California - What are you doing this month?

I previously posted this photo taken 5-13-16.
Since then, the Dragon Tongue bush beans grew taller and started collapsing and falling out of the box.  So, I inserted a second set of leg supports thus lifting the gable roof for a second story.  Installed another horizontal trellis and dropped strings down and around the bean stems.  They aren't as sticky as pole beans but they sticky enough for the strings to stay in place.  The lower true leaves have already turned yellow and fallen off.  Little purple flowers starting.  Projects like this show with what a retiree fills the free hours.  
I pruned some tomato suckers and stuck them in the mini-BTE.  View in the other direction.
Bush tomatoes pruned of lowest suckers and remainder tied to over head support trellis.  Lots of baby tomatoes.  A few with BER.

Temps are down in the 70s until next Wednesday.

Wow! Those are some happy beans!

(Sanderson: Somehow I lost the quote where you were talking about what else I could do, here.)

Hubby is already working on a big perennial herb bed on the end and a smaller annual herb bed on the front. Inside, I'm doing large containers. I have a cluster of 3 around the inside tree (tomatoes), a smaller one on the end of the bean run (transplanted spaghetti squash), and a row of 3 between the butterfly patch and the back fence (gifted onions and 2 overflow zukes). 

I still have to clean up the host garden. I want to cluster my milkweed by variety (showy, narrow leaf, tropical, & butterfly weed). I got all the containers traded up to 1 quart, to give them more room to grow and make them easier to arrange in the butterfly house when the monarchs come. 

After that, I'll mulch the paths and fruit trees, then move the rest of the mulch down to the compost area. By then it will be too hot to take on new projects, so I'll just paint rocks and watch everything grow until it's time to replant for fall and design the new compost system.   (I'll post pics later this week -- raining for the next 2 days).

sanderson wrote:

countrynaturals wrote:IT'S RAINING! 

I'm very happy for you.  You have a larger property with trees so you really need it.  I can squeak by.  PS:  I see room for some perimeter table tops and one in the center in your garden.  Is the contractor available for hire?

This one?

sanderson wrote:

sanderson wrote:

countrynaturals wrote:IT'S RAINING! 

I'm very happy for you.  You have a larger property with trees so you really need it.  I can squeak by.  PS:  I see room for some perimeter table tops and one in the center in your garden.  Is the contractor available for hire?

This one?

Yup, that's the one. 

I had a backup plan for rain today, working on the covered deck and indoor/outdoor laundry room, but it was 48 degrees out there, so I'm stuck inside doing real housework and haunting this forum.  Taking a break and resting my back right now, then more vacuuming.

Last week it was in the 90s. This morning we had a fire in the wood stove. Crazy!

Same as yesterday -- cold -- wet -- fire. I only have one room left to clean, then I'll be working at the computer for the rest of the day. There's a pretty good chance I'll be able to get back outside, tomorrow. 

A clean house!  Now you can be guilt-free to work at the computer, and out doors tomorrow.

An empty square gets filled.  I had to pull up the 2 yellow bells but I had this little Snow Fairy tomato seedling that I hated to throw away.

sanderson wrote:A clean house!  Now you can be guilt-free to work at the computer, and out doors tomorrow.

An empty square gets filled.  I had to pull up the 2 yellow bells but I had this little Snow Fairy tomato seedling that I hated to throw away.

Yup, no guilt! Clean house! Tomorrow should be nice so I can play outside again.

Sorry about your bells, but I'm glad you found a home for that little mater.

Today is our last day in the 80s. 90s start tomorrow, then triple digits by Tuesday.

 Same here, up into the low 100s. Husband bought a bale of bedding straw on Tuesday before he left for Texas. I managed to get it broken up in smaller bales sections and bagged against future rains. I'll be spending the cooler evenings chopping up the straw into 4" pieces.

Spent 2 evenings now cutting straw into 4" pieces, picking out seed heads when I see them.  Got the shade cloth squared away over the cluster of table top beds off the back door.  Got the 2' x 7' bed with indeterminamts fed with Tomato-Tone, crab meal and kelp meal and covered with 3" of straw.  Still need to string up the indeterminats in buckets, feed, cover with straw and wrap the buckets with aluminum foil (saved from last year).

The Dragon Tongue beans are flowering and lo and behold, Their are 3 female butternut flowers that should open tomorrow.  It looks like one male will have to do the honors with a paint brush.  No spaghetti squash this year.  The cantaloupe spouts look good.  Dreading the heat tomorrow. Oh, and lifted the garlic. Some are a little small but there are a few good ones for an early fall planting.

I'M NOT READY FOR THE HEAT  

However, the weather has never requested my permission to implement itself, lol!

So, I spent the last cool week feverishly getting another 8 x 15 brand new bed made up.  It will be for spreading plants, in this case mostly melons.  I have it separated as my son-in-law (who loves to grow huge watermelon) has told me their more desert like in their natural habitat and actually like less water.  So, putting them together I can control that more. 

