New year, hopefully better things coming.

 It is a gorgeous mostly clear day with very little to no wind whatsoever, which is to be expected after two days of crazy wind. Will be clear for a day or two then go back to being cloudy but not as much rain. We've got great snowpack and groundwater for now which, if we don't get any more rain or snow will dissipate by the time summer comes. 

I was able to get a couple of photos on my walk with Rocky yesterday and today. The tomato is still hanging in there and there's some green 'fuzz' growing in the dirt.

It is not likely true moss but more likely grass seeds coming up from all the weeds that were in the other beds over the summer. I didn't get a chance to get close unfortunately so another chance next time.  It is the time of year for moss but also for seeds to come up so could be both.

So early morning shot, well not that early I usually don't get out there until around 11 so there's a lot of shade but since it's after the solstice, that will slowly diminish for the next three months, yay! 

Jan 1 10:55 a.m.

I had to explain to someone the direction of the garden and he thought it was going to be in shade all day given the google maps picture he saw and that it was between a wall and a building (Hi Neeks!). I told him google maps is greatly outdated and this area gets sun for 8+ hours a day in summer and (as the picture shows) shade almost all winter. The sun rises just behind the far corner of the building and is at such a low angle you can imagine there's very little time for sun to hit everywhere before the wall gets in the way.

I got some more ideas on what seeds to plant right now which are all good, but my dirt is not ready. Carrots and lettuce, spinach, peas and as you can see, there is very little sun so I think I'm stuck with later spring and summer planting. Granted leafy things don't mind shade but this is a bit too much. If it's clear like this, it might get about an hour or two of sun but that would likely only fall on the tomato and maybe the lemon. Something else to point out is look at that reflected light on the south wall. Bright enough to cast a vague shadow which is okay but still considered a shady situation. Ahhh. ahahaahaa. heheh.

If I had access to that North wall where the wood pile is, I'd be golden for planting things all year round. Going to see about maybe moving the wood to the back corner next to the jade plant. Of course, checking with management first but I don't think it should be a problem. In fact it might be better because it can be causing all kinds of issues against the building. I hope the little lizard I saw in there over the summer doesn't mind. I may leave a few logs just for it to have a home on the sunny side of the garden keep it there for eating bugs and stuff. 

So it's a waiting game as I've said, I really really want to get out and get some walking on the trails but have to wait for some money so my walking partner can get some new shoes. Spring is so gorgeous in the canyons and sadly I discovered that one of my favorite canyon trails is closed indefinitely and I haven't found out why yet. Only thing I can surmise at this point is they put a new light rail trolley track near the farthest west end of it and haven't fenced it off maybe? Not sure. When I find out I will mention it here.

Happy New year and may everyone's garden grow well!

After the rains, a little clean up and nostalgic weeds.

 First off, the tree...you know the one... the pine in the barrel...

Well it's supported

Not sure who did it but they just finally up and busted what was left of the barrel and leaned the tree against the post. It really doesn't have that much of a root ball given it's size. If I had the money I would buy a new pot for it and put it out there.

The piles of leaves are still in two spots but Rocky was able to follow the path I made for him to get through. Silly kitty.  I finished his walk then went back to check on the garden. Didn't take a picture of the tomato darn it and didn't bring any of my tools. The main branch has grown about 18 inches out of the cage but I tucked in a side branch that was still short and soft enough to bend. The compost pile is composting and the winter plants are growing from seeds and roots from the summer.

Compost stuff

'Weeds'

The one labeled 'Weeds' I have some things to say about. A lot of people see both of the plants in that picture and say 'dandelions' but in actuality the only dandelion is the flat looking on on the left. All the others are actually 'prickly lettuce' and the original ancestor of our modern hybrid lettuces. They get some really cool shaped leaves (the arrow shaped ones next to the dandelion) and then it matures and gets bigger leaves on a tall stalk. They do have a similar looking flower to dandelions but that is the only similarity. Both are edible when picked when they are young. If I choose to let that larger lettuce or the one in the corner get big enough I'll take a picture of it. 

