All clear and small harvest.

 It got more windy yesterday and sure enough it is clear with only a hint of clouds at the horizon today.I think it's going to be clear or at least for a few days. Windchimes haven't stopped playing all day so far which is a good sound.

And again the blue is much darker than it actually is but still a big contrast to yesterday and the day before of mostly cloudy.

 

Sunny and beautiful garden. The corner trap surprisingly had millipedes in it and they're another sign that the soil underneath the surface where the leaves and logs are is being broken down by nature. These little guys feed on decaying matter like snails, slugs, pillbugs and all that. Unlike pillbugs, these will only eat roots and live leaves if the soil dries out and there's no other choice. There's plenty of organic matter in that soil and it is far from drying out. the other traps did have some pillbugs in them but not much else.

 

 

The thistle is close to three feet tall now and the base of the stem is close to two inches across. This is a monster and I suspect I'll have to dig it out with the shovel but for now it's kind of fun seeing it grow.

 

I made an executive garden decision and harvested some of the leaves on the large Romaine in the raised bed then looked at the carrots. I saw shoulders showing on the biggest one and decided it was ready. Might have been a week or two too soon but oh well. Looking at the size they're supposed to be, that's still a baby carrot. Chantenay are supposed to get 5-6 inches long and at least an inch across at the base. Oops. So the rest of the plants are going to stay in for a much longer time.

The difference in the leaf size between the raised bed and the ones in the ground are really interesting and is a testament to the nutrient levels.

Hard to tell but the smallest leaf in my hand is the same size as the largest leaf on the plants in the ground. The leaves are darker and stouter in the ground so I'm thinking probably less nitrogen and more potassium/phosphorus in that bed. Lots and lots of nitrogen in the other bed for sure. There's enough of all the nutrients for everything to thrive and grow at least. The Romaine in that west bed I'll probably leave to grow full size without taking any leaves off given their growth habit right now.

The cilantro is happy no matter where it is. Out in the sun it grows more flat and open where in the shade it's more upright. I saw some video (likely just for effect) of digging up an entire cilantro plant and almost everyone was saying the same thing. Harvest the branches for a bunch not dig up the whole plant. But the video also showed there was more than one plant there so digging up one plant was acceptable. I was going to say it's time to consider planting some seed in the south bed but then remembered I need to amend that soil heavily before I plant anything in there.

Patience grasshopper... ::shhhhh don't jinx it!::

Partly cloudy until otherwise

 It's very blustery right now with beautiful blue skies with scudding white and gray clouds skimming overhead. No rain in the forecast until the weekend apparently and maybe some more the week following. So out to the garden I went to check on things and see what's happening.

It did rain some more last night so the ground was damp looking. Still very much winter/spring skies and temperatures but that's okay, it's as it should be. 

Sadly the only thing that got into the traps over night was an earthworm and maybe another pill bug. So the yeast traps are not as good as hoped, will do some more research and keep trying.

The trap in the corner stayed covered better than the other two that had their leaf blown off. As I was inspecting that corner trap something skittered along the inside and then leaped out of the bed into the jade bush. From the quick glimpse I had, it was definitely a small lizard.

It may not look like much but I think that's a piece of shed lizard skin in the vicinity I saw it skittering. I'm happy they are making use of the big bush because I'm hoping we end up finally getting rid of some of the logs this summer. I then took a chance and pulled one of the larger looking radishes but it still had a long way to go. It's supposed to be double that size when mature.

I wiped it off and took a bite out of it and it definitely had a snappy flavor so will be happy to finally be able to use them in salads and stuff. I broke up the sacrificial one and tossed it in the compost. It did look like something had chewed the outer skin though (the white part is where I broke off the tap root), which was rather annoying but having never grown radishes very successfully, not too alarmed about it.

The cauliflower, little snots in the west bed, are actually growing better than the ones in the raised bed. They are so far behind though, by the time the other plants are ready to harvest and the bed needing a turn over those will not likely be even close to harvest time. I'm going to have plenty of Romaine and radishes for sure, maybe even some green onions.

