Lagging behind on posts and pictures

 Been lagging behind on a lot of things other than doing my painting and playing games. It's to be expected this time of year the garden is just kind of hanging until serious weather changes come. We will be having hot and dry weather again this weekend. I watered the beds yesterday and the evidence is clear once again that shade makes all the difference in the world. 

I trimmed the tomato again as well, it was leaning out into the path and just took some extra growth off. All of the branches but a few were ones with fruit so I trimmed to that point.

Also a few days ago I pulled the two pathetic bean sprouts in the south bed. They didn't sprout very well, likely being upside down and they were in the shade. So not worth having them struggle and not do much. I trimmed the tomato again as well, it was leaning out into the path and just took some extra growth off. All of the branches but a few were ones with fruit so I trimmed to that point.

Also, after digging up the south bed and not doing anything with it, it seems one or two of the cats had gotten out there again. Definite divots and paw prints in the soft, recently rained on, dirt. I worked it again, leveled it and then put tomato cages back on it for insurance.

The Liquidambars are changing color, yippee (note the few leaves that are on the ground)! That is the only fall color that California gets and I'm enjoying it. IF I ever get to a location where I can grow maples I will. They have less of an invasive root system than these do and have more interesting shape and branches.

I've been taking a lot of pictures of trees, landscape and plants to paint and took one of the Liquidambar that was changing color. That's the tree that dropped leaves in the garden and rather striking against the blue sky. They are such a funky tree species that one will be changing color and the on not twenty feet from it is still summer green.

Picked a tomato and one of the few peppers that came off easily. They are not growing any bigger quickly so it's only a matter of time before I yank it. The leaves are yellowing also which says that it's finishing up and nutrients are run out completely.

 

 

 

 

 

That pepper looks more like an anemic lemon tree than a pepper. The tomato had considerable corky marks on it and I left it and the pepper on the patio table. The penny was there already so I just used it as a size comparison.

The bean is doing good, about two or three inches tall now and nothing has decided to munch on it. If it starts getting taller I'll use a stick or one of the cages to support it. It's supposed to be a bush bean which means less than two feet tall. About the height of your knee so not really going to need support.

This weekend and next week may be the last hurrah for hot weather, crossing fingers. Santa Ana conditions usually don't last much longer than two or three weeks usually, sometimes a month but that's unusual and scary. It usually coincides with fires breaking out and so far we've had more fires this summer than ever before. Fire season is the equivalent of tornado season. It could strike any time and you can only keep your eye on the news and watch the horizon for smoke.

Time for lunch and waiting for packages to arrive from Amazon. As soon as more money comes in I'll get some compost and fertilizer to start working the beds.

 

"Double Shaded Trail"

Another example of shade and sun

The weather is holding with cool and breezy, partial cloud cover enough that a jacket is needed. Yay! This also means, again, that watering is not as critical. These pictures are from yesterday so today waited until late to water.

Sunny North side

Shady South side

This is where it gets confusing because when someone says 'it's on the south side of the garden' In the winter typically you would think it gets more sun but not if it's against a wall. This is why I have been confused in the past when a customer says that in the winter time it gets full sun but it's on the North side.'South side of an East-West wall' means more sun in the summer unless there are trees or buildings close by.

Oh and see that little tomato on the wood pile on the right of the first picture... welll yeah... left it there yesterday by mistake. Still there, no bugs or animals bothered it when I checked the beds and watered today.

 So the weather is the topic due to it being the biggest change around here. You noticed the ground was all clawed up? Got the cultivator and whacked the dirt a bit to break it up. It was kind of flat and compacted as this kind of dirt will do. That's another thing that mulch helps with is keeping the soil surface from compacting so much when it dries.

In other parts of the country people are doing 'winter prep' with their beds, because...snow. Around here we do winter prep which means ripping out the old plants and digging in new compost and fertilizer and putting in seeds and bulbs. I think I'm going to go do that tomorrow, look for seeds and bulbs and stuff that is. The working part, have to do it so need to wok up the energy.

