Category: unwise life choices

The magnificence and risk of early tomatoes

~ Homo neanderthalensis ~ 2 Comments

I had only two things to get beside the soil today. Seed potatoes and two extra potato bags.

I got tomatoes.

I also got a six-pack of cauliflower sets which is a much saner purchase than March tomatoes.

In my defense- they were on sale.

In not my defense it’s going to rain in a week and that’s probably not the greatest for baby tomato plants.

But back in my defense- the smaller the plant the more water they need so a week of rain might be just what they want.

Gardening is a land of contrasts.

I got a sun gold because I love a sun gold and they’re a proven winner in my garden and a San Francisco Fog tomato because my dad remembers growing them decades ago very fondly and he swears they’re delicious and grow well.

I am aware other people have opinions on San Francisco Fog tomatoes but I do not want to hear it- these tomatoes are for dad.

I put the sun gold in the large urn and mulched it well- it’s in position to get a ton of sun and as long as it’s well watered it should take.

Mr. Fog is in the big blue pot also well mulched and hopefully it takes as well.

This early is a huge gamble. But as I have room for 5-6 tomatoes this year putting a few in early is harmless and might give me early yields so why not?

Besides while I’m not sure about the longevity of Mr. Fog, sun gold tomatoes are the belle of the ball out here- they love this part of the city and perform well.

Of course if the rain next week is too hard…

I was planning on planting my seed potatoes today. I had absolutely no energy left after the new beds and the tomatoes- so that’s tomorrow.

Here’s a parting picture of copulating ladybugs.

First ladybugs of 2019 and they’re screwing.

That’s a good omen right?

Part two of new raised bed adventures

~ Homo neanderthalensis ~ 1 Comment

The day has arrived!

Soil has come!

Holy crap I am tired.

That is a huddle of twelve bags of soil. Boy howdy was that a trip. Never been happier my dad has a Subaru. Not sure how I’d have gotten it home otherwise. I got some… other things at the local garden center but they’re another post.

First step was lining the already cardboard lined beds with newspaper…

Second step was dirt. So much dirt. I added some worm casings in to help it absorb water- important since some of these beds will in a few weeks hold cucumbers and zucchini.

There are the other two new beds- being watched over by the plastic owl guardian.

I have so many seedlings growing so it’s nice that the space is finally here for growing.

I’ll grow more beans in the backs of two of these beds, zucchini in one, and cucumbers in another. It’s all a matter of staggering my growing so that I’ll have harvests all through summer and fall though, so I wouldn’t be surprised if a few of these beds are empty for a few months. At least I’ve gotten it done.

I am so tired.

San Francisco perils: wind and sun

~ Homo neanderthalensis ~ 3 Comments

It’s been sunny and clear for several days thankfully, and it will continue to be clear for a while yet. (Fingers crossed!)

Unfortunately while it has stopped raining, it has not stopped wind-ing.

Ha ha oops. There goes the garlic chives! My fault for using that old plastic pot I guess- I had gambled that the weight of the soil would be enough but apparently it was not!

Well that’s the advantage of seed packets- I had plenty more. But I scooped the soil into a new heavy pottery pot and re-sowed.

Small- but heavy.

There’s a reason I prefer the larger terra-cotta and glazed clay pots, it’s partially an aesthetic thing of course but it’s also because the backyard can be really really windy. Weighty pots are safer.

Owl down! Owl down!

The other problem is that the clear sunny skies are drying out the soil really quick, despite the fact that a week ago it was practically flooding.

But there’s an easy solution for that- mulch!

There’s my leeks, all lovingly swaddled with redwood bark. I also mulched the romaine and the green onions in the 4×4 bed.

Now there are only a few green onions that sprouted largely because of how wet and cold it was, so I decided to put up a few more for later transplant.

If I just keep putting out more scallions in the seedling cells I’ll have plenty to transplant all over the garden.

It’s fairly easy to tuck scallions wherever you have space for them, they’re super skinny and you don’t even need to thin them as long as you space them right. Dad eats a lot of green onions so I’d really like to grow a ton of them. So I guess every week or so I’ll put 12 more seeds out. Accounting for a few dud seeds I should have plenty in the ground by late April.

Now it’s just a matter of waiting til Friday- soil day!

I’m so excited!

Seedling rescue

~ Homo neanderthalensis ~ 2 Comments

Well I messed up. The leggy seedlings definitely needed to be outside, but they certainly didn’t need to be in the way too hot greenhouse.

Those are some damaged seedlings. Problem is- it’s actually kinda warm out now. Warm and sunny. So in the greenhouse bench it wasn’t warm- it was hot! Luckily the raised temps and sunny weather means the greenhouse is unnecessary so I took the plastic off of it.

