Well it's definitely fall now, sort of.

 But not for long. It is very nippy outside at night, I even wish I had long pants to slip into but the temps are going to ease back up to the high 80's in a week so may not need long pants for a while. It has been very windy the last few days while it was partly cloudy, go figure. And now that the wind is gone, skies are clear and hot weather is coming back.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not really falling leaves but branches eaten bare from the caterpillars. Poor trees, I now understand why there are branches that are totally naked on those trees. Not from age but from being eaten naked. And the Chinese Flame trees are in bloom and seed. This was in the park near the school and shows a younger tree just in full bloom but an older one is in glorious scarlet coloring of the seed pods.

 

 I finally cut down and pulled out the tomatillos in the south bed. I got a bit of a surprise when I did because most of the roots were in a flat plane about an inch thick near the surface. No deep roots at all which means that all the moisture was near the surface, which makes sense considering the way I was watering. I almost lost my clippers because I picked up the stack of branches and the roots and then dropped them on the sidewalk near the entrance of the garden while I used the cultivator to smooth things. I then realized they were not in my pockets nor anywhere obvious. Whew! I found them in the bundle of branches. So other than needing compost that bed is ready for onions and lettuces.

 

Meanwhile, another incursion by most likely a skunk looking for grubs which are not there. There were also other marks in the south bed and this time, something got into the raised bed.

 

So, I suspect the damage in the raised bed was actually a cat because there was heavy paw prints right at the base of the trellis and a little scraping here and there. Possums can't jump that far and that neatly and I don't think Raccoons would bother.

 

Some of the tomato branches were folded over as before and there was some small digging spots at the back and in the corner behind the onion. The small tomato that was in the East corner I finally  just pulled up.

 I put so much stuff in that bed I'd like to see whatever it is try and climb or dig there. It was traumatic for the onion and fish pepper unfortunately. I had to crumple the chicken wire and fold it down best I could. The white short rack I've been using for putting the seedling trays on and then big pieces of bark and some pots along the edges. See what happens.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, I used the other piece of chicken wire again crumpled a bit to make it fit and add more to the obstacle and then the broken trowel at the East end then behind the tomatillos I placed the remains of that lodge pole that's been sitting around. The south bed is watered and waiting until after the hot weather at first. Then I realized the light had changed.

 

These pictures were taken a little after noon. The bed is completely in shade by noon now so despite the heat coming back on the weekend it should be perfect for green onions and maybe lettuce after the weekend. I watered it very well so will see how long it takes for it to dry out.

But I still don't have any compost to mix in the soil!

I'm sure there's likely some dirt type compost at the bottom of the buckets...the very bottom, but that would mean figuring out how to dump them out and mix everything before putting the dry stuff back in.

I still don't have a tarp or even yard bags to use. I could ask Dolores if I can use some of hers, she's offered a few times but I noticed she has a Miracle Grow bag of all purpose soil and then her own compost. I have to get out there way early in the morning if I want to catch her, I am too shy to just go knocking on her door.

So that's the excitement, late summer animals and crop change over. Still no Manny sighting, either he's gone or hiding really well.