Spring Weeding

Before and After

This past winter, we had more rain than average. According to Washington Post, as of February 21st, San Francisco is running nearly 10 inches above average. Everyday I hear from the radio that certain parts of California are now flooding and families are being evacuated.  That's something you rarely hear in California, the state which has endured drought for more than 10 years.   With the excessive rain, the garden is now overgrown with weeds. I like to keep the dog run weed free, so I have been working on it for a couple weekends. The result is obvious as Cracus proudly poses above.

Before and After 

I also like to keep the river rock and mulberry tree area weed free.  I have been working on it for a few weekends now.  Today it is finally clear of sour grass.    There is about another half of the garden that needs to be weeded. More work will continue as the weather starts to feel like spring and flowers start to bloom.

More to go on the left

Biggest Storm Since 2008

On Wednesday, we got the news that the biggest storm since 2008 was coming on Thursday. All day we were monitoring the latest news on the storm and whether the school was going to close on Thursday. Some people laughed at the word "storm." They don't think California has storm. Some people laughed at the possibility the school would be closed because of this "storm." Having been a resident of Northern California for over thirty years, I knew it could be bad. While we are usually suffering from drought, when it rains, it could rain hard for days, and then everything breaks down - traffic lights, big trees, cars (get stuck in gigantic pools of water), power supplies, hills (mud slide), etc. At the end of Wednesday, we got the words that Oakland Unified School District, San Francisco Unified School District, and many other schools were closing on Thursday in order to avoid putting any student and school staff in danger. When I made the announcement to the entire school community, the staff members started cheering. I was extremely relieved that I didn't have to take a sick day. My voice was completely gone as I had been sick and still dragged myself to work.

On my way home from work, I could feel the wind picking up speed. The sky was a dreadful shade of gray. I stopped by the store to get a bunch of canned soup. All I wanted was hot soup when I wasn't feeling well.  When I woke up around 4 a.m. on Thursday morning, I noticed that the power was out. It was still out when I got up at 7 a.m. I could see BART train running from my window but all the houses around me were completely dark. I went looking for my camping stove and lamp to make breakfast. The heavy rain was steady and coming from all 3 directions. I couldn't open two of my doors without my floor getting wet immediately. The only door I could opening without forming a puddle of water inside of the house was the door to the dog run from the garage. Kelsey and Cracus stayed inside all day. I took Cracus out 3 times to go to the bathroom. He got almost completely soaked just from being out for a couple minutes. Kelsey absolutely refused to go out. She barely drank any water and didn't go to the bathroom all day. It was a treat for all of us to be able to stay home on a day like this.

After The Rain

Asparagus

We had some heavy down pour rain for the past 48 hours, it seemed. I started to wonder if it was ever going to stop. Everything outside is completely drenched. When the rain first started, I went outside to rearranged some of the plants. I wanted to make sure most of them got as much rain water as possible while save some from drowning in the rain. Kelsey was excited to see me going out to the garden and wanted to follow me everywhere. She turned into a pathetic looking wet dog within seconds.

Finally we are now having a break from the heavy rain. It suppose to return shortly, so I went out to check on the plants. I found a couple asparagus shoots that weren't there before the rain. The snow peas seem to be a lot taller than before. The pumpkin seedlings are a lot bigger than 2 days ago. 

Pumpkin seedlings

I just separated some mizuna seedlings a few days ago when it was super sunny. They all seem to be doing quite well. I am waiting for them to get about 3 times as big before planting them in one of the vegetable beds. I am excited at the idea that I may have fresh salad greens to pick. I was not a salad enthusiast as I had always preferred to eat cooked and hot food except sushi. Late last year I really got into salads, thanks to Trader Joe's awesome salad selection. After buying Trader Joe's boxed salads for a few weeks, I decided it would be more economical and environmental friendly to buy the ingredients separately and make my own salad mixes. You know where this is going - I am now trying to grow my own salad greens. Knowing how bug prone my leafy vegetables are, I am skeptical how well I can grow my own salad greens, but I shall try!

Mizuna (water greens)