If I see one of the landscape guys I might ask them to move the wood piled over about a foot or so to give me better access on the side. Or I might just do that myself. I need to make a decision on how active a gardener to be. I've had this monologue previously, previously.

So I'll just go think about that and report back.

It's my birthday and didn't do anything special

I almost didn't go out to the garden until I realized I had missed two days due to the weather being so nice. So went out, did survey, forgot phone for pictures, went back and got phone and this what is happening.

So this is the north bed, behind the pepper and tomato. One sprout is up, the other one apparently got eaten by something. The picture on the left is the same angle as my original photo with the circles around the emerging seedling. Yeah.. all gone, oh well. That one is nice and healthy at least. Then there's the other bed where they are just breaking the surface. One of them was upside down for some reason.

Literally, like it had pushed itself over and roots were partially in the soil but the head was very under ground.

That's two or three coming up in the same spot so a lot of confused stems there. They'll straighten out eventually. The tomatoes are, sigh, plugging along and not very big, so are the peppers. I picked one small pepper that was changing color.

 

 

This is the tomato at the top of the bush not quite ready yet. Trying to think of what I'm going to do next. I know I've mulled it over a few times but right now I'm in a state of frustration from various factors so not having anything producing in the garden and having to work seems like a lot of trouble for small returns.

Might do something garden related tomorrow, find some fertilizer and compost maybe. Weather is absolutely gorgeous and cool so feel more able to dig in stuff. Maybe. Oh I saw three little holes under the pepper that were curious and possibly signs of what may have eaten the bean sprout.

Could be ant holes given how it's cleared around the holes which is something they do but could also be worms. If it's worms, yippee!  Will see what happens the next few days and hope the sprouts aren't attacked. Last time I tried to grow beans years ago they got to the size of the one with two leaves and then snails came in and mowed them down over night. Yes I know it was overnight because I checked them in the afternoon and the next morning they were gone, snail tracks everywhere too. 

So that's the update, another year another trip around the sun for me.

It rained overnight so went out and checked the garden

 Didn't need watering of course but knew that already. Two of the beans finally have poked their sprouts above ground!

 Tried to scratch a circle around them but the stick was too dull and that back one was a bit far to do it well. When I went out there I was thinking, 'how long does it take for these things to come up anyway?' Welp, there they were. Had to move two sycamore leaves away from the front one so I could see it better. (The dark dirt is shadows from the tomato). I need to figure out some way of stepping closer in the bed without crushing the dirt. I hate compacting dirt that I have to dig up again. Might get some grid or sticks or something to run from each end once i start digging.

Other than that, cool and overcast fall weather yay! The tomato is plugging along, the pepper is starting to look a little yellow so still handing fire on both of those. None of the peppers are getting any bigger than about an inch so it's a hard decision to pull now or wait. Killing something that is still green and growing and trying is a difficult choice. It goes against everything that we as humans are conditioned to do. But gardeners are a different type who know what's good and what's not, the weeds go, tall living plants you've nurtured since a baby... not an easy view because we usually wait until it's on its last legs before pulling.

Speaking of that, and I wish I had gotten before and after pictures, the apartment building on the other side of the fence from us had two, possibly three trees cut down. One was a podocarpus and the other a palm tree. They were growing right up against the building and there were parking spots right there so that may be the reason. The issue is, the podocarpus (Yew Pine) was providing a LOT of afternoon shade for that end of the building. The palm tree, not so much but that was a rather interesting way for them to cut it down. Tied a rope as far up as they could get with a cherry picker and take a chainsaw at the bottom. Controlled falling awaay from the cars around the corner. The sound of a full on thirty foot tall palm tree hitting the pavement was eerie to say the least. 

But now the parking area is open and not like it wasn't being used but easier to park and drive around it. Sometimes plants, trees, bushes have to be taken out due to poor planning usually. And again, it's hard to make the decision but those were easy. Roots could have been causing issues in the foundation, at least for the podocarpus, and the palm tree..well palms as a group are my least favorite tree so the fewer the better. Maybe two or three palms catch my interest and that's it.

