Succulents update

I moved the majority of my smaller succulents into communal bins, so that they would take up less space than individual pots.

The larger specimens still got to keep their own dwellings, but they all got fresh soil, and some were upgraded to larger pots.

My housemate brought home a tomato plant that is thriving on the deck, as well. We're not sure what type it is because it was a volunteer from a neighbor's yard.

New shady plants and replanting succulents

To celebrate the spring equinox, I took my pup to the beach with a friend, and then we went to East Bay Nursery to pick up some shade-loving plants. (Of course, I couldn't resist picking up a few new succulents as well.) For the past few months I've been frowning at the patch of dirt between the stairs at the front of the house and the garage. The spot could really use some greenery to spruce it up, but we use it as a walkway, and it doesn't get any direct sunlight. So I needed a shade-loving ground cover, and I figured I'd add a fern as well. I found just the thing at EBN! (Click to see the picture come up in a larger size.)

The four diamond-shaped patches are low-growing Corsican mint, which I hope will spread out quickly. The little circles in back are a moss that grows in a pretty mound shape. And there's the potted fern. (And also in the back, the new little succulents.) In the middle are ceramic tiles I picked up at Urban Ore. You can see there's still another dirt patch to the left. I'll probably end up doing something similar on that side, but I'll have to save up for more tiles and plants.

After that, it was time to finally, finally replant my succulents. I'd been meaning to do that for months. In fact, I've been neglecting them in favor of carefully tending my edible garden in the back yard, and the succulents are out of sight, out of mind up on the upper deck. They suffered frost damage back in December:

...and then I got a frost cover for them but forgot to remove it for weeks and they burned:

...and recently leaf miners have done a number on them:

I don't even know what happened to this one - it was going strong for two years, and suddenly it lost all of its "petals" and turned black on the inside:

But! Some are stronger than ever:

And others are blooming:

I got all of the smaller succulents planted into one communal bin, and the bigger ones will be transplanted tomorrow or over the weekend. I worked until it was too dark to continue, so pictures of that will come later. But I can leave you with this sunset:

Happy spring equinox!

The last part of the edible garden

Planted potatoes yesterday.

My book said to only cover the hole up partway until the plant has sprouted and grown 6-8 inches above the soil.

That's all the edible plants planted! Now to watch them grow, and look forward to eating them...

The recently planted spinach is happy that we got two (two!) nights of rain in a row, followed by lots of sunshine as usual.

There is a lot of weeding and pruning to do in the main yards, and my succulents need replanting. I am doing my best to resist and work on business marketing instead. It is hard.

Major garden expansion

I've been busy in the garden during this past week. A second metal x-pen arrived in the mail, enabling me to expand my dog- and cat-proof garden. On the same day, I went to East Bay Nursery and couldn't resist bringing home one of the dwarf fruit trees. I admire the abundance of food a tree can produce, and I realized that putting a dwarf variety in a half-wine barrel was feasible for my small garden. I chose a clementine mandarin tree, which will grow to only ~6 feet tall in this barrel. Should I move to a new home, I can simply transport it with me! (Click on any picture to see a larger version.)

It's in the sunniest spot in the back yard, and I moved the compost/worm bin over to join it.

I know it's a viable tree because there's a wee mandarin growing already!

So after deciding to get this tree, I splurged and bought many more fruit and vegetable plants.

These are four raspberry plants -- the bins are a bit small for them, but I think they'll be happy enough. I'm going to put rows of string between the posts on either side, for the raspberries to climb on. The pale green board is a homemade dog agility teeter, which is no longer needed for Chimera's foundation training. It keeps the dogs from standing on the deck (level with the tops of the bins) and peeing onto the plants.

This is the other half of the deck, where I will put more pea plants (I love fresh peas!) and two cucumbers, when starts are available again. The blue plastic around the posts keeps the cats from climbing up. On the second level you can see a white mass -- that's my succulent garden, covered up from the cold.

Taking a few more steps to the right, it's the newly expanded pen!

From the other side. The two large tubs in front will be used for growing potatoes.

While I was buying bins at Urban Ore, I came across these lovely blue tiles and put them at the entrance to the penned garden.

Immediately on your left: six strawberry plants! Yum!

The pea plants are being directed along the side of the pen as planned. These plants will stay here until they're spent. I'll be seeding new plants to grow by the deck. (Told you I love fresh peas!)

There are three pretty white flowers on one of the plants. The day after I took this picture, I looked underneath this flower and found a teeny tiny seed pod growing!

The dill (in front) and parsley (back) plants are still going strong. These were the first seeds I planted and watched growing in my garden last fall. Sometimes it's hard for me to resist eating an entire plant at once. Perhaps I will have to devote one of my extra bins to more dill and parsley...

Next to them is the spinach bin, then some empty ones which will be planted with scallions (lots and lots of scallions!), carrots, and radishes.

Turn your head and you'll see six lettuce starts. They weren't too happy about being transported from the nursery, but I'm hoping they'll bounce back.

