And it's sunny again!

 Clear all the way to the horizon, light breeze and the lawns were mowed this morning. Made for a wonderful and positive start to the day with scents and sights reinforcing the time of year. Got out and watered today because everything needed a good dousing, except the back side of the south bed but that's normal.

 

Didn't get a picture of the tree today but this is a good one other than being no clouds today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Everything is chugging along nicely, you can see the stick marking the squash/pumpkin seed. The romaine is growing along nicely and I might pick out the smaller ones and leave those three or four bigger ones, The tomatoes.... I had to pick a cluster of buds off the largest one and the one on the right. They'll make up for it later on for sure.  Oh that little rainbow spinner is from the table, another leftover from the garden downstairs from us. She would approve I'm sure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hard to see but the cilantro and bell peppers are sprouting well. It's perfect growing temperatures for them and I hope the peppers do well enough to keep a couple in the other bed. Oh and that little clump of whatever seeds? I pulled it up to inspect them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Given the leaf structure and the itty bitty seeds I suspect this may be from a tomatillo from the compost. I salvaged three of them and replanted them in the front of the bed. if they are tomatillos..... well will see what happens. As soon as the true leaves came out I thought 'oh heck, I know what that is'. I bet I could have salvaged more and replanted them to give away but they're in the compost bucket now.

Another reason to use clean commercially made compost if you don't have the means to screen your own.

Oh yeah and the in ground soil I bought, it's on sale again for only $2 a bag! I will definitely have to stock up on that this coming month.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And it's not so sunny again...it's Spring!

Cloudy and cool with blustery winds yesterday, same today but darker clouds and a 63% chance of rain in my area in the next hour. I love this kind of weather, there's a sort of expectant energy about it and it happens both in Fall and Spring. That's why the plants are so confused sometimes.

Lavender trumpet vines are blooming on both sides of the pergola, this is the one that faces West and is more prolific. The scarlet one on the south side seems to be putting out buds for flowers but not sure.

Top two are today and the bottom is yesterday, you can see by the brighter one that the branches are moving quite a bit in the wind but it was a bit calmer yesterday. I can see the clouds outside my window getting darker and darker... and I just watered yesterday to be sure due to planting bell pepper seeds in the south and west beds. It's taking a chance, I have always grown them in a container first, will see what happens.

 

 

 

 

 

 Top picture was yesterday afternoon along with the bottom left with the onion laying on the ground. Right picture is from today. Nothing wrong with the onion, I pulled it because it was big enough and then took the one from seed that was in a corner and transplanted it to that spot. Transplant took well and is not wilted. The tomatoes are growing like gangbusters and that is going to be my go-to tomato from now until I have a bigger area to plant bigger tomatoes. Wondering if I should have put the taller one in the  middle dangit.

 

Seed discovered when I pulled the two smallest pepper plants. I may regret planting it because it looks like a pumpkin or one of the squash that Dolores was growing. If it is a pumpkin/squash it will take over the entire bed. Should that start growing I may move it to the west bed where it can spread out.  

 

 

Hard to see the stick for a marker but it's marking where I planted the squash seed. The onions had flower buds on them but I nipped those off yesterday, so when those onions come out there will be room for maybe cilantro or something else on that side. The Romaine is growing nicely as well as the peppers.  

 

Comparison from the end of March when they were planted, one full space on the trellis which is about 4 1/2 inches and twice as wide. Gives me a spark of hope they are growing as they should with only new compost in the bed. Still haven't used the other two bags but that's okay, will figure out how to stockpile them somewhere out of the sun so the bags don't degrade so quickly. 

 

On my way upstairs and noticed the epi in the rose garden was putting out a flower and then noticed the dove rummaging through the leaves. It was watching me very carefully of course so I moved carefully and slowly while taking a picture. Seems that bench is a favorite perch of the birds as well.

Just got a gust of wind through the window and smells of wet pavement and asphalt, definitely raining somewhere in the neighborhood but nothing on the ground for us at the moment. Still wonderful smell and view.

Another sunny day but chilly at night

 It was only in the mid to high 70's today which made for wonderful shorts weather. As soon as the sun went down, winter whooshed in. 59 at 9:30 pm right now, double blanket weather for sure.

Early evening/late afternoon sun on the white azalea and the trees. Fantastic lighting with the angled light around 6 pm. Didn't get out until late afternoon and it was almost too chilly for shorts and a t-shirt. A better shot of the azalea earlier in the previous day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally got the peppers and sweet peas planted out late yesterday. Hard to see because of the shadows but peppers and lettuces are still okay, I'm keeping the fencing cover on them still because just my luck some rampaging opossum or skunk would come through and dig everything up. The peppers and lettuce are doing fine 24 hours later but the sweet peas....not so much. They're fading fast unfortunately and getting even more pale today, oh well, there's always the fall planting. Those tomatoes hopefully will do gangbusters this year. If I'm proactive, will have to tie that trellis to the fence now.

