What Did You Do In The Garden?

[digitS']

Those are dandy looking peppers, @Zeedman . And, I notice the gloves.

My pepper year goes along okay. Luckily, we didn't have an early cool-down and even the sprinkles that may begin to clear our air tonight, aren't supposed to bring really cool temperatures. Seems to me that I can, at least, call it a good Mucho Nacho jalapeño year.

Yesterday, I cut about 20 of those peppers to go in the pot and then in the freezer. Not wearing your gloves. A Big Mistake! I told DW that I would try to think of it as "therapeutic."

Steve

 

[ducks4you]

Since losing my entire garlic collection, I had not intended to grow garlic again; but a golden opportunity has presented itself. DD was landscaping her entire yard, and needed a lot of topsoil. My neighbor, who drives a dump truck, kindly agreed to bring her some when he could find good soil. He just delivered on that promise - an entire truck load!

DD has already taken all she needed (less than half of the pile) and asked if I wanted the rest. It's mostly good friable topsoil, so I said "yes". This will be enough to fill large raised beds for the garlic, and to fill the low spot in my rural garden! It still remains to be seen whether I can find lumber to build the boxes, but I'll find a way even if I need to use bricks. I REALLY miss home-grown garlic. I sent out emails to the two suppliers who carry the varieties I want to grow, one has already replied that theirs are still available.

How about cinderblocks?
Also, if you have a Lowe's, they have a place in the store where they cut wood, 25 cents/cut, and I have bought almost entire sheets, in pieces, from somebody who only wanted a small piece of wood from a 4 x 8' slab of plywood, OR, left pieces of 2 x 12's, etc., and left the rest. 25 cents to $1/piece, Check it out.

 

[Zeedman]

love the look of those, but are probably too hot for me.

cut in half drying in the sun or in the dehydrator?

Sun drying, when weather allows (like now). The peppers seem to keep more of their color that way. Once dry (and seeded) I'll freeze them to preserve the color.

SO, do you remove the seeds after they are dried out?

Yes, for about 1/2 of the peppers. The pepper seed tends to be cleaner than if I removed it wet, and it eliminates the chance of mold if the peppers are dried uncut. The seeded peppers are milder, those are the only ones I will use myself.

The 1/2 of the peppers with the seeds left in is either given away as is, or ground to make a potent pepper powder that I give to those who like intense heat. There are several hot pepper aficionados in my (now former) job, one of whom claimed he could eat one of these raw. Watching the reaction when he did so was priceless.

 

[Zeedman]

How about cinderblocks?
Also, if you have a Lowe's, they have a place in the store where they cut wood, 25 cents/cut, and I have bought almost entire sheets, in pieces, from somebody who only wanted a small piece of wood from a 4 x 8' slab of plywood, OR, left pieces of 2 x 12's, etc., and left the rest. 25 cents to $1/piece, Check it out.

Thanks, @ducks4you , they are one of the places I will be looking.

 

[Marie2020]

Kind of a lull in the gardens now. Since conditions are forecast to be dry for about a week, we are letting all of the beans & soybeans dry on the plants for now. Except for the two bush beans, which since many are on the ground, we pick as soon as they start to dry.

I gleaned the corn patches today. Found a few good ears I missed or let go as immature, but picked a lot of the 2nd ears too. Though stunted, many of those secondary ears have several inches of good kernels at the bottom. I call that "cutting corn"... DW calls that "snacking corn". I'm sure the grandson will get get a kick out of those mini ears too.

The hottest pepper I grow is Scarlet Lantern, originally from the USDA, accession PI 315008. I first saw it growing on SSE's Heritage Farm, and was impressed by its short DTM & heavy yield. The seed sent to me was so genetically diverse that no two plants were the same... some orange-fruited, some red; some early, some late; some tall & sturdy, others sprawling; wide variation in pepper size & shape; etc. While USDA accessions often contain a lot of diversity, it appeared that additional crossing had occurred somewhere between the USDA & my source. I've been trying to select back to the original description; this was the 3rd generation, and all peppers are red, and about 1/2 of the plants now have the desired traits. I'm not really a "pepper head", but have friends who are, and they really love these.
View attachment 37038
View attachment 37039
Scarlet Lantern, PI 315008

I just love the look of those peppers. I've never seen that shape before

 

[flowerbug]

for peppers it isn't as much about the heat with me as the flavor, some of them just don't appeal to my tastes at all and others are divine. i won't eat habineros, but give me a green hatch chili and i'm a happy camper.

so how would you describe the flavor of those @Zeedman?

 

[Prairie Rose]

Today i actually got a chance to work out in the garden for the first time in a good month, at least. Harvested the pumpkin and squash, pulled the vines, weeded some of the vegetable beds, piled all of the beans into the center of their bed to allow the last round of beans to continue drying for seed. I also went ahead and pulled all of my tomatoes, I am seeing hornworm damage again, and they are full of little tiny green tomatoes that aren't going to get a chance to grow and ripen before frost.

I also took advantage of the nice weather to lay out water-permeable landscape fabric between the vegetable beds. My beds are too close to mow between with the rider, my father sold the push mower, so I have to weedeat them. When it gets very hot I can't keep up, and then I just won't go out to the garden because I can't get to it from weeds. I laid and pinned the fabric today, and have some leftover mulch to put on it, but that will happen a little at a time over the course of the next week.

 

[Marie2020]

I had some ginger that was too old to eat.I put it in a pot of potting mix and it almost immediately stating growing. Seemed very easy. I have not thought about eating it yet, but it is expensive to buy so eating it seems like the next try. My guess, dig a piece rinse and dry before eating.

I've read that the soil for ginger needs sand I only have play sand, would it be a good idea to use soil from my wormery and a little from my compost bin ,I'll have to sieve it as it's only been collected from last April or may
These are the roots I have already

 

[catjac1975]

I've read that the soil for ginger needs sand I only have play sand, would it be a good idea to use soil from my wormery and a little from my compost bin ,I'll have to sieve it as it's only been collected from last April or may
These are the roots I have already
View attachment 37067View attachment 37068View attachment 37069

 

[catjac1975]

I think those are stem shoots. Mine started growing vert quickly. I just put it in a prolix formula.