​     After the mildest winter I can remember, and with considerably less rain than we’d like or are used to, we and our gardens are enjoying the lengthening amount of mild spring weather and looking very lush from that last big rain months ago.  Of course, the weeds are thriving as well, but mostly only in the pathways. 
 
Mulching My Pathways
     Last fall, I had had the advantage of helpful neighbors transferring their trees’ leaves to my pathways, so weeds came up earlier this spring only in the places where no leaves had settled.  Now that I’d pulled up those few weeds, I also pulled some too-vigorous one-foot-tall nasturtiums also in the pathways and placed them into the remaining open spaces in the pathways.  This mulching of my pathways will deter further germination of more weeds in coming seasons.  
 
Sowing Old Seeds
     I decided to grow cucumbers again this year, which I hadn’t done for several years because I had another source.  Consequently, my seed packets of some 10 varieties were 5 and more years old.  Because it was mid-March, I figured I’d get some minimal germination so it’d be worth the effort if I sowed seeds very thickly – about 12 seeds in each cage.  Now, a month later, I observed only 2 shoots, so tossed the remaining packets, purchased new seed and sowed about 6 seeds per cage.  With this 80-degree warmth, I expect more success!
     Same situation with my crookneck squash – tried the old seed but switched to new seed with several resulting plants.  I’ll sow more seeds in a month to have continuous harvests of a few squashes every week.  Don’t be disappointed if your first squash blooms shrivel and drop off – they’re probably the male flowers, which appear first.  The female flowers will appear a bit later and get pollinated then, forming their delicious fruits.  Be sure to pick them when they’re immature for best flavor.
 
Sowing Lettuce and Carrots
     With temperatures in the mid-70s to 80s, I’ve sowed what may be my last lettuce seeds and carrot seeds for this spring.  Unless the weather heats up suddenly, I should get a couple of months of salads and carrots before the plants bolt – go to seed.
 
Tomatoes Are Thriving
     Tomatoes are happily putting out foliage and blossoms.  But I’m removing every blossom until the plants reach the second rung of their cages, about 2 feet.  This is to force the plants to continue establishing their strong root systems instead of diverting their energy into making fruits. 
     I’m also making sure to water plants only once a week, both filling the planting holes and the buckets between each plant.  This forces the developing roots to reach down into the soil to follow the cool water, resulting in a deep root system that’ll support the plant when the hot weather comes.  If you water more frequently and shallowly now, the root systems will remain in the upper area of the soil which will get hot when the hot weather comes, and you’ll have to water every other day or so just to keep them alive.
 

      The University of California Master Gardener Program in Los Angeles County provides these resources following the horrendous fires.

I've also posted it under News.

For future reference, go to Web Links under "University of California Resources"


Backyard Produce

Guidance from UCCE’s North Bay Foods System Advisor: 
Is It Safe to Eat Backyard Produce in LA? 

Below are also some helpful handouts and a recording from the UC Master Gardener Program in Sonoma County that will answer questions surrounding backyard produce.  

• Produce Safety after a Fire
• Safety Tips for Local Food Growers During a Wildfire 
• Produce Safety after Urban Wildfire: Final Report

• Post Fire Food Safety Webinar
• Wildfire Impacts on Orchards

 
Soil/Soil Testing

UC Cooperative Extension in Los Angeles County does not perform soil testing, but the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health has included a list of companies who perform soil testing on page 15 - 16 of their publication, Soil and Water Testing Guidelines for Home and Community Gardens.
 
Be sure to contact the soil testing company first, prior to visiting or shipping a soil sample, since you need to be sure that they test for the items you are concerned about. Also, your soil samples need to be taken according to their specifications to get the most accurate results.

• Safe Soils After Fires

• Contaminants in Soil After Fire
• Hold Your Ground: Mitigating the Effects of Fire on Your Soil

Other Topics

• Safety of Backyard Chicken Eggs Post Urban Wildfire
• Wildfires and Backyard Poultry Safety
• Sonoma County Fires Site Clearance & Testing
•  Human-Wildlife Interactions Post Fire

​

     Great Winds followed by Great Fires.  What a tragic start to the new year!  Friends have lost their homes and are feeling estranged from all they'd considered to be their regular everyday life.  Even those of us who didn't have to evacuate are permanently anxious and alarmed at the merest mention of Red Flag Alert and lack of rain.  Folks in "Impacted Areas" must rely on bottled water for all uses.  Gardeners are wondering whether they can eat the produce in their gardens, washed with bottled water or not.  We used to think of ash as somewhat of a fertilizer -- as in that third number on the fertilizer packages which indicated "potash".  Now our cars, inside and outside, are sprinkled with the white-and-black flecks.  And walking outdoors anywhere stirs up clouds of the lightweight stuff.  Wear N-95 masks, and don't even think of sweeping it up!  Even picking up branches stirs it up. 

