More seeds and cat deterrent in place

 With the wind today it does herald change of weather this weekend hopefully. App and news still says rain on Saturday so we will see how much we get. I watered since there are seeds in the ground. Will be keeping that damp as much as possible.

But first, a friendly garden helper spotted. I don't think it's the same one as the other was a bit longer and brown, this one looks a little younger or it could be this is the next instar of the one I saw and it's just not grown out yet. A potted ficus on the patio is where I saw it and if not for Rocky going in that direction I would not have caught it up close. It had it's eyes on me and stayed hunkered down until I backed away and held still a moment.

The pepper seems to have lost more leaves but is recovering. I am not watering it at all purposely but did get a bit of a splash when I was watering the cilantro sprigs.

So you know how it goes, water, water, water... okay I think that's enough. Moved a piece of bark aside and then shifted some of the soil to cover the cilantro seeds... bone dry right under the surface. Alrighty then, back to the hose, I've learned not to turn it off unless I know for sure everything is watered well. 

After watering I pulled out the Danvers 1/2 long and the Red Core Chantenay seeds and sprinkled those in the two rows in front of the peas. Talk about tiny seeds for those Danvers! I'm getting the hang of how to shake the envelope to get them to come out mostly in a row. The Chantenay were a bit bigger and I had a lot more of those so they came out a bit more than I was expecting but that's what thinning is for right?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The cat deterrent was temporarily placed last night. I had it still attached to the roll because I was rushed. Just stomped on it on the ground to get it mostly flat. I cut it off this morning and it gives good coverage and it slightly domed so I can take those logs out tonight and maybe put some lettuce and green onion seeds in there. Going to try and do the same thing for the raised bed but that one seems to be unmolested at this point. 

The one onion is shooting up but the other, since it was crumpled, is having a harder time. I need to plant some green onions over there and on the opposite side that I mistakenly sowed cilantro. It's all good and there's plenty of room. Could even do an in between seeding of the carrots and radishes with onion if I want, still have some of the bunching onion seed left. Had to go find that as I had it in my warm season seeds.
I moved the lettuce trays back to the shade since it's still very warm out. If those don't take I still have plenty of the lettuce seed left for successive planting.

So there it is, raised bed is seeded, I was supposed to put lettuce in front of the peas but oh well. I didn't have very good success with radish and carrots in the ground, will see what happens in the raised bed.

 And that's all the plants that are fit to plant.

A small harvest of onions another shift in weather

 It was clearing off by noon today, though it was patchy, streaky clouds an hour later. Still more sun than clouds which is fine. It is what it is as they say and not much to be done about it. Not too many pictures today, not many flowers until I go on my walk in the afternoon but here's some progress photos of the garden beds.

I suspect none of the tomatoes are going to get much bigger which is disappointing and good at the same time. I was expecting 'monster' four foot plants but apparently not to be with the Romas. As dry as it looks, I'll delay watering until the evening. Still not sign of the other radishes coming up. Oh and I decided to dump the rest of the romaine that I had in the fridge including the root base. Just wasn't going to wait that long for it and not have anywhere to put it.

 

I had to step way back to get a good shot of the raised bed that includes the leaning tower of Coriander. The tomatoes in this bed are about the same size as the ones in the ground (other than the one on the trellis).  

I decided to pull the largest of the onions and got a nice handful as good as any bunch I've gotten in the store. The ones that are left in the raised bed are getting too much shade and they are at least two weeks behind the ones I pulled. Seriously good green onions, a do again crop for sure and will likely plant a lot more in succession. But where?!

I'm trying to plan the next season (fall/winter) plants and on the list are; potatoes, onions, lettuce, radish, carrots, more cilantro and that's all I can remember. Peas were easy to grow but I have a small baggie of them in the fridge right now and ... honestly I don't die for peas. Same with beans, fun to grow but why waste room in a garden for something I won't 100% eat? I would plant Sweet Peas for the flowers instead absolutely! Spinach and chard are not high on my list of greens either.

