The Tweakers Stole My Tomatoes

They did. I literally walked out my front door in a rush to get to the Post Office one day and ran right into two meth heads walking out of my garden with a big bag of the last of my unripe tomatoes.  I was taken by surprise and a little intimidated by the one - who got into a car much nicer than mine, btw - but I did maneage to sternly scold them and told them to ask next time. Right. Thats gonna happen...........

I saw it coming and I was warned. They made off with my biggest pumpkin and the one tweaker was always making comments on the garden when he walked by. He was, in an off-handed way, telling me that he was about to steal from me. Thats how it often works. But in broad daylight. In front of people. Nobody lifted a finger to stop them or tell me.  I know the one guy and see him around a lot. I doubt that I will be able to not say something to him in the future. I called the cops and felt like an idiot for doing so. But when I went to the last police liason meeting, they did express the need to know every little thing that these guys were up to. Its just tomatoes, but they were my tomatoes. And I was so very proud of them. :(

I either have to find another place to grow tomatoes or I have to build a fence that I cant afford. Its always something, isnt it. But I grew some damned fine tomatoes and I can now take that knowledge elsewhere.


On that note, the plants were shutting down and I recently pulled them up, dug in a bit more aged chicken shit, tore down and built back up my bean poles, and planted peas and garlic. Lots of garlic. Im just going to plant things that have worked for me in the past and keep my fingers crossed........

The Summer Of My Deep Content

The link to my blog was broken this summer and I didnt have the patience to fix it. So I gardened and focused on other things instead. All that double digging, chicken, and rabbit manure, and burying fish under my tomato plants did its' magic for me. I got 5 huge tomato plants - two Early Girls that I bought at Whole Paycheck, and three that my sister had given me (I dont know where from) - with loads of the most delicious fruit that I can remember eating in a long time.

Not only did I eat lots of tomato sandwiches, but I made sauce, shared with my friends and neighbors and my freezer is full of tomatoes and green beans. The beans are still blossoming and growing and  producing. I might get enough to can a few jars before the plants shut down, but I can officially say that I am sick of green beans.

I grew another fairly large french pumpkin that someone stole. And I have a rogue spaghetti squash that I never planted - it just came up and gave me a huge baby.

I grew some delicata that didn't seem to have any bug issues. It could have used a bit more water and fertilizer, but I was happy with the yield. I will definitely be planting more of those next spring. The other squashes didn't do great this year. But they might have been planted too close together. I tried a new one - a lemon squash that was a disappointment. But I had lots of carrots, turnips, Kale, radishes, and the most amazing garlic Ive ever seen.

I saved some of that crop to plant after I pull up the beans. And I have lots of new Kentucky Wonder pole bean seeds for next year.

I planted a lot of onion starts but most of them disappeared. They didn't die - just disappeared. And I grew a great Habanero  bush with lots of peppers. 

So for the most part, despite the drought and using most of my grey water, I did pretty good.

I had a few heirloom tomatos in bins and pots that were moderately successful. Nothing to write home about. Things just do better in the ground for me. But Im still eating from them. Cherokee Purple for the most part. And there a few rogue cherrys that did pretty good and will produce til frost.

I tried growing some things in the backyard, but they still dont get enough sun hours out there.

That powdery mildew struck in full force while I was on vacation and I couldn't get to it in time.  And the cucumber beetles and stink bugs were insane. I just let them have their way this summer. But next year will be a different story.

After the beans and tomatoes are done, I'll put in my garlic and peas. Ive got two kinds of kale, some chard and bok choy. And more carrots.

I just dont know whats going to happen with this drought. I seriously cut back on water and let everything by the street die. I save probably 90 % of my grey water and use if for flushing the toilet and watering plants and garden. I never once let the hose run unattended for for very long. I didn't do much watering in the back yard. And still my landlord called to tell me I'm using too much water. WTF. I used way less than last year. So we'll see. Its about to be a disaster out there - no water - no crops - no food: not pretty.

A Friend Is Dying

 My old Elm tree in the backyard is dying. It has the blight that has killed so many elms in this country. It was sick and we knew it wasnt going to live forever. Some elms down the road had to be chopped down last year,  but this die-off happened suddenly. The leaves came out at the start of Spring as always, and then all of a sudden, it's leaves started turning brown and bit by bit, all the green disappeared and dropped to the ground.