Trees felled, plants growing, other plants coming up... weather changing for the better and life feels better over all.

No pictures today because it rained!

 We had another thunderstorm roll through last night just before sundown. Rained more than the previous storm, lots of wind and things tossed around, so not sure if I want to go out to the garden and check it or not. The wind was pretty fierce about 2 am so hoping that the tomato bush survived, the pepper is short enough it may have not been buffeted as much. A palm tree was hit by lightning not far from where I live. I think I saw the lightning strike when I was looking out the window from my desk. Turned into a torch or lit match, entire thing went up. When I went out to my car there was ashes sprinkled all over it.

Still need more than that one squall to keep things going. We are in such a multi decade drought right now that we need rain every other day for several hours a day to start making a dent in our deficit. Watering a garden comes second unfortunately, unless you are depending on the garden for food. I'm not and that's okay. Might go out later as it is still overcast and cool, in the mid 70's so wonderful weather for a nice walk in a park or canyon trail. 

Learning how to do something new requires sometimes a change in perspective and how you view things. Gardening requires that you understand how plants grow, what soil is made of, how fertilzer works.. even just a rudimentary knowledge is needed in order to understand what is going on. Why are my leaves turning yellow? Well a couple of reasons and it depends on what you've been doing. Understanding the signs of what is going on, what the weather has to do with success, all that is not to mean you need to be an expert but at least have the basics to take care of something other than yourself. That can be applied to everything from kids, to dogs, to plants and people. Equipment, everything requires you have a basic knowledge of what is going on. Knowing how to take care of a garden and actually having one to take care of are two different things.

I bring this up because I am exploring turning my landscape and other photos into digital art. Not the kind where you go in photoshop and tweak the settings and filters (but I have done that previously with some cool results) but using a paint program and only using the smudge brushes to push pixels around to make it look painted. Now what does this have to do with previous paragraph? Knowing how to paint and actually painting are two different things.  It is requiring me to look at things like shadow and light, breaking the images into blocks of color rather than trying to get every detail.  So having watched Bob Ross a lot, I have a rudimentary knowledge of 'how' to paint but the thought of picking up paint and brushes makes my mind go blank.

Now with a garden you are starting with a blank canvas. You need to know what will grow where and what it will need. I have never had a garden of my own other than owning a house decades ago which I didn't know what I was doing other than they needed sun, water and fertilizer. Now, it's basically the same knowledge but now it's an actual garden I have to plan. I know tomatoes do really well almost anywhere, zucchini, peppers need a bit more care and other than that it's going to be an experiment. 

And that's okay.

Gardening, art and other pursuits don't have to have perfect results in order to be something to have pride in. It is the product of your time and energy and as such it is all yours. Something that you did and had an impact and increased knowledge and experience. That is all that counts lately, as my dear person of interest and soul mate says, 'it feeds your soul' and that's good.

Didn't water yesterday but did some today. Okay, a lot.

 Since the tomato and peppers are just kind of moping along there isn't much in the harvest category to talk about. Both beds needed watering so started doing that and my usual spray was good, but when I started thinking about cultivating the dirt for future use... hey.. this spray head has some powerful jet settings... wish I had video. 

One was your typical jet from the center which causes a lot of splash and is typically used for cleaning sidewalks or walls. Another was a multi spray but each individual nozzle was a pinpoint jet. Now THAT's cultivating. Wiggle that around and it chewed up the soil really well as well as putting out a good amount of water. Chewed up the south bed and flooded it, then did similar to the south bed but careful not to get too close to the plants and hope I didn't disturb the beans too much.

Since I have now figured out the orientation of the beds, and if they are empty then it's easier to say south or north bed. Hydro-cultivating is what I'm calling it and sticking to it. Tried to chew up and move some of the dirt next to the wall on the tomato bed but you can see that the water still follows the grade away from the wall. The other bed is about as flat as you can get.

