Re: pepperhead212's 2020 garden

[pepperhead212]

How do you get your pepper flowers to pollinate when they are covered from wind and bugs?

I had that same question the first year I grew covered peppers, back then in a hoop house. I first grew a Thai pepper under the cover, along with the prone varieties, so that I could compare those inside and out. When I first saw flowers through the fabric, I watched closely, and soon opened it up briefly, and it was incredible all of the peppers on them! Even more than the outside plants! And no others ever seemed to have any shortage of peppers, or flowers dropping off, from not developing into peppers.

[TomatoNut95]

Pepper blossoms are self pollinating.

[pepperhead212]

Yes, peppers are self pollinating, like tomatoes, and eggplants, but it seems they have even more likelihood of crossing, in my experience. With any of them, however, I isolate them, to be safe, when saving seeds.

I picked 12 more eggplants today, from just 3 plants! I could have left some of the ichibans on another day, but there were so many on both of them, I just figured this would help those grow more.
5 Ichibans, 7-11 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

5 more Ichibans, plus 2 neons, 7-11 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

You can see why I've been growing Ichibans since back in the 80s! Usually the heat stops them, but it doesn't seem to have made them drop any blossoms yet, this year.

Just 6 varieties of tomatoes ripening (4 picked from today), but they are on their way! Picked a couple of blushed ones by accident, that were right next to one of the others.
Tomatoes are starting to ripen quickly! Just 6 types of plants, so far, out of 21, so just the tip of the iceberg! 7-11 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[TomatoNut95]

Strange.... those Flickr images showed up on my tablet. Looks good!

[pepperhead212]

9 more cucumbers today, 5 dark ones all from the one County fair. Still a bunch of all different sizes on the two Wisconsin 58s.
Cucumbers on 7-12, all 5 below from one County Fair! by pepperhead212, on Flickr

More tomatoes today, but only the ones in the shade - I'm waiting for the other side to get out of the sun! The Green Tiger is just starting to ripen, while some years it has ripened before sunsugars.
Tomatoes on 7-12, green tiger just starting to ripen. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

More eggplants today, including the first Indian Hari variety, which I could have left to get larger, but there are so many on the plant that I wanted to start harvesting them.
More Ichibans, and the first Hari to be harvested. 7-12 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

These are the cukes I have to pickle - every time I look out there, it seems like I missed another! This is just 3 days worth, from the same 3 plants, and I've used 5 in some refrigerator pickles, and other ways.
11 Wisconsin 58s, and 3 County Fairs, ready to pickle. 7-14 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Today, by accident I knocked off my largest tomato so far this season - a 15.20 oz. Big Beef. It was green, but has a faint blush, like another I knocked off, so they both should ripen.

[pepperhead212]

It's getting to be tomato season! The cherries are starting to recover, and I got 2 quarts today, of the cherries, tigers, and grapes. And a generous number of Matina, Marian, Big Beef, and Prime Ribs.

Here are those two Big Beef tomatoes I knocked off yesterday, including that one 15.2 oz one - they definitely started ripening in just a day. I knocked a bunch of the grape tomatoes off today while picking, but that didn't bother me as much.
The two Big Beefs I knocked off the plant the day before, each with a slight blush. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Here are today's tomatoes:
Harvest on 7-15, about twice that of the day before. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The cherries are finally catching up! 2 qts in just one day. 7-15 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[TNCatHerder]

Dave, what variety are your large red round tomatoes in the 2nd to last photo?

[Gary350]

It always surprises me when knocked off green tomatoes ripen inside the house they always taste just as good as vine ripe garden tomatoes. I use to expect them to taste like no flavor grocery store tomatoes but they never do? Even when I pick 40 green tomatoes the day before first frost then we eat the last ripe tomato for Christmas dinner 6 weeks later it tastes just as good as vine ripe tomatoes. ???

