Don't Grow Potatoes in Containers

I've grown potatoes in rows (and had a good harvest), potatoes in towers (also a good harvest), and this summer I decided to try potatoes in containers. The title of this post pretty much sums up my experience. I planted five pounds of potatoes, and my yield was pretty much.... five pounds of potatoes. Enough for one meal and leftovers. Not at all cost-effective, and completely and totally not time-and-effort-effective. 

Of course, it could be user error. I probably did a million things wrong. I used unfinished, unscreened compost as my growing medium. The pots were only 10 gallons. I started them in the hottest place in my garden and that stunted them early on. The roaming turkey (remember her?) destroyed the leaves once or twice. I grew them in summer instead of in cooler weather. Who knows. All I know is that I'll do potatoes in the ground from now on.  I think potatoes benefit from being spread out, having a lot of room to grow sideways, and don't like being cramped. The hilling seems not terribly important, meaning that a covering to prevent light from getting in seems to be all my potatoes need - not huge mounds of soil. Potatoes grow from the roots, but not from the stems, so trying to grow them 'up' instead of 'out' really doesn't make much sense. 

Oh well. I have some volunteer potatoes coming up where I had them last winter (I must have missed a few while harvesting), so I'll let those go and hopefully we'll have another small crop in January.

I watched a video on You Tube of a guy in Britain who grew potatoes in enormous containers on his allotment, and they did very well. So again, chalk this one up to me not doing it right somehow, but still. No more experimenting. I'll grow them in our raised beds from now on.

Western Scrub Jay nest

Yesterday, I was doing dishes at the sink, and I looked outside as I often do towards the fountain, because there are always birds to look at there, bathing and drinking, and something caught my eye. We have a big bale of straw sitting out by the fence. I use straw for many things - lining the chicken's nesting boxes, hilling potatoes, mulching melons - but now there was a big dark thing on the bale and I couldn't figure out what it was. So I went outside to investigate and this is what I found.

This nest had clearly fallen out of the privet tree above the bale, and landed upside down. I carefully turned it over. The entire thing stayed together as I did this, it was (appearances to the contrary) very tightly woven and intertwined. I looked for evidence of broken eggs: None to be found. So then I went back inside and sat down at the computer, and my first guess turned out to be the correct one - it was a Western Scrub Jay nest. 

We get lots of Jays in our garden. They are constantly swooping around, startling the smaller birds, hollering at the dog or cat, warning me to stay away. They like to bathe in the fountain and when they puff themselves up you can see just how large they are. They take the acorns from the Valley Oak, and bury them around the yard to ferment, just like squirrels. (The number one thing that I am always weeding for is tiny Oak trees.) What I didn't realize is that they also eat insects, all kinds (I have seen one eat a honeybee), and even rodents! Of course they also eat small birds and the eggs out of other nests. I have mixed feelings about Jays. 

For a fascinating close-up look at a Scrub Jay nest in action, check out this link. This is worth watching! 

After researching this nest, I decided to put it back up in the privet. I think the babies have probably already been laid, hatched and launched; but just in case....

Message in a Pepper

Just now, cutting Calabrese peppers for drying, I noticed this:

I took it in a Forrest-Gump-follower sort of way, and decided it's going to be a good day. 

Another sign of good luck is this guy, hanging upside down under an Hooker's Evening Primrose leaf:

S/he didn't mind me taking pictures at all, just looked at me calmly. 

However, just to even things out a little bit, there are signs of not-so-great luck in the garden, too.

Squirrels are getting into the melons...

... and deer hop the fence, once in a great while, even with our tall deterrents. This gal didn't eat much other than some pumpkin leaves and some cosmos flowers.

The Labor Day chores include harvesting basil and making pesto for the freezer, fixing drip lines, turning the compost, seeding flats for the winter garden, and definitely some book reading, preferably in a very comfy chair. Grilled pork tenderloins with an herbed cornmeal rub and herbed focaccia are on the menu for tonight, making the most of our current herb garden bounty. 

Happy Labor Day!

September in the Garden

Happy September! It's clear that we're working our way towards Autumn. When the alarm goes off at 5:45 a.m., it's dark. I have to turn on lights to move safely around the kitchen. The nights here are in the 50's, though our days are still warm - in the 90's yesterday. That's our climate in a nutshell, folks - a temperature variance of 40 degrees between day and night is common. A 40 degree variance between San Francisco and Walnut Creek is also common. This August was one of the coldest on record for SF, with fog present every day except one (I think). In fact, San Franciscans call August, 'Fogust.' This is one of the reasons we never go to the beach in the summertime.

But now it's September, which means it'll finally be summer in San Francisco and broiling hot here in the far East Bay. I'm looking forward to another harvest of tomatoes (they've been quite affected by our colder nights, and are developing slowly now) and starting to get fall and winter plants in the ground.

