pepperhead212's 2019 garden

[pepperhead212]

I waited a long time to start this, but I had to start it, since 2 days ago I ate my first ripe tomato, and today I say my first ripe slicers - probably the earliest I will have ever had any this size! These are Beefy Boys, and the one almost ripe is probably about 8 oz.
First slicer tomatoes ripening - Beefy Boy. 6-26 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The earliest ripe ones were Sunset Falls, as happened last season, with Sunsugar close behind. And Pink Champagne is close, as well, though I didn't harvest any of those yet.
Sunset Falls ripening, 6-24 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Sunsugars ripening, 6-24 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Pink Champagne beginning to ripen 6-26 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Ichiban eggplants are coming in first, as always. First one I got on 6-23, and now there are at least 6 more, nearing full size. There is one Neon plant, and 2 "Indian" eggplants, which I had to buy, due to seed failure. The Neon has a full sized fruit, with many more formed, but only flowers on the Indian.
First Ichiban eggplant of the season! About 6 smaller ones, not quite ready. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Ichiban EPs 6-26 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

This is the earliest I have ever harvested okra! only a few, of a new variety (for me) Little Lisa. I harvested these earlier in the week, and about this many again today. No Emeralds yet, but soon.
Little Lucy okra, 6-23 and 6-24 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

A bunch of peppers full sized already, but no ripe ones. A new one - Longhorn - is huge! The longest was 9", and I think it's still growing, and 6 on one plant (with many smaller ones). As usual, Superchili was the fastest - a couple full sized peppers by 6-7.
First peppers! Superchilis, 6-7 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Longhorn cayenne - 6-26, 9" longest by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The bottle gourd plant is doing great, as last season, but I only planted one, and then another much later, so I wouldn't get so many all at once! I had to pull the first one, like last season, because a female opens before the males show up, and only open maybe two nights, not as repeatedly as with winter squash. Now, there are probably 50 males ready to open! This one here is about 8" long now.
First bottle gourd flower open - with one other. 6-20 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I just saw my first butternut forming today - very early for these.
First Polaris Butternut forming - 6-26 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I'll stop here...there's a bunch more, eventually.

[pepperhead212]

The tomatoes are really starting to ripen - seems every time I look, there's another kind with at least one starting. Sunset Falls, Sunsugar, Jasper, Pink Champagne, Black Opal, Green Lime Salad, and Beefy Boy, so far.
Tomatoes starting to ripen up! On 6-23 only 2 types, but by 6-27, six types are starting. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Got some more okra today, but it's still slow. The heat will get those moving.

[pepperhead212]

I got my first Neon eggplant today, plus some more Ichiban (so far about 8 or 9), for about 1 1/2 lbs, for a dish tonight. I also harvested the first bottle gourd, which could have grown more (I've grown some to nearly 30", w/o getting seedy), but I have 3 more growing, so I want the energy to channel to those.
First bottle gourd, 6-29, just under 12 inches, 28.7 oz. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

First Neon eggplant, plus 3 more Ichiban, 6-29 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I harvested a few more okra today. Also another tomato variety ripening (Sprite), and a hint of ripening on Superchilis, which are always my first to ripen. Some of the misome is starting to bolt, so I harvested that, but amazingly, not a hint of bolting on the senposai or komatsuna. Usually, heat waves like I'm going through now trigger most greens, and sometimes I don't get one until late July. Oh well...the reason I've always said that I'm glad I'm not a farmer. I can't control the weather. SOW, it is VERY windy out there, and something is blowing in!

[applestar]

Nice! I hope to see some eggplants this year — my Hari (I think 3rd gen from saved seeds from the plant you gave me a while back) are growing well, and so are Orient Express — a 2nd gen from gifted seeds which may or may not have been F1 or F2?

...that Neon is well-named, especially next to Ichiban

[pepperhead212]

I am going to save a fruit for seeds from that Neon EP, later in the season, even though it's listed as a hybrid. It has been one of my favorite eggplants for decades, and one other time, like what is happening now, it totally dropped off the radar, and NOBODY carried it anymore, with several catalogs having other varieties saying "replaces Neon" in the description. None were the same, unfortunately, and none were as good. After a few years, a source showed up on ebay, and it started showing up in some of the other catalogs again, and I had it, up until now. I only had one seed germinate this season; not sure how many are left, but very few, and they are old. So I'll try saving, and see how it works out. I also have to get some new hari seeds next season.