[pepperhead212]

Dave, what variety are your large red round tomatoes in the 2nd to last photo?

Those red tomatoes without the splits are Big Beefs. The ones with the shoulder splits are Marian, which got those splits from the 4.73" rain we got last Friday, but repaired themselves. And those black tomatoes are the Prime Ribs, which got some minor circular shoulder splitting. Fortunately, no major problems with splitters.

[TNCatHerder]

Thanks. I want to grow some slicers that are round not rippled like the Brandywines I had last year.

[Gary350]

Thanks. I want to grow some slicers that are round not rippled like the Brandywines I had last year.

Any beef steak type tomato makes good slicers they do not fall apart before you can put them on a sandwich. They have good flavor too and the flavor changes from the day it is picked to about 3 days later. After 3 days my tomatoes loose most of their strong acid flavor, color is much more Red, flavor is a much stronger tomato flavor. 3 days of ageing gives them a much better tomato flavor for pizza sauce & spaghetti sauce and I like the full body flavor on, sandwiches, salads, salsa, chili. I use to have good luck with Jet Star but the past 4 years plant die early and tomatoes rot on the vine I stopped growing jet star. Beef Master is a terrible tomato it grows in sections and each section gets ripe at a different time so you get tomatoes that are rotten on 1 side and not rope on the other side. Beef Steak use to be the best but the past 5 years I had so many problems I stopped growing those. Big Beef is the best beef steak tomato I have found I have had very good luck with them for several years, good slicers, good flavor, don't split, very productive about 20 lbs of tomatoes per plant. This year I rediscovered Rutger tomatoes they grow very large, best flavor ever, too much rain makes them split but they repair them self, my Rutger tomatoes have a bug problem no other tomatoes in the garden have so ripe Rutger tomatoes need to be picked just as soon as they are almost ripe get them out of the garden before bugs get them. Beef steak varieties grow in random patterns not pie shape sections that fall apart. Here is a Rutger tomato I cut just for a photo I have never heard any claim Rutger is a beef steak variety but judging by the cut pattern it looks like a beef steak. Never put all your eggs in 1 basket grow a minimum of 4 different tomato varieties every year if it turns out to be a bad year for 1 or 2 varieties you still have good tomatoes to eat. Rutger & Big Beef are both big round tomatoes. I planted 20 Rutger seeds in a 2 gallon pot yesterday I should have transplants in about 3 or 4 weeks first frost in TN is about Nov 7. It is not too late to buy plants. Rutgers are BIG 1 lb tomatoes, Big Beef are Big 14 ounce tomatoes. Don't give tomatoes much nitrogen or you get BIG plants and not many tomatoes. Tomato plants like P&K potassium & phosphorus.

[pepperhead212]

Every day there's more tomatoes and eggplants, plus a few cukes. Soon, the dehydrator will be fired up.
I got my first round bottle gourd, so far. It's a 41 oz gourd, from the white flowered plant - not sure what that orange flowered plant is - maybe one of my other butternuts, in the flat part of the garden? I still haven't seen a female blossom on those, either, with all these fruits on the bottle and tinda gourd plants; no bitter melons yet, but a lot of blossoms. I also got 2 Rosita eggplants, and 5 more Ichibans, but the Ichibans finally stopped flowering, from all the heat, which is typical for them, but none of the others have stopped.
About 2 qts of Sprite grape tomatoes. 7-17 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

2020-07-18_04-58-24 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Eggplants, rosita on top, neon on the bottom. 7-18 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

41 oz Round Bottle Gourd, next to two 8 oz Rosita eggplants. 7-19 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Also har



Soon, the peppers will be ready. I harvested my first ripe ones today - the superchilis, which are always the first ones, though a little late this season.
First ripe peppers of the season, 7-19 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

