Getting warmer, cucumbers are up and tomatoes!

 Warmer weather means soil is drying out faster so I watered again today. Didn't get out there until close to noon and brought with me a pot of water from the kitchen. Whaaat?

I boiled the last of the corn and separately I also did 5 hard boiled eggs. Hmmm....so eggs will release some calcium in the water and the corn will have other nutrients so I let that cool overnight and put it in two of the beds.

 

I didn't want to just dump the water and possibly dislodge soil and seeds so gently tossed it around in the raised and the south bed.

 

Still a long way to go but that one tomato is about half mature size at this point already! Still no sign of the gopher but not holding my breath and am knocking on wood. The cluster on the right has developing tomatoes from back to front, almost a double cluster actually. I'm used to single tomatoes like my previous bush but this is much like the difference between hybrid tea and floribunda tomatoes.

 

Two, possibly three cucumbers up! I will definitely be setting some slug/snail traps tonight to keep them safe. As you can see I watered and didn't notice them until the soil contrasted the leaves better. The seedling on the left may get moved because it's awfully close to the tomato. Will see how long they last and move them if they get big enough to survive the transplant.

Some tomatoes finally showing on the trellis tomato. I suspect that a few factors are causing it to bloom and fruit later than the others despite being older. First is I nipped the early flower buds out and second it was shaded a good portion of it's early life by the coriander so it didn't develop short stout stems and leaves like the others in full sun.

 

Hard to see but there's a small snail shell and a slug in that cup. Sadly it didn't stop them from almost decimating a radish leaf toward the back of the group.

I don't have any citrus left but do have some apples and still some watermelon and cantaloupe. I mentioned using cat food cans but the first one I saved I forgot to tell Jon and he threw it away. I made sure to tell him this time not to throw the can away. It takes about three or four days to go through a can of cat food so a lot of lag time between getting them.

 

Will be reading more about DIY slug traps and other things  I can put out to save my precious seedlings.

 

A little progress and lighter clouds

The clouds were lifted today and a bit later in the afternoon there were breaks in the clouds. It's a kind of frustrating day personally but there's progress in the garden at least.

The lily is at least opened,there might be another bud on one of the other branches and I do remember more than one flower two years ago. It needs fertilizer and a bit more care than it's getting so eventually it will likely not grow at all.

Still growing and looking good for the in ground tomatoes. Still no watering needed of course as I think it may have drizzled overnight. I pulled the onions that were in front of the tomatoes in the south bed because they were just being shaded too much.

Again with the wonky photo for the front of the bed onions. I can't get a good angle no matter what. The coriander is still leaning off to the right of the cage but that's again due to the breeze blowing that direction.

Just some pictures of the tomato flowers on some of the bushes. I did clip off a side branch of one in the raised bed because it was just going way off to the side and no way of hooking it back to the main bush on the stake.

North bed tomatoes are also looking good, so feeling rather confident about the amount of tomatoes I'll be getting. Crossing fingers the weather co-operates and the plants can survive without any fertilizer.

One cucumber is up out of the six! And in the middle of the line to boot! Well that's just very convenient but was hoping at least a few others would be up. If that one makes it I'll be happy, it should be growing and thriving with the warm weather coming up. 

So that's basically it for today. Yay for cucumber and tomatoes!

 

 

 

Warmer than I thought and a look back.

 It's always colder in the apartment so I took Rocky for his walk with my jacket on and had to take it off as soon as I got downstairs because it was sunny and not that breezy but the wind comes and goes, rather gusty right now. Another beautiful day though and will have a few more before the next rain comes in.

Compost bucket from dumping the scraps yesterday. Only about a third full at this point and I suspect by the time it gets to the top I'll have worms working their magic in the bottom. The lettuce is looking like weeds at this point, once again forgot to put out any fertilizer for them. My focus was on the jury rigged netting situation and despite what it looks like the soil is still nicely moist underneath the dry surface.

I even looked at the aloe and then looked around to see where I could put it but didn't feel like working that hard right now. I had some serious stretching and cinching to do.

How do actual, competent gardeners use this stuff? I did get the third pole lashed to the top and then secured it to the fence because it was all wibbly wobbly side to side. I tied most of the strings on the sides of one half then attempted to do the same with the other half and ended up about six inches higher than the peas. Sigh.

 They won't be able to grow very quickly at that distance. I remember they took off a lot faster once they were able to grab onto something. I then looked around and saw the tomato cages. Why didn't I just use those? One of them is rather bent out of shape... now that I have the poles lashed and the rigged up netting... ::facepalm::

So after tying on the sides I had to figure out how to get the string down to the level of the soil. What I needed was long weed cloth staples. What I have are sticks and pieces of stiff metal. I was even offered another roll of metal fencing and turned it down.

