Back again and still Optomistic

I've been away from this blog for as long while so Google closed it down and I now have it back online once again. This past summer I had loads of tomatoes from the previous years' plants but I have not been happy with them.  I wish I know which tomatoes are best for growing in the San Fernando Valley.  My soil is really bad and I have to continually add compost and whatever to it.  We have little or no rain in the summer and it garden has to be hand watered.  I try to keep it as organic as possible and encourage birds to come and eat the bugs and other critters.  Back to the tomatoes--I have not liked the way any of them tasted--either too sour or too thick skinned.  All very disappointing. I have not tried growing any in the greenhouse this winter.  Maybe I will next year if I can decide on a good variety. I would be very happy if I could get a good crop of tomatoes and cucumbers. I hope to start them in  March or maybe earlier in the Green house.

Right now it is early January and my garlic is coming up nicely and I hope it does not get too cold for them I have quite a few beds of garlic growing-- hard neck and soft neck, early, middle and last season so I hope that they will last through the summer. I need to find out when is the best time to fertilize them.  We are having unusually cold and wet weather here so I don't know how this affects garlic plants.  I did notice that some of the leaves are getting a bit  yellow so that is bothering me.

Clouds, More Clouds and Still a Drought

Does anyone understand the strange weather we have here in Southern California? It's been 5 years since we had a good rainfall and now we are sadly on the brink of running out of water. Our reserves are way down and beginning to enter the red danger zone. Overhead the sky is heavy with fluffy white clouds and black storm clouds. Sometimes at night there is a tiny sprinkle but any H2O evaporates as soon at it hits the ground. TV weathermen "warn" us about the impending thunder storm but have yet to see a true example. I would delight in a summer thunder storm like the ones we have back on the East Coast. You know --the ones that leave that wonderful clean smell in the air when it is all over.
My garden and my thirsty plants would appreciate it as well.