I have another tomato ripening - actually, two more. Cherry Bomb - a large red cherry, about 1¼-1½" - and Black Vernisage - a slightly larger striped black, about 1½-2", which I got in a freebie pack from Baker's a couple years ago. I isolated some blossoms, to save seeds from, and marked the stem, and will have fresh seeds from those.
Cherry bombs are the 6 larger ones on top:
Latest ripening cherry tom's, cherry bombs largest. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Another starting to ripen, 7-1. Black Vernisage by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I am seeing far fewer blossoms on the tomatoes now, due to this heat in my area. And another heat wave to come now. Peppers, as always, are loving it - the size of the plants look like in late July most years. Only superchili is starting to ripen, however.

[applestar]

It’s not even July 4th yet, @pepperhead! And those will be ready to eat by then — Sweet!

[imafan26]

Nice plants. I like Ichiban, it is productive and reliable. I prefer the green eggplant because it stays softer on the plant longer and does not get seedy and bitter as fast a the purple varieties.

Is the gourd hairy or smooth? About a foot is a good size for a dish. The seeds are small, when the gourd gets older, you have to remove the seeds and it makes more than one meal.

[pepperhead212]

Nice plants. I like Ichiban, it is productive and reliable. I prefer the green eggplant because it stays softer on the plant longer and does not get seedy and bitter as fast a the purple varieties.

Is the gourd hairy or smooth? About a foot is a good size for a dish. The seeds are small, when the gourd gets older, you have to remove the seeds and it makes more than one meal.

The gourds are hairy, but not as hairy as hairy gourds (no pun intended - just their names! you know which ones I mean). They are much hairier - tried to grown them once, but died quickly from disease, and it wasn't even as wet as last season, when I grew these first. I can scrub the hair off of these, or peel them - when I spiralized them last season (which worked great!) I peeled them.

I just harvested two more today. I'm hoping this triggers more fruits - the two left their were not growing, I guess until these were gone.
Harvest after the garlic, with some chives for the lentil salad. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I have grown a number of green eggplants, and the Hari is the best variety I have found. Very early, compared to the others, and not at all bitter, even when seedy, when it gets very long - flavor is still good. The Thai green is very late, while some of the others are too small, and go to seed fast.

I saw one of those Indian EPs on just one of the bushes today, about 3 1/2" in diameter, and sort of round. I'll see what happens with it - if it is the same tomorrow, I'll harvest it, to be safe.

I harvested all of my garlic today, since it was very close to ready, and it was supposed to be (and now is) raining tonight. There were some smaller heads, like always, but they were fairly large, and there were 3-4 green leaves on most, which is good, since those will be the skins. Those few that always are there which have all browned, I have dug up before, or set them aside, to use soon.

Here are the 3 different varieties:
Siberian Red, 44, plus a few small ones. 7-2 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

48 Estonian Reds, plus a few small ones. 7-2 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

56 Metechis, plus a few small ones. 7-2 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

And here are all of the heads, tied up to hang for curing:
L>R Metechi, Siberian Red, and Estonian Red, tied up for hanging. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[TomatoNut95]

Wow! Nice produce, @pepperhead!

Wish I could post a thread about my 2019 garden, but the only things I have to show off is a few tomatoes and a few peppers. Kinda worthless. I'd rather see other peoples gardens anyway, because theirs are better than mine. Because they probably have better dirt.

[pepperhead212]

I got those teepees fenced in, for the beans, and the irrigation lines run to them (not in that order!). I'll see if that thin stuff will keep out the rabbits. I'll maybe get some beans by September, if I'm lucky - there isn't a single one of the other plants left alive, that I can see, though they may grow back if chewed of at the base. I'll take a photo of that, once the beans come up.

Tomatoes are ripening big time! However, there is still going to be a lull, because I see few blossoms on the larger ones, due to the heatwave, and another heatwave coming! Still, there are so many ripening at once that I called my cousin up and asked her what she was doing tomorrow. When she asked why, I simply replied "tomatoes", and she busted out laughing! And she said she'd be down (not real close, but worth it for this!).

