Lovely true fall weather

Short post today, not much to take pictures of except for a change in the weather. It drizzled this morning and yesterday, large puffy white and grey clouds are drifting under a medium blue sky. Very breezy, almost windy which is, of course, the harbinger of weather change. 

The last of the tomatoes still hanging on, not going to pull those until I can get more soil or I'll be looking at a mostly empty bed for months. On the plus side, that potato I transferred there has surfaced! Another reason to wait until I have soil is so I can bury that sprout as it grows.

The lemon bush is flowering like crazy, I chanced on Layla clipping some of her herbs (she let me have a good size clump of thyme) and she said she sprinkled some fertilizer over it so it was under the branches. Apparently the lady that feels that is her bush told her only fertilize once a year. I then educated her on following the directions on the package she has rather than what someone else has told her. It's thriving but also has a lot of new growth with leafminer which I also told her what it was and not to worry about it.

And the leaves are falling from the liquid amber tree. Singular because the rest of them haven't started to change color and are still losing leaves to the caterpillars.

The picture on the left is the ash tree over the fence that shades where we park. It has been losing leaves like is usually does and then I noticed what looks like a nest. A big nest. Or a huge collection of leaves caught in the branches. I heard one of the hawks this morning fly by but that doesn't seem like a prime location for a hawk nest. Too many branches close by and not a good look out spot. No way of knowing for sure as I don't have a telephoto lens and camera or binoculars to get a closer look. And another view of the fall coloring on the tree, evening sun lighting up the yellowing leaves.

I love fall and spring best of all.

Not techinically 'hot' but AC is on.

 It's 'only' 85 today but it multiplies a bit inside the apartment and then add to that running the stove. So yeah, it's nice in the shade outside but not tolerable in the sun.

Due to parking issues I had to take a spot down the street a bit and these were the only flowers on the giant rose bush. Lots of hips evident and was tempted to take some but didn't have luck last time so unless I am really dedicated will leave them on the bushes.

 Roses from our complex, looking pitiful but still are nice to see. Just so disheartening to see garden areas like the residents, 'aging in place' as they say. Only a matter of time before they finally give out and then what? Given the lack of care and funds they certainly aren't going to be planting more.

 

 

 

 

 

 And as I've mentioned before, blogger formatting has gone down the drain. No way of fixing it at this point so sorry for the disjointed placement of text and photos.

 Left the onion skins and outer leaves in the raised bed, why not, not much else going on and the tomatoes are languishing with long distance watering and lack of nutrients. A few more days and will pull those last fruit and the plants. In the other picture, it's hard to see but there's two tiny onion seedlings attempting to grow. I watered as lightly as I could yesterday when I planted more seeds in the west bed.

I swapped netting cover from the other bed because this one was deeper and needed more coverage. You'll notice in the lower left picture, I pulled the jalapeño but left the oregano. Will see how all that grows since I dumped all the compost in there. Still needs another two inches of soil but it's better than it was before. AND I didn't plant any more nightshade family in that bed like potatoes because it's not deep enough. The lines were made by the cultivator dragging it inverted across the soil. I then sprinkled best I could the different seeds and didn't even cover them, just watered really well and any seeds I could see, like the cilantro, after that I covered up. I put way more romaine in that spot than needed, will see how much actually grows without any fertilizer other than the compost.

If I ever get the money to put more soil in the raised bed it will go to adding another three or four bags of soil. THEN I can plan another round of lettuce, onions and maybe some potatoes.

That's all for today, oh yeah, except for a lizard sighting.

Rocky totally did not see it but I luckily was able to get a photo, poor thing ran up the wall and thought it could hide up in the eaves but there wasn't any room. Yay for lizards again! It was small enough I wonder if it's one of the youngsters I saw a few months ago.

That's it for now.
 

Small changes

 Weather is still warm/hot daytime and cools down to fall temps at night. I think it was in the low 50's this morning when I woke up. Still dry air though, not a cloud in the sky and humidity is in the low popcorn percentage.

First Fall color on the tree! HA! That's always the first tree to start coloring in the fall, the other trees are still incredibly damaged from the caterpillars and saw more frass and stems on the sidewalk today.

I decided to cut back and pull the tomatillos, doing so carefully as I could but I think Manny really is gone. I kept the jalapeño since there were two fruit on it and yanked the poblano. That photo on the right is me pulling up the larger plant with a rootball at least 18" across but shallow. Shook off as much dirt as possible then did the same with the other plant.

These were some hefty roots but not from any of my plants. They were coming from the back, in the direction of the building. Nothing has really grown there other than weeds in my time working that bed. Only thing I can think of is leftover roots from the aloe, but these roots are live. 

I chopped up the tomatillo and threw the cuttings behind the bed, compost buckets are overloaded.You can see the shade line has shifted dramatically now, this was around noon I think. I held off watering because I had watered the evening before and it was still very damp.

I dumped the entire bucket of compost in the bed and it's still not enough but it helps. Used the cultivator to get it all mixed and will probably use the last of the compost in the crate as well. Debating on whether to put it in this bed or the now fully shaded south bed. Which nothing is growing right now due to watering issues and it's full shade.

Went back in the evening and watered it in really well and then put the chicken wire over it just in case. Still no new hose. Waiting for the last two or three tomatoes to ripen a bit more before I rip those out but decided I was too impatient to keep the onions any longer.