 Ive kind of been in shock. When I moved here, the backyard was a huge selling point with its shady overgrown landscape. You couldn't really grow much underneath it, but  the tree offered a refuge from the summer heat. I have no windows - only doors and no insulation.............so the shade cooled off my house. Now its all bright and dry back there and my home and workshop is like an oven. I'll have to get a patio umbrella and some hefty fan action. I'm raking leaves in June, which feels kind of eerie.  The tree is going to have to be chopped down and Im going to be staring out at a hideous wall. Right now, I feel as if I might as well be living back in the city with its bare walls.

I guess on the upside, there will be enough sun to grow  things out there now. To everything it's season, but the whole vibe and beauty of the yard has been destroyed. A friend is dying Im so sad. I'll have to adapt, but it wont be easy.

Thinking of Cabbages

So now that there is actually hope for me and my little garden,  Im thinking of starting seeds soon to plant for Fall and Winter. I want to try cabbages and broccoli as soon as I put my current seedlings in the ground. I also want to look like the girl in this Barbier print - but I would need to lose a few pounds.

I dont know if I'll have time or room for all of these - but some are spoken for. I just start them indoors and they always come up. I put them outdoors instead of under my skylight this year because I have a new kitten. They seem to be doing just as well. Ive got several different kinds of peppers and tomatoes - with lots of onions.

The Garden Is In

I got a late start on putting in my garden this year. I was extremely busy again - business-wise - and all I had any time to do was to double dig and amend my soil. I shouldnt put that down, as I was doing all of that using a foot that was recovering from some hefty surgery last fall. But I did want to be further along.

HOWEVER, by not planting so early in April, like I did last year, I avoided the hungry bug invasion and cold wind from off of the straits. I have some holes in the first crop of bean seedlings, but they are all thriving at this point in time. I have only found two cucumber beetles so far - as opposed to a bazillion. And they were off in the field somewhere.

I planted pumpkins from last year's large pumpkin. I have been putting empty  plastic planters in the middle of the squash hills and over the roots of the tomatoes. This is enabling me to save water by using more greywater. But now that Ive dug and double dug, amended with compost, fresh soil, and aged chicken manure, the water is soaking into the ground a lot easier and the soil isnt caking as badly in the sun.

Im going to let the pumpkins and other squashes climb over the compost pile in the field.

So this is what Ive got planted thus far:
5 tomatoes
Zuchinni
Yellow Crookneck
A French Pumpkin
Dellacata Squash
Lemon Squash
Three kinds of cucumbers
Garlic that will be ready soon
Carrots
Radishes
Turnips
Beets
Kale
Chard
Various Lettuces
Cilantro
Chives
Dill
Bee Balm
Marigolds
Valerian
Calendula

Ive got more tomatoe seedlings that I started from seed, but will go in pots soon. Ive also got peppers and lots of onions.

We'll see how it goes. Im saving as much water as I can for this. Im saving my dish water, anything that I wash vegetables and my hands with.........Im not doing as much laundry as I was. Not taking as many showers.

Lavender

 I have no idea what type of lavender this plant is. I inherited her from the previous tenant. They had left it out in the shady backyard and it was drying out in it's pot, so I moved it out front by the Studio door and it got a bit more attention. It still wasn't happy, so I dragged it out to the side of the house in the garden. This is now one happy lavender bush! She gets plenty of sun and water - and I just cant help but stop and pinch off a leaf or two and get the benefits of her fragrance.

I cant say enough about the benefits of Lavender. Its so easy to use. I use in in a diffuser, I sleep with it under my pillow. I love it.