I saw my first Thai peppers ripening yesterday, so soon I'll be picking a lot of those!
First Thai Vesuvius turning red! 7-20 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Today, a bunch more tomatoes, 5 more eggplants, plus the first long bottle gourds.
First long gourds picked - 7-21, long one 18 inches, 43 oz, small one 33 oz. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Also saw my first butternut formed today, though, of course, it will be quite a while before harvest!
First butternut squash formed, about 5 inches. 7-21 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

I have a bunch of those determinate types starting to ripen, so I am going to have a lot of tomatoes soon! Actually, I have a lot now.
Here is what I got from two varieties today:
Over 3 quarts of Sprite tomatoes, one day harvest 7-27 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The Peachy Keen is one of the determinates that doesn't have a second crop, as all of the branches are turning brown after the tomatoes ripen, and there isn't another flower on the plant. So I pulled every tomato off the plant, and pulled the plant - not sure what I'll plant there. All of these will go in the dehydrator, as the flavor was good then - sort of like sunsugar dried.
All of the tomatoes from one Peachy Keen plant, 7-27 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I also cut some squash blossoms from all those winter squash:
Squash blossoms, from 7 plants - 7-27 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

And I cut the largest bottle gourd, so far:
Large round bottle gourd - 7-27 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I cut up all those eggplants (except 4 that I gave away), and put them in the dehydrator - 4 racks packed, along with another packed rack of tomatoes. Here are the packed racks of eggplants and tomatoes from before, showing how much those things shrink!
Dried eggplant and tomatoes. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

I didn't do much today, though I picked my okra - a daily chore now.

I picked my first bitter melon today, and saw the first of one of one of my white varieties. Plus I saw a number of new ones forming.
First Bitter Melon picked, 7-28 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

One of the white varieties, only about 5 inches, so far. 7-28 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Two tiny bitter melons forming, 7-28 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[TomatoNut95]

Pepperhead, how did you dry your tomatoes? Did you peel off the skin before drying them? I attempted to dry some of San Marzanos, but after being in the dryer for days, the pieces refused to get crispy. The shrunken, shriveled up pieces just felt rubbery, and not the least bit crispy and they would not ground up. Are you SUPPOSED to remove the skins prior to drying? Idk what I did wrong, but wasted a bunch of SMs and Romas.

[Vanisle_BC]

My two bits worth (?)

I dry tomatoes, in pieces or sliced, skin-on in the greenhouse when it's sunny. They don't get crispy; maybe they would if I left them longer. You could call them tough - a bit like fruit leather. We store them in jars of olive oil or frozen in plastic bags; use them chopped on pizza. Intense flavor! The olive oil ones are hard to chase around on a chopping board. Scissors may be called for, and/or Bandaids .

I've never tried to dry them to a crisp for powdering. I'll be interested to hear Pepperhead's comments.

Had a pricey dehydrator for a while but got fed up with the time it took, using power and taking up space in our wee kitchen. There's free hot sun out there!

[TomatoNut95]

That's why I don't prefer to dry stuff in my oven. Makes my little kitchen hot, and uses power. I just wonder if you were drying them to powderize, if you were supposed to peel off the skins.

[pepperhead212]

I also don't dry tomatoes until crispy - they just feel leathery, when I finish with them. I dry them at a low temp - 110-115° - for around 2 days. Tomatoes dry from 16 oz to 1 oz, to get leathery, like that. I dry them to soak, and then use in things like Mexican, or that tomato paste I made with old dried tomatoes. I never powdered them for anything.