September is Melon and Mexican Sunflower (Tithonia) month here at Poppy Corners. We're finally harvesting a watermelon every couple of days, the cantaloupes are still coming in regularly, and the Tithonia seeds I sowed in June are finally starting to bloom. This means BUTTERFLIES. I can't wait. I was very late on sowing these seeds, but now I'm patting myself on the back because the autumn is going to be a riot of beautiful orange-red Tithonia and pink and purple cosmos and those flying beauties named Gulf Frittilary, Monarch, and Painted Lady, not to mention all the skippers. I've already noticed an increase in hummingbirds due to the California Fuchsia blooming, as well as that Tithonia. Any minute the native California Sunflowers will start to bloom, and things will really be hopping.

We continue to get cucumbers, like zucchini in that you think you've found them all, and go out the next day to see a monster. The ones that get too big go to the chickens; meanwhile I've been eating cucumbers every day with hummus or yogurt. The I'itoi multiplying onions are doing well and the peas have started to sprout. Peppers are still coming in, both hot and sweet, and our favorite way to eat those is roasted with olive oil and salt. (Honestly, there's not a vegetable around that doesn't taste good prepared this way; it's our go-to.) 

We opened the hive last weekend and were gobsmacked at the amount of honey the bees have collected. Bar after bar, filled and capped for winter. I am so pleased. No sign of mites or wax moths, and the worst they've had to contend with lately is the yellow jacket population. Yellow jackets like to pounce on struggling bees underneath the hive and take them back to their nests to feed to their young.

I'm starting to notice galls on the Oak trees, and fallen acorns on the trails and streets. I took a hike yesterday with the dog in what is normally a Riparian area; it was so dry that many, many trees had fallen, uprooted. I think those big root systems just can't hang on if they get too dry, and the weight of the tree combined with the unstable conditions of the roots just causes it to topple. The side of the trail was dotted with huge rootballs, the size of vans. It's clear that crews have had to come saw up the trunks as they often cross the trails when they fall. Makes you wonder if anyone should be hiking there.

I'm wondering if those of you in other parts of the country are starting to experience real Fall. If so, I'd love to hear about it.

Hiking Again

You may recall that Joe the dog suffered two injuries between Thanksgiving and Valentine's Day, the first to his neck and the second to his leg. This put him solidly out of commission for several months. He has been on 'bed-rest' since February. At first, all he could do was hobble on three legs, and the only place he went was across the street to pee. We had to help him lie down at night because sitting was difficult. We had to help him get up. During this time he was on muscle relaxants and pain killers, and after a few weeks he began to put weight on his leg again. We started going around the block, very slowly, and that's what we did three times a day - just around our block. Then we noticed he was going faster, and even trotting. In June, Adam and I started taking him on longer walks, but only leashed and only on paved areas. In July, once in a while I'd find him on the couch in the morning, which meant he was able to jump up on his own. At the beginning of August, I started lifting him in to the car every so often and taking him on a very short drive to a nearby open space, where he could be off leash for a short distance. Then he started being able to jump in the car; the low Mazda, not the Honda Pilot. Sometimes he can jump in and sometimes he can't. But he can always jump out, because his front legs are fine. 

Today, I decided to take him on a longer walk in the open space, and we went a mile or so! And Joe jumped in the car both before we went and after we got back from hiking, no lifting required!  It was a very happy day. I, too, have missed hiking very much, and missed taking Joe to the open space.

We are fortunate enough to have several open space areas within 20 miles of our house - Sugarloaf, Shell Ridge, Briones, Las Trampas, Lime Ridge, Mt. Diablo Foothills, Acalanes, Lafayette, there are probably more. And most of them are within in the East Bay Regional Park System, and most of them allow dogs off-leash for all or some of the property. 

An unexpected labyrinth, surrounded by a thorny boma 

Today we went to Briones. This particular hike goes through both Oak Woodland and Grassland plant communities.  Even though we are deep into the dry season, there was still so much to see and explore. 

All the trees are bearing nuts.

California Bay Laurel 

Valley Oak

California Buckeye

There were even some flowers blooming; my nemesis bindweed which seems to grow everywhere in every possible condition, yellow star thistle which is invasive but the bees sure don't care, and a wonderful plant called Tarweed, or Madia. It's hard to know which kind I saw today, there are several, and all of them are native to this area. It's considered a weed, and it's in the Sunflower family. Birds love the seeds, and all kinds of pollinators love the nectar, and since it's one of the only things blooming in the hills this time of year, I'd say it's valuable. It has a really wonderful scent, which I admit takes some getting used to - sort of spicy, sort of creosotey, to me it smells like summer in the hills of California. It has a sticky resin that stays on your jeans all day, but since I find the smell pleasant, I don't mind. 

There were fields of this. I wish I could have adequately photographed all the bees, butterflies, and dragonflies that were in this area.

Wild grape vines were growing up, up, up the Bay trees, and the grape leaves are starting to change color, making the bay tree look like it's on fire. 

And the Buckeyes, the earliest harbinger of Autumn, are losing their leaves.

Buckeyes in a dry creek bed. This is where you'll find Buckeyes in the wild, so that their feet are wet all winter, sustaining them through the dry months. 

We have our two warmest months ahead of us, but this week the weather has been quite lovely, in the 80's and dry during the day, chilly and dewey at night. You can smell Fall coming, even though it won't arrive for good until November. 

What a joy to be out in the woods and the fields with my dog once again. I'm very grateful.