pepperhead212's 2021 garden

[pepperhead212]

I got another generous 4 quarts of tomatoes today, including some of the Chocolate Cherries and the Cherry Brownies - the two "black" varieties I have this season. Both are very good, but the brownies are lighter in color, and not as strong tasting, IMO. The brownies are also slightly larger.
Chocolate Cherries (L) and Cherry Brownies by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

The Gold Habaneros are starting to ripen! Only 2 superchilis are starting to ripen, while there are 6 totally ripened Gold Bullets, which is surprising.
Gold Bullet Habaneros, beginning to ripen. 7-16 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

I halved tomatoes for two trays in my dehydrator, for the first time this year. There were more of each, but not enough of the larger ones.
First two trays of halved tomatoes for the dehydrator, this top one all gold cherries. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

Yesterday, the Hong Gochu began ripening - a Korean variety that is about as hot as a serrano pepper. No bitterness when green, like some varieties have, and I'll find out how it is fresh and dried, when ripe. The plant is loaded with peppers, and it doesn't seem prone to pepper maggots, like some milder ones do.
Hong Gochu, one just starting to ripen. 7-17 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Today I harvested a bunch more tomatoes, plus 10 cucumbers. I have to figure out something to do with all those, as there's a lot more out there! I also found an overgrown bottle gourd - like what happens with zucchini, getting lost under the vines.
10 cucumbers and one oversized bottle gourd, 7-18 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

Today I found one of those bitter melons, that got lost in all those vines, and got larger than any others, though it can get larger. It's still not ripening, but I have to use it quickly.
A bitter melon that I lost in the vines, and got larger than the usual ones I harvest- 11 1/2 inches by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Today I did a taste test of those 5 gold cherry tomatoes I'm growing this year. I'll start with the two I wasn't crazy about, and won't be growing again. The Burbees Honeycomb, which is a small grape tomato, and is the least sweet of all, and I didn't like eating it on its own. The Wow! Sungold was not like the original Sungold - sweet, but not a well balanced flavor. And this one has strangely lanky plants, like it's growing in a low light setting - something I have not seen on other plants!

Sunsugar is the one of the five I have grown many times, and was the sweetest, which did not surprise me. I harvested a generous amount of those, many of which were dead ripe for the tasting. The other two - Weetang Shebang, and Kustengold I harvested a lot of 5 days ago, so they are totally ripe, for the tasting. These are mostly 3/4-1", the few smaller ones around 1/2".
All Sunsugars, 7-19 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Weetang Shebang, L, and Kustengold, R, picked 5 days ago. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I tried the Sunsugar first, and as I figured, it was sweeter and more flavorful that the first two non-keepers. Then I tried the Weetang, which is slightly less sweet, but much more flavorful. The Kustengold was a little less sweet, too, and also more flavorful, but of these two, the Weetang was the more flavorful and balanced. The Sunsugar tasted sort of bland, when eaten after these. When tasted back and forth after each other, I picked the Weetang over the other, but it's close. The Kustengold was the first of all of my tomatoes to blossom this year, but was only slowly producing, until recently, and the Weetang began, once it started ripening, caught up quickly. Both are growing better looking vines than Sunsugar, but they always look rather sickly, yet they still produce like crazy! I'll take some photos of the plants, later, for comparison.

The red cherries I'm growing are behind these, and the few I've had had not been anything special.

[pepperhead212]

I harvested couple more cukes and bitter melons today, a few pole beans started producing, and I started getting some more chiles. It seemed like most of my Numex peppers had stopped growing any more, so I uncovered them, and harvested the full sized ones. The Big Chili plants seem determinate, and the all of the peppers were pretty much the same size. And there were no flowers on the plants. The Giuzeppi plants had a bunch of pretty much the same size fruits, plus a few new ones, with a few new flowers, but it doesn't seem as indeterminate as some.
16 Chiles from 4 Giuzeppi Numex - 44 oz. on 7-20 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

10 chiles from two Big Chili plants, 23 oz. on 7-20 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

After this, before re-covering the tubs, I added some "maxi bloom" fertilizer to each Earthbox - something that I rarely use, but with these things, or tomatoes or eggplants, that have stopped flowering, due to heat, I put a small amount in the reservoir. I only use inorganic fertilizers occasionally in the Earthboxes and other SIPs - the 24 oz of that bloom fertilizer I've had for close to 10 years, and haven't used even half of it.

[pepperhead212]

I harvested a bunch of tomatoes today. Some of my larger varieties are ripening up now, but, as usual this high rain and humidity increases disease