Then it was just a matter of repotting the survivors.

I managed to save three zucchini, one Boston pickle cucumber plant, two romanesco and two sunflowers.

And there is absolutely no guarantee any of them will survive their early transplant.

But they look ok, and by being in the sun but not in the greenhouse they should toughen up.

I took the opportunity to move the indoor seedlings outside- and to plant some more.

Another 6-pack of romanesco and sunflower, along with a 6-pack of the telegraph improved cucumbers and Swiss chard because you can never have enough of them.

So my greenhouse bench is now just a bench. It might sprinkle tomorrow which might mean I have to take the trays indoors or move them to the table, but it should be clear for at least a week and a half.

Of course I gave up trusting San Francisco weather forecasts a long time ago, so I’ll just have to be on top of things.

I am slightly concerned about wind knocking things over- so I put a bunch of rocks inside the drip trays to try and weigh things down. That also could fail. We’ll see.

At least hopefully I saved a few of them.

Mowing adventures

~ Homo neanderthalensis ~ 4 Comments

Between hefting a pot and plants on two buses yesterday and pushing a mower through thick weeds today- I’m definitely getting my exercise.

Besides the usual moving pots and bags and benches to get at the grass and weeds, there was also a lot of hand pulling to do, because certain weeds get really woody with time and rain, and the mower just can’t do it.

I did a pretty good job in most of the beds, moving things around and just getting on with it. There was one major problem though.

This- is mint. Growing completely feral behind the sunny herb patch. This is mint of a species I have not planted in 4 years.

Oh man you just cannot kill this stuff! I’m both mad and in awe!

I can’t kill it- but it can kill my mower.

The culprit: a clump of mint root.

The victim:

Man down!

Luckily my push mower is pretty basic and cleaning the blades was fairly simple. So crisis averted- but I’m not making the mistake of mowing mint again.

(Mint. Goes. In. Pots!!!)

All in all it was a good afternoon’s work.

Look, the greenhouse bench is no longer on a thicket!

I still have more work to do today- I have to plant the chervil and mint (in. Pots.) but I’m taking a break right now- I’m really tired!

Needed chervil, got a little excited

~ Homo neanderthalensis ~ 6 Comments

It was actually clear and sunny today! Clear, sunny, and FREEZING. So typical February weather for this neck of the woods. It looks like that’s the last of the rain for a bit, until maybe April.

Which for me meant it was time to take the bus to my local garden center! Well buses plural as you have to take two. Point is- it’s doable to hoof myself from my neck of the woods to their neck of the woods and pick up a chervil plant sans car.

I can’t get all the soil I need for the new beds yet- that’ll take the car. But it’s just a chervil plant! That’s not heavy!

Pictured: chervil. Chervil is a French herb, part of the group of herbs traditionally called “fines herbs” along with parsley, tarragon and chives. It’s ever so slightly anise-y and it’s a good time to plant it.

Of course the problem is… it’s never one plant.

It’s three plants! And three seed packets and… not pictured… one small pot.

It turns out I had a bunch of coupons from Sloat and it was a good time to use them. That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it!

Yes I know I know I’m taking two buses home what was I thinking?

Well. Now that the mint thunderdome is over (Roman mint won) I wanted two good dedicated mint pots for my tea and for mint’s bug repelling qualities. So I got a lovely strawberry mint and a delightful pineapple mint.

So I managed to fit the seed packets inside the pot- and I balanced the plants in a cardboard box they gave me on top of the pot, all in my bag.

This was a fun ride home.

Eh exercise is good for you! Today was just an unexpected arm day.

Also there was a train dog.

Here he is- judging my life choices.

Don’t worry my fine canine friend- I’m doing that too.

Final haul which is living on my dryer until I can put things in the ground and in pots- it’s a really nice pot and it was really well priced and I needed something with a lip like that for sunflowers so I’m not apologizing at all.

The seeds were a surprise but a welcome one.

I’ve been thinking of putting in sunflowers for a while, mom tends to not be allergic to those and I’d like some color in the garden. What’s really nice about the packet I chose is they’re a pollen-less hybrid meant for florists. I don’t care too much about the need of florists, but no pollen means no sick mother! And while there’s no pollen there is nectar so the pollinators will be happy.

I also got a packet of that funny romanesco broccoli. It looks like a fractal and it tastes delicious and cabbages grow well here so eh why not.

And finally I got a packet of purple snap peas because I am a sucker for a purple vegetable.

I have absolutely no excuse for that one.

I apologize for nothing.

Now if you excuse me I have to put ice packs on my arms.

Ow.