I've been trying to get the courtyard cleaned up somewhat in preparation for seed planting. It's still not very pretty, but I'm using what I have, so it won't be perfect until I can put some more money into it. At present, it's covered mostly in cardboard, just to kill the weeds. I'll be adding raised beds in the spring, but not quite sure where yet, as the center is where most of the sun is.
I did manage to get the rain barrel moved into the corner, but not sure it will stay there. I may take my chances putting it outside the courtyard in the back under the eaves. If I leave it in the corner, I'll have to devise some method of getting the water to run down into it.
The table is one I found in the dumpster, and now that I've set it up, I know why. The leg brace on the right side is broken completely off, so I'll have to figure something out to keep it from falling down. Right now, as you can see, it slopes badly to one side, but I just wanted to get it up and see how it worked.
I stuck the old ladder back up there temporarily. It will be used as a bean trellis eventually, but don't know where yet. The table does provide a good place to stash pots underneath.
The back wall is just a holding area for now. I found a small pallet that now holds the terracotta pots to keep them up off the ground. The freebie wrought iron table is stashed there too at present.
The Early Girl tomatoes are doing pretty well, and starting to turn just a bit. I swear, waiting for tomatotes to ripen in the winter is like watching paint dry!
Just on a whim, I stuck one of the tiny NOID tomato plants into an empty pot. I have no idea what it is, but that's the fun of gardening sometimes.
The allternanthera "Little Ruby," which was a tiny piece I put in with the Papaya tree in the fall is now going to seed. I'm watching it closely so I will be able to gather some for spreading around in other places. I got this plant from a neighbor who was moving out, and there are several pieces around the yard. It died back alot, so I'm hoping it will live through the winter and come back out full force in the spring. As you can see, I stuck a tomato sucker into the pot to keep the papaya company as well.
Outside the courtyard, I can't believe how huge the red coleus is! That's a 5 foot tall pigeon pea behind it for comparison. It's actually 3 plants together, but it just won't stop growing. I have to cut it back soon, so if anyone wants cuttings, come and get 'em!
Over to the right, you can see the lemon grass that was just one lonely little sprig in July. It will be huge next year, and I'll probably have to move it to a better spot.
It's supposed to get down to 34 tonight and 32 tomorrow night, so more things will be coming inside or getting covered tonight. I don't really think it will get that cold here, because it's always a bit warmer in this high-density population area, plus the courtyard provides some protection, but better safe than sorry. I don't know what I'm going to do with the Early Girl. I'll probably try to put that close up to the house and cover it for protection, because it's too big to bring in. Oh well, we'll see in the morning how they do.
Happy Gardening!
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