So it's a rather pedestrian garden sticking with what I'll eat: Lettuce, potatoes, carrots, radishes, onions and garlic for the winter and spring. As I said, when the three tomatoes in the north bed are done I'm looking for a zucchini plant to put there for mid-summer. I really want peppers but that was a fail the way I did it. Might have to try direct sow.

When you see charts for square foot gardening a lot of times they have everything really close. They suggest 1 tomato per square foot (on center). Doesn't say what kind just one per square foot. That's not one every foot, one in a square foot. So technically, to give them enough room you plant every other foot. Ideal spacing for roma is 2 feet on center. Which is close to what I've planted and roughly follows the square foot gardening method. I have the three in the north bed staggered rather than a straight row so there's a bit more room for them and for anything else I wanted to plant. 

When you have limited space, you do what you can to maximize it.

Clouds still hanging around but seeds were planted!

 Today is a 'short day' and so compost will have to wait until tomorrow..or the next day. Breezy and cloudy all day and likely for another few days into the weekend for sure. 

The yellow flower that was such a sunny color is now a drab pale cream with pink speckles. Frog is sad to know it didn't last. There are no flowers on the yellow rose bush either but the red canna is blooming as well as multitudes of geraniums.

 

Hard to see because of the small jade plant but there are blue flowers on the tradescantia behind it. Yay for blue flowers! The cilantro keeps leaning and am almost tempted to tie it up because it's shading the onions at the front. Next time I plant that it will be on the far side or the south bed.

That tomato has a side branch coming out but not going to prune it, these are determinate and more pictures will show something. I just wove that side branch through the trellis as well. The pea plants are definitely on the way out, I saw some mildew on some of the leaves so those will be getting pulled maybe tomorrow or the next day. 

These are the tomatoes in the south bed. They managed to hide flower buds from me but you can't hide yellow flowers. I nipped them off of course because they are still way small for producing fruit. What the heck plants?!

I had nothing suitable to make channels for the radish seeds but there's plenty of room for them. So one long track along the front for the Crimson Giant and the other two for the Easter Egg and Red  Devil B.

I figured out how to use text on the picture too! Since the seed packets are labeled in pencil it disappears in the sun so this is good reference for future seed planting as well. Could have even used color on the text but didn't think about it until after edit.

Covered them up making sure they weren't too deep, used all of the Easter Egg that was left and about half the Red Devil, still plenty of Crimson Giant for the fall.  I also watered them in really well and gave the rest of the beds (other than Layla's who watered the other day) a light watering. I noticed they were a similar type as peas and when researching which came up first someone asked if they needed to be soaked. I didn't soak the ones I grew a year or so ago and most of those came up fine. The last batch though barely came up but I think it was too early in the season for them. Will see what happens this time. Much thinning will be done I suspect. Might try to do that seed tape idea in the fall.

Those peppers... the one on the left has a bit of purple around the edge of one of the lower leaves and they are both looking rather weak. With the way the weather turned it really is not ideal for them and they never really rooted in well. I have all three colors of pepper seeds now and will see about starting some in a week or so.

I sorted through my seeds and might try cucumber on that trellis after the peas. I forgot I had them. They're bush type but I remember the last one I grew had one long vine going up a stake. I suspect that was because of it being in more shade because it also never produced.

Once that cilantro is gone... more fun will be had on the trellis for sure.

Puffy clouds, blue sky...breezy.

 Since there's no rain today, it's wonderful weather. Chilly yes, but wonderful just he same. If this sort of cycle is going to continue I'd love it, sporadic rain and clearing is great for gardens. You can see the sky in the pictures how gorgeous it is.

When I got to the entrance to the garden, didn't see the dove on the ground behind the potatoes. Have to watch my step going from sidewalk to dirt with all the caltrops seed balls on the ground. Whistling wings alerted me and looked up to see the dove on the top of the wall. I looked away, walked past and it watched me. Predators watch their prey so I acted like I hadn't seen it and it stuck around for a while. Even hopped back down to the potato plants but then walked quickly away and out the garden. Got video but not worth the hassle to try and upload it. Bird basically walked away 'okay so I'm not alone, peace out homie'.