     What to do?  How to deal with the garden?

     The University of California Cooperative Extension Master Gardener Program in Los Angeles County has provided an article, "Produce Safety After A Fire",  that has some suggestions.  It was produced by the  Sonoma County Master Gardener Program as a result of that county's own past mega fires.  I've posted it on the "News" page of my website =                    www.gardeninginla.net/news.html .

     As more information becomes available, I'll post it on my website's "News" page.

     In the meantime, do please enjoy the blooming and colorful plant that you observe, but don't breathe too deeply through your mask!

​

Happy, successful gardening is more likely when some major tenets are followed.  Here are some for you to apply.
 
Feed the Soil, not the plant
Create a broad soil base so plant roots can access rich soil wherever they choose to grow. Amend whole areas or containers.
 
Right plant, right place
Match plant needs with your garden spaces that will enable them to thrive.  Struggling plants are susceptible to pests and diseases.
 
Keep sowing and transplanting
With attention to differing variety choices, our mild weather throughout the year affords us to repeat sowing and transplanting for consecutive harvesting of edibles and ornamentals.
 
Space plants closely
Be aware of each plant’s mature spread, and plant so individual plant’s foliage will barely touch.  This enables shading of the soil to discourage sprouting weeds.
 
Choose appropriate watering tools
Match watering devices and plants so soil areas are moistened so plant roots can be satiated wherever they grow.
 
Water deeply
Be aware of differing plants’ root depths and water as deeply as each plant roots will grow.  Water only as frequently as needed to keep soil barely moist. 
 
Visit plants frequently
Monitoring how your garden grows enables you to catch and treat problems early, and to harvest at many stages to determine which timings you like the best.
 
 

NOTE:  My newsletter of individual-subject emails highlighting new postings on my website is on hiatus.  However, I'm continuing to update postings on the website, especially on the Events, Jobs, and News pages. So please do check in perhaps weekly for the newest items on those pages.  Refer to the Monthly Tips for what tasks and opportunities to explore in the garden.  See Major-Topic Blog Articles links in the column to the right.  And see the Archives on the Blog page for all past garden musings.  



I hope you enjoy these timely photos!

                              HAPPY HOLIDAYS!



​

​     NOTE:  My email newsletter of individual-subject emails highlighting new postings on my website is on hiatus.  However, I'm continuing to update postings on the website, especially on the Events, Jobs, and News pages. So please do check in perhaps weekly for the newest items on those pages.  Refer to the Monthly Tips for what tasks and opportunities to explore in the garden.  See Major-Topic Blog Articles links in the column to the right.  And see the Archives on the Blog page for all past garden musings.



For great ideas on decorating your holidays, see 

• Holiday Decor From Your Garden - 11/19/19

For more past blog discussions for Fall gardening, see the Archive listings on the Blog page.

For other topics that I've discussed over the years, use the Search Bar on the Blog page.

​NOTE:  My newsletter of individual-subject emails highlighting new postings on my website is on hiatus.  However, I'm continuing to update postings on the website, especially on the Events, Jobs, and News pages. So please do check in perhaps weekly for the newest items on those pages.  Refer to the Monthly Tips for what tasks and opportunities to explore in the garden.  See Major-Topic Blog Articles links on the homepage.  And see the Archives on this Blog page to the right for all past garden musings.

      Ack!  What a flip in weather - from mild-enough to resume seeding and transplanting in my previous blog on 8/28/24, to this 4-day burst of 105+ heat that's done its worst on my first-planted tomatoes which were barely hanging on from with only a few fruits from the July heat spell.  And the beans, fully leafed-out and 2 feet tall before the heat, were truly fried.
     This morning, the forecast for 2 more days of 105+ heat before a reprieve of "only" 93 degrees and then a true blessing of 85 and 80 degrees got me into the garden to check on the newest-planted tomatoes.  Thankfully, they're still green and perky.  I gave them another watering and look forward to their recouperating by this time next week.
     Ah, well.  As much energy and water as we expend in our lovely gardens, sometimes the magic works, and sometimes it doesn't.  Definitely time to move on to the cool-season garden.

Some thoughts on our perhaps-continuing heat, and what to do - and not do - from my Stressing Out In This Heat? - 7/24/23 blog:
 
If the heat spell continues

• Keep the soil moist but not wet throughout the entire root zone so that both moisture and air will always be sufficiently available when the plant roots need them.
• Keep shading devices installed.
• Don’t plant or transplant.  These activities are stressful enough for plants, without the additional heat stress issues.
• Don’t apply any chemicals for plant disease and insect issues, even soap or neem oil, when air temperatures are above 80 degrees.
• Do get rid of weeds, many of which do well during temperature extremes  and certainly do compete with garden plants for water and nutrients.