The west bed is still going strong with Oregano, onions and garlic. Oh, I planted cilantro along the back side of the south bed. Hoping those come up and take advantage of this great weather. Can't really plant much else in the west bed, only thing left for growing for the summer is peppers or flowers. 

Just had a brainstorm. Instead of covering the raised bed like a hoop house, run a vertical piece around the edge, maybe like a circle so it's removable. Attach to the trellis with hooks made from the cut ends of the wire..... interesting and complicated idea. Would require a LOT of cutting to get a piece that long and maybe some stakes. Will make do with what I have and work on that other idea for next year. 

Slowly but surely...

Weather took a turn, as expected after a day of winds whipping through the area. It is now going to be overcast for the next few days and then clear on the weekend (crossing fingers). Cloudy with very little break in the sky, small possibility of rain overnight and into tomorrow but then just cloudy and suddenly the sun will be out on Saturday.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Watsonia in full bloom now, way more stalks than last year and doing fantastic. The roses are blooming but not as spectacularly due to age and pruning.

 So sad, they should be replaced but if they get new bushes then they'll be mistreated like the old ones have been and .... The red one at the bottom is near the Montbretia and is root stock blooming. No idea what that bush used to be, that's the only flower that's ever bloomed on it since we've been here.

 

The lettuces are doing great still and the tomatoes are slowly inching up. Color is improving but they need actual food, not the 'natural fertilizer' that's in the bagged compost.  I'll likely interplant the peppers among the lettuces to save space. Being off balance with the foot I decided on the raised bed for the lettuce rather than the west bed. Less hassle getting the chicken wire off and not as far to bend.

The oregano is taking off like crazy! Mostly creeping and not very tall but lush and full and happy. Hard to believe it started from a scrawny little four inch two years ago. That cluster of seed sprouts coming up is in the south bed and I have no idea what they are. Looks like a seed pod was mixed in there when I dug things through. I pinched off one of the leaves and smelled but nothing distinct so have to wait until they get bigger to see what they are. Doesn't match anything else around in the weeds and only other thing could be one of the seed pods from the liquidambar.

Oh did I mention I heard an actual Great Horned Owl the other night? Sitting in bed just before midnight and it was quiet as a tomb outside and would hear the hooting very faint about every thirty seconds. Finally got up and turned on the Cornell bird app and put it in the window.  It is so rare that it is quiet in our area. Especially during the day and on the weekend but it is still quieter than other places I've lived. It made me smile and actually helped me sleep better knowing that nature was out there and thriving.

Almost two weeks.... due to injury

 Well it's only been one week since I wrenched my ankle in the garden area. The weather has been good, I have mostly romaine coming up with the lettuces, just planted three summer squash seeds with the jalapenos because I don't have any seedling mix.

And photo placement in the blog is being stupid again.

 

 

I keep forgetting what this is every year but it's blooming again. This started about a week ago and all the flower stems are opening. Much bigger show than last year. 

Three different days, top one is from six days ago and the other two are yesterday and today. Beautiful blue skies, breezy almost windy today which means change in weather is coming. Early, early morning marine layer that is burned off by the time I wake up around 8. So keeping it cool and perfect weather, if I could get out and do it.

I have to wear a walking boot when I am going to be on my feet, preferably with a crutch to walk. Being upstairs it is a chore and shaky at best going up and down. I choose what I do for the day, take Rocky out or go to the garden.

 

 

 

 

 

The lavender trumpet vine is blooming again, this is the west facing side of the gazebo. Haven't noticed flowers on the other two vines yet but haven't been able to hobble over there well given the uneven ground on the lawn and having a 'frankenboot' on.

I will be taking that cucumber out, it should be double that size and a lot greener. Hoping the summer squash seeds sprout. I was digging the soil in the raised bed and turning it over with one bag of the soil and saw worms, well at least two worms. That is a good sign and no sign of pill bugs or centipedes so far. I am so behind on things in the garden it's really frustrating. I might hobble down later today and see about pulling those onions and the cucumber at least. The tomatoes are growing slowly and gaining a bit of color (all these pictures were done before I injured my foot obviously). 

So will try and remember to get out today, take pictures of the seedlings, of which most all of the lettuce is Romaine and spindly. 

Happy Spring.... weather and all that.