I checked on the potted plants, everything is okay and then noticed that pepper looked a bit sunken. I loosened the soil then did the same for the leftover in the other cup and added some soil to the bottom of the pepper pot. The roots were starting to wrap around in the pot but I can't plant it out right now unless I have soil and another container to put it in. I also noticed the huge gaping hole from termites in that log. I don't remember that hole being there before and I suspect there may be a possum that may have opened it more. If there had been a skunk, I would have smelled it. I may have even done that and don't remember.

Water collected in the bag cover of the compost of course, so I slid it so the water dumped into the bucket sending dozens and dozens of fruit flies up. I covered it again at least and have to figure out how to keep that a bit better maintained. The wild potato in the jade plant I think is a red potato and has a second stem coming up that was stuck under that main branch. The plant is really thick so not going to try and move anything. As it was I broke off a small branch as I was moving things around so I just tossed it in the corner behind the main bush. Tempted to thin out a lot of the branches anyway because it's only going to get worse later on. 

I was happy to see a lizard actually in my raised bed. That means they're foraging for insects which is good for the plants. YAY! Eat all them snails and bugs guys, you are more than welcome in the garden!

 

It's raining again....

 Weather app said it would likely start raining around 11 am. Started misting/drizzle around 10:30 and serious rain at 11. Yep, it's a nice gentle straight to the ground, little breeze at all rain. I realized that if I didn't get out to the garden early this morning, I wouldn't have a chance until tomorrow. The gardeners are running the blower. They were out mowing most of the lawn this morning and I think this guy just seems to think it's okay to try and blow leaves in the rain.

So it was very cloudy, lots of moisture in the air and threatening to start raining any minute I was out. It started drizzling within minutes of me getting back upstairs.

Two pill bugs seems to be the only thing that fell in the one cup. One of the traps (upper right photo) actually had the leaf blow off from all the wind, all leaves left on the soil were chewed.

So I think those 'mystery' seedlings are cilantro judging by the true leaf coming out. Will wait a bit and see what it looks like. There seems to be another seedling coming up as well. Man.... you want stuff to grow fast, get cilantro.

I put a bag over the one compost bucket because it was attracting a LOT of fruit flies. I picked up the two containers that had the cauliflower and lettuce in and loosened the soil, dumping some from the cup to the clear container. Watered the oregano a little from what was in the tin bucket and let some of it dribble into the rose that needed water as well. Hoping they all get some water today I didn't move them out from the wall because about where that tin sits, is where the drip from the roofline hits.

Dark spots and roots under the containers. The roots are just weed seeds but the dark soil is actually coming from the containers which means something got in there. Sure enough, a worm was in the cup and I wouldn't be surprised if there were a couple in the other container.

Four pairs of pods are growing. I suppose if I had wanted more peas I should have planted more but  I just grow them for the adventure of it and the benefits to the soil. I'll eat them of course but not going to have dozens all ready at the same time.

Had to get some size reference and be able to see the little things against the backdrop of the same colored leaves. And again, the only thing that pesters peas is caterpillars which it is too cold this time of year to be out. I did see a Mourning Cloak butterfly the other day and a yellow one flitting around so they're out there, just not very active.

And another handful of cilantro harvested, all but two stems were from my beds and I pulled a scraggly one from the volunteers which went in the compost and then nipped off two long stems. The stems of the ones in the shade of course are a lot easier to pick and the stems are more upright. So growing it in the warmer months in full shade is the way to go for sure.

 

Side note about Mourning Cloak butterflies."The eggs are usually laid on host trees like willow, elm, hackberry, cottonwood, poplar, rose, birch, hawthorne, and mulberry." Well we have hawthorns and I think a few elms in the area and of course the roses. It's one of the prettier butterflies in my book but then I love blues and browns together. I only remembered them perferring elms from years ago because there were three or four huge ones along the fence at the nursery and when I had a house there was a Chinese Elm in the front yard.

Now that I can stare at the picture my crafting/knitting brain is thinking, 'that color arraingement can be done for a shawl pretty easy'. Hush you!