 
After the heat spell retreats

• Don’t prune or fertilize, as these activities stress the plant even more.
• Instead, allow plants to rebalance themselves in relief from the intense heat for several weeks.
• After a month or so, when you see that new growth has emerged and perhaps blossoming has resumed (once the air temperature is again consistently below about 85 degrees), then you can gently trim dead foliage without fear that you’ll stress the plant even more.
• Resume planting and transplanting.

       Now that the daytime temperatures are forecast to be in “only” the upper 80s, we gardeners can begin to resume our seeding and transplanting of new plants and watering of established plants – and even some light fertilizing for those established plants that are continuing to pump out their flowers and fruits for our visual and edible delight.  During the previous weeks of more severe heat, we didn’t want to stress plants with too much food and water.  The upcoming couple of months through Thanksgiving are transition times, enjoying revitalized summer bounty and also fostering new growth and flowers and fruits to carry us through the cool weather and into the spring.   
 
Go Both Ways
     Because we don’t know which kind of weather we’ll have during the next three months – whether it’ll heat up again into the highish 90s or stay down in the low 80s or even get cooler still – we can take advantage of whatever results by sowing both the last seeds of summer crops like beans and squash that will mature in about 60 days and also sowing seeds of cool season crops like lettuce and chard and broccoli and peas. That way, one or the other group – or both -- will be happy and you’ll get something to eat.
     Some seeds may not germinate quickly, either because the soil or air is too warm, the seed is too old, or the seeds were sown too deeply or too shallowly or have been allowed to dry out.  The easy, several-step solution is to water the soil at least to the depth of 2 inches, scratch the soil to a depth of half an inch, sow seed thickly, sprinkle water lightly to settle the seed into the shallow scratchings, sprinkle very lightly with sand or fine compost to help retain moisture next to the seeds, and then sprinkle with water to barely set the seed in moist soil.
     You may even want to transplant a couple of tomato plants, varieties like “Siberia” and “Glacier” that are touted to grow and fruit during cold weather.  However, I tried this years ago and the fruits weren’t any better than what I could purchase at the grocery store, so I determined to not waste my garden space doing this again.  Instead, I devote my labor and space to edibles that thrive in our cool weather.
     See my archived blog on the subject --
Now’s the Perfect Time for Seeding and Transplanting - 10/9/18
 
Propagating Succulents and Others
     This comfortably mild weather is excellent for taking trimmings of lots of plants that you want to propagate, like succulents and salvias and begonias, fuchsias, geraniums, hydrangeas, ivies, and marguerite daisies. 
     See my step-by-step instructions and techniques that are applicable to most plants -- Propagating Begonias From Cuttings - 10/29/16
 
Planting Bearded Irises, Daylilies, and “Real” Lilies
     If bearded irises haven’t bloomed well and look crowded, dig up clumps and separate rhizomes. Trim foliage to about eight inches from the rhizome.  Discard the old, leafless center sections (even if they’re still firm, since they probably won’t develop new shoots), and trim roots to two inches in length.  Replant in well-drained soil so the tops of their rhizomes are open to the air, with only their roots buried and growing straight down, in full sun.  Don’t fertilize, but water in well.
       Daylilies like to be one inch below the soil surface in either full sun or partial shade.
     Lilies need their bases shaded but foliage in the sun, so keep their soil always slightly moist as the bulbs don’t ever go fully dormant even after losing all their top foliage.
 
Arrange Your Own Dried Flowers
     Dry flowers for arrangements that you've grown yourself. The easiest to dry are baby's breath, bachelor's button, bells of Ireland, lavender, scabiosa, statice, strawflower, and yarrow. All but the bells of Ireland are best air-dried.  Tie a few stems into a loose bunch, and hang it up, flower heads down, in a cool, dark, dry place for several weeks. The exception is bells of Ireland--stand these upright in a container with a half-inch of water; flowers will dry as the water evaporates.

​For more garden tasks, see September

For more Fall season techniques and discussion, see these archived blogs:

• Fall Bulb Planting for Spring Color - 8/21/21
• Holiday Decor From Your Garden - 11/19/19
• Cool-Season Plant Problems and Solutions - 3/14/21
• Collecting “Dry” Non-Hybrid Seeds for Sowing and Sharing - 8/25/19
• Repotting Shady Ferns and Begonias, and Sunny Succulents - 8/1/19
• Now’s the Perfect Time for Seeding and Transplanting - 10/9/18
• Collecting Seeds From Your Garden - 9/11/17
• Starting Lettuce and Other Seeds - 9/12/19

• Propagating Begonias From Cuttings - 10/29/16

     Some gardeners relish the heat, and anything over 90 degrees is heaven for them.  For me, however, anything over ninety degrees means shutting down the house, turning on the air conditioning, and doing something other than gardening outdoors until the sun goes down on my garden after about 6pm. 
 
