California poppy seedlings emerging

Here's one of my California poppy seedlings, here this year strictly on a volunteer basis. Even better, I don't water them at all, and so they are the drought tolerant part of my winter garden.

Still hanging in there

This is a Black Krim and could literally be my last tomato. It continues to hang in there despite the cooler weather and the rain. Here it is from another angle.

Fava beans for the winter garden

I also planted a few fava beans (sorry, no photo of the planting but there isn't much to see). The fava beans were collected 2013; last night I soaked them. I plan to plant more in the next few months. I generally plant fava beans where I have had the summer tomato plants as part of my crop rotation system. I have planted them earlier in previous years.

Black chile peppers harvested before the storm

It appears there are a lot of storm drama going as southern California prepares for the biggest rain storm since 2009. For my part, I figured it was about time to gather up the rest of the black chile peppers, the chile negro peppers. They are now in the oven, slowly drying at 140 F, protocol from The Ultimate Guide to Drying Chile Peppers.

So when do I harvest these guys?

I seriously do not know if I have yams or sweet potatoes but if anyone can tell from this bloom, feel free to holler. This would be the last harvest left in my garden. I don't know when to harvest them. I have had this dilemma two years ago.