Years ago I was driving on a semi backroad through one of our canyons and there was an asian lady bent over, digging up the tall mustard plants by the side of the road. Oh yes we get wild mustard here as well and it isn't exactly the same as your typical mustard but the greens are still edible. We also get wild fennel along the roads and in the canyons, and sometimes we get what I discovered years later was wild radish. They have lavender, white or pale yellow colored flowers and I distinctly remember pulling one up one time and smelling it. It smelled like a radish by golly so I brought it to my mom and she said no we can't eat that we don't know for sure it's a radish. But... at the time I thought I knew I was right. I have a book on picking wild greens somewhere in my storage collection but here's a picture to confirm it.

Rhaphanus raphanistrum

So it is labeled as a noxious weed in some places and when I was growing up it and the mustard pretty much dominated the two lots flanking our driveway. The leaves, seeds and the roots are edible and again I know because I bit into one of the green seedpods and they were very peppery flavored.

An other noxious weed that is much worse than these is Wood Sorrel, Sour Grass or Oxalis pes-caprae. Another somewhat edible but oh so worse than anything other than Bermuda grass for spreading.

Oxalis pes-caprae

I think it's also called Oregon Buttercup but not sure on that.  This one is another that we used to pull the flowers and nibble on the stems as we walked home from school. There were at least two patches of it on our way and in the spring the tall yellow flowers stood up above the clover looking leaves so pretty.

When I grew up and started studying plants I discovered it is a devil in disguise. Here's how it works: When it's young it sprouts from a previous seasons root and starts growing a new clump, also spreading the roots out more. Once it starts to mature it separates from it's mother root and can survive on it's own. If you kill that clump, you haven't done anything. It will survive in the number of running roots all over and the still viable 'mother' clump. It is extremely difficult to get rid of if it crops up in some juniper or other ground cover, because by the time you see the flowers, it's too late.

I told a customer years ago about it and that we used to chew on the stems, they gasped, 'It's got oxalic acid, that's poisonous!'. Blink, blink..... I can verify that myself and my brothers are all still very much alive and never had any side effects of it. The juice from the stems were almost lemon flavored which is why they were such a fun thing to munch on. We never swallowed the stem, just mashed it with our teeth and sucked on the juice then tossed the stems.

One last 'native/non native/weed' that we also used to suck on was Tree Tobacco. Oh yes... we called it 'honeysuckle' because the flowers are long yellow tubes that we would suck the nectar out of. Honestly I have no idea how we figured out to do that or who told us but it was another spring/summer plant we used to look forward to seeing in bloom.

Nicotiana glauca

Tree Tobacco

These plants can get eight to ten feet tall if left to grow uncontrolled hence the name and the similarity to cultivated tobacco plants. They are both in the same family, note the name 'nicotiana' similar to nicotine. We never did anything with the leaves only the flowers, pulling the flowers off and the sepal cap off to suck the nectar. Another incident of someone hearing what we did and said 'it has nicotine in it that's toxic!'. Sigh. 

I don't think there's any use for this plant though due to it having some nicotinoids and in the solanum family it can be used as a possible pesticide. The reason why you only see it in the canyons is it prefers drier undisturbed areas. Yup, that was my canyon backyard and the canyons around San Diego.

So anyway that's a walk down memory lane that was brought on my the rainy weather and plants coming up. Hope to get out and do some more walking in wild areas to take pictures.

Finally getting winter weather, rain and wind.

 It's been overcast and cold which is good. Northwest has been getting record snow and likely some of the mountains around me got a good snowfall as well. It's a bit late this year but as I noted earlier in this blog and to others years ago, pretty soon we'll have to adjust our idea of 'winter' as the weather patterns change and the calendar and tilt of the planet may be off so our winter down here comes later every year.

I keep watching all these cooking shows and they show and recommend getting fresh vegetables and have your own garden blah blah... sigh. If I had the means to store supplies and the space I would totally do that. Something related to both gardening and cooking, I bought basic veggies that are used in a variety of recipes I do. Celery, onion, carrot and green onions. Going to chop them up (except the carrots, should cook those first) put them in baggies and put them in the freezer. Same thing with the 2 lbs of hamburger, divide it, flatten it in a ziplock baggie and put in freezer. I've never been much for storing things ahead of time in the past few decades but am getting inspired now. The celery and onion is a staple, same with the garlic I'm going to do the same. Put whole cloves in the freezer then when you need it pull one out and use the smaller zest grater for instant fresh grated garlic!