They should have been much bigger by now but oh well. I just don't have the space or patience to grow onions and garlic. If I had a bed totally dedicated to onions and potatoes I'd do that. I chopped up the tops and put them in the freezer and kept some of the neck on the bulbs and put those in a bag in the fridge. 

I don't think I'm going to do anything with the tomatillos I have in the fridge and elsewhere. They are not to size, I don't have the energy to roast them and frankly, purple salsa....does not sound appetizing. So this was a test run for next year when I hope to plant the green ones. 

Now then... I can't plant anything in the raised bed until I get  more soil. Unless I get a gift card for garden supplies that may never happen. Next month is chock full of other more important things I need. Shoes and pants are top of the list and a possible cost for my procedure this Monday, oh yes and eyeglasses for me. 

Gardening is for people with the space, time and money to spend on it as a full time hobby. Much like trying to make money with my jewelry, it's just piddling around for my own enjoyment.

Another heat spike but not as bad

 It's up to the mid 80's this week but is still rather nippy at night so it doesn't heat up until about midday. Not too bad really but it is DRY, humidity has dropped into the 30% range which is half of what it usually is.

The roses are regrowing and the Tiffany has a number of buds, this one is the first to open and about three days after I took this picture, someone clipped the flower off for themselves. At least I got to smell it a few times and there's more coming behind it.

Stupid picture formatting is still wonky, I'll have to send another help message with a link to my page. 

This was about four days ago, seriously cloudy and some parts of the east county got some rain but nothing fell where I was. That was the last of any moisture which as the wind came up after that I realized we were headed into Santa Ana weather.

I dumped a few buckets of water on the raised bed because it was more efficient than spraying from ten feet away. I then took the cultivator to the soil to distribute the wet surface soil and looky what I found. A red potato sprouting. I tucked that in the back right corner and will have to remember it's there when  I pull up the tomatoes. 

So, that's what's left of the tomatoes. I cut the left side down to the new growth coming up and some of the far right branches that were sticking out. I'm waiting for those last big ones to ripen more before pulling them off and trashing that bush. The onions are staying until the last possible day but it's concerning that they aren't gaining any girth on the bulb.

After the trim it's looking even more bare. I didn't water at all today and I think this was day before yesterday. Going to be busy the next several days so not sure when I'll be able to get out and take care of that. Oh and definitely no money for garden again, I have to make a long trip to a doctor appointment and need whatever I have left for gas.

 

Still no sign of Manny, I think he's really gone, haven't seen him since the end of last month so that's another project in the wings. The jalapeño is a bit stunted but doing okay, the poblano in the front is all elongated and had to use the cage to prop it up. It's all coming out whenever I get around to doing it. A few tomatillos are still ripening so am picking them as they come off.

When all those plants are out I'll dump that last bucket of compost in there and mix it around. I think even the oregano is coming out. It was an experiment for sure but not the right place for it. Oh well.

That muddy river is what happens when I have to spray from 10 feet. Ridiculous for sure and it looks like the gophers are still at it in the other beds. Oh and none of the seedlings have survived in the south bed. I just feel so miserably useless this year for gardening.

I don't have the money for proper supplies and at this point it's making me very depressed and just want to give up. I have a medical situation that may take up my energy and time but will see what happens after next week. Just feeling rather down and anxious right now and nothing I can do about it.

Here's a picture of Rocky after he tucked himself under the covers.

Weather peak again and no sign of Manny

 Weather has been in the high 80's for the past week for at least three days in  a row so we close up around noon and last night couldn't open up until after dark. 

Beautiful blue skies make for great pictures behind the green and salmon red fall colors. At least for San Diego. I had light blocking eye covers on due to having an eye appointment earlier in the day and couldn't tell if the blue was that intense or not. Looks like it was that intense.

It was a pepper fail year it seems. I decided to pull out the poblano and fish peppers. Neither of them had fruit that was getting to size and judging by the roots on the fish pepper, that's why. As soon as it cools down a bit more I'll be cutting down the tomatoes and pulling those. Although, I'm tempted to leave the plant on the left in because it is putting out some new growth at the base. I remember what happened last time I let a tomato winter over though.

 So this is the way I had to water the other day, filling up the bucket and dumping it in the west and raised bed. The raised bed was bone dry down about an inch even after watering with the hose for five minutes.

 

 That is dry soil that I discovered as I was trying to mix things up after water bucket treatment. Then, yesterday when I went out to check on things and wanted to water...... another two feet cut off the hose. It doesn't make a difference to her because all her plants are within reach of the hose, even Layla can use it. But I'm left high and dry.

I have enough money to spare for a $20 pocket hose that no one else will use and an extra $10 for a sprayer since my other one is cracked and leaks. I'll just unhook the other hose and put mine on, then depressurize and tuck it in the electrical closet in the litter bucket I'm not using. 

Getting more soil is the next step. I do have the compost and I'm sure that will work fine in the ground beds but there's not nearly enough for putting in the raised bed. IF I have a spare 20 after the rest of the bills are paid, I'll go get a bag or two.

 I haven't seen Manny for six days. I am only anxious about him because I need to cut down the plants and clear out that west bed. I only cut the very tallest and lanky branches off and he usually hangs around knee level where there's more cover. I played it safe though and tossed the cuttings behind the bed just in case. Will keep checking and wish there was a way of using UV light or something at night to find him. I decided to put him in the trumpet vines  because those don't get bothered, have plenty of hiding areas and hopefully enough ants and other bugs for him to eat. better camouflage too.

Still no progress on blogger upgrade or even a message from them. Kind of figured that but was hopeful.