Today's harvest

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More peppers and okra, due to this heat! Another 3 pints of okra went into the freezer, and I emptied 7 more trays of dried peppers out of the dehydrator, and put another 3 trays in there, with 2 more trays not quite ripe enough to go in. Soon, I will have more than I'll be able to use in the next year!
 
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Like you, this has been a pretty good year for okra. Ive frozen a bunch already , and can't even begin to tell you how many my wife has eaten from th garden ( she loves fresh okra). Peppers, still taking their time but they'll get there
Tomatillos just about full size, as well.
 
More peppers, of course, with all this heat. And just think, I only grew about 25 plants this year. I grew 36 last year, which was downsizing from just under 50 for many years, and way back, when I used to grow over 80 plants. Not as many people to share them with now, though I have some new Indian friends that I'm giving a lot of these to.
Misc. Peppers - Big Jims, Ancho, Aleppo, Superchili, Aji Dulce, Longhorn 8-21 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Habaneros - Red Savina, Chocolate, Gold Bullet 8-21 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

These jyoti and Thai peppers are the ones I use more than any, dried in Thai, Chinese, Indian, Korean, Mexican (in place of de árbol), and ground up as my cayenne (better flavor).
Jyoti 8-21 Starting to produce like the Thai peppers now. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Thai Vesuvius 8-21 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

More Thai Vesuvius! 8-21 by pepperhead212, on Flickr
 
More peppers, of course, with all this heat. And just think, I only grew about 25 plants this year. I grew 36 last year, which was downsizing from just under 50 for many years, and way back, when I used to grow over 80 plants. Not as many people to share them with now, though I have some new Indian friends that I'm giving a lot of these to.

I was going to say, how can you possibly use up all these peppers.:LOL:
Good that you're spreading the 'pepper' wealth!!

I have 9 plants
( 5 basically sweet frying peppers) and then another 4 which are sweet peppers for my wife to snack on ( like the smaller multi colored ones you can get). I got red, yellow and orange and someone snuck in a purple one somehow.

With the sweet frying, Ill grill a bunch, take off the charred outer skin, seed them and freeze them for later use ( enchilada sauce, chili, pepper based soup or tortilla soup and things like that).

Not including the 4 sweet ones for my wife to snack on, the other 5 provide me with many more than I can use in a year, which is why I'm so impressed with the amount you've got there.

Occasionally Ill grow a hot variety to toss in my pickles, or to make a hot pepper vinegar.
 
I was going to say, how can you possibly use up all these peppers.[emoji38]
Good that you're spreading the 'pepper' wealth!!

I have 9 plants
( 5 basically sweet frying peppers) and then another 4 which are sweet peppers for my wife to snack on ( like the smaller multi colored ones you can get). I got red, yellow and orange and someone snuck in a purple one somehow.

With the sweet frying, Ill grill a bunch, take off the charred outer skin, seed them and freeze them for later use ( enchilada sauce, chili, pepper based soup or tortilla soup and things like that).

Not including the 4 sweet ones for my wife to snack on, the other 5 provide me with many more than I can use in a year, which is why I'm so impressed with the amount you've got there.

Occasionally Ill grow a hot variety to toss in my pickles, or to make a hot pepper vinegar.

I think we have about 15 pepper plants. We have three of those little snacking peppers, too, but I've only had two of them - DH snacks on them while he's working in the garden [emoji38]

We also have a few jalapeños that are doing well and a few Anaheims. I love to make posole during the winter with those, so I roast, peel and chop them and put them in mini freezer bags in recipe sizes. And we have some baby poblanos just getting going.

Our tomatillos are finally forming the papery husks; now we just have to wait till the little fruits fill them out. A lot of those go in the posole, too, as well as chicken chile verde.
 
Picked a bunch of peppers today, made hot sauce.

I lead our IT Infrastructure team at work, so I have named this one Infernostructure.
Have a work BBQ this weekend I'll bring the jars along too.

My real hot sauce bottles also come in tomorrow so next ones will be in traditional bottles.
 

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We have three of those little snacking peppers, too, but I've only had two of them - DH snacks on them while he's working in the garden [emoji38]

I have the snacking ones in a pot on the patio a distance from the main garden, basically to act as a decoy. Keeps my wife away from the good stuff!!:LOL:

I use the tomatillos for Salsa Verde
I love dipping chips in it ( and pretzels too )
 
I just trimmed that curry tree, since it was getting so large, and I needed to go down by the Indian market where I take the trimmings to. Here's how much I cut off, and what was left:
Trimmings from the curry tree 8-22 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Curry tree after trimming 8-22-19 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The guy at the store told me that he'd pay me for a plant, if I could get him one. I told him that they often come up in the pot, so I'd watch out for one, and try to transfer it, and see if it will grow (they don't always root). Turns out, when I got home and checked, there was a baby plant there! Here it is - you can see the main stalk, plus 3 others about 1/2" in diameter, that started out like this. Usually, I just pull these up, like weeds, since I haven't known anyone that wanted one before.
Baby curry tree 8-22. by pepperhead212, on Flickr
 
Hey Pepper, where do you have the room to keep all these tropicals indoors for the winter ?
Do you use natural light from a window or artificial lights ?
Do they loose leaves or have any other issues when you bring them inside ?
Any pest issues while taking residence in the winter ?