 

The peas are struggling to get a grasp of the trellis in the winds. I technically could string more of the green wire in between to make it easier and may do that next chance of a clear day. I tucked and bent but the wind would come up and pull it away. I got creative and found the wire the poultry netting was wound in and rigged that up. Will see if the peas get hold of it but the wind is really rough today.

 

Then I discovered... one of those pesky snails IN my bed! The soil looked a bit disturbed where it was, almost like it had been dropped there or something. I checked and it was alive so I chucked it over the wall to the parking lot. That radish is almost ready to pull, same with one of the other ones. I noticed some oxalis coming through the fence behind the bucket and pulled it and another clump, just dropped it in the compost bucket. I put a couple of scoops of mulch on top as well. It'll probably just try and grow from there but easy to get rid of.

I saw this also, a skeletonized flower. At first I couldn't figure out what it was from. Blew in on the wind most likely because examining it as I was headed back upstairs and realized it was from a cyclamen. Very rare they last that long but wherever it came from, it's in my collection now.

With all the gardening sites and articles crossing my feed I finally saw one that made me smack my head. I tried to grow seeds in a cardboard egg carton but failed. The cardboard would dry out too fast. I then saw the right way to do it... put it in a clear plastic bag and tie it shut. Brilliant!  I didn't have any soil in the little cups either so double silly of me to think it would work.

I have enough tomato seeds going now to last a while, next project is the seed tape with the radishes and carrots. Not much else going on for the garden, no watering needed, everything is going good so just do stuff inside and maybe go for a walk.

Another wonky schedule day and Hot!

 Definitely very hot today which is average for this time of year for us but still. Not happy. 

Decided to go out for breakfast and then had to rush home due to my upset system. Walked Rocky then was able to get out to the garden and water. Hooboy! 

Everything is busting out all over, which means I need to start doing something about those weeds. That one pea in the back of the bed is just going nuts! The others in the north bed that get more sun are doing good not sure what the difference is.

There's a third sprout coming up under the log structure as well so that will be five for that bed. I got an idea for a shade structure for when they're small. I have some cheesecloth I never used for making tsaziki and if it's big enough and double weave can attach it to four sticks. I doubt it's that big but a piece of thin cotton sheet would work as well.

I finally got tired of looking at the huge radish tops and pulled that one, then a flash of red caught my eye in the tomato and there were two small ones ready to pick tucked inside.

As you can see the radish is not very big on the bottom and forked like crazy. Definitely too much nitrogen in that one spot.This is why you cultivate and rake in your fertilizer as much as possible to avoid pockets like that. Also likely why the tomato is doing gangbusters with growth. those side roots were growing off to the right of the tomato which was where most of the water would flow from the other side makes sense for sure. You can see the hole in the one tomato they were no bigger than a ping pong ball so I tossed them. Plenty of growing season coming up.

And last but not least, the trees certainly are putting out their new growth quickly as well! I need to start waking up earlier so I can get out to water sooner. Watering in the middle of the day is not really good since the heat of the soil will evaporate most of the water. During the summer I'll likely need to be out there twice a day. Speaking of that might consider hooking up a soaker hose for the beds. I hate drip systems, they're inefficient for watering selected beds and soil like mine. I would probably try some micro soaker hose if it were my own place or other type of saoking. As it is I will just get my minor exercise walking down there and watering by hand.

I saw a plot of land for sale in WA that had some planter beds already set up though very derelict. It seemed to be a good production situation so when I double checked it on google it seems that it belonged to one of the other homes neighboring it and likely had to sell it off for whatever reason. Oh to have the money and location for doing such a thing with a house of my own.

Sigh.

The rain did good and sun is doing better. Happy Spring!

 If the sprouts in the shade got more sun I suspect they would be double their size by now. Compared to the ones in the north bed that I uncovered, I would say that would be true.

Barely visible

Very evident growth

Didn't have to do much watering, just made sure the north bed and potatoes got wet and pulled a few weeds. In another week I'll know if those are peas or beans for sure. I'm betting on peas since I put more of those out than the beans.

