Not A Good Year For Peas

After going like gangbusters for the past few years, this year's crop of both Sugar Snap and Oregon Green Giant peas was much more of a bust than a gang.

Puny Looking Pea Plants

In fact, a few of the vines withered up and never even really made it onto the strings that Cindy had installed for them, and those that did attach didn't climb very far up the strings.  This is surprising since they have done so well in previous years.

We have no idea why they have been so lackluster this year; there could be some pest that has attacked the plants or something in the soil, but this is all just a guess.

One thing we did notice when we ate some of the Sugar Snaps was that the pods were much thicker and tougher this year than in previous years, although the peas within the pods were succulent and tasty.  Again, we're not sure why this happened, but one guess is that it might be due to the hotter weather we had earlier in the spring; it may be that the pods became tougher to protect the peas themselves.

One thing for sure is that this crop of peas won't take up much space in the freezer this year; that's a good thing because we're still working on the green beans from last year and two years ago.

Potatoes New Home

Cindy has been working very hard recently to complete the new raised bed out behind the fence, and now she has moved the potato grow bags into it.

New Raised Bed

Since the new bed is out behind the fence, it's even more important to protect the plants from the varmints in the area.  We saw a very healthy looking rabbit under the bird feeder on this side of the fence the other day, so we know they're not very far away.

Potatoes Are Blooming!

The potato plants were looking a bit wilted after their move, but Cindy hooked up the irrigation system yesterday, and today they seem to be reviving from their move.

I'm always in favor of more potatoes.

Franklin School Garden

Cindy has been working for a couple of years with teachers and volunteers from Franklin Elementary School, a few blocks from our house, on a school garden project as part of the Master Gardeners' school garden project.

Starting from pretty much nothing, the kids, teachers and volunteers have established a really nice garden, which was recently named for Winnie Hanford, a local resident who inspired this garden project.  Winnie and her family recently retired from running the Kensington Video store, a fixture in the neighborhood for over thirty years.

These garden beds have been such a hit with the lower grades that there are now plans to establish a garden for the upper grades, too, in some vacant space behind the school.

This space looks pretty dismal now; I think they have their work cut out for them to make it as nice as the lower grades' garden.

Baby Shower

Ummmm, not for us, for Project Wildlife, San Diego's wildlife conservation and rehabilitation facility which is now part of the San Diego Humane Society.  This time of year is baby season for all manner of wild creatures, and many of those babies end up at Project Wildlife for care and rehabilitation.  Project Wildlife cares for between 8,000 to 10,000 birds and other animals every year, in one of the most biologically diverse areas in the country.

This shower provides a way for people to donate items they need for care for these babies and other animals that come to the center, so here's a link to their wish list: http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/266G9B2B7TO00/ref=cm_wl_rlist_go_v? .

And here are some pictures we took of some of the animal ambassadors from Project Wildlife.  The ambassadors are critters that have been rehabilitated but are not able to be released back into the wild, so they help provide education for humans.

Bobber--American Kestrel

Luna--Western Screech Owl

Opossum

Alligator Lizard

Since it's April Fool day today, finding the Southern Alligator Lizard in the garage last Sunday reminded me of a non-prank that I was NOT responsible for years ago.

My dad had given us a sculpture he had done of a nest of snakes; the burl on the wood he used for the carving had figuring that suggested snake skin to him.  I've always liked that carving, but Cindy....not so much.  

Dad's Sculpture--Snakes

So one day, while I was at work, she went to dust the sculpture and saw what she thought was a rubber snake lying on top of the snake carving.  "Very funny", she thought, "what a joke, Kay," until the "rubber snake" moved its head.  Then she had to jump into gear and try to get the very real Alligator Lizard out of the house before the cats discovered it.

A great website for identifying California reptiles is California Herps.com.

Real Lizard

Wooden Snakes