Harvested 4 more cukes today, along with a 3 qt bowl of just Cherry Bomb, along with Lucky and Green Tigers. I also uncovered my peppers - the ones prone to pepper maggots, as I saw no PM flies in the sticky yellow traps there. Most of those varieties are harvested ripe, but only two, so far, starting to ripen - the Superthai, and Aji Colorado, which is the only Aji ripened, as well as the most productive. However, the Hanoi Market is the most productive of any, though none ripe yet - typical, as it starts about a week into August, and many are full sized. A good number of jalapeños - already picked once, and still a lot of small ones, as well as flowers.
One of the uncovered Earthboxes, almost all of the peppers the Hanoi Markets. 7-29 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Aji molocoton, a couple of those formed so far. 7-29 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Uncovered peppers, Aji Colorado on left, Craigs jalapeños, and Super Thai, on bottom. 7-29 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

And something funny happened earlier - when I was on my front porch, about 2 pm, I saw some okra, that seemed to be getting large, faster than usual. I almost always pick this in the morning, as that is when it's in the shade. I saw a number of larger ones, then I realized that I hadn't picked them today! That is something that has to be picked daily (some varieties twice a day), or it will get fibrous. I'm lucky I have those varieties that will let me slip up occasionally, though I almost always pick them.
Okra, 7-29, Emerald still behind in production. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

That reminds me - I have to make something with okra tonight.

And later, 2 more bottle gourds.
Two more bottle gourds, 7-29 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[Gary350]

My two bits worth (?)

I dry tomatoes, in pieces or sliced, skin-on in the greenhouse when it's sunny. They don't get crispy; maybe they would if I left them longer. You could call them tough - a bit like fruit leather. We store them in jars of olive oil or frozen in plastic bags; use them chopped on pizza. Intense flavor! The olive oil ones are hard to chase around on a chopping board. Scissors may be called for, and/or Bandaids .

I've never tried to dry them to a crisp for powdering. I'll be interested to hear Pepperhead's comments.

Had a pricey dehydrator for a while but got fed up with the time it took, using power and taking up space in our wee kitchen. There's free hot sun out there!

I have the same problem with tomatoes never getting crispy I think the biggest problem is humidity in TN is always very high near 100% all the time. If you buy a Bell Jar and vacuum pump you can make tomatoes dry crispy. You need a good vacuum pump that will pump to -28 psi water will boil at room temperature and vacuum pump sucks moisture away. You can dehydrate almost anything in small pieces & thin slices crispy dry in 30 minutes or less at room temperature. What is the humidity where you live?

[TomatoNut95]

Ah. Humidity. That was probably my problem as well. Humidity here in Texas is worse during, and right after a rain spell.

Either way, my tomatoes refused to crisp. Pieces felt rubbery. I just didn't want to use my oven, it makes my kitchen too hot. I can sweat just standing there doing dishes

[pepperhead212]

I think I'm going to grill a lot of these tomatoes, then can them - good to have around for Mexican dishes. Surprisingly, I only knocked those 4 green ones off, harvesting all of these!
Probably the most tomatoes I ever harvested in one day. 8-1 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I've never had this kind - sounds totally different from most others, as the seeds are supposedly edible.
The Okinawan Pure White Bitter Melon, from Baker Creek. First harvest 8-1 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[applestar]

Everything looks fabulous! REALLY ENJOYING seeing your harvest.

[pepperhead212]

I got a lot done today - even though I really didn't want to be out in that heat and humidity, it was windy, so that made it bearable. I took my canner outside, to jar some tomatoes, without putting all that heat into my house, but first I cooked a bunch of tomatoes on the grill, for "fire roasted" tomatoes, to use in Mexican food. I got 4 quarts, though one didn't seal, so that's in the fridge.
Roasting a bunch of tomatoes, for canning. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Tomatoes roasted on the grill, to make sauce. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The fire roasted tomatoes, for canning. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I also picked many of my cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, and tigers. I left the sunsugars for tomorrow.
About 3 quarts of Sprite tomatoes. 8-2 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

About 2 quarts of Cherry Bomb tomatoes. 8-2 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Green and Lucky Tigers, 8-2 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

And a few eggplants, as usual.
Eggplants, 8-2 harvest. That whitish one is a neon I missed for a few days! by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I also pulled those 4 Red Bor kale plants, that were still out there growing, without bolting. I trimmed the leaves off all of the stems, and had about 3 full 12 qt bowls of it, before washing and cutting! But it steamed down to about 9 qts.
The 4 Red Bor kale plants, finally pulled up, 8-12 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The kale, after being cleaned, cut, and steamed, in a 12 qt bowl, ready to freeze. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Kale, Foodsavered and ready to freeze. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I was going to make Thai grilled chicken, since I was using the grill, but I ran out of time! That will be early tomorrow, before the rain gets here.
Paste for Thai grilled chicken. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Marinating the Thai chicken. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

With all this other stuff already, peppers are starting to come in!