Didn't get out to the garden again as it likely hasn't changed since day before so a few pictures of other things. The pine tree that got knocked over and then put back upright...fell over again due to the high winds the other day. Sigh.

(Reused photo basically the same)

The never ending blowing and piling of leaves from the sycamores goes on as well. They just got most of the piles taken away and we have a storm that dropped an equal amount right back on the ground. 

Rocky trying to figure passage.

 Rocky hates stepping on leaves so seeing this veritable ocean of leaves to cross... not fun. The grass was still trying to recover from the last pile. I even tried to use my foot and make a passage for him along the wall on the left but he said...nah I know a different way around.  Need to remember to grab a few handfuls and take it over to the compost pile next time and maybe give it a toss with the potting soil someone dumped out there earlier in the year.

So many plans on the screen and so little actual energy, time and money to do it. Very good about giving advice and not so good at following it myself. It's all based on a 'perfect' world and still too lazy to do what needs to be done.

Oh a small note while watching a 'cooking/travel' show that is filmed in the North East/Rhode Island and there abouts. The lady that was visiting went 'foraging' with the local expert and chef at the inn she was staying at. He is an experienced forager of edible fungus and they were walking and talking then stopped and realized they were about to 'step on a (whatever orange fungus) in the hummus' in front of them. 

I didn't know whether to laugh or yell at the screen. It's HUMUS! Pronounced hewmus and this supposed 'expert' pronounced it like the edible chickpea dip you find in the store. I could not believe my ears. This is why we have issues when people come to a garden store and get their information from the web or tv. I have corrected a few customers when they pronounced it wrong and they give me a strange look. Listen, I've been in the retail garden business for two decades and know of what I speak. As opposed to some Easterner that is giving you wrong information based totally on their experience where they are.

Sigh.

That's all I have for today. Looks like it might be starting to rain again. Wish I had a rain barrel to catch the free water.

 

 

It's Christmas Eve and it rained really well.

 It started raining yesterday and has continued on and off with gusts of wind occasionally. Badly needed rain and for us it isn't torrential but still a good soaking. We may get the heavier rain later, expected to be on and off rain for Christmas day and then tapering off during the week. 

Needless to say I didn't get out to the garden at all but that's fine. I know it's just hanging in there and am sort of glad the cilantro seedlings got wiped out. They would have been pummeled pretty hard with the rain and buried under mud. Can't wait until spring when I can plant the beans and maybe some peas and sweet peas. 

Basic colors

Sweet Pea 'Matucana'

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What's not to love about these? They now have a 'true blue' color as well as an actual orange. Variegated and all sorts of combinations.

I love sweet peas not only for the scent and colors but it was my mom's favorite flower then my daughters oddly enough. My mom grew some when I was in high school and that's one of my fond memories of seeing them climbing up and covering a window, my mom enjoying them when she cut some to bring in the house.

For now, we hold steady and dream of better days. It's been a tough three years and I'm thankful for what I have but would have a lot less stress with a little more.

I hope gardens grow well, there is enough water and food to make plants healthy and happy. May the gardeners who tend them have no bad days and many happy harvests.

Merry Christmas, Solstice, Happy Hannukah/Kwanzaa and all other holidays to all.

 

 

Finally had to go water and winterizing

The weather is cleared but now another Santa Ana is here which means little wind, dry and warm for winter. Sigh. So the last couple of days there hasn't been much opportunity to get out anywhere with plants. The landscaping around the buildings rarely changes so nothing new there so I finally went back out after walking Rocky to water what I have and discovered... snails had eaten both cilantro seedlings.

Can't see the slime trails but they were there. That brown pile in the middle was where the larger of the seedlings used to be. Oh well. The tomato is doing fine, still putting out flowers and losing a few leaves on the bottom. Again I was tempted to take a lemon and put some of the juice around it but I didn't bring my clippers or knife.

