pepperhead212's 2024 garden

[pepperhead212]

Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah to all! Anyone else working in the garden today?

I wasn't really working out there - just went out and uncovered the rosemary and sage that I covered several days ago, when I heard about that extreme cold headed this way. I had trimmed close to a 5 gal bucket in combination, to make them shorter, but I still had to put a very large tarp over them. And today, when uncovered, they were not at all affected by the cold nights. Any other super cold weather this winter, I'll just flip the tarp back in place, and put the weights back in place.
Uncovered rosemary and sage, 12-25, after covering, before the 13 and 11 degree nights. Staying in the 20s as far as the forecast shows. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[imafan26]

Happy holidays. Your weather seems to be challenging at times, but your garden always goods good. My rosemary is taller than I am. I think it is about 7 ft tall and it has been cut back before. It is in a pot ( sort of, it probably is in the ground by now). I can't keep sage alive for long.

[pepperhead212]

Almost all I have growing now is in the hydroponics (except for those herbs out there), and I have to trim back a bunch of that! I've been using some of the lettuce almost every day, for a salad, but you wouldn't know it, and I still have a bunch of those greens I got from outside, so I have to make some Kimchi, or something like that, which will use a lot up at a time (I should have enough garlic and hot peppers for that! ). And today I trimmed that epazote back severely, and took all the trimmings to the Mexican restaurant/market in town. I also have some overgrown dill in that hydro, that I will trim later, and make some of those Indian dishes, using large amounts of dill, or maybe a Laotian dish, which is another cuisine which uses large amounts of dill.

The overgrown red Epazote, ready to be trimmed. by pepperhead212, on Flickr



The trimmed back red epazote. The parsley should get some light, now, and I'll soon trim the bok choy, too. by pepperhead212, on Flickr



The epazote I'm getting ready to take up to the Mexican restaurant/market in town. by pepperhead212, on Flickr



The overgrown dill, just 2 plants. by pepperhead212, on Flickr



These garlic chives seemed to die back, when I didn't get any rain for 42 straight days (and already dry before that), so I weedwacked them flat, back in October sometime. When I finally got some rain, a little before Thanksgiving, and about a week later, they were growing back! And now, they survived those two low teen days we had out there, and are still growing.

Parsley and garlic chives, still growing after the 13 and 11 degree nights back there, and several more in the low 20s by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

And here's the dill that was growing up into the lights. There were only 2 plants - the dill on the left, with more and thicker stalks, was the Shevid - a.k.a. "Persian" variety, I just got this fall, from trueloveseeds.com, and definitely grew larger, and more productive than the Dukat. I'm wondering if it is related to Tetra - a variety I grew in the hydro a few years ago, that got so large I could hardly get it out! Like those flatleaf parsley, and cutting celery, which just get too big!
Overgrown dill harvested from the hydroponics. Persian variety on left, Dukat on right. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[imafan26]

I know what you mean my Italian parsley is over a foot wide, but it is in the ground. I don't normally plant dill at this time of the year, but it has been so dry, I might try it. I have both dukat and mammoth. I actually prefer mammoth dill in the garden. I just have to be careful what is next to it. Like fennel, it will stunt the growth of plants around it once it blooms.

[pepperhead212]

That Mammoth variety, back when I tried it outside, went to seed much faster than other varieties. If growing for seed, would definitely be better, but the dukat seemed best for leaves, and resisted bolting the longest.

But, of course, I'm always looking for new varieties!

[imafan26]

There are more of the smaller varieties like Dukat now than Mammoth. It is actually harder to find mammoth seeds. I don't eat a lot of dill, it is mainly for the beneficial insects. Dukat is thicker and does go to seed slower, and it is very compact. The compactness can be a problem around the taller plants. Even the zinnias and cosmos get to be 3-4 ft tall. I used to grow mammoth dill at my o.
other house in the uncultivated corner of the property where it lived on rain. I don't think it will like being in the tower because, the tower is pretty wet. I have alyssum on the lower tiers of the 5 tier tower and it is not that happy because is wet most of the time and the lower tiers get less light.

I have some unused space by my wall bed. I built that after we put up the wall and learned the hard way why you don't build raised beds against a 5 ft concrete wall. Only the vanda and night blooming cereus were willing to cling to the wall ( and some ferns and begonias). Everything else leaned away from the wall. I have orchids and potted plants there as well as the escaped citrus, bougainvillea, and weeds. Because it is in the back yard it doesn't get any systemic pesticides. It will be close to the wild roses and the citrus. I will have to see if the dill bothers them when it blooms, or I can put the Dukat there for the leaves.

[pepperhead212]

I've heard that about fennel, but hadn't heard about that problem with dill blooming around other plants, and never noticed any problems, either. Any plants in particular that seem bothered more by them?

[pepperhead212]

A couple days ago I harvested another batch of that dill, mostly the Persian variety, with only a couple stems of Dukat. Today that bok choy I planted a week into November, and started harvesting 4 or 5 stems at a time about 5 weeks later, just started flowering, so I cut the entire plant out today. That Koquie variety still hasn't started bolting yet.
The Burpee's Pachay just started to bolt, 1-12 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Burpee's "Pachay" bok choy, taking over 2 months to start flowering in hydro. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[imafan26]

Looks better than mine. Mine is just half that size.