This is what I picked from two Sunsugars today, after picking EVERY tomato with a hint of ripening two days ago! The rest I left for my cousin to help pick. lol
Sunsugars, from 2 plants 7-13, a little over 2 1/2 qts. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Got my first bitter melon today. I also noticed a bunch of new bottle gourds, but, unfortunately, no male blossoms. Maybe next time I'll save some in the fridge, for the next flush! Seems the females always come first, unlike winter squash, which always have a lot of males, way before the females, at least on mine.
First bitter melon 7-13 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Still only picked green chiles, except for those superchilis, which are always earliest.

[applestar]

I got those teepees fenced in, for the beans, and the irrigation lines run to them (not in that order!). I'll see if that thin stuff will keep out the rabbits. I'll maybe get some beans by September, if I'm lucky - there isn't a single one of the other plants left alive, that I can see, though they may grow back if chewed of at the base. I'll take a photo of that, once the beans come up.

Wait, wait — what happened? Did you mention rabbits somewhere else? So sorry if I’m reading this right and you lost some (a bunch of) plants.

Nice haul — your stuff are always early — I really think that is the SIP’s working. They show phenomenal growth early on while the stuff in the ground are still slow to take off, and start pumping out fruits when things are just starting to bloom.

Of course I was really late again this year — it’s mid-July and my cherries are just starting, big tomatoes are still green, just color breaking.

[imafan26]

Nice harvest. I call the hairy squash hyotan or opo. It is also called hercules war club, bottle gourd, or calabash. I have wild bitter melon growing in my yard. The birds bring the seeds. I usually pull them out but I need to get some of the seeds from the spiny bitter melon. It is much more bitter than the Chinese bitter melon. The leaves of bitter melon are also edible. Filipino dishes use them a lot. It is supposed to be good for diabetics. Filipinos and a many asians like some bitterness in their food especially with fish. It is supposed to make the dish less fishy. I myself would substitute pork for the fish instead.

I am still waiting for my Charger tomatoes to ripen. So far the plant habit is good for a determinate. It appears to be disease resistant as it has not mildewed despite the 90+% humidity. I haven't seen many bugs either, so I am crossing my fingers an toes on that one. I also have a wild current that so far has produced a few ripe fruit which the birds have gotten before me but so far does not have TYLCV. I have found some white flies on the hibiscus, sweet potato and the bind weed and I have been hosing down those plants regularly with water to keep them from breeding. I am also hosing the ti leaves since it is a fruit fly host.
https://www.specialtyproduce.com/produc ... sh_396.php
https://www.kawalingpinoy.com/ginisang- ... th-tinapa/

[TomatoNut95]

@Imafan, what is a Charger tomato? Sounds like a good one! Is that an heirloom?

[pepperhead212]

I got my first ripe habaneros today - Red Savinas. This is early - anything before the first of August, is great! Also, later I looked at the Aji Dulce, and a couple of them are just turning - no sign of them earlier, when I looked! The Savina plant is so heavy with peppers (it's one of those determinate peppers), that it pulled the plant over! Here's a photo of some of the peppers, including the ripe ones:
Red Savinas ripening 7-22 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The Big Jims are starting to get to full size, too, but nothing on the poblanos yet.
Big Jims and Red Savinas 7-22 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The Thai peppers are just starting to ripen. Unfortunately, one branch snapped off a plant during that wicked storm we had earlier. I got some full sized green peppers off of it, so it's not a complete loss. There were just as many half sized ones, which I tossed - I probably won't miss them!
Full sized green Thais - 7-22 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[TomatoNut95]

Wow! Pretty peppers, but honestly don't see how people eat those fire-hazards!

[pepperhead212]

Wow! Pretty peppers, but honestly don't see how people eat those fire-hazards!

C'mon...I thought you lived in Texas!

[pepperhead212]

I went out today and got a closer look at the damage that the 70 mph+ wind did last night. It tore about half of my chocolate hab plant off, though it still has a lot left. No damage to tomatoes or eggplants, or anything else that I can see. I guess it could have been a lot worse!

Despite the damage, I don't think that I will be running short of peppers! lol

And it's raining again! At least it's much cooler - 74° last time I looked.

[applestar]

Those were some fierce gusts. I kept circling the house looking out of windows to see if my corn would fall over but I don’t think it got as bad here. Yesterday morning, DH s buddy texted that he had been out of power all night.

