After the rain, the Late Bloomer Garden comes alive! You may have heard about the drought in California. Well, we got a proper hosing the past few days. It coincided with cool season crops mature and lush. My new rainwater barrel is full along with several overflow trash cans, and the soil got a deep soaking. Here’s how the garden looked the morning after.

The red voile really saved my brassicas from cabbage moths laying eggs. This idea came to me from Sumi, an amazing food grower!

A few new things are blooming!

Other things were pushing out of the ground.

A patch of this fungus keeps popping up in my California native bed. It was identified as a Stinkhorn. Sometimes the shoots have a white cap on top, which is the egg sac it bursts from. The underside of these five fingers is black. You can see a photo here on Late Bloomer Show Facebook page. Please “Like” our page, and share your garden photos!

I pulled out a handful of carrots to see how they are doing. The tops of the heads were large, but they were short, probably due to my not thinning enough.

Nothing is more regenerative than a good rain, especially when you are in a parched area. One of the many rewards of gardening and growing food is observing the garden come alive after a good rain (especially at sunrise). I hope there are a few more before the long, dry summer.

Are you buried in snow? Is your garden coming alive? Do you have to worry about the lack of rain, and have to depend on city water to grow food? Are you filtering your water? I’d love to know.

Do you have a rain barrel? If you are in L.A., did you know you can qualify for a $75 rebate on your rain barrel? Read about conserving water in Los Angeles here.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you will comment and share. It’s possible to grow a lot in a small space. Happy gardening! – Kaye