Layla. 

I actually caught Dolores yesterday as she was moving things around and that's when I asked about the hose, then when I was finishing walking with Rocky I saw her moving pots of soil/compost and asked if I could have a bucket of her soil for one of the beds, she said sure and almost started handing me one of the pots I told her to put it near the bed at the end of the wall.  So when I got back it was a 5 gallon bucket of home made compost and soil. She said there might be snails in it but I had dumped it out already. Oh well. I thought I saw something that looked like a slug as I did that but wasn't worried. I spread it around as best I could using the cultivator then put the chicken wire protection back on. I watered it yesterday and it was still damp today. That will be a cilantro, onion and lettuce bed.

I wish I had used more patience when I lined that bed and the West bed with chicken wire. I'm losing about six inches of growing space due to not making the corners square but I was very angry at the gophers. There's enough room to plant what I need and thanks to that compost it should hopefully be sufficient for the seeds/plants to thrive more than survive. 

So lots of little things and the big weather news, right now it's clear and warm but a bit smoke hazy and windy. I heard the hawks calling again today, it sounds like they keep coming back to this neighborhood hopefully finding a new tree to use. Or maybe they found one not far from here and are just circling. The parrots are migrating back and forth again which is always fun and I managed to get a less than 30 second clip of them flying over the garden. And once again it's being difficult to get it uploaded, oh well will try again next time.