What's this? Non-edible flowers! Foxglove in the back, columbine in the middle, and dwarf lupine in the front. They're a bit scrunched in there. I had six starts of each, so there's a second bin planted in the same way to the right of the raspberry plants.

And finally, another non-edible: a tiny Norfolk Island Pine from the bonsai area.

I am so thankful for the warm climate which allows gardening to continue year-round. Here's hoping 2014 will bring an abundance of fresh food and flowers!

Yard work

Went over budget this month on garden supplies, but my succulents needed a frost cover ASAP.

It's not exactly air-tight since the wooden planks below the balcony allow air flow, but cross your fingers for them. Once the frost passes (probably just another month, maybe two), I'll replant them into the big plastic bins as planned. I was going to do that today, but I broke my box cutter as I was shortening the sides of one of the bins. I'll add a new box cutter or maybe just a good knife to next month's shopping list.

I bought the frost cover at Pollinate Farm & Garden, my local urban farming/homesteading store (how cool is that?!). I also said hello to their beautiful chickens.

The hen on the right was really a gorgeous silver color. I am so looking forward to having chickens someday.

One other item I purchased: an impressive collapsible rake, allowing you to rake tight spots as well as store it more easily.

So I spent the afternoon cutting up branches that had fallen during the recent wind storms, and raking up a small portion of fallen leaves until our green bin was completely full. Being the gardening and organizing kook that I am, I enjoyed it!

Next year's gardening plan

Ate all the scallions and the last of the spinach this morning. The frost has arrived and they wouldn't have grown any more, as far as I could tell.

Speaking of frost, some of my succulents are struggling with it. I made a tiny greenhouse out of a translucent plastic tub for this one and a couple of other small guys. Crossing my fingers for them.

The pea plants should survive the winter fine and start growing pods next year. The parsley and dill should also survive, though I have been wittling them down stem by stem. Yum!

I spent yesterday planning my garden for next year. It was my first time making a formal plan, yet it was easier than I'd expected because my picky eating limits the variety of plants I want to grow, and I have even fewer containers to house them all. (I'm growing solely in containers because the soil here is poor and compacted, and I don't know when I'll move and would be sad to leave my plants behind.)

I live in USDA zone 9b. The first frost date is roughly December 15th (though it came a week early this year), and the last is about February 15th. This means that I have a very short winter to deal with and will be able to resume vegetable gardening in just a couple of months!

I am setting aside my largest container for a good crop of scallions, with successions planted every two weeks. I adore scallions, and even with the largest tub devoted to them, I know that I'll still be buying more from the store.

The rest of the containers are much smaller. The one that was sharing space between spinach and scallions will be in partial shade and grow successions of spinach only (seeds planted every 2 weeks in the spring and fall, since summer will be too hot). I will retry a couple of cucumber starts in the round pots. The dill and parsley and pea plants will be replanted in the same pots as needed.

I would like to add carrots, radishes, and potatoes to my garden, but I need more containers for them. (In particular, deep containers for the carrots and potatoes.) I'm in a serious money crunch right now and can't afford to buy more.

On the bright side, I found a giant plastic tub abandoned in a park and it will be a perfect new home for many of my succulents in small individual pots. That will make it easier to water them and move them when I eventually move to a new place. Plus, many of them are currently living in soil that's 1-2 years old and they need a nutrient boost. I'll do this transplanting next time there's a warm afternoon...

Garden Update

The most exciting update is that I finally was able to buy worms for the compost bin! There seems to be a shortage in my area, but I picked them up when I visited my parents.

I have a lot of affinity for these little guys now. (Sunk cost fallacy and all that.) They immediately went into the compost bin, along with some compost starter and a little water. I'm about to go on vacation for two weeks, so I'll just let them work their magic and start turning the compost after I get back.

I replanted my small collection of shade-preferring succulents, moving most of them from individual pots to a collective bin:

I will do the same for the succulents on the sunny patio, as well.

Veggie update -- the peas are close to escaping their pen:

I'm about to pinch the tips of the middle plant, and will let the other two spread outwards for a while longer.

Garden pictures

The peas sprouted last Monday. They're already a few inches tall! I waited a bit too long to thin them out, even.

Look at all those roots!

I also thinned out the dill - my first opportunity to eat something from my own garden!

In the words of the Thug Kitchen, "Put that shit right on that motherlovin' sandwich."

You hear so many people say that it's more satisfying to eat something you grew yourself. They are absolutely right.

The forget-me-nots just broke soil today.

Up in the succulent garden on the deck, we have a few getting ready to flower. (Click on any picture to see it come up in a bigger format.)

This one has been growing the stalk for the flowers for months! They're finally, slowly, blooming.

A few others that are looking good:

That last spotty one looks exceptionally like an alien plant. It's some rare succulent that I've only seen in people's gardens twice. It's planted next to something that is not a succulent, but was also planted in someone's succulent garden, so I harvested it. It's growing a purple flower. I have no idea what it is.