Still waiting to see when the beans will come up. Hopefully the good soaking will spur them to sprout a little faster since I didn't soak them before. 

You can also see that there's hardly a shadow, we have light cloud cover (high overcast) but it is currently 82 outside at the time was about 10:30am. Cause that's what this weather does. 

Oh and when I went to a drive through taco place yesterday I noticed this tall lanky sprout.

#tomato

I couldn't tell whether it was planted in a styrofoam cup or just came up int he corner. Either way that is one persistent plant. Going to say, nature finds a way most definitely.

That's all for today though, need to get some food and then hunker down for the duration as it is going to be another day in the 90's. At least the humidity is climbing up out of the teens and into middle age numbers.

 

Heat wave again which means more water!

Yes indeed, did I call it or did I not? Going to be in the mid 90's today so at almost noon we have buttoned up for the day after our one errand.

What does this have to do with gardening? Water, water and more water because it is  a weather pattern that is particular to SoCal called Santa Ana conditions (spelling is still debatable). It is a hot weather pattern usually happening twice a year and is the equivalent of 'monsoon' season in areas south of the equator. Ours is just the opposite, breezy to windy, humidity less than 25% and temps anywhere from 80s-90s. My sinuses informed me of this condition when I woke up this morning.

So back to gardening, it is low humidity and high heat which means plants and soil dry out very fast. I may actually go water again tomorrow. Now you see why that cooler weather was a false start and not to plant anything for cool season yet? I remember seeing pansies and other cool season annuals come in to the nursery and the other garden center and thinking, 'wait for it....' and no sooner than we get them in, we get this kind of weather that just cooks them. Do not water delicate things in the morning, wait until evening if you have to water. The water on the leaves during the day can absolutely burn leaves and the plants will almost melt.

Now then, as far as my garden is concerned, I watered dry dirt to keep microbes going hopefully.

It was about 10 am when I took those pictures. The south bed is in full shade so that is definitely going to be things like peas and leafy stuff. The other bed, after watering you can see the puddle to the right of the log making a nice dam effect. Heaving a deep breath thinking about how much work that's going to need. Might even put another board about four inches from the wall so I can build it up a bit more to level it. 

The tomatoes are growing and a lesson in why staking/tying and thinning is so important.

The branches at the bottom have some good fruit on them, but the weight is pulling it down. I tried to lift it up and felt some cracking where it was threatening to snap where I held it. I gently put it back down again or risk losing four fruit on that branch. 

And I mentioned fungus season as well, signs of fall are all happening. Spiders, webs, birds, weather and mushrooms. Ever notice in some places walking around there's a definite mushroom/fungus smell in the air? Yep. These are rather small but right next to some tree roots, yeppers... can't get any more obvious than that.

Oh and besides the jade plant that they put in, the fixed the area around the corner from that as well. Used to be bare dirt with some small white rocks that likely were from a pot of some sort. Now... something much prettier.

Mexican heather and another jade plant. The guys know how to plant thankfully and made a watering moat around it. I think there's a sprinkler head right on the corner there so hoping that enough water clears both the bush and the moat wall that it gets watered. The thing is, that jade should be in a more dry area by it's type, but as we all know about jade plants, they actually don't mind being in the shade and look much nicer, as long as it is a drier shade or an area that drains well.

I mention things like this as a matter of things that work and things shouldn't work but do. Commercial properties don't usually have options and at least they had some money to try and update areas. I so wish I had my own yard to be writing about but this is what I have to work with. 

With the way the housing market is going and our finances, buying a house any time soon is out of the question. Renting,  maybe but again finances being what they are, not in the forseeable future. 

Years ago I was chatting with a customer and they said, 'you must have a wonderful yard!' I said no, actually I'm in a two bedroom upstairs apartment and work at two jobs where I can't use what I know. I also worked at a fabric store and had no area to have a workspace for that either.  

Someone said 'it is what it is' and my reply is 'but what is it?'

It's making do with what you have.