Transplanting Even More Tomatoes
     Even so, for the first time ever, I planted more tomato plants during July’s hot weather.  I’d planted some in June, and I planted five more yesterday.  Both the ones in June and these now replaced plants that I’d neglected to water deeply enough frequently enough to enable them to establish excellent root systemsso they could blossom and set fruit.  So they died. 
     I also watered the existing plants well, then gave them each a handful of fertilizer, and watered that in well, both in the depressions surrounding each plant and in the 5-gallon buckets buried between them that releases water one foot down directly into the root system.
     I know I’ve committed myself to deeply watering every plant at least twice a week from now on, especially when it gets really hot.  But, I know that I can also give myself a personal shower during the process, satisfying us both.
 
Planning For Cool Weather
     A great anti-heat mind-block activity is to concentrate on cool weather, which veggies and fruits and posies I’ll want to grow over the coming fall and winter and into the spring. 
     This starts with recalling what didn’t do so well this year or last year, especially now that climate change is providing considerably fewer chill hours so plants are having a harder time going dormant so they can rest up sufficiently to prepare for next year’s crops.
 
Sorting My Seed Packets
     I especially enjoy sorting through my seed packets, determining which ones I want to grow again this year.
     For seeds that I’ll sow again, I make two new label stakes for each variety – I’ll use one with my first sowing, and the second for a follow-up sowing a month later, filling in whatever gaps appear.  
     Seed packets that are only one or two years old that I will want to sow, I do sow more thickly to offset the probable lessening of germination success.    
     Seeds that are more than 3 years old, I’ll save to sow in a dedicated nursery bed where I’ll thickly scatter the seeds, expecting few to actually germinate but not being willing to give up on them completely by throwing them away or into the compost pile.  This last spring, I did this with a 4-year-old packet of Lacinata kale and was delighted to have 20 plants come up. Good thing that’s my favorite kale variety!
 
Planning Your Cool Weather Garden’s Veggies
      Consider which new crops should follow those just removed.  Follow heavy feeders – that need richly amended soil – with light feeders – that need less-fertilized soil, and vice versa.
     Heavy feeders include beets, broccoli, cabbage, celery, collards, corn, cucumbers, eggplant, endive, escarole, kale, kohlrabi, lettuce, okra, parsley, pumpkins, radishes, rhubarb, spinach, squash, and tomatoes.
     Light feeders include carrots, chard, garlic, leeks, mustard, onions, parsnips, peppers, potatoes, rutabaga, shallots, sweet potatoes, and turnips.
     While you may want to start all of your cool-season seeds immediately, hoping to get a jump on their germination, be aware that the soil temperature ranges for success of cool-season veggies are between 50-65°F.  Soil temperatures for warm season crop germination are between 65-80°F.  Seeds sown outside of those ranges will probably result in poor germination since the seeds will have gone dormant and won’t sprout until the soil temperatures return to their required ranges.
 
Until The Heat Lessens And I Can Go Back Outdoors
     Keep the garden well-watered, down deep below the deepest roots of each plant.
     Fertilize tasseling corn and other vegetables that are setting fruit -- beans, cucumbers, eggplants, tomatoes, etc. -- for increased yields. Plants appreciate this extra boost in food to use immediately in maturing their fruits. But during our extra-hot weather, be sure to water the plants well before AND after incorporating fertilizer so it won't "burn" the roots.
 
Harvesting – The Fun Part!
     Continue to keep vine vegetables (especially beans, cucumbers, squash, and tomatoes) picked, whether or not you will use the harvest that day. If many fruits are allowed to overmature on the plant, production will slow and then cease because the plant thinks it’s done its job – reproducing itself!
     If you have kept plants well-picked, but fruit set has stopped, suspect hot weather. Fruit set will begin again about ten to fourteen days after the temperature stays below 85 to 90 degrees.

 For more tasks for this month, see August.
 
For more of my archived blogs about summer topics, see my Homepage.
​
Here’s the list:
​SUMMER

• Warm-Season Plant Problems and Solutions - 3/28/21
• Oh, Those Crummy Bugs! - 7/18/20
• Tomato Growing Problems & Solutions - 6/17/20
• Recuperating and Dealing With More Heat - 8/6/18
• ​How Deep Is “Watering Deeply”? - 7/21/18
• Yes, It Was Definitely Too Hot! - 7/11/18
• Saving Seeds From Non-Hybrid Vegetables - 8/3/16
• Summer Heat – Solarize Pesty Soil - 7/24/16
• Trimming and Rooting Blooming Plants - 7/13/16
• Amaryllis From Seed to Bloom - 7/4/16
• The Perfect Moment To Harvest - 8/24/15
• Why NOT to Prune Tomato Plants - 7/13/15
• Propagating Plumeria - 7/24/22​
• Stressing Out In This Heat?