Cilantro

Cilantro looking healthy and happy in the cooler weather. I planted these in October. The seeds seem to germinate better when they are seeded close to each other. I cover very lightly with soil. Family: Apiaceae, Genus: Coriandrum sativum.

Tomatillos: it takes two

My first attempt at growing tomatillos from seed resulted in only one plant. I planted the one, and it did spectacularly well: tall with flowers galore. It overtook its allotted spot, spreading into the neighbor's side. But, strangely, there was no fruit. I checked the seed package; it made no mention of needing two plants to get fruit.

I turned to the Google, and, whoa, it turns out tomatillos need another tomatillo plant near by in order to produce fruit because they don't self-pollinate in the same way as tomatoes. This left me somewhat annoyed because I really wish this little piece of information had been on the seed package instructions and because it is getting late in the season. I hurriedly bought and planted another seedling. Several weeks later, while I don't have an abundance of fruit, it looks as though some cross-fertilization happened. I have some baby tomatillos on its way. Relief. Moral of this story: it takes two [tomatillos] to tango.

Scarlet runner bean flowers

Finally have flowers on the scarlet runner beans. I did not take a photo of the leaves but I think the birds have discovered the leaves are tasty. At least, I think it is the birds who are destroying the leaves. Here are photos of the early stages.

First Green Zebra

These were grown from seed. The first of the green zebras of the year are coming in. Given our predatory squirrel population as they have figured out to wait for the tomatoes to turn red, I wanted to try growing green tomatoes. Maybe I'll have some tomatoes to harvest because they stay green when ripe. Hah.

The tomato patch, mid July

My tomatoes grew into one very large mound. They were planted around 1.5 feet apart. Obviously, this was not far enough apart. Because of the horrific drought we are experiencing here in California, I water judiciously, usually once per week of deep watering. The tomato plants still grew very well. I may cut back the watering even more once I see more fruits developing. We'll see. For comparison, here is a photo I took earlier this month.