Garden 2023

[dragnlaw]

pepper, if you drown them in salt? My late brother did that - then I pointed out if he wasn't lazy and peeled them it wouldn't taste like the dirt! LOL

Only time I grew beets they were the size of tooth picks. Was also told they like salty earth which is why our Atlantic coastal provinces grow fantastic beets.

 

[Kathleen]

I really love beets and sincerely wish I could grow them.....and garlic....and onions.....and other veggies that need pulled from the ground.

 

[pepperhead212]

Yesterday, I harvested the last of my mints - could have held on longer, but there is just very little new growth at this time of year. I cut 3 cuttings of each long enough to root, and cut enough spearmint to make my last batch of mint tea - have to wait until next spring! For some reason, mint is the first thing to come up in the spring, not affected by cold, but it is also one of the first, along with basil, to fizzle out, once it starts getting cool. I have 3 of each rooting - I might plant a peppermint in the hydroponics, but spearmint is an aphid magnet. I'm going to try them on my back porch - the rosemary and the Syrian oregano I grow on the back porch, in case the ones outside die from a colder low, than normal. After getting what I could from those, I pulled out the drip-lines, and removed it from the hose, and removed the timer, and weedwacked the mint, to level it.
Mint cuttings rooting, 3 peppermint and 3 spearmint, 10-17 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

While picking some of those peppers today, I saw something else I had to do - start some epazote cuttings, for the hydroponics! I was surprised at how much new growth that stuff had - last year, it was all flowers by the time I looked for cuttings. All I really need is one, to grow in there, but I started 3, and I'll just take the best one.
3 epazote cuttings rooting, 10-18 (I later put a Syrian oregano in the last place in the pot) by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I also picked off as many of the largest leaves I could find, and salt layered them, something I used to to, before indoor hydroponics.
The epazote leaves I picked, for saving, by salt layering. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The largest of the 2 epazote plants, showing a bunch of those small new growths, besides much of the flowers. by pepperhead212, on Flickr
The salt layered epazote leaves - much better than drying, for preserving the flavor of this. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

 

[pepperhead212]

Something I am going to have to do soon is trim back all those trees I have on the deck, to bring indoors. The forecast low about a week from now is 41°, and the curry tree needs to be in before that. The bay laurel and lime trees are a little more cool hardy, but still need brought in soon, and all need severe trimming.
That curry tree, needing trimmed WAY back, before bringing it inside very soon. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The bay laurel and makrut lime trees also need major trimming, before bringing indoors. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

 

[pepperhead212]

I got that curry tree and bay laurel trimmed way back today, and set most of the larger and darker bay leaves in a tray, to dry. I sprayed both of them down with a H2O2 solution, and soaked the soil with it, as well. Tomorrow, I'll spray them with a diluted solution of orange oil and neem oil, and let that dry, and just after bringing them inside, I soak the upper soil with Bt israelensis, to prevent fungus gnats - something I do about every time 30 days, once inside, and never have a problem with them. The makrut lime trees are next to trim.
Curry tree, after trimming a lot from it, to be brought inside soon. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Bay Laurel tree, trimmed considerably, to bring inside soon. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The bay leaves trimmed, before drying. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

 

[dragnlaw]

Pepper, why do you leave the leaves on the branch stems to dry? Doesn't that take them longer to dry that way?

 

[pepperhead212]

@dragnlaw Those leaves, and the Syrian oregano and marjoram, I leave on branches, and they actually dry faster, because they don't pile up on each other. Of course, you could spread them out over several trays, so they are in single layers, but I just make one tray of each, and once dry, they come off easily.

 

[dragnlaw]

Gotcha!

 

[Kathleen]

@pepperhead212 Have you made Chicken Tinola? It uses leaves from a pepper plant to make. Honestly, any pepper plant - hot pepper leaves are not any more spicy than bell pepper leaves/ The soup is absolutely delicious. Most recipes call for green papaya, but I replace it with chayote squash.

 

[pepperhead212]

Kathleen, I've seen recipes for that, with the pepper leaves, as well as a number of others, but never tried any recipes with them. However, I did put a few of the whole leaves, from a few different plants, in some stir fry one time, just to see the flavor, and didn't really find any great flavor in them, so I never harvested any since.

 

[Kathleen]

Try them in a soup. They were really good!

 

[pepperhead212]