For the past few days the leaves from the trees have been piled up on the lawns waiting for being dealt with. Well they finally got the 'Billy Goat' machine out and dealt with them. This is what happens when you leave a pile of anything on grass for more than a day or two:

It will recover but not quickly and it could damage it beyond repair, will see what happens. In someplaces around the country it's okay to leave your leaves on the grass because it acts as a protective layer for the coming snow. That isn't the case here and it should have been dealt with a few days ago but that's in an ideal situation. Not my circus. I am only presenting this as an informational post not something I am moaning about that I need to fix. Even though that's what I want to do.

'Winterizing' is a thing and is different in every part of the country down to locations in the same city. It can mean anything from just leaving your garden soil to go fallow to planting winter 'green manure' (clover or other legume types) to add nitrogen to the soil. I'm doing the lazy way and leaving one bed alone and the other just barely hanging on. As I said, the tomato will likely not fruit over winter due to temperatures but if it survives to spring, might have some spectacular spring tomatoes. IF I get some fertilizer in there. Where it snows and gets regular frost, there's pruning to be done, digging up leftover veggies, roughing up the soil and all manner of things. Now we're talking a reasonable yard garden not my piddly two small bed area that I don't even own.

I would have a proper compost corner where I could dump veggie scraps and paper and such, might have some chickens or ducks if there is room for fertilizer and eggs. Dedicated beds for flowers and ornamental plants, a kitchen herb garden... so many things. All a dream right now.

We are due some heavy rains over Christmas weekend so now would be the time to add fertilizer and amendments if I had them. Going to do the compost pile good I'm sure. Might ask the next time they mow the lawn to take one bagful to the garden end dump it on the pile. Might also look into making a containment or perimeter of some sort for it. How hard to I want to work to make this? Not very much. If I owned a house I would be doing a lot more to make a better garden for sure.

Making sure the weeds don't get the upper hand in our area is a winterizing thing to do. As soon as it rains and cools down the grasses come back and start growing...which reminds me, I just bought a small jar of white vinegar which is good weed killer and acidifies the soil. Might mix some with water and put it in a spray bottle for the pesky grass stuff coming up in the bed.

That's basically all for now. The sky is a pale blue with patchy clouds moving inland as soon as we hear reports of rain in L.A. I know it's only a matter of a few hours before it hits us. Yay and boo at the same time, makes for interesting gathering on Christmas.

Happy Solstice as well, days start getting longer and nights shorter from here out, yay! I look forward to the return of the sun later in the day and longer hours to do more gardening.

Had to change the theme

 Due to not finding the blogger button in order to make a new post. Very annoying.

Anyway, haven't been out to the garden but took other pictures and have been bundling up at night due to it getting really really cold. Remember that previous post where I said I doubted it would get down to 50? Well...... it got to 50 by 11 pm. It's been dipping into the mid to high 40's at night and early morning the last few days so it's definitely winter now. The great rain storm dumped some badly needed water and snow in the higher elevations but still not enough.

The day after it rained I noticed this. These are the herb planters I snitched cilantro seeds from and they are in front of the apartment office. Manager put them out to get some watering and they were still sitting there the next day. Take advantage of water from the sky every chance you get.

It's been dry the last two days but still chilly enough to wear a jacket. Might have even gotten some drizzle or frost overnight but by the time the sun comes up it was just damp. Oh and remember the Norfolk Pine and how I showed it wasn't very stable?

All fall down go boom, well more like a thud or quiet crunch. Poor thing (Rocky is checking out wondering what happened.) So yet another example of poorly placed plants poorly performing. Hoping they find somewhere to replant it, repot it or more likely as they did with the Camellia, just kill it by cutting it up and throwing it in the dumpster. Hoping they repot it and maybe I'll sneak some ornaments and garland out to dress it up for Christmas.

