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?

 

     It seems so incongruous, having days getting shorter now that we’ve past the summer solstice, but of course the hotter weather does make sense since the calendar says it’s officially now summer.  I did thoroughly enjoy the vvvvvveeeeeeerrrrrrryyyyyyyy lllllllooooooooooooonnnnnnggggg spring we had, with its cool overcast overnights mostly in the 60s-degree range and infrequently getting into the 80s-degree range once the sun burned through the mist.  I loved the long lettuce- and carrot- and greens- and parsley- and cilantro- harvesting season – truly, that’s why I more appreciate cool-weather gardening since we get lots of food but the plants don’t have to struggle to survive much less thrive like they do during hot weather.
 
Loving Those Hot-Weather Lovers
     On the other hand, tomatoes and squash and cukes and peppers and beans are year-round must-haves in my kitchen, so I want to nurture them in my garden as early and as late in the off-seasons as I can manage.  And consequently I’m delighted to now have well-established tomato plants from the first-planted batch with lots of fruits and blossoms already set to promise future yumminess.  Even the volunteer bean plants are producing lots of tender filet beans ahead of everything else.

Having Troubles With Your Tomatoes?
See these previous blog articles:

• Tomato Growing Problems & Solutions - 6/17/20
• Why NOT to Prune Tomato Plants - 7/13/15

    
Saving Seeds of Bolting Lettuce
     I’m continuing to water my lettuce plants from which to harvest the seeds for sowing into my fall garden.  Although it seems contradictory, I want to continue watering to keep the plants absorbing nutrients and maturing completely to produce healthy dry seeds. 
     This is the one time that I have my grocery purchases packed in paper bags instead of my reusable cloth ones, because I need to use the paper ones on my bolted lettuce plants.  Once the seeds have set and the plant foliage begins to dry and shrivel, I tie the paper bag over the head of the lettuce plant.  This corrals the seeds as they dry to crispiness, rather than scattering themselves throughout the garden.  (Of course, there will always be a few excapees who’ll germinate in that bed later on.)
     Using paper instead of plastic bags is critical because the paper allows the lettuce plant foliage to dry out until it’s completely crispy -- the stalk must easily and quickly snap apart. If it still wiggles instead of snapping, it isn’t dry enough.  Any moisture left in the stalk or seedhead may spoil all the seed in the bag as it’s stored until use later on.   
     Store the bags as they are, or smash them down to loosen the seeds from the dry foliage, and place them in a dry dark place until you’re ready to sow them in the fall.
     Sowing in the fall is easily done because you don’t have to separate the seeds from the dry foliage.  Just grab a small handful of the smashed foliage and scatter onto prepared soil in your garden bed or pots.  Try to equally scatter all of the dried foliage over all of the soil or mix, since you never really know which handfuls have seeds and which are mostly dry foliage.  Then sprinkle water onto the bed to gently wet all of the foliage and seeds in place.  The dried foliage acts as a bit of mulch to help keep the seeds in contact with the soil, and to retain the bit of moisture from evaporating.  Sprinkle again twice a day for a week or so to keep the bed surface moist for better germination.  By that time, many seeds will have germinated, so cut watering to about once a week just to keep soil barely moist.

For more monthly tasks, see July.
 
For more main-topic blogs from past years, see Homepage.

     For the first time in years – since the advent of the drought almost a decade ago – I’ve planted a second batch of tomato plants at the end of May.  This used to be my general practice, planting a first batch when 4” containers first appeared in nurseries in February and March; and then another batch in May when the first-batch plants were reaching the second rung on their cages, about 24 inches, beginning to blossom, and just fertilized.
     Until then, I’d kept nipping off any blossoms that appeared earlier so each plant’s energy could focus on establishing a strong root system rather than beginning to expend energy in setting and maturing fruit.
     So after all these recent weeks of gloomy overcast with pleasant mid-70s daytime temperatures and low-60s nighttime temperatures, it finally occurred to me to get another batch of tomato plants growing to guarantee my late-summer harvest after the first-batch plants had quit bearing -- except for the cherry tomatoes, which as indeterminant varieties should continue bearing through at least fall.
   Of course, this new planting will face its own challenges, beginning with a bit of a heat wave this week and daytime temperatures in the upper 80s, although continuing with the soothing morning fog and nighttime temperatures in the low 60s.
      We’ll see how the magic works this time around.
 
Old and New Chard and Kale
     I’d finally pulled the old purple and green chard plants that we’d been eating from since last fall but were now producing only tiny leaves and 6-foot seed stalks.  They’ve gone on to their next life, enrichening the compost pile. 
    I’m now harvesting from the hugely lush new plants in salmon and pink and red-purple colors.
      We’re also harvesting from the dozen or so Tuscan or Dinosaur kale plants came up from seed sown weeks ago. 
      Both of these “greens” make a great combination of textures and nutrition in raw salads, stir-fried in omelettes, and adding to soups and stews.
    
Boysenberries
     The long-lasting overcast and chilly weather are extending the boysenberry ripening.  In the past, we’ve had a couple of quarts in the week of Mother’s Day.  This year, we’ve had a handful ripening every other day since before Mother’s Day – a good three weeks – and the bush is still full of many more berries to ripen. 
      Also because of the weather, the berries aren’t as ripe and I’d like them, but I still wait until the last possible moment to pick them. 
     The three cues/clues to the perfect moment of ripeness are 1) the berries have turned from bright-shiny to dull-matte purple, 2) the green petal cap has dried to tan brown, and 3) “tickling” the berries to fall gently into the palm of your hand (if you try to pick the berry and it won’t easily release, it's not yet ready and will be tart!). 
 
Sowing Summer and Winter Squash Seeds
      All squash are grown during the heat of summer.  How long they grow and when we eat them is determined by whether they’re “summer” or “winter” squash.
     Summer squash – we eat these immature when they’re young and tender, generally immediately after harvesting during the summer, like zucchini, crookneck, scallopini, pattypan.
     Winter squash – we let these develop fully until the skins are hard enough that they can’t be easily punctured with a fingernail,  generally stored for eating during the winter, like pumpkins, acorn, delicata, butternut, spaghetti, dumpling.
     Squash blossoms – we harvest these as soon as they develop on both summer and winter squash and prepare them immediately.
 
Adjust Irrigation Schedule
      Assuming that our “real” hot summer weather is almost upon us, it’s time to adjust automatic and manual watering patterns so that we continue to teach plant roots to grow deeply for water for the rest of the summer.
         Make sure that irrigation drip lines, soaker hoses, sprinklers, and trenches are in place before root systems get too large.
         Water plants deeply so the water sinks below the plant’s root system every time. 
      Watering too frequently means that the water stays within the top inch or two of soil, and this makes the plant susceptible to drying out during hot weather because the soil several inches down where the roots are isn’t kept moist.
    Mulch the soil with organic matter such as compost, leaves or grass clippings to temper the drying and heating effect of the sun, and irrigation will be more effective with less frequency and quantity.
 
For more monthly tasks, see June.
 
For more main-topic blogs from past years, see Homepage.