Where are you, ancfan?
I'm in Sonoma Co where we usually feel the flooding pain, but it seems to be in the South Bay and S Cruise areas!
I'm lovin it! Drought OVER!

We're getting it - finally. This is our first big rain of the year down near San Diego way. Hopefully, it will help restore some of the reservoirs that are nearly dry.

Still we are under drought alert and water 3 days a week. Looks like our water bills are going up as well. Some talk about building a de-salting plant ($$$$$). Getting to be expensive living for backyard gardeners.

We had some flooding in our back yard - coming from higher ground run-off - but so far it soaked in. In the past, my back yard has been flooded like a large lake, but OK so far. Water heater went out - so "roughing it."

Garden likes it - so far - no damage there that I can see. Some newly planted sweet potatoes that I watered heavily a few days before - hope they won't drown.

Fun. But we need the rain down here.

Bejay

Ninjabut, I'm in Amador Co, Ione, Ca in the Sierra foothills. The drought should be over, I'm sure we are going to have a good snow pack this year at least I hope so.Bejay, I'm glad about the rainfall, it was the 50 mph wind I was worried about. I'm sorry about your water situation, it's so different here. Our water bill was $7.00 but the fee was about $24.00 (go figure) I'm still not complaining though. Hope you get your water heater fixed soon I know about roughing it, our water heater was down for a week and a half :(

I am a mile+ south of one of the mud slide evacuation zones (in the San Gabriels, the area around the Station fire) but my immediate area seems fine. Lots of water puddling on my street, but the garden looks great actually. Brassicas are fine (wind is making them lay low, but they are OK), lettuce is liking this, the peas looks wonderful, and so do the favas, beets, carrots, cilantro, parsley, celery, chard, radishes, and artichokes. I have new flowers on both peppers and tomatoes. I was surprised to see that the flowers are fine! No fallen fruit either. I am happy about the rain, it just would have been better to get smaller installments over several weeks, but nature is nature, what can we do?

Ipersonally love the fact that it rains for just a couple of weeks out of the year. And I am in the Pacific Palisades now which is even nicer than Venice was. It has been Raining Hard since Monday during the day and mostly clear at night. Tuesday mid afternoon was like a monsoon in Miami!We got a years worth of rain in about 30 minutes. This was Wild! for S.CA.

Y'know, besides knocking over my potted loquat several times and making my cauliflowers hug the ground, the storm hasn't done much here. Except keep the soil wet so that I can't divide my strawberries. ;) I'm surprised that so much is already growing in SoCal. I wish I had installed rain barrels or something but figuring the cost it didn't seem like a good idea. Are there more NorCal veggie gardeners who lurk this forum? Our regional forum always seems so dead. :(

Talking about rain barrels, if you have gutters that you can get to, just put a plastic garbage can under it. When the rain stops, put the lid on it so that kids and bugs don't get it. That's what I used in FL, until the cops told me that I had to cover them for safety sake. Hence the lids.

I still use barrels in Indiana, ever if I don't HAVE to have them.

Cabrita: You have peppers and tomatoes at this time of year?

ancfan, they are the 'remaining' ones, the ones I overwinter. Most of them do not look their best, but many are still alive. I have two pequins and a scotch bonnet, 8 years old (they were transplanted last year), they are full of fruit that I need to harvest and then I will prune the plants. They look like little trees. I prune my peppers and most of them make it to the next spring (new tiny leaves sprouting in some of them now). Some die, but most just go dormant. Very easy to tell which is which.

I have 3 tomatoes vines still producing, they are sungold hybrids. All my other tomatoes are out, but I will not uproot the plants if they are still producing! Also I love the little orange cherries they give! I wonder if they will continue producing until the summer, and then again until the fall?

So the answer is that yes, I still have peppers and tomatoes, but only from a few plants. I am also sprouting a bunch of new ones, and eggplants too (indoors and near a window).

