Anyone planning fall stuff? Alliums, coles, sugarsnap peas, pruning?
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Just some replanting - kale, chard, lettuce, and thyme and oregano, which mysteriously died.
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I am now trying to eradicate manually the awful evening primrose. all over my garden. I find that even pulling them out, they return within a few days or a week at most. .Only way would be to spray with roundup. I do not spray bec of personal reason as well as the fact that I have 2 Pomeranians who are with me 100% when I am gardening . Do not want them to be harmed by chemicals. I remember you had problem with evening primrose?
Well this is second week of pulling those evening primrose There are lots of bulbs under them and I am about to plant more species crocus bulbs as well as jet fire narcissus and alliums as well as lycoris radiata ( spider flowers ) and oxblood lily that are starting to emerge in my garden. As for food, my son sort of lost interest with all those tomatoes , Cucuzza everywhere. I am too busy but just harvested enough cherry tomatoes to make some more oven roasted tomatoes followed by stove top for some tomato sauce. I took a shot of the arbor whew he planted Cucuzza this year. it is prolific I do not know I you can see the Cucuzza which is about 3-4 feet long, partially hidden because of light and vegetation but it is that long like a bat.
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Yikes! That’s a lot of primrose! Best wishes getting rid of it. Maybe some heavy-duty weed cloth can help, or thick straw to encourage rot.
The Scarlet Runner Bean (flowers above) are setting some lovely seeds.
I grew them mostly to build up seed stock. The young pods are very good, as are the mature seeds, as a dry bean. This variety, “Kelvedon Marvel” is known for delicious green beans.
After this year’s bonanza and major processing (still going on), I need to give gardening a pause; so, no fall planting this year. I’ll likely set up some LED plant lights to grow fresh basil, cilantro and thyme. For2022, the plan is to plant things that must be replanted yearly, tubers and bulbs mostly, rare stuff that’s hard to replace. That is a small fraction of the normal garden.
It’s time to switch gears, toss the kayak into the truck, travel a bit, do some fishing, bird watching and mushroom hunting. There’s still a lot to pick and, after frost, tubers to dig. My food storage areas are overly packed and by the time all the winter melons, winter squash, water chestnuts, etc. come in, it’ll be standing room only! So, there’s a practical and mental reason to change activities for a bit, get back into drawing, hone up guitar. There are not enough hours in the day, days in a year, or years in a lifetime to give fair time for everything.
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That sounds exciting!
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Exciting and relaxing!
I do get to see an enormous variety of birds while gardening. My garden is too big to keep weeded, and the seed-eating birds love it. It’s hilarious to watch an Indigo Bunting ride a grass stalk down to the ground. Last year, a Barred Owl got pretty fearless, assuming I was just another herbivore.
Especially in the summer, gardening and kayaking are early morning activities. The long, hot dry weather sucked up all the kayaking time, so it’s a craving!
Mushroom hunting has been a passion since childhood. I keep away from any with poisonous lookalikes. First, we need more rain!
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Wow! What time was it and how close did you get?
The owl was out midday. Barred Owls often hunt during the day.
It took some doing, but I was able to get within 7 feet of the bird with my big Nikon camera.
You can “read” most birds, by their body language and actions. At first, the owl was jittery, constantly watching me, eyes wide. I got on all fours, very slowly and started weeding, very much herbivore behavior. Eventually, the owls eyes relaxed, as in the picture, and he was scanning the area for food. That’s when I went inside, still on all fours, and got my camera. Very slowly, I went back out and straightened up with the camera.
I suspect the bird had seen me many times, out in the garden. There are numerous Barred Owls this year. In the deep thickets a bunch of them will start deep hooting: “who-cooks-for-you; who-cooks-for you” is the rhythm.
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That picture is striking! Well done!
I remember a time when I heard the call frequently, I think from two different locations as if they were calling to each other but it was always dark and I never saw them.
Thank you!
I felt pretty silly acting like a grazing animal, moving like the local deer. I wonder if the owl was pondering: “That’s one homely deer!” At least the original pictures are all very high resolution, being shot with a high-end camera, vs. my smartphone. It was surprising that the “big black eye” didn’t scare the bird off.
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So, as we wind down the growing season, my squirrels have all decided that my planters might be good place to hide nuts. Burying in my lawn and a few patches in my in-ground beds have happened throughout the years, but this is the first year I’ve seen multiple signs of them actively digging into my makrut lime, mini-meyer lemon pots, etc. These pots aren’t even that big!
Have you had to (humanely) deter these little buggers from digging up the potted plants and their soil? It’ll only be a few more weeks before they have to come in doors, so it will resolve itself soon, but I’m just annoyed that they are digging out chunks of dirt and soil from the pots. I also want to avoid having mystery plants sprouting once they have to move inside.
Also, got my new garlic bulbs for fall planting! Yay, I will give it another go and see if I can finally get these to grow well next year. 5th times the charm!
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I wonder if covering the soil with decorative rock would work?
A 50/50 mix of cayenne pepper and black pepper powder might repel them. If not, it’s good on pizza! I’ve used that to repel rabbits off of parsley.
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I am getting a sort of late start with my fall/winter gardening plan. I still have time to plant my shallots, garlic ( 
), and seed my sugar snaps peas, sweet peas, and probably arugula and lettuce, but I often aspire to chard and collards, and wonder if its too late here in a quasi Bay area but maybe central California Valley climate to start from seed. Buying seedlings always seems a little silly but I might if they have some at the very nearby Morning Sun Herb Farm.
Coming soon is a picture of all my “fall/winter seeds”.
I don’t have collard seeds, which might be my favorite, but I don’t remember the last time I tried to grow it, and it’s not hard to find in csa and grocery stores. I’m wondering if it’s worth prioritizing in my Nor Cal container garden.
Also I loved growing Fava beans for many years, but not since I’ve resorted to growing in containers. What are the pros and cons of growing favas in containers?
ETA pictures of seeds. A lot of sugar snaps, Sugar Daddy and Sugar Ann, and a lot of Sweet Peas. Sugar Snaps and Sweet Peas are my favorite. A few of the onion seeds are from 2016. I should probably just toss them. Right? Maybe toss in a random container but don’t expect much. I just don’t want more disease and bad insects.
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How is the garden going?
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It was a good year, all told. Lots of tomatoes, basil, lettuce, chard, kale, cukes, parsley, rosemary, beans. Modest peas, eggplant, peppers, cilantro, oregano, thyme. But the season is winding down, and today I bid adieu to my bean arbor.
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Sigh…I’m trying garlic again. Hardneck!
@bogman , I think you recently gave me advice about using garden soil in my containers, but I can’t find it.
What I did find was what I think might be “bark fines” that I can use in this “gritty mix” they’ve been talking about on Gardenweb/Houzz forever. Something about good drainage and a “perched water table”.
Anyone have thoughts about improving container drainage with “bark fines”?
I think one of my problems is my containers are too wet in the winter, and too hot and dry in the spring. I think the hot and dry might be a problem in the spring. Will it help that the roots should be in the reservoir by then.
Last year I said I use the ones with the lowest overflow holes.
Sometimes I sub coconut shell for peat.All that sifting sounds like too much work.
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It’s raining! Okay, drizzling, but still! So exciting here in California. 
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