Sorry that you had some bad damage to your garden.

[pepperhead212]

Apple, I considered myself lucky, considering what happened in many other places! And my cousin, in Bensalem, was out of power until almost 7 pm yesterday. I only had a few flickers.

[imafan26]

75 mph would be hurricane force winds.

[pepperhead212]

Tomatoes today! Plus, 4 shelves of previous harvested tomatoes in my dehydrator.
3 qts Sunsugars, 2 qts Sprite grapes, and 1 1/2 qts Jaspers 7-26 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

A few peppers, too, but mostly tomatoes today. And still a handful of okra coming in every day.
A bunch of tomatoes, plus a few Longhorns 7-27 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

It is definitely pepper time! Only one - chocolate habanero - without a single ripe one, but that may have been due to the damage, and hopefully, it will repair itself, and come back. Still, only a few ripening on some, nut the Thai varieties will have a lot of ripe ones quickly. Some of these I wouldn't normally harvest, when they just start ripening, but I'm sending a package to a friend, who moved this year, and couldn't set up much of a garden this season.

That unknown round pepper was supposed to be Fresno, but that's not Fresno. And both plants have the same peppers. I'll see what it's like - who knows, maybe it produces better, and has similar flavor!

I uncovered my protected pepper plants today (It's usually around 8-1 when I uncover, and I haven't seen any of the pepper maggot flies on my sticky traps in well over a week, so I figured it's time) - the ones in 3 Earthboxes, with the PVC posts, supporting the Agribon. The height of those things is 5 ft, minus the depth of the EB, so those plants are TALL!
Pepper plants growing through the tops of the covers 7-28 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Here are some of the plants, loaded with the peppers:
Jalafuego, uncovered 7-28 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Longhorns, uncovered 7-28 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

And some of the harvests:
Longhorns 7-28 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Thai, and a few Superchilis on the bottom 7-28 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

4 red savinas, a gold bullet, and 2 aji dulce on bottom. 7-28 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

4 Hanoi Markets, an unknown round, 6 Jalafuegos, and one Aleppo 7-28 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I also got a few more okra, EPs, and tomatoes, but the peppers were the find of the day.

[pepperhead212]

My okra was starting to accumulate, so I had to freeze some. I'd been harvesting 6-8 every day, and this 4 pints is 6 days worth.
About half of the okra, before cutting for freezing. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

4 pints of okra, before blanching. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

4 pints blanched okra, ready for freezing. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

And today I saw my first wax melon growing! Harvested another bottle gourd, and hand pollinated another one.
My first wax melon started up! by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

This is early, for the peppers, so imagine how many of these I will have by the end of the season!

And just think - I downsized this year!
Thai Vesuvius, two plants in back, 8-5 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Thai Vesuvius, two plants in front 8-5 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Red Savinas (L), and Jalafuegos, one plant each, 8-5 by pepperhead212, on Flickr
Big Jims (L), and Mosquetero Poblanos, 8-5 by pepperhead212, on Flickr
Hanoi Markets, Gold Bullets, unk. Cherry peppers, and Longhorns 8-5 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

My tomatoes, after a great first part of the year, are looking HORRIBLE, due to septoria leaf spot on almost all of them. Some I pulled already; of some I pulled all of the bad branches off, then today, I sprayed everything down with copper spray - about the worst thing I spray in my garden - and sprayed everything that it would help, besides the tomatoes, like all of the cucurbits. At first, it was all that rain that was affecting things, but then the heat, and we've had at least 25 90+ days this year, already. But then, the okras and peppers love it! I already have more okra to freeze!

[TomatoNut95]

@Pepperhead, I do live in Texas. I just don't care for hot peppers. Some people I know do, and others I know don't. It's merely a matter of what you like and don't like.

