Today's Garden Perusal

Today, day 19 of my SFG experience, my first weed was pulled. LOL I had to take a picture of it. I was tempted to let it grow so I could find out if it was a CA Poppy coming up through the cardboard (would the cardboard be decomposed enough already for that?), or if it came from a bag of cheap compost I bought. I yanked it after remembering that the weed will take up precious space in my Green Bell pepper's square. My Pink and White Beauy Radishes are right on time. Four days after planting, the seedlings have emerged. The row I added to the front of the broccoli squares get a little more shade from my shade screen than the row added to the okra (at the back of the broccoli squares), so their first leaves look a little hardier. You'll need to click on the pic to get a good look... I mentioned my groovy looking snapdragons the other day, so here's a picture for you along with the white verbena. A lot of heat bounces off of the stucco behind them but the snapdragons are holding up well. The verbena not so much... The one shown is the best of the lot. These are my Meyer Lemon babies! The green pods will turn into my first juicy Meyers! When I took this, they were almost dripping with nectar. I've moved the tree to the shade during the day because the newest leaves were getting droopy from the heat we've been having. I didn't get a good picture of the ladybug I mentioned on Friday, but it looks to be doing well, and now it has a neighbor. After doing some quick reading, the two ladybugs on the side of the deck are in their pupa stage. I wonder how long they'll be there... Yesterday I saw a spotless ladybug hanging out on a bean leaf that had been partially eaten by something. Go Ladybug! It's nice seeing them moving into the SFG, and that they didn't all fly away. Here is a ladybug in the larval stage, having some quiet time in the shade of my Fresno Chili. You'll need to click on this pic too for a good look. It surprised me the first time I saw the ladybug larvae. They look nothing like a ladybug. There was even a pic and note/warning on the package of ladybugs I purchased not to kill these guys, thinking they're something else. And for the last pic, and my favorite part of today (ok, favorite part so far)... Buckets! Check it! Let me just say that Freecycle rocks! I've been reading about Self Watering Containers (SWC), watched an awesome instructional video over at You Tube a few times, and I'm going to give them a try--probably next spring. I posted a "want" post on freecycle, and here are the results. I obtained 12 kitty litter buckets, and 5 pool chlorine buckets. It'll take 2 buckets per SWC, and each kitty litter bucket will hold an equivilant of 1 square foot's worth of plant(s). My plan "A" is to find an outdoor paint that will stick well to the plastic, and use some stencils to beautify them. Plan "B" is to obtain free scrap wood, paint that, and enclose the containers to hide the ugly exterior. I haven't figured out where I'll put these yet. I think that'll depend on which beautifying plan I go with. I received an extra bonus for taking the kitty litter buckets off of a fellow freecycler's hands... I picked them up from her at her classroom where she teaches 3rd grade, and she used the buckets and I as a quick lesson on free/recycling. She let them know that they aren't accepted in the recycling [here], and was storing them in her garage. I let the children know I'd be growing veggies in them. That made me feel all good n' stuff inside teehee. ;-) Cheers!