Make the Most of the Rain Event, Plant!

Make the most of the rain event, plant! I’d been rather ashamed that I hadn’t planted anything for a fall/winter garden. The wonderful garlic I harvested in June still sat in my kitchen, and, many packets of seeds waited, neatly filed in a box. I had made all manner of excuses, but the long and short of it is, I was a little burned out from such a major summer garden effort. But with headlines like “Sandbags Available – Prepare for the Rain” from our local Councilman and “Major Southern California Rainstorm” in the Los Angeles Times, I couldn’t miss an opportunity for new seeds and bulbs to get drenched.

I went out at 8:45AM just to check on my rain capture set-up, decided to plant some garlic bulbs and one thing led to another. I came in soaked, muddy and chilled at 12:15PM. Here’s a photo essay of the effort.

1. Checked on rain barrel set-up with overflow filling a city recycle bin.

2. I peeled 6 large bulbs, and planted the largest cloves.

3. Prepared the soil to plant.

This is the same spot I grew my best garlic last winter. See how to plant garlic in “Growing Garlic in an Urban Garden,” the “Late Bloomer” episode of my first attempt. I mixed up organic plant food, biodynamic compost and earthworm castings in the round pan to supplement what was there.

4. Muddy gloves make for muddy garlic cloves.

5. I poked holes where all the cloves were to go. Plant two inches down.

I’m not sure what compels me to plant in the rain, but as long as the rain is gently coming down, it’s a very peaceful feeling. (And there are no planes overhead!) I first planted in the rain in my fourth episode “Rainy Day in the Garden.” Have I changed in two years? Same jacket, though! I decided to pop the cloves in without the muddy gloves.

6. That’s me, planting in the rain.

7. I saved the garlic peels to spread over the bed.

Hoping to deter the towhee birds from digging in my fresh bed, I spread the garlic peels which smell like garlic!

8. Garlic peelings spread over bed to deter critters.

I had about 20 cloves left, so I planted them in this bed where I had a tomato plant in the summer. California native yarrow and and native grass were getting lonely!

9. Second bed of garlic planted.

I raked dropped wisteria leaves on the back courtyard last night and distributed on the Back 40 bed, which has onions at one end. Beet seeds need to be planted here pronto! Trays capture rain.

10. Back 40 bed covered in raked leaves for mulch.

I had moved my cacti out of the rain, after killing a cactus with too much water last week. Cacti can only take so much water before they rot.

11. Cacti moved to shelter under the roof overhang.

My cat Linden stepped out during a lull in the rain shower. Here she is pondering how she’s going to get back in the house without getting her feet wet.

12. Linden looking for a dry path to the front door.

Once you get really wet, you think, hey, just keep going. Next I planted Swiss Chard Five Color Silverbeet Organic seed in this container which wasn’t being used.

13. Planted Swiss Chard seed in this container.

My garden friend, Jake, at TheOntarioGardener YouTube channel had sent me some Mizuna mustard seeds he had saved, and I planted them in this three foot container. You can purchase organic heirloom Mizuna seeds at Botanical Interests.

14. Mizuna mustard seed planted in this container.

Finally, I planted kale seed. After expounding on the benefits of kale in my “Growing Parkway Kale” episode, I had to plant kale seed in this large container. I plan to harvest this young, so I crowded the pot with more seeds than you would normally plant.

15. Five types of kale planted in this big round container.

I came in tired and chilled, but my endorphins had kicked in and my guilt was gone! It had been way too long since I’d planted. I’d arranged to purchase a second rain barrel which came at the end of the afternoon.

16. New rain barrel to add to first.

I got it hooked up just before dark, albeit not in the most secure fashion. Since both city bins, the one 50-gallon rain barrel and several kitchen trash cans are all overflowing, I will have a lot of rainwater to use on the garden in the coming weeks.

Make the most of the rain event, plant! Do you like to garden in the rain and get dirty? Are you capturing rain? I feel for folks who are getting too much rain and are having to be evacuated and dealing with mudslides, but here I’m just so grateful for every drop. Thanks for reading! – Kaye

If you enjoyed this post, please let me know and share with a friend. Thanks for your support! ~ Kaye

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Tags: curbside gardening, do-it-yourself, farming on small scale, gardening, gardening web series, garlic, green your world, growing your own vegetables, Kaye Kittrell, Kaye Kittrell Late Bloomer, Late Bloomer Episodes, Photography, planting, planting from seeds, planting garlic, rain, rain barrel, rain capture, seeds, Southern California, urban gardening, web series

Category: Grow Veggies, Rain, Seeds