 So with that done I realized the bees were out and the aloe had two bloom spikes coming up. The aloe needs to stay where it is because it needs the sun. Was going to move it to the other side of the jade but that's all shaded still. Will move it later when the sun's a little higher and make room where the logs are currently on the back wall.

 

I went back in my archives to see when I started this garden and discovered it was May 23, 2021 for the first pictures. The photo on the right was May 24 and closer and later in the day. I will take another side by side considering the time of year and day is considerably different. So in May I will have been working on this for 2 years, doesn't seem like it. Definitely has changed a lot, no more weeds, new beds, it was just looking like an empty lot when I started my gardens. 

One thing you can tell from the difference between February and May is the jade plant. That corner will soon be in full sun and the temperatures will be climbing 20 and 30 degrees during the day by May. Still going to work on that corner for something other than storage and logs. Another planting bed? With reinforcement below of course, it would completely be fallow during the winter since it would be shaded. Oh I also took two bags of the leaves to the dumpsters. I have more than enough mulch material and they were getting in the way.

Will think of something to do, the only thing  I can't do is cut back the jade plant. I hardly ever see anyone else out there and yet one of the tenants told me not to touch it, because she love that jade plant. I promised her I wouldn't get rid of it. There will be a few branches missing here and there slowly over time though. 

Things I forgot to do today: the rubber edging and fertilizer. Dangit!

Peeps from peas and cloudy skies

 It is definitely cold outside. Clearer earlier but now the clouds moved in and blocked the sun so definitely nippy outside and need a jacket. Had to wear my jacket but it was warm enough but now it's definitely long sleeve temperatures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The peas are pipping! There's at least two that have surfaced and I suspect it's due to me burying them a bit too deep and not soaking them. Will have to get the netting and the poles up soon.

The potatoes in the north bed are definitely sprouting more so here's hoping they survive and give back some spuds in a few months. I also decided to mix up the mulch bucket and discovered it was very, very wet just under the surface but it smelled of fresh dirt which is an excellent sign it's breaking down sufficiently. Doesn't have that evergreen mulch smell it did when I first got it. I kept the mulch bucket out of the corner and moved the bucket of leaves back to the end of the raised bed. Only one bucket visible at a time is my goal.

And of course the obligatory picture of the hummer babies. They are definitely taking an interest in what's moving around them and are almost completely fledged. Mama bird was hovering around when I came out the other day and had to reassure her we were just passing by and not going to bother her babies. They will have plenty of places to hide in the bougainvillea for sure.

Now I mentioned starting seeds in containers or pots to plant out, there's any number of things on the market, even ones I wouldn't have to buy soil for but being the 'frugal' aka 'broke' gardener I am, I have containers to recycle. for doing that.

No, that isn't a plastic container bought for holding leftovers, it's actually from some sandwich meat. The other is from mushrooms and neither have holes in them. Then there's the paper towel tube that is great for making individual planting 'pots' to put in said larger containers. All I need is some soil, but then that composting mulch might make a good substitute with a little tiny bit of garden dirt to hold it together. Put a scoop of the mulch in a tough zip bag and pound the heck out of it with a mallet or something until it's ground up. Brilliant!

The clear one with the lid would be good for sprouting beans or other seeds as a little greenhouse situation. Can use stretch wrap or a gallon size zip baggie on the black container for greenhouse effect and the only other problem is...where to put them when they're planted. As I said, no room anywhere convenient at this point to put them. Front porch would be good but it would look like trash sitting out there and they would get direct sun. All shelves are occupied with other things and the only space I might put them on would be on top of the microwave where I keep my garden basket (we really do need to declutter a good bit). Time to start boxing up stuff and taking off to storage again. 

So, more pictures on that idea when they happen. It is definitely windy and very dark cloudy right now..rain is a'coming!

It's hot again and not much else.

 We had to make a run to Costco for water and a few things, it feels like it's about 90 outside but it's just shy of that by a few degrees and technically only going to be in the mid to high 80's. The kicker is the humidity. Right now the humidity is 37% but feels much higher, must be due to them watering the lawns this morning or something.

Anywho, didn't get a chance to go water until around noon and didn't do much else other than weed a little so only a few pictures. Those damn purslane are coming up everywhere in that fence bed!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the process of using the trowel a little too quickly on the weeds, I dug up the sunflower on the right side of the bed. Oh well. Still no beans so will try and put some more in there tomorrow. Or maybe the south bed I worked so hard on. No activity in the north bed today but I will bet you there will be something going on tomorrow. Hoping that cucumber takes off soon, technically that should be much bigger than it is by this time of year.

