Done

2 gallon size bags of lettuce and 1 gallon size bag of spinach later, my harvesting is done for now. I hate to harvest before the plants' prime but I also hate losing my crop. So, I went to the garden and pulled them all up. I figure the onions should be able to survive the freeze. Maybe I am figuring wrongly but they are not big enough to harvest just yet.

The strawberry plants from last year may be lost, but they are sort of sickly looking anyway.  I want to plant them in better soil next season. The dirt in my yard needs a lot of help. Raised beds are the answer.  The one Fred built me for my birthday last year is perfect. The soil is soft and loamy. It holds moisture well and the plants love it. (They whispered it to me one morning). I'll add one every once in a while and build up the garden slowly.

I will be ordering more seeds soon and now I will be able to start fresh in March.  Hopefully the weather will cooperate.  I can't imagine how the real farmers must feel when the weather is uncooperative. I stress out about my little backyard garden.  Maybe I shouldn't wish for more.

Now, I have to decide... chickens or no chickens. That is the question

Hurry up Harvest

I'm going to have to get out in the garden tomorrow and harvest as much as I can before it FREEZES.  Seems silly at the end of February in Sunny Southern California to have to worry about the lettuce freezing but they say it's going to freeze. So, I'll go and get what I can before that happens.  There is not much there, just some lettuce and spinach.  There are strawberries, too, but they are still green so they will be a loss this time.

I may try to save them with some plastic sheets over my raised bed cages. Then again, I may just cut my losses and start again.

Hopefully we will get some good weather for gardening this year. I may have to move to Oklahoma or something.

In between rain bursts

Today I had a chance to play in the garden for a few minutes between rain showers and moving my daughter to a new apartment.

I harvested more salad greens, picked a few weeds, and planted some swiss chard. The red onions I planted have taken root and sprouted.  Next week I'll add some snow peas to the mix.

I have decided to try a drip system in my garden this year. I am hoping that a consistent watering will give me a better harvest and less mildew than last year. Never having done a drip system before, I am dealing with a pretty big learning curve, but I'll just keep trying  until I get it right. Home Depot has a kit called "Drip Irrigation Kit for Dummies."  I figured that was for me so i bought it.  Haven't tried it yet.  I'll  let you know how it goes.

More clean up and such

This afternoon I took some time in the garden again.  The weeds had taken over!

I started in the strawberry box, raking out leaves and debris blown in last week by the wind. Look what I found!

Strawberries in February

I moved on to the salad box and harvested enough lettuce and spinach for lunch salads all week. 

I planted a few red onion bulbs in this box and watered thoroughly. It was a short but lovely afternoon in the garden.

Problem solved

Sarah is young and smart and creative so now I have a sewing page.  Thank goodness for young ones who are not intimdated by the computer.

word play ineffective

So, the word play in my blog title is not going to work.  I was hoping to have another page on here about my quilting and handiwork.  Unfortunately being technically challenged, I cannot figure out how to do a second page.  Lest I seem a poor speller, I have had to change my blog title. I will not change my blog address, however. I am determined to figure this thing out.

Let the gardening begin!

Yes, I know the date is only January 30, but... I just can't help myself. Yesterday was such a beautiful day, sunshiny and warm. The garden called my name after months of being ignored.  Of course, the rain this month watered the ground generously, so the weeds abound! I have my work cut out for me to be ready to plant in March.

I have one square planted already with 2 kinds of spinach and 4 types of  lettuce. At the end of the season, in October I threw some seeds into my new raised bed and then forgot it. Winter time is not a good time for me to garden because I work full time. I go to work in the dark and come home in the dark, which leaves no time in the garden during the week.  Weekends are full of all the things that didn't get done during the week.God decided to water the garden for me this winter and the greens have grown. It is yielding beautiful, fresh greens for my salads.

I had not been in the garden, because I could not bear walking through the weeds to get to the lettuce. Yesterday was the day to begin. I took the hoe and rake to the garden gate and started there. I cleaned myself a  path to the lettuce without much trouble because the soil is soft from having been worked last year. That silly hoe just would not stop. The garden is about 25% cleared and my gardening bug has come out of hibernation. I look forward to a yummy salad of fresh greens tomorrow for lunch.

Next week, if weather permits, I will plant some onions and cilantro in the salad bowl box. let the gardening begin!