I got the curry plant ( now plants), a few Myer lemons, coffee, cinnamon ( I can't believe I spelled it right first time around), and probably a few others Im forgetting. I have no good south facing windows, so I have to use artificial light. Plants usually lose a lot of leaves. I find my self struggling to keep them alive during the winter. All survive, but take a big step backwards and spend a lot of the On-season, just playing catch up!
 
Larry, I do have a large, south facing window in my dining room, and that's where I keep my curry tree, bay laurel, and the 2 kaffir lime trees (I really have to get rid of one of these!) in the off season. I usually don't get many leaves dropped, unless I let them get too dry (don't believe those things you read about letting curry and citrus trees dry out between watering - they don't like it!). The insect problem I have had with these is scale, which I watch for closely, on the undersides of the lower leaves, and I also look for ants, as they farm scale insects, like aphids. So this time, and the time before that I re-potted them all, I mixed a bunch of DE into the mix, and even more into the upper inch or two. I also put some tanglefoot on the 2" of the stems above the soil line, though eventually, the plants would be pressing against the window, and that could be a path. Still, they stayed clean until this last year, and I think that the stressed out curry tree made it prone to the bugs, because of that soil that needed replaced.

For the lighting for my hydroponics, and seedlings I use 4' fluorescent bulbs - 2 T8s and 2 T5s, for the hydro, and 4 T8 bulbs for seedlings. This year, I tried some 4' LED fixtures from Harbor Freight, with 5,000 lumens of "daylight", and that's about the equivalent of two T8 bulbs, and when I tested two trays of seedlings under 2 of them, they did well, and didn't get leggy, like under low output bulbs. I don't know how long these last - they are listed at 10,000 hrs., but it's too soon to know. Harbor Freight has these on sale frequently for $19.95, and sometimes even $16.95.
 
Larry, I do have a large, south facing window in my dining room, and that's where I keep my curry tree, bay laurel, and the 2 kaffir lime trees (I really have to get rid of one of these!) in the off season. I usually don't get many leaves dropped, unless I let them get too dry (don't believe those things you read about letting curry and citrus trees dry out between watering - they don't like it!). The insect problem I have had with these is scale, which I watch for closely, on the undersides of the lower leaves, and I also look for ants, as they farm scale insects, like aphids. So this time, and the time before that I re-potted them all, I mixed a bunch of DE into the mix, and even more into the upper inch or two. I also put some tanglefoot on the 2" of the stems above the soil line, though eventually, the plants would be pressing against the window, and that could be a path. Still, they stayed clean until this last year, and I think that the stressed out curry tree made it prone to the bugs, because of that soil that needed replaced.

For the lighting for my hydroponics, and seedlings I use 4' fluorescent bulbs - 2 T8s and 2 T5s, for the hydro, and 4 T8 bulbs for seedlings. This year, I tried some 4' LED fixtures from Harbor Freight, with 5,000 lumens of "daylight", and that's about the equivalent of two T8 bulbs, and when I tested two trays of seedlings under 2 of them, they did well, and didn't get leggy, like under low output bulbs. I don't know how long these last - they are listed at 10,000 hrs., but it's too soon to know. Harbor Freight has these on sale frequently for $19.95, and sometimes even $16.95.


Thanks for the info. Ill review it again prior to bringing my stuff in.

I gotta get a greenhouse
 
Where do you guys typically get your gardening supplies ( seeds, plants , other) ?

Seeds I get from a variety of online sites ( Typically Burpee, as my dad has gotten their catalogue since I was little, but I do go to other sites). I still get all the catalogues. I like looking at all the pics and flipping the pages, but I ultimately order online. I will always browse through seeds any time I pass them in other stores and occasionally pic up things of interest or things I may need in a hurry ( or forgot to order).

Seedlings Ill often get at 2 local nurseries. One is specifically a nursery , the other is actually a farm store. I will also go to Home Depot, Walmart, Lowes ....and on occasion, I'll get online from various sites depending on what I need and who has it .

Exotic plants ( Cinnamon, coffee and other exotics) Usually Logees nursery website. They are located in Connecticut , so when Im up that way ( neat the casino's) Ill sometimes stop by and see the exotic plants for my self and come home with one or two ) or three)

Other supplies Ill usually get from Home Depot of the Local farm store.