Ah the trials and tribulations of my garden.

Oh on a side note, remember back when I talked about the camellia in the patio and they had to cut down a 5 foot bush because it was blocking the fire extinguisher? I also showed a picture of how they can grow new plants from roots.

Formerly chopped down bush on the right, new bush started on the far left that's been that way as long as we've been here. So yeah, I will have to let whoever know to not chop that down again or dig it up because it's easily managed below the extinguisher height. Unlike roses, camellias are usually grown from cuttings and therefore rarely need grafting. There are a few stubborn varieties but they are mostly for collectors. 

So that's it for today, we're all closed up and cooling off on the first day of July.

Yep, it's gonna be a scorcher

 82 degrees at 11:45 am. One report says it will be in the 90's while my phone which is centered on my location says high 80's. As the saying goes, whether the stone hits the pot or the pot hits the stone, it's going to be bad for the pot.

Since Rocky wasn't cooperating this morning I got out and watered first. Everything was still damp but lightly watered anyway because.... hot. First thing I noticed was the shade structure was slightly askew. This could have been caused by the occasional breezes overnight and I didn't dig the hangars in very deep.

This heat and sun is great for getting things going, but new seeds it's murder. Pulled up the shade thing and watered the soil. It doesn't cover all the ground that has seeds but I think they'll survive.

After watering I took a look at the peas, carrots and cilantro and noticed the carrots getting a bit crowded and decided it was time for some thinning. It's a bit difficult being on the ground and my angle was not good. Do it again sometime? Container on legs or in a pot.

One of the carrots had a good taproot going, oh well, at least I know they're developing well for the most part. I tossed the culled plants on the pile as you should as long as they're not diseased or infested.

They are getting sun in the morning and as you can see, it will eventually have sun on it for half the day as the sun climbs higher. By that time I think the carrots and cilantro may just be done for the summer and will save seeds if I get them. Still have plenty of radish and carrot seeds and now have some lettuce to add to it for my fall crops. Will get some different types of lettuce for planting in that south bed when that happens. Have to get some string bean, lima beans or other edible beans. I have three bags of pinto beans in the cupboard we got from various places. Do not need pinto beans.

What to do with that south bed for summer though? Zucchini was kind of too much invested energy for very little return.One can only eat so many tomatoes, the green pepper seeds I planted never came up but might try again in a month or so.

The problem with planting a 'theme' garden is they aren't all the same season plants. Let's say I wanted to plant a 'salsa' garden. That involves, jalapeños, tomatoes, onion and cilantro, two of those are cool season and two are warm season. Three will keep for a long time and another won't, I still have cilantro in a small cup of water in the fridge and it's not looking happy from three days ago. The onions are long term keepers, tomatoes and peppers not so much. So how to time planting and use all homegrown veggies? Tomatoes and peppers start in the spring/early summer. Onions can as well but take longer to harvest size.

Another thing that is important is knowing what USDA zone you are in. I think I covered this previously but I am in Zone 10, San Diego is anywhere from 8-10 due to being coastal to inland desert. We get cold in the winter but not for very long and summers are brutally hot everywhere. So looking for a chart that has planting times I had to be very careful and find one that was for my zone. 

Brief explanation of zones: USDA zones are based on coldest and hottest temperatures in a wide band of geography. The Sunset Zone charts take into account micro climates and inland valleys coastal wind patterns and such. Much more detailed and in that chart we are a solid Zone 24. Useful info when talking with garden experts.

Meanwhile, I found a chart that will do for a planting guide and knowing how long it takes for a plant to get mature you can generally figure out what overlaps.

Onions are supposed to be planted in the fall...ooops. I planted the carrots, radishes and cilantro at the right time, same with the potatoes. A 'warm season' plant is not something you plant in the middle of the warm season, you plant ahead of that in order for it to grow and mature in it's ideal temperature range. Just like 'spring bulbs' are planted in the fall or winter so they bloom in the spring.

This was the most useful chart I could find. I paused when I noted the site that created it was 'Homestead and Chill' then saw it was indeed a chart for zone 10. You can click on it to get a closer look but the blue vertical line is last frost date and the red is first frost date. Like we ever get that much frost here so again, it depends on where you live.

I'll be paying better attention to what I plant and when now that I have this. Getting late to plant seeds where I am of most anything but will see what happens.