We got hammered in south LA. My yard is largely fine, the soil so dry that the puddles are half of what I'd typically expect from this much rain, but none of the natives are drowning and the seedlings are weathering the pounding. South of me into Harbor City and San Pedro is flooded and branches are everywhere with lots of power outages. I may have some problems right near the curb eventually, as the runoff came over the top and put some oily street runoff in a section of the street strip.

i use garbage cans to collect rain water, 32 gallons each we have three of them, then i use a pump to get the water to the veggies, since the garden is up hill and the cans are downhill, rain barrels are not very cost effective, three 32 gallon garbage cans with lids $12 each against 1 rain barrel 50-60 gallons $80-$90 dollars.i tie screening over the barrels to keep mosquitoes out. the water is run off from the gutter. wish i had room for more cans.i keep a bucket in the bathroom, i collect the cold tap water that comes before the hot water starts in the shower then i dump it into a barrel, perfectly good water would otherwise go down the drain. been doing this since the drought of the 70's.now if only i could grow decent tomatoes in the city of sf.

It's Friday afternoon and it's still raining. Also a lot of Thunder and Lightening which is unusual for S.CA.

I am in southern CA in the burn area of San Bernardino. We are getting pounded by the rain. So far no slides in our area but it does concern me.

My last tomato plant gave up the ghost and I am worried about my strawberries with the next few nights supposed to be getting really cold.

I moved alot of stuff under cover or into my little greenhouse just to be safe. We had such nice weather the last few weeks that I was afraid the fruit trees were going to break bud but I think they changed their minds!

I planted some seeds a couple days before the rain started so I think those will drown, but everything else looks Ok so far.

Ania

We live in the northern Sacramento Valley and we really got pounded. There is a (usually dry) creek going through our front yard. It broke through it's banks and flooded the neighborhood. Our house was ok because we are on higher ground. The flow was straight towards our neighbors home with a slab floor. We spent one day helping fill sand bags to slow down the water and we helped move their 6 horses to higher ground. The adjacent manufactured home had 10" under the house. They were lucky that the floor is 30" from the ground. They looked like they were living in a large houseboat as they were surround by water.

Later that evening, about 7PM, I looked out to see that the rain had stopped, the creek level was lower and the soil was soaking up the water. Today we have sunshine and all the farmers are happy cause their dry stock ponds are filling up. My winter vegies are doing fine and the lettuce is crisp and perkily.
Donna

SFFog- I grew a tomato last year that is MADE for SF! It is a British tomato, bred for cooler, foggy weather. The fruit wasn't huge, they looked kinda like a large cherry, but they were tasty. I will see if I can find out the name of it. I found it at a non-profit vege sale that they have each year. I'm in Santa Rosa, so if I find them, we can figure out some way to get together if you want. Or if I find out when the sale is, I can e-mail you the info. Last years sale I had to park 1/2 mile away, it's so popular! Very inexpensive, organically grown veges! I think the sale is late April/early May.

Looks like my work is cut out for me. I dug quite a few "divergent" channels, to keep the water from flooding my GD's basement "digs." I'm so proud of her - she managed to put down quite a few sand bags before the "big one" hit, and it was certain that it kept her place from flooding.

I was trying to rig up some sort of water recycling set up using large barrels, but procrastinated - it might have been easier to place 33 gal trash cans to catch roof run-off. But as the old saying goes "why fix the roof on such a sunny day?" Or something - as the old song goes. "Maybe the rain will go away - tum-te-tum."

Stay dry my dirt digging buddies. Glad we made it.

Bejay

I live in Fullerton in North Orange County and I measured a total of 9 1/4 inches of rain in my rain gauge for the period Sunday through Friday, which is more than the 7 inches officially recorded, but I think it is because I live on a hill and hills usually get more rain than the flatlands where the official rain gauge is at Fullerton airport.
A few days before the rains began I had bought 9 cubic yards of compost, and when I heard about the approaching storms I hurried to wheel it up my hill in a wheelbarrow and spread it in four strips perpendicular to the direction of water runoff to stop or slowdown the flow of water so it could sink into my clay soil. The dykes held for the first two days, but then we got some really hard rain that burst through them and I then had a river of mud and compost flowing past the side of my house on the sidewalk. It was made worse because two weeks ago I had rototilled the back yard so there was lots of loose dirt. So I figure I lost maybe two cubic yards of compost and a couple of cubic yards of soil. There are a lot of small ravines about eight inches deep now that I will have to fill in. But because the soil was loose most of the rain did soak in. What did me in was runoff from my neighbors property farther up the hill. The city provided us with big 45 and 60 gallon heavy duty garbage cans and I put them under the drain for my gutters and saved over a hundred gallons of water that I then used to wash the mud off my driveway.
I expect my fruit trees will grow the best they ever did in four years thanks to this rain. I hope we get about 20 inches total, but not all at once like this week.