I do save/ plant some seeds ( certain tomatoes and peppers)
I do compost,
I will use certain fertilizers, but I dont use any poisons to kill things. Ill rely on organic methods for that ( which dont usually work that well).

By no means am I limited to the above, but those are my usual go to's.

Many times when driving out east ( away from the city) or being upstate or even out of state, Ill stop at multiple nurseries to see if they have different things.
 
How much time do you have? lol

Just glancing at my bookmarks, I have a Garden section with 48 links, Tomato Seeds with 9, Garlic Seed with 12, Pepper Seeds with 14, Asian Gardening with 3, and Hydroponics with 7, though many are cross-indexed.

Seriously, though, many,if not most of those, I haven't even ordered from, and just glancing, a couple I deleted because they are no longer in business.

I buy very few plants, as I start everything from seed, though this year I had to buy 2 eggplants, since the one type of seeds did not germinate, so I definitely have to order those next season. The HD, Lowe's, and similar places have mostly those one plant pots for 4-6 dollars each, and guess what they can do with those!

For herbs, there is no place like Richters Herbs. While in Canada, it still has lower shipping than most other places, plus the huge selection. However, Logee's Greenhouses is another herb place in my bookmarks - you are lucky to be close enough to drive to it Larry!

Many companies have gotten too expensive with the seeds, as well as the shipping. This has made me scratch a few from my list. Or, friends and I in the gardening forums will get together, and one will want several things from one of those places, including some of the items besides seeds, and order me the one seed I want, and I'll order them one one from the place I get a bunch from. And we're always trading seeds.

Some companies have small seed packets, which is what I want, for most things. One that I have been ordering from from way back in the 80s is Pinetree Garden Seeds. Another, only online, is The Sample Seed Shop. And one with a lot of tomato, but also other vegetable seeds in smaller packages, costing less, the more you order, is
Seeds n'Such.

Those Asian seed places I go to every few years, when things start running out, though I check yearly, for new items of interest. The one with the most selection is Evergreen Seeds. The one I have to order from for next year is Seeds Of India, which has a lot of seeds I have not seen elsewhere. The last one is Kitazawa Seed Co., which is a little more expensive, but again, some unique items.

For gardening and greenhouse type things, The best place is
Greenhouse Megastore. However, for greenhouse remnants, for things like roll plastic, and things like that, two places I've found useful. You jsut have to look until the size you are looking for shows up!
TEK Supply
A.M. Leonard
These places also have a lot of agricultural things, but too much for me!

Another place I get seeds from is ebay, when I only need one or two things, or sometimes I have found things over in Australia, and other places, that I could not find here anywhere! Occasionally. as with anyplace, I've gotten seeds that weren't what they said (one of those tomatoes this year), but usually I have not had any problems at all. And sometimes gardening items are cheap, but often they are cheaper on Amazon.

I'll stop now, though I know I've left a lot out.:rolleyes:
 
This year I want to try and overwinter some of my hot pepper plants too. I was hoping they'd survive if I kept them in the shed with a space heater keeping them at 55ish, and a grow light. There is a large west facing window I'd have them against, and I'd build a little room out of styrofoam sheets so I'm not wasting energy heating the whole shed.

I especially want to keep some plants I brought back as seeds from South America, a pepper plant they grow in Paraguay, and a bottle tree. If I succeed I know the bottle tree will quickly outgrow my ability to keep it alive in winter (it's almost 3 feet tall this year from seed in March), but it's fun to try. The pepper plants from those seeds look good but no fruit yet, not sure I'll get any before fall. So thinking a head start will do them a lot of good if I can do it.
 
I get my seeds from Johnny's and Fedco's. I've also swapped seeds with a few people on Reddit. I bought garlic from Filaree's & Maine Potato Lady. Lastly, I'll sometimes buy a few packets from the local hardware store.

I'll be up for swapping seeds with people here if they're interested. Stamps are cheap.

I still have enough seeds for a few more years so I don't plan to buy more except for a few things like onion seeds which apparently don't last as long. I did order two more varieties of garlic from Maine Potato Lady.

I saved pepper, tomato, onion seeds. I also grow my own garlic from the previous year's crop.

Unfortunately, I have a full time job so it's hard to garden, start seedlings because life gets in the way.
 
I don't have the patience to start most things from seeds, so I have a few places I buy from. I'm a master gardener and my MG group has an Open Garden (like an Open House) twice a year in spring and fall, so I buy some plants there. I buy annual herbs from another local spring sale put on by a garden group (I've been buying there for 30 years). And I buy some things from the local Feed & Seed Store. When I want specialty items, I look at Renee's Garden. I really like the tri-color seed collections they have (three colors of beans, zucchini, etc.) in a single packet. I buy these through Amazon to save on shipping, since we have Prime.

https://www.reneesgarden.com/collections/vegetables
 
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