That would be easy to possum proof. Artist’s impression:
The black is curved 19mm irrigation pipe, and the white is bird netting.
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I do live in a high desert.
Mostly a sludgy smelly anoxic mess.
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That would also act as toddler proofing though and Pikelet poking about in there is the main goal.
We haven’t had any possum issues since the big guy passed away 
. Even the row of tender young tomato plants that are sitting very exposed by the side of our driveway haven’t been touched (yet).
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True. I raise and lower our netting daily to let pollinators in if required.
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Clover? Oxalis? Something weedy like that is my guess.
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Yeah my guess was a different oxalis from the one in my backyard 
but I can never be completely sure.
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The problem with letting toddlers be in charge of seeds. I’ve got some in pots I have no clue about.
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Looks more like Clover than Oxalis to me.
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Planted all my seeds last night. I knew it was going to rain today but wasn’t expecting the flooding, apocalyptic, I-may-need-an-ark rain we’re getting right now. Those are likely all washed away now. Sigh. I hope at least something takes.
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Definitely a clover.
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Thanks @diapasoun and @LadyDuck! Not that I can take any credit for the pretty parts of the yard.
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Potatoes! My big accomplishment for the day of yesterday. I kept digging for a crap, out of the way spot to dump them, and I kept running into broken glass or plumbing. That’s a little too crap for a tuber-based plant. HTbF suggested under the camellia tree, so I finally moved them over.
- The rest of the no-longer-potatoey bed will be greens, the final beet seeds, one or two brassica, and one or two bell peppers. Just gotta keep the peppers away from the brassicas.
- We scattered a whole bunch of orca seeds amongst the nitrogen-loving plants. DRY BEANS! Cute, dry beans. I could, like, make chili with my garden one day. A very, very small batch of chili. Maybe 1/3 of a chili flight.
- A-nother raised bed??? For the first time, HTbF floated the idea of converting the mossy patch to a veggie bed. It’s one of the sunniest spots, and we already are running out of space, with like 40-50 starts and endless seeds still to go. He doesn’t want to lose the only non-deck hang out spot, though. Maybe that ends up being a movable container space.
Other stuff, for myself
Yesterday
- Repotted the second succulent, with little styrofoam bits gathered from BN.
- Transplanted corn seedlings, filling up the one empty bed.
- Put free nasturtiums in the ground, scattered amongst different beds that could use pest deterrant.
- Transplanted a swap bell pepper into a bed.
- Added some stuff to our composter.
- Threw a whole bunch of slugs and weeds into the green bin.
- Put covers over the tomatoes and peppers since it’s getting cold at night and I saw people in a gardening group talking about doing that. I’m a follower.
- Rinsed off my germinating corms. I can see the beginnings of sprouting. I HAVE CREATED LIFE.
Today
- Transplant basil in the ground among the tomatoes, uh where there aren’t beans already.
- Transplant dill among plants, same deal. (YES: brassicas, corn, cucumber, lettuce, onion. NO: peppers, potatoes)
- Plant the non-potatoey bed: beets, brassicas,
Battlestar Galactica, random greens, dill - wait a bit on lettuce and spinach since those were also planted on Sunday. - Start some celery, leeks, and scallions in pots. (Maybe. Maybe don’t have enough pots.)
- Finally deal with the leftover scallions.
- Hill the potatoes. Again. Some more.
Future
- Plant lettuce and spinach in pots.
- Find pots.
- Throw ungerminated corms at co-parent garden.
- Next year: germinate corms at the same time, so they all pollinate each other.
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After a wet morning of my least favorite garden activity, in which I tried not to do it but couldn’t avoid the slug-dar, I have a slug-based pun song stuck in my head. I’ll spoiler this so you don’t get it stuck in your head without warning. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
song
Sung to the tune of “All You Need Is Love”:
All I see are slugs
da da nananana
All I see are slugs
Slugs
Slugs are all I see
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?
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For those wondering about canning, you definitely don’t need a big fancy canner for water bath canning – all you need is a large-ish stock pot with a lid, and then a much smaller sauce pan for boiling the lids and rings. I’ve actually only canned with a big fancy water bath canner once. A funnel, a pair of jar tongs, and a little magnetic doohickey for easily getting the lids out of the sauce pan is all you need in terms of special tools. (ETA: And you don’t neeeed those, they’re just incredibly nice to have.)
If you can’t do water bath canning, either because of altitude or because you want to can things that need pressure canning, like just straight unpickled veggies, that’s a different beastie. But like tomatoes and fruit jellies/jams and the like? Totally low-key canning.
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They are the cutest. Reading the below link, I realize we planted them at exactly the wrong time. Supposed to be a dry, warm spell. It’s been cold and rainy for days. Oh well. Learning process.
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I never thought a bean could be cute but those are adorable.
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All beans (green beans, dried beans, runner beans) really benefit from waiting until the soil is warm and somewhat dry for planting, because they can rot in cold, damp soil. However, some may still germinate, it might take longer than otherwise (from day planted to when you see signs of life). In northern Utah we generally waited until June to plant any beans (I had tried earlier, they almost always rotted). They grow really fast and produce by July. I think we (people) tend to think of beans and peas as sort of the same, but in terms of how/when to grow they are opposites. You can plant peas in February in places where you still have snow in April, as long as the ground isn’t frozen. 
Peas like (“like”) cool and damp. Beans like hot and dry.
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Yeah, just saw a post in a gardening group saying the same thing. We got way overexcited with my first free bag of pole beans and put 5-6 of them in the ground over a month ago. Almost all of them sprouted, but suuuper late.
Since I only planted them yesterday, is it worth digging them up and waiting another week or two? Different bush beans planted 2-ish weeks ago, with potting soil, are sprouting. All of them germinated! So there is still hope for the orcas. Save the orcas!
ETA: I have 27 orca seeds left. I could wait to see what sprouts, then reseed with the leftovers.
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