Its Officially A Drought.........Even Though We've Been In One - WTF

I think California is generally dry anyway except for an occasional La Nina or heavy snowfall in the mountains. Ive lived here most of my life and there is always some kind of problem with water. Its also true that as California's population continues to rise, the less water there is to go around. People talk about how much water agriculture takes up, but nobody wants to talk about how much water it takes to keep a lawn and golf course green. And all those swimming pools to fill on top of that! Now we have fracking to contend with..............and whatever your opinions and facts are about global warming , the world is in a heap o trouble. I take that back. The world will always be fine without us. WE are in a heap o  trouble. I really don't know what "normal" is because Ive seen dry and wet and in-between, but this year is gonna be bad. So Ive been doing my part to keep my water consumption down. More than usual - except for accidentally leaving the hose running a couple times last year. And by mistakenly allowing a neighbor to work in my garden when he had no respect for water use or my landlord's property. ( I kicked said neighbor to the curb very quickly) Ive been saving all my grey water and using it to flush the toilet and water my garden. This is still winter, so while it is fairly warm outside, the sun isn't drying out the soil quickly. My grey water is doing just fine. I'm finding that aside from some loads of laundry and dying  my hair on occasion, I don't use as much water as I thought I did. Which is good, but I don't know what this will mean for the garden when it gets hot. I do know that produce and everything affected by produce consumption is going to go sky-high in price!

I will have to do my best to keep on with the plan of double-digging and amending the soil. My sister with chickens brought me a bin of chicken poop last week and it is composting nicely in my tumbler bin! Its hot! Ive never had hot compost before! My plants are going to be soooo happy!  But this small amount is not enough. Ive started another pile out by my garden and I'll be collecting more manure and aging it until it can be used. I'll have to go buy a few bags of some organic chicken poop in the meantime. Its pretty cheap.
































 I'll be more selective about what and how much I plant. I'll mulch, and I'll do some kind of bucket irrigation system. I sent away for my 2014 seed catalogues and I drift to sleep dreaming about heirlooms and flowers for the bees.............no, I really do............

Fingers crossed that all of this will work. Of course it will mean more work, but I need the exercise, Hauling that water around is going to be great for upper arm strength!

So far, the backyard has been ok without a lot of water. I give it some now and then, but I keep it to a minimum. So far so good.

 And my peas are very happy. These are Tall Telephone. Flowers, but no peas yet. I'm not sure that I really care as I didn't realize that they are a shelling pea - and I just don't think I'll get enough to even bother. But I like looking at them!

Strategy For The New Year's Garden

The first step in the strategy for a better garden this year is to get more compost - from my compost bin and other sources - and to get a lot of aged chicken manure. And then I'm going to re-dig this garden up and get that clay soil all nice and crumbly. It was better by the end of summer because the top dressing of compost helped a bit, but it really still needed to be mixed into the dirt. I don't have time for all that double-digging, lasagna, and other soil treatments that I've read about. I'll dig as deep as I can and just mix in the good stuff. Ive done some work on this soil already and whatever else I do to it can only make the plants happier. I don't test the pH and all that. I suppose I should, but at this point, I know that this is bad soil - anything is going to improve it.

(I did see this cool LINK on how to run a test to see what kind of soil texture you have!)

I also know that I'm going to have to do something about the cold wind that whips right through this field from off the water on the other side of the sugar factory.  I'll put my cages and stakes in right away when I plant my tomatoes and then wrap some plastic around the cages. That should keep them warm until they can handle the cold. I'm also going to add fish heads, aspirin, crushed egg shells like Love Apple Farms writes about HERE. I don't know how anything grew in my garden at all last year. It must have been a miracle. Now when I look at it, all I see is bad soil.

I do love my garden though, so that probably helped. I really needed to do this. It has kept me sane.

I'll rotate my crops too. I'll be more mindful of spacing and companion planting.

The bugs are going to be a problem again - I can see that already. I have some peas and Calendulas that are still blooming. Ive found some spotted cucumber beetles on them already. We are having a dry, fairly warm winter, and these guys are not dying off. I'm pretty sure they helped kill my cucs with that mosaic virus. I plan to try growing some cucumber plants along side the house this summer. I'll put them in some Smart Pots ( or make my own) and cloche them until they take off. I hope this keeps the bugs at bay. I used to think those little green and black beetles  were cute like I used to think raccoons were cute. 

So the bottom line is that with some amending , better nutrient and bug fighting strategies, I'll get a lot more out of this project. I am bound and determined to make this work.

And I hope to install a drip irrigation system. They are not too costly. And since it looks like we are going into a major drought, I am already cutting back on my water consumption. I save the water from the shower in a big bucket while I wait for it to heat up. Its amazing how much water we waste.

These are some Golden Sweet peas that Ive got growing right now.  They taste ok. They are probably not going to get much higher than 4 feet. But I wanted to see how they would do. The flowers are fun to look at, if nothing else.