Today I realised that the branch that I tried to fix on the Thai pepper plant had died. I had tried sprinkling them with water frequently, and waited for them to come back, but it died, so I picked all of the peppers from it today, and there were a lot, but that is only about 40% of the peppers on the plant! The branch on the Aji Dulce, however, seems to have come back. The leaves will wilt slightly in the sun, but come back as soon as the sun is off of them.
Thai vesuvius, totally snapped off by wind, and put back together with grafting tape. 8-4 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Unfortunately, the section of the Thai Vesuvius, that I tried to put back together with grafting tape, did not make it. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

All of the peppers from the dead branch of the Thai Vesuvius. 8-7 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Aji dulce, snapped off about 2/3 of the way by wind, held back together by grafting tape. 8-4 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The damaged branch of the Aji Dulce, recovering well. 8-7 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The habaneros are starting to ripen, but they are not chocolates, just some orange hab - must have been a stray seed in the pack. I'm sure they'll still be good.
Ripening habanero, supposed to be chocolate, but must have been a stray seed. 8-7 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

It's pepper time! In addition to all those tomatoes, peppers are starting to ripen big time, though many of the Ajis are not ripening yet.
Thai Vesuvius, picked a couple of days ago,, ripe and ready to dry. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

3rd picking of Thai Vesuvius. 8-11 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Clockwise from TL- Hanoi Market, unk. Habanero, Aji Dulce, Superchili, Superthai, Jalapeño. 8-11 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

I went back out, when the shade was on the areas, and pulled every tomato, green and ripened, from those determinate ones, 6 varieties. It doesn't look like any of them are starting to flower much again, like some do after the initial picking, so I may be pulling those soon. Other tomatoes are still doing well, and the bitter melons and tinda gourds are loaded. I got some dark seeds from the largest tinda gourd - I'll see if a couple sprout, and save them for next season, though I still have a lot in the seed pack. The new white bitter melon is not at all bitter, and the inside is not red, like the photo in Baker Creek (my source for the seeds), so I assume that it's not mature enough, but when I leave them much longer, they start getting brown spots, and even those aren't red. I saved some seeds, but don't think they are mature enough - I'll find out.
About 2 layers of ripe tomatoes, plus a lot of green ones on top, for pickling. 8-11 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

About 2 more quarts of Sprites. 8-11 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Bitter melons and Tinda gourds. 8-11 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The new white Okinawan Bitter Melon, cut open. 8-11 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Green bitter melon, cut open, and partly seeded. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

Yesterday was pepper day, today, tomato day. Once the peppers started coming in, I had to split them into different days! A lot of other things, of course, but small numbers of most others. The eggplants had been slowed down by the heat, but there are large areas of new growth, and blossoms, so soon I'll be getting a bunch of those.
Peppers, 8-17 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Thai Vesuvius peppers, 8-17 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

This has been a terrible year for my beans, but the Thai Red Long beans are starting up, and maybe other late planted ones will also make up for the previous lack of production.
The Thai Red Long bean, finally started to produce. 8-17 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Still getting a generous number of tomatoes, though the rain and humidity has brought on some fungal problems, which were pretty much absent in the early summer, due to the dryness. I can't complain, however! That Matina (1½-2") is back producing, after a brief delay, due to heat; this, and the splitting from the extreme rainfalls were the only problems I had with it, so I will grow it again. The Green Tigers were much better than the Lucky Tigers, which it seems replaced the Greens in the catalogs. The luckys split horribly after those rainfalls, while the greens split some, but not nearly as much. So I'll be saving seeds for that!
Tomatoes, mostly Matina and Big Beef, and a few Amish Gold Slicers. 8-18 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Over 3 quarts of Cherry Bombs, plus a few more Tigers. 8-18 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Mostly Green Tigers, a few Lucky Tigers, 8-18 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