On that topic, knowing the mature size of a plant/tree will be when planting near a fence, exhibit A:

Eucalyptus citriodora (I am behind on my taxonomy because it is now called Corymbia citriodora). Yes they smell lemony when it rains or you crush the leaves. This is likely the source of medicinal lemon/eucalyptus throat drops but don't take my word for it. Anyway, these can get trunks that are at least four feet across at the base, sometimes bigger. Likely when this was younger it was about two feet from the fence.. well it's bulging the fence out now because the base of the tree expanded that much and more. The neighbors on that side have small dogs so had to put in extra barrier to keep them in. It is doing quite a number on the fence which is likely the same age as the tree... thirty plus years old I suspect.

Something else I discovered walking along the fence was winged insects.

These are an ant nest that is swarming. It happens when there's been an extended dry period and then rain. Typically we see them in the spring but it happens this time of year as well, the rain triggers queen ants to hatch with wings and spread out to find a new nest site. It was on the other side of the fence so I couldn't do anything about it but even if it was on our side, can't do anything about it. Rocky found them fascinating fluttering all over the place had to brush them off his fur or he'd bring them in the house.

This is something to watch for in any case, it also happens with termites but those are white, these were definitely black and the size of ants but thicker.  Plants and insects benefit from the rain, the world weather patterns are changing and we need to be aware of it and adapt. It's too late to do anything about it, the best we can do is try to mitigate any future changes and the problems it may cause.

Meanwhile another tree that needs to be eradicated is oddly enough called 'Tree of Heaven' (Ailanthus altissimus) it is anything but that. It grows like a weed and is considered invasive, seedlings come up everywhere, the seed pods are obvious and obnoxious. Birds don't eat the seeds and the branches are barely strong enough to hold a large bird. The flowers smell all right I guess but that's about it. (You can see the bulge in the fence from the Lemon Gum tree at this angle).

Our street has several spots where this invasive tree has sprung up and people think 'it's a free shade tree, not going to cut it down'. Lazy man's landscaping can cause headaches and cost money down the road.

New year is around the corner and hopefully better days ahead for us all.

 

Got out yesterday to take pictures and check on things

 No wind whatsoever yesterday which both the weather people and my own experience told me that there would be wind today as well as rain. Bingo!

I didn't even water yesterday because it has been cold and overcast for a few days and I knew it would rain today. The cilantro is still plugging along and the tomato is actually looking pretty good for color and growth.

There are still low spots that are dark from being damp still you can see in front of the tomato, that's also where the compost type stuff settles. Still can't get into the bed sufficiently to dig out the grass weeds at the back and honestly would rather have a 'hula' hoe or stirrup hoe to do that well. I have a regular 'chopping' type hoe that is okay but not ideal.

It's getting closer to Christmas and I haven't been much of anywhere that has an abundance of pointsettias for the first time in almost 25 years. Rather shocking I don't have to deal with the 'red tide' and sad looking, under watered, broken plants. I did go to the local HD and they had so little Christmas out it was scary but also expected. People got there early and cleaned them out as well as supplies are delayed due to dozens of container ships sitting off the coast waiting to offload from last year. Yes... last year.  The supplies for holidays on these ships won't likely get to the stores until June or July of next year. 

Anyway that has nothing and yet something to do with gardening. Some tools, supplies, accessories and such that come from overseas may be on those ships. The weather impacts shipping locally as well with tornadoes and flooding and hurricanes all affecting the same supply chain.

Gardening goes on one way or another, it is a constant and yet intermittent 'seasonal' track that improvisation can make new tools instead of buying something. Using seeds from existing vegetables for the next season planting and stretching the growing season of an existing plant (tomato) to see if it will produce next year. Fertilizer is a little more problematic unless you have a source of cow/steer/horse/chicken manure or a thriving compost pile. Eggshells for calcium, but that takes a while to break down. I'm tempted to pick one of the lemons on the lemon bush and use the juice around the tomato and cilantro. I have lemon and lime juice in the fridge but that's for cooking and not going to squander it on my garden as an experiment.

Today is blustery and rainy, wonderful change and I'm sure if I lived where it did this almost every day I wouldn't be as okay with it. Still better than 95-102 and 65% humidity for days on end. Water is good for the Earth this sort of rain is perfect as it is a gentle constant drizzle that doesn't overpower the absorption of the soil too quickly. 

No job in sight so I applied for social security as official retirement. That will bring in some money and will see if there is enough to buy garden supplies once in a while.