Plot 24 at dusk...

I usually go to my plot right after at work. The garden is officially supposed to be off limits a half hour after sunset. Thankfully our days are getting longer, so I always make it there before dark now. 

This is the latest and greatest photo of the plot. I got it at a pretty good angle, but it definitely needed the flash:

We can see (in order from left to right) the black kale, romaine, white onion, pak choi, sugar snap pea, broccoli, and in the top of the photo, artichoke. That bag next to the 'choke is a bag of compost I bought last weekend. When I planted the 3 new rows I put a little compost in the trenches first and also sprinkled some around the already planted dudes. I have tons of compost left but I plan to incorporate it into the rest of the plot so that soil can be nutrient rich by the time I start planting more goodies.

Speaking of the good old artichoke, look how fabulous he looks! (With comparison shot from his first day in the ground.)

Quite the improvement if you ask me...nice and spiky!

After the rain

We had a solid week of rain here on the Central Coast. With such a constant stream of water from the sky, I worried that the garden might get a little water logged.

2 weeks ago I had noticed that 2 different vendors at the SB Farmers Market were selling seedlings of winter crops. Santa Barbara High School students had grown different lettuce varieties, spinach, and my favorite- Italian or lacinato black kale. I bought a 6 pack of the black kale, which I kept in the garden's greenhouse for 2 weeks since it was raining most of that time.

I also bought a sugar snap pea plant. I kept in the greenhouse for about a week, but then it started to wilt a little. I knew we had a week of rain ahead of us, so i decided to put it out in the plot so it could soak up some agua. To do that, I dug a shallow hole inside of a tomato cage and put the plant container in the hole. The container was a natural straw container so I thought it would breathe and drain better than a plastic one.

When the sun finally peeked out on Saturday, I took the opportunity to go assess the situation, and plant my kale and sugar snap peas.

All the older plants were thriving from the rain, especially the romaine.

Here is the kale:

 

And here is the sugar snap pea inside a tomato cage. It's a pretty aggressive vine so I had to coach it onto the metal wires instead of it growing onto itself.

It's looking a little yellow near the base, but hopefully now that it's in the ground.

Next post I'll show you the other new crops I planted on Saturday!