And while out there later on, I picked the largest bitter melon that I have grown - not sure how I missed this!
Largest bitter melon that I have ever grown - 12 inches, and 14.1 oz. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

And I left one green BM on the vine to ripen (they turn orange), and picked it today. Some of the seeds were turning red, like the photo of the white BM in Baker Creek. I've never seen any others turn red before. The red gel washed off the seeds, and I dried them - I'll see how they germinate.
Bitter melon, ripened on the vine, with seeds starting to turn red. 8-18 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Red seeds in ripening green bitter melon. 8-18 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

And here is a cucumber plant and a bitter melon plant growing from clones; no fruits yet, but both flowering.
Bitter melon (bottom) and cucumber plant (top) growing from clones. 8-18 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

Today I put another tray of peppers in the dehydrator - adding to the 3 yesterday, plus the 3 eggplant trays from yesterday. I harvested a bunch more beans, and, while weeding the area around the beans, I found a volunteer sugar snap pea, with a couple of pods started! I planted some radish seeds in the raised bed, after weeding it, and I was going to pull the dill, which was pretty much gone, but there were 6 black swallowtail caterpillars on them, so I left them there, until the caterpillars are gone.
One of 6 swallowtail caterpillars on the dill, 9-6 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Longest of the 6 swallowtail caterpillars, 9-6. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Another of the 6 swallowtail caterpillar, 9-6 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I harvested my first winter squash today - that yuxi squash, which didn't pan out, as Baker Creek said it would, being useful as a summer squash type, as it was very hard when very small. The others, on the ground, are much larger than this early one, which is just over 4 lbs. No signs of disease at all, and I got a lot of blossoms for the tacos last night, and a couple more days.
First and smallest yuxi squash, 9-6, about 65 oz. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

Yesterday and today were mostly cleanup - 4 cans of garden trash out for the lawn trash guys, once they got here today, and another ready for them next week! The pole beans have started producing, however, since it is cooler. I must have gotten a stray seed for those yellow beans - I can't remember the last time I grew any wax beans, and these were in a new raised bed, so no volunteer plants. The Thai Red Long beans have been producing through the hot weather, which doesn't seem to bother them.
Smaller beans starting to produce a lot, now that the heat is not bad. Long beans did not mind the heat. 9-14 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Neon and Ichiban eggplants still producing well. 9-13 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Tomatoes still producing a few; same with peppers, though I already have enough dried and frozen to last through next year!

In these last few days I've planted all of the seedlings I had started for greens and other brassicas (except all those lettuce, as I have a large excess of them) - senposai, misome, mizuna, bok choy, purple napa, kale, kohlrabi, and cauliflower. Some have doubled in size in just a few days!

[imafan26]

Your red noodle is doing better than mine. It was not the beans fault. I transplanted them late and apparently they don't like marigolds as companions. The marigolds are beautiful but the beans are struggling. Once I collect the marigold seeds, I will replant the pot and maybe put the beans somewhere else. Nice eggplant too. I switched out my eggplant for a pintung long. It is just starting to flower now.

[pepperhead212]

@imafan26 That long bean is the Thai Red Long, which does a lot better for me than the Red Noodle - it is much faster, often beating the regular pole beans, when planted at the same time (I actually started getting some in 45 days one season!). And they are less prone to rust, though they still get a little. Not sure how they get along with marigolds, however, as I haven't planted those for ages!