It's pouring again. It started back up yesterday, rained all night and all day today. The creek is not as full as it was last week,but it sure is running fast and high. The rain is supposed to stop raining tomorrow and we are supposed to have a few sunny days. I sure hope so.
Donna

It hasn't started raining yet here, but it is forcasted to start tonight. Oh Well.

A few sprinkles ... supposed to rain tonight. I hope that this rainy period isn't all we'll get. We're on water rationing ... I use bath water and water used to pre-rinse dishes for the washer.

Beejay .... you just now planted sweet potato plants? I've got a bunch of rooted vines in my window ... would love to plant out, but was afraid too cold.

borderbarb -

Like you, I had quite a few in my south-facing kitchen window. They were beginning to block the view! So - you know how it is - one warm day, and we "optimists" start planting stuff outside!

Seriously, they seem to be taking hold outside. The box that I planted them in is on the side of a small slope, but this is my first year growing them. Was planning on putting "side boards" on this particular planting box - as is only 12 inches deep, but maybe it will work. We shall find out come warm weather - if they survive.

The slips really grew well - apparently lucked out on some nice fresh grocery store specimens. Sorry - I've been calling them "sweet potato" but they are the red yams actually. Didn't mean to confuse anyone.

Bejay

I've got to get a rain guage! [has hardly seemed worth while, given the drought we've been having] I don't know how much rain we got ... but judging by a low spot in the lawn, which usually floods, we didn't get much rain here in inland north county.

My sweet potato sprouts are from the vines of my very large plant from last year [about 40 potatoes from two plants] which filled my front yard and caused much passers-by comments. Really looked great. Anyway, couldn't bear to toss all those strong vines when it came time to harvest, so have them rooting in water in bedroom and kitchen windows. I want to have enough to share with family and friends, as I consider it very easy to grow.

I'm in SF as well....and the garden seems to be surviving.
The favas are in love, but everything else is just "weathering the storm" so to speak. I am so looking forward to planting my spring seeds soon.

After the fifth year trying to grow tomatoes, I am finally abandoning it and growing potatoes. I spent much time researching what and how to grow. Ordering "cold weather" varieties, growing some from seed and purchasing others. I have tried them all and they only serve to depress me as they wither before setting fruit. Too much real estate for only a handful of tomatoes. I know there are areas in the city where it is possible but not where I am, at least not during colder than average summers.

that is funny, i am planning on giving up on tomatoes too, i've been planting potatoes for three seasons now, yukon gold fingerlings and dutch something??. sometimes i miss one or two and then while turning the soil over i dig up a fist size one.its great when you want to cook and need just a couple of potatoes , just dig a couple up.as for tomatoes, i'll let my sister who lives down the penninsula grow them, she always has too many so she shares,last year i grew spegetti squash,did quite well,i would like to try butternut, i prefer it better. i also grow garlic.can't wait to get to the garden.we need a sun break for about a week or two. getting cabin fever but i guess i can always go outside and pull oxalis

sffog -

Oh yah - know what you mean. Love that rain, but "oh, that oxalis!"

See you there, as soon as I make dinner - may not feel like cooking come later after I finish weeding.

Bejay

Bejay, where did you get the original sweet potatoes? Every seed catalog says that they cannot ship sweet potatoes starts to CA. Dis you start with ones you bought at the store. I would like to plant some. We love sweet potatoes and have lots of space.
Donna

caavonldy -

As I mentioned in my post above, I was actually referring to the red yam - rather than the official sweet potato. But, yes - I purchased them in the grocery store. They looked nice and fresh.

I also buy store garlic and plant it also. However, make sure to get the soft neck type, as it grows better down here in the lower 48. You can also grow ginger - although I had a problem with my last try - and decided it wasn't used often enough to warrant taking up space.

I think sweet potato would also work as well as yams, certainly worth a try. Getting the slips started was pretty easy. The only other thing that might cause problems is - if the potatoes or yams were sprayed with a substance to inhibit sprouting - as is sometimes done in the commercial variety.

Give it a try - if healthy they really multiply on the tuber quickly.

Bejay

caavonldy-if you buy from the farmers market, they are usually not treated especially if you find them at the organic stalls