Today I trimmed those lime trees back, to get ready to bring indoors, and cleaned all the trays out, to get everything set. And I did what I did with the bay and curry trees - sprayed the lime trees with H2O2 solution, and soaked the soil and pots with the remaining solution. Earlier, I sprayed the bay and curry trees with the orange and neem oil mix. I brought those indoors tonight, because rain is supposed to start tomorrow. I have to wait until it's dry, to do the oil spray on the lime trees (the latest thing I had to dry, overnight, was the "pruning paint", or sealer, or whatever you want to call it, which I brushed on all those cut stems.
Here's all those trimmed stems from the lime leaves (and I actually jammed them down in the can, so they wouldn't be near my hands, when I carry it!). Anyone cooking any Thai food?
Trimmed away kaffir lime tree branches. 10-19 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Those lime trees, in the slightly larger 14 gal pots (compared to 10 gal, for the other two), are considerably heavier, but I decided to drag them onto the back porch, to prevent them from getting heavier, with that rain! I'll wait a couple of days to bring them in, probably on wheels, and help of a friend!
The two makrut/kaffir lime trees, trimmed WAY back, to bring inside. 10-19 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Something else I saw, when spraying those trees, was the Thai basil with a bunch of new growth on it, after cutting a bunch of flowers off, about a week ago. Surprised me, because of the cool weather I've had here. So I cut most of it, and from about 2 c of the cuttings, I took 3 of the best, and will try to root them. I went through the other basils, but only found one cutting I might be able to root, but that's all I need - one plant of each in the hydroponics (which I started getting things ready for, too!). I put those cuttings in another pot that I stuck 2 sticks from that curry tree in, to try to root, though that has not worked for me, when tried before. Maybe I'll be lucky this time.
3 Thai basil, 1 Serrata basil, and 2 curry tree cuttings, trying to root. 10-19 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

 

[larry_stewart]

Try them in a soup. They were really good!

Never knew pepper leaves were edible. Are there any exceptions, or basically any pepper plant leaves can be consumed ? I wish I knew this a few months ago, I still got one plant outside that is near the end. Do the leaves have to be young, new leaves? or any old leaf will do ? I've had squash leaves / shoots and sweet potato leaves in the past.

 

[larry_stewart]

Got my aquaponic system going for the winter. Just growing parsley for now. This pic is about 5 weeks after planting.

 

[Kathleen]

Never knew pepper leaves were edible. Are there any exceptions, or basically any pepper plant leaves can be consumed ? I wish I knew this a few months ago, I still got one plant outside that is near the end. Do the leaves have to be young, new leaves? or any old leaf will do ? I've had squash leaves / shoots and sweet potato leaves in the past.

The younger leaves are more tender and they get more tough as they age. All pepper leaves are edible. I didn't know it either until a lady in the community garden asked me for my pepper plants at the end of the season. She then brought me some Chicken Tinola soup. Scrumptious!

 

[pepperhead212]

I picked another dozen or so Datil today, but the thing I noticed the most was all of the flowers on the Thai Vesuvius plant, and looking closer, countless little buds, not open yet, and even more, already set from recent flowers. I last picked all of the full sized green and red peppers on about 10-9, anx that triggered this 4th huge flush of flowers. I usually get 3 flushes with these, which is a lot of peppers! I had sort of been ignoring them, given all the garlic planting, trimming the trees to bring indoors, and now my hydroponics (plus maybe because I already have more peppers than I know what to do with! ), but I noticed these when walking by them today. None of the others perform like this - I don't know why I keep trying new ones! These are like a determinate tomato, but producing about the same, or more, in future flushes.
The 4th flush of flowers/peppers on the Thai Vesuvius! 10-22 Usually get 3 flushes. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I don't know how these peppers are still producing so much, as we've been having lows in the 40s lately, and below average temps overall. But later in the week it is supposed to get into the high 70s, which is well above average! Crazy weather.

 

[blissful]

We had a hard freeze last night and tuesday we're expecting a high 70's during the day.
Our garlic went in last week 400 or about that with a light topping of manure.

 

[pepperhead212]

Today I got the water in my hydroponics, and tested the pumps, lighting, and got the last of the MaxiGro in the small system - had to order another 2.2 lbs, which lasts me a little over 2 years, and that's what I use in the seedlings, too, in very small amounts. I got a couple of seeds started in coir pellets, to set in the clay pellets by next week. By then, I'll have the nutrients stabilized. I also put in a little of that Mosquito Dunk stuff, crumbled up - takes care of the fungus gnats, like the Bt israelensis solution does for the potted plants.

 

[pepperhead212]

Yesterday I got the new pack of MaxiGro, and added a small amount of it to what was already in the water - like adding salt, or other seasonings when cooking, you can always add more, but you can't take it out! It was up to 15-16 EC, and I'm looking to get around 18-20 EC . So it's close, and will be there, by the time I get the seedlings ready.

After that, I got more seeds planted in those coir pellets. Besides the 2 parsley I started before, which I soaked in GA3 overnight, I started the following, mostly just one of each (all I usually need!). That GA3 I soaked the parsley with, I used to wet the tops of the rest of the pellets, after planting the seeds.

2 pechay bok choy
Russian red kale
Wasabina mustard greens
Mizuna, green
Leaf lettuce, saved seeds
Leaf lettuce, green salad bowl
Dill, dukat
Basil, serrata (cuttings also, but I'll see which is better)
Basil, dolce fresca
Basil, Thai Siam queen (cuttings with this, too)
2 cilantro, leisure (a new variety to me, I got from an Asian seed market)

I also have some cuttings from that red epazote, which usually roots well, and some peppermint, and some chives I'll dig up, and sterilize in some H202 solution.

 

[pepperhead212]

Yesterday evening, I got the mesh pots set up in almost all of the hydroponics systems, and about 1/3 the clay pellets in them, to set the coir pellets on, when the seedlings start growing in them. Then the rest of the clay pellets get piled in around the coir pellets.
Almost all of the hydroponics pots, set up with some of the clay pellets. by pepperhead212, on Flickr