I trimmed that curry tree today, due to some cool nights coming up, when I'll have to bring it onto the back porch overnight. Strangely enough, the cluster of seeds that formed in spring, which are actually fruits, with 1 seed each, are just starting to ripen! Usually, they ripen much sooner; not sure why, but maybe this trimming will trigger them more.
Seeds of the curry tree, from the spring, just now starting to ripen. 9-15 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The trimmed branches of the curry tree, all 16-20 inches long. 9-15 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[imafan26]

It looks just like red noodle. Where did you get it from? Usually, I get better results when I grow the tropical beans. They handle heat, disease, and pests a lot better. I also like a green long bean that is relatively short but is much more tender. I don't know the name of that one. I usually eat this type of bean with bacon, onions and garlic with a little bit of soy sauce or in Pinakbet, Evil Jungle Prince, or sari sari.

[pepperhead212]

It looks very much like Red Noodles, and it grows a lot like it, too, staying fairly firm, until it gets very long, unlike green varieties I've tried, which seem to get hollowed out quickly. It doesn't get quite as long as red noodle, but 18-20" is still pretty long! I mis-named it, probably thinking of the "Red" noodle - it's called the Thai Purple Podded Yard Long Bean, which I got at Baker Creek.
https://www.rareseeds.com/store/vegetab ... -yard-long

I have had these get over 24", and Red noodles get over 36". Red noodles never started producing until 80 or 85 days after planting, and were much more prone to rust than these. Both are good to grow in heat, unlike my other beans, which simply don't like heat! The only bad thing that has happened with both varieties is hollowing out in extreme heat - high 90s and low 100s - but both still produced, and as soon as the heat would come down, the beans would become solid again.

Today I found a long bean lost in the greens, and it is hollowed out, and the beans are forming, so I'll let this one dry out, to save the seeds!

[imafan26]

That's good to know. I usually plant the green long beans more than the red ones. For me the green ones have fewer problems but they are best harvested when still very young at less than a foot. I don't like them as much once the beans start to bulge. My friend told me about the red beans because she thought they tasted better. I really did not find any taste difference. I did notice that the red beans had more rust than the green yard long beans. I do like Baker seeds. It is where I actually got my red noodle from. I will look for the seeds of the Thai red long beans. The seed companies right now are out of stock for many things. I need to be able to order enough seed to make the shipping worth while. I have an order in with a friend for some seeds from Kitazawa just because we can split the shipping and Kitazawa has increased the package size so I need to order more to justify the bulk flat rate.

[pepperhead212]

I planted a few more fast fall crops (radishes, and a couple Asian greens) in some spots there were other things I pulled out - cucumbers, and some of those cauliflower seedlings that just didn't make it. As usual, the cauliflower just isn't growing like the other greens I started in late August. Here is a photo of the red napa, just over 3 weeks old.
Red Napa cabbage 9-19, just over 3 weeks old. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Tonight I cut up just under 4 lbs of beans, steam blanched them, then vacuum packed them, to go in the freezer. I still have some from last year! lol Fortunately, they keep well, vacuum sealed.
More Foodsavered beans, ready to go in the freezer. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The okra and hot peppers are slowing down greatly, due to the cold weather (lows in the high 40s three nights now). Hopefully, it will warm up a little.

[Vanisle_BC]

Pepperhead, is there something 'different' about the pictures you post? They are painfully slow to load on my machine - admittedly not on he cutting edge of speed, but other pictures come up quite smartly. Are yours very large files (I don't think so) or transmitted through a proxy sever?

[pepperhead212]

@Vanisle, My photos are through flickr, which I thought was better for places like this, instead of posting a file directly - takes up less of the forum's memory, or whatever you call it. I used to post them on Photobucket, but something happened to that. But back then, on one of my early, really slow computers, the photos people would just post as a file would load much slower than mine. I don't know what the problem would be - have to ask somebody more tech savy than me! lol