These are in ground plantings, so spreading them wide apart helps with the water tolerance (I have been reading a book about gardening with less water since we're a desert-ish climate).  Getting ready to plant probably next week as the seedlings are just about ready.

And the name of the book??

Steve Solomon's "Gardening When it Counts.  Growing Food in Hard Times"

He's had to live off the land at times in his economic career and from that perspective shares things he has learned about gardening when you can't afford to fail.

I don't agree with all of it but there are some very good tidbits throughout. 

P.S.  Hate that we can't edit after a while, just caught a they're/their error in my post, lol!  Geesh, you NEVER get over being the daughter of a teacher

Here come the heat, here come the heat    

Day                  High/Low    Description   Precip   Wind       Humidity

Tonight May 31    --/69*      Sunny           0%      5 mph     47%
Wed    Jun 1      105° 67°    Sunny           0%      11 mph    22%
Thu  Jun 2         104° 67°    Sunny           0%      11 mph    16%
Fri  Jun 3           106° 70°    Sunny           0%       9 mph     15%
Sat  Jun 4          108° 72°    Part cloudy    0%       8 mph     15%
Sun  Jun 5         104° 67°    Sunny            0%      12 mph    18%
Mon  Jun 6         103° 66°    Sunny            0%       8 mph     22%
Tue  Jun 7           99° 61°     Sunny            0%      10 mph    30%
Wed  Jun 8          92° 60°     Sunny            0%       15 mph   30%
Thu  Jun 9           91° 60°     Mostly Sunny  0%       12 mph   31%

Next 5 days:

On Thursday, June 9, it will feel down right balmy.  Then back up to the high 90's by Sunday.

Into pure survival mode right now.  Two more long shade cloths to go up, plus 2 sheers.  I did plant the musk melon seeds from Dstack after pulling the garlic and amending.  They should sprout right up and then I will half bury in straw with just their noses showing.

I got up early and added another layer of mulch to everything in-ground. Discovered yesterday that watering twice a day isn't enough for small containers in this heat.   I'm having a tough time adjusting to being house-bound for most of the day.   I am starting a summer garden inside. I have romaine going right now. It isn't pretty, but if it keeps us in salad greens until fall it will be worth it. I HATE SUMMER!   Let's get a petition going to extend spring and fall and cut back on summer and winter. 

It's 98*F right now and it's already brutal on the veggies.


DH helped me install a second row of shade fabric this morning so now there is a 12' x 16' shaded area outside the patio.  In the sunny area, everything is wilting!  They will perk up tonight.


I have found that areas with 3" of chopped straw are doing better than areas with 1 - 1 1/2".  Duh    

CN, Mulch your potted plants deeply!

Duh  CN, Mulch your potted plants deeply!
The biggest, healthiest plant I have grew out of a foot-deep container of mulch. (I still don't know what it is, however.  )

Wow Sanderson. That's intense.
You're shading is lovely.
CC

Oh my goodness,  I meant the "duh" on me.  Not on CN!  I see now how it reads.  

104*F right now.

The first day over 100* is always killer.  It's miserable.  Steve's out at the hardware store getting the rest of the equipment we'll need to get my drip irrigation up and running in the backyard gardens.  We got the front yard done a couple days ago.  I adore my sweet hubby, but being early for any task is a genetic impossibility for him, lol!  Sooooo tonight when it "cools" off to a mere 90* or so, we'll work in the dark but we'll get 'er done!

Unreal. We are just beginning to have veggies and you guys are battening down for the heat! Is this typical? That seems crazy? 100F? For days? My A/C is overwhelmed with 90 and humidity, brick house holds heat.

Thank God for trees! Shady deciduous maples and lindens.....

sanderson wrote:Oh my goodness,  I meant the "duh" on me.  Not on CN!  I see now how it reads.  

104*F right now.

LOL! No problem. I knew what you meant. 

Scorpio Rising wrote:Unreal.  We are just beginning to have veggies and you guys are battening down for the heat!  Is this typical?  That seems crazy?  100F?  For days?  My A/C is overwhelmed with 90 and humidity, brick house holds heat.  

Thank God for trees!  Shady deciduous maples and lindens.....

It is about 20 degrees above normal, but not all that unusual. Our summers are just plain brutal, but they don't normally start quite this early.   Most of my flowers and ornamentals have given up already. The perennials will come back for another try in the fall. The annuals are done for.

"Thank God for trees" is right. All of my gardens are under trees. I don't think anything could survive our direct sun except maybe a melon or a pumpkin. Sanderson? Do you have anything in direct sun?

Let's don't even talk about a/c. Our bill will top $500 in July and August.

Yeah, our power bill has been the same.  This year we're buying a friend's commercial grade swamp cooler.  We're usually fairly dry humidity so a swamp cooler (evaporative cooler) works well most of the summer.  It will drop the bill massively.

My flower gardens are under my trees and porch areas.  Most of my garden is in straight sun.  I've added some shade cloth this year to two 4 x 8 table tops but the rest is pure sun.