And again I swear the potatoes are doubling in size every day.

March 21

March 20

Yes I know there's a difference in the distance just joking but honestly they are growing faster for sure. Warm weather and soil makes all the difference.

March 18

 

From the 18th to today there is significant growth no doubt! Doubled in size in four days I think, another week or two and I'll be able to cover them with more soil and start the potato tower.

Almost picked two tomatoes but they didn't come loose immediately so leaving them on. Radishes will stay in the ground still for another few days or so. 

Now with things growing I can't plant anything more or I run out of room. The peas are going to take up a sizable area in both beds and the carrots and radishes will stay in place for another few weeks. Didn't check on the maturity time for the carrots and would need to backtrack my posts to find out when I planted them and then tack on another two weeks or more due to them being in the shade. They'll thank me later when it gets blazing hot.

Going to go ponder some more plans and plants and enjoy the day!

More progress, albeit small and stuff.

 Procrastinating on pulling and spraying weeds is a blessing in disguise. I think the pea sprouts are coming up in the south bed!

Barely noticed until I was down almost at dirt level in order to try and hand pick some of the larger weedlings out. Then I saw the little vertical green sprout and yay! In the examination I also saw a pea that had started to try and sprout but was laying on the surface so I buried that one. With the warm weather and increasing sun here's hoping they sprout quickly and I will be needing a trellis soon.

I checked the north bed in the little makeshift shaded spots and sure enough another one was coming up there!

How can I tell? Comparing it to the grass weedlings coming up and the peas poking through it looks closer to the peas. I didn't disturb the logs for fear of dropping one and completely obliterating the small thing.

I need to get some weed tweezers on a long stick. There are trash grippers but those are too big and not accurate enough. I need something like long bbq tongs but with flat tweezer tips on the ends. Hmmmm more McGyvering is called for.

The potatoes are gaining speed and the next tomato is getting better color. I pulled three radishes but should have left one of them in the ground unfortunately. I might try to replant that small one or toss it because it's not really big enough to even eat. The pink one is almost eating size so I'm just going to have to be more patient with these and leave them be. As they thin out I'll replant with some Cherry Belles or whatever I have left.

Watered everything lightly as it was still damp close to the surface, just want to keep the soil from crusting over. Not sure what to plant around them really other than radishes or maybe some flowers, have to wait until they get big enough to cover them again and see what's available. Peppers maybe? Potato plants get about as big as a good pepper or small tomato plant, roughly about 2 feet depending on how much stalk I cover. If I get two approx. 5 gallon size pots and cut the bottoms out and use that it gives me another 12-18 inches of potato growing vertically. Given the hot sun I don't think i want to use something black, and again there's the logs I can use for a makeshift tower around them. So many possibilities.

I watered the 'compost corner' really well also, making sure that stays damp and remembered that deep corner never really gets any sun at all. After research I'm doing it all wrong. Composting should be done in a sunny, dry location. Well shoot. Okay then, stop watering and move it closer to the jade plant. It needs about 4-6 hours of sun so that cinches it right there. No corner for you compost. Right where it is will be fine as long as I can get some sort of containment for it.

Speaking of the woodpile, better pictures as a refresher.

So they cut down a decent sized Liquidamber tree some years ago it looks like. Not going to move all of them as much as I want to because the lizards still live there. Have to leave some for them and because they're in there I don't think I have to worry about black widows or other bugs but will still be cautious. Go lizards!

I saw a hat/headband mounted mini camera like a 'GoPro' at Costco for only $20, then have to find the rig or a way of mounting it which is another $20 on Amazon. Am really tempted to get that and then I can do running commentary videos when I garden and take Rocky for walks. That would be interesting to say the least. 'Old lady learning video causes thousands to get motion sick!' Honestly would try to mount it on my neck/chest area because I move my head around entirely too much. 'Squirrel!'

Anyway, lovely spring day, breezy with sketchy wispy clouds and warm temps, might just get a little rain in the next few days, who knows.