Monday, November 7, 2011

Using rain to our advantage

The rain that started on Friday took me by surprise as we are not used to getting much rain, if any at all. Normally I keep good track of the weather report and when I know there is rain coming, I prepare by putting some seeds in the ground and by feeding any plants that need it so I can take advantage of the rain to water afterwards. I was not prepared this time around and was surprised on Friday to see the amount of rain we got.
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On Saturday I did some work to prepare for the rain we got on Sunday by planting some new seeds, transplanting some seedlings, and feeding some plants. 
Newly transplanted seedlings in back bed
We did have peppers and zucchini in this back bed but with the sun shifting now because of the season change they were not getting enough sun. I pulled those plants out and replaced them with some cabbage, cauliflower and spinach seedlings. This area is getting about 4 hours of sun per day now which is not ideal but I hope it will be enough to get some food off of these plants. We'll have to wait and see. I may paint the retaining wall in the back white to help reflect more light onto the plants. The list of things to do is ever growing.

Our banana tree in need of feeding
I gave the banana tree a good feeding because the leaves are starting to lose their rich green color, a sign that it wants more food. 

They say it will rain again later this week so I am scrambling to get the rest of my new seedlings planted and then start some more as well as direct seeding some of the beds and determining which plants I want to completely replace right now and which I think will produce for a while longer. Getting the timing exactly right is going to be something that will take practice throughout a few more seasons but one thing I know for sure is that taking advantage of upcoming rain is a great idea in water starved San Diego. 
Seedlings I am going to plant today and then start new ones, this is cabbage, spinach, broccoli and cauliflower 

Gidget is going to wait to see how well Frijole does before she ventures out today, she hates rain

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