[pepperhead212]

More peppers today! I really am getting more than even I can use. lol

The Jyoti is sort of like the Thai peppers, but not producing as much, though this is only from 2 plants, while the Thai Vesuvius is 4 plants. And all these Aji Dulce are from just 1 plant, which is loaded with many green peppers.
Jyoti (L), and Aji Dulce 8-11 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

More Thai Vesuvius 8-11 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

And another one with dozens of peppers on the plant is the Chocolate habanero, which is just beginning to ripen. It gets a huge number, which I why I only grew one, which I don't like to do with favorites, because if something destroys it, I have none! Even this one had about 1/3 of it destroyed by wind in a storm, and you wouldn't know it to look at it!
More Gold Bullets and Red Savinas, plus the first ripe Chocolate Habanero 8-11 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I got a couple more bottle gourds, but still, it's not as productive as when I had two growing at once. It's not considered self-incompatible, as with tomatillos, but when two were growing, both produced large numbers - so many I could not come close to using them all, so I grew only one.
Bottle gourds 8-10, about 12 inches by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I'm starting to get some tomatoes, despite most being totally stopped by the heat a month ago. I pulled a number of plants that wouldn't make it, and planted bush beans, something that will produce, by the end of the season.

I also got a bunch more okra to freeze, but the last couple of days it has slowed down, only because it got cooler - down in the 60s at night. Okra really loves heat!

[applestar]

You are doing great with your hot weather crop this year! I’m just comfortably growing tomatoes mostly in the ground... Peppers do better in containers and SIP’s and I couldn’t follow through this spring although I had some good seedling candidates. So my handful of peppers are slowly ripening. I harvested two fruits today.

No okras this year, but Eggplants are doing as well as can be expected when planted in the ground. I’m hoping for melons — looking at several developing fruits.

[pepperhead212]

And even more peppers! I went out to get a few more jalapeños, for the escabeche I'm making today, and found more peppers. You can hardly see the jalapeños now!
A few jalapeños, Hanoi Markets, Aleppos, and Longhorns 8-11 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I have two watermelon plants, one almost dead, and only one fruit on each. I'm giving up on melons entirely. I have had terrible luck with canteloupes, honeydews, and any melon, for that matter. I'll just buy them, and use the areas for something else!

[applestar]

Do you mind elaborating? — bugs, diseases, or they just don’t thrive?

For me
- bugs = spotter cuke beetles cause wilt, and leaf-foots
- diseases — powdery mildew mostly
- failure to thrive — this has been key — I think it has to be the lower than ideal overnight temp/soil temp. They need 75+ overnights. My case, under-fertilizing too. They need well prepped rich bed in sunniest, hottest spot — mounded high raised bed with plenty of moisture while growing. This year, black landscape mulch. — IR mulch is supposed to be best, I do think the black one is helping OR the heatwaves, or both.

If you are good at keeping up the feeding, large Rubbermaid tub sip with automated watering should show results.....

[pepperhead212]

Apple, I tried the cantaloupes in the SIP last season - 3 different varieties, and only got one per plant. As always, they were wiped out by disease []and[] bugs. Yet right next to them the bottle gourds - another cucurbit - did great. I figured that they must want cooler weather, since I frequently see melons from Colorado and Canada. I even tried Thai melons, and others that sound like they are from the tropics, figuring, how could it be hotter here? But no luck.

[pepperhead212]

More peppers - it's definitely pepper season! Before I harvested these today, I had 7 trays of peppers in my dehydrator, out of 9 available trays. I might need my old dehydrator again!
Thai Vesuvius 8-14 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Aji Dulce and Chocolate Habanero 8-14 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Here's a photo showing some of the many chocolate habanero peppers, which are now ripening quickly.
A view of the chocolate hab plant, showing the incredible number of peppers on the plant. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

A few more things I got today:
Bitter melon, plus a few tomatoes and tomatillos, 8-14 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The komatsuna finally bolted, later than ever!
Komatsuna, Summer Fest, finally bolting, on 8-14. Latest ever in my garden. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The senposai was attacked by cabbage butterfly caterpillars, with severe damage to the central leaves. I pulled off a few caterpillars, and thought about treating with Bt, but why bother? It's going to bold soon, as well. So tomorrow I'll harvest all of my greens, and do something with them.
Senposai leaves destroyed overnight, by cabbage butterfly caterpillars. 8-14 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

More peppers, of course, with all this heat.
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

[Taiji]

Love those peppers! This year am growing long thin cayenne, serrano, jalapeno, cal wonders, big berthas, big jims. But, they're all very slow this year in the U P. I'm afraid it is going to frost before I get my full harvest.

[pepperhead212]

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

[TomatoNut95]

Can you try rooting hormone on the youngsters to help them get going? I found a small cedar tree in a wooded spot near my house. I thought I'd give it to my mother since she likes cedar trees, so using my shovel, I dug up the tree. I was quite sure I damaged a lot of roots so, I washed off the trees remaining roots and applied root hormone. I then placed the tree in a small pot. I was afraid it would die, but amazingly it has new growth on it, and has gotten bigger. During all this heat I moved the little potted tree to a shadier location to ensure against death by heat. My mother turned down the tree because it's the pricklier kind. However, I plan to repot the tree this fall into a larger pot, and offer it to someone else next spring.

[pepperhead212]

I have no idea if rooting hormone, or other similar things, would help a weak rooted plant root better. Maybe take some of the powder, dissolve it in water, and water it once, to see if it triggers it?

I just noticed some of those "baby plants" coming up in the pot of my bay laurel today! Anybody ever see this before?

This cool weather may have slowed my peppers, but you can't really tell it!
More peppers today - the red Thai and Jyotis I may freeze from today's crop, since I need fresh reds for many dishes in Thai and other SE Asian dishes. Next, I'll start freezing some fresh greens, for Indian, and other cuisines. And some frozen habaneros. Hanoi market isn't great dried, or green, so I freeze all of those ripe, besides the ones I use now.
Misc. Peppers - Big Jim, Poblano, Thai, Aji Dulce, Hanoi Market, and Jalafuego 8-25 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Jyoti, 8-25 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Habaneros - Chocolate, Red Savina, and Gold Bullet, 8-25 Chocolates will soon be the max producer. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[TomatoNut95]

I have no trouble using root hormone. I have used it on coleus cuttings before with success. Prepare a pot with wet soil in it. Using a pencil or a stick, create a hole in the soil. Dip the tip of the cutting in water to make the powder stick. Then dip it into the powder. Place the cutting down in the hole and fix the soil around it. I'd keep the cutting out of the direct sun for a few weeks until the roots are strong.

[pepperhead212]

Just 4 days, and the chocolate habs and jyotis had a bunch more to pick, though others are slowing down, for sure. Maybe the slowing down is from those very cool days and nights we head for a while. The meteorologist said that the averages were almost a month off - like late September - but it's gotten hotter again.
Habaneros 8-29. Chocolate plant is loaded, but the red savina and gold bullet plants have slowed down greatly. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Jyoti 8-29 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I picked all of the full sized Superchilis, hoping to trigger them to a new flush of blossoms, which are there, but not opened.
Thai Vesuvius and Aji Dulce slowed down. Pulled all full size Superchilis, green and red, 8-29 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

A few small tomatoes today and yesterday. About the same number both days, but we snacked on some yesterday.
Sunset falls, grape, and cherry tomatoes, 8-28 and 8-29. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I was surprised when I looked at my beans today. The blauhilde had blossoms all over, which is normal, as they were planted on 7-14, and they are a fairly fast pole bean. But what surprised me was that there are beans all over the Thai Purple Podded Yard Long Beans! They are too small to pick, since they are very thin, which is normal for long beans. But these are the fastest long beans I have ever grown, for sure.
Thai purple podded yard long bean, planted on 7-14. Fastest long bean ever! by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Blauhilde blossoms. Planted on 7-14 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

My raised bed is in now!
Got it in! That was the easy part... by pepperhead212, on Flickr

A friend came over and helped me move the sides, as well as putting it together. Later, I began collecting junk wood from the alley, behind my house (I knew that those people wouldn't complain about me cleaning those things out!). The storm came through, and gave me an excuse to stop - I didn't need much of an excuse - I was totally soaked, before the rain! This is a bunch of the stuff I began putting in, to start my version of Hügelkultur. A lot of those logs and limbs I collected were already considerably decomposed.
This is the harder part. Got a lot of filling in for the Hügelkultur, but I had to stop, due to a storm. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Okra was the only thing I harvested today - didn't even pick any peppers! But, of course, I could have, given the numbers of them!
Okra, 9-2. Getting 8 or 9 every day now, sometimes more, if nights are hotter. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

And the number of those long beans is incredible. Maybe 2 more days, until I can harvest some. This is just what is visible from one side, and there's a bunch more, buried in there:
Thai Red Yard Long Beans 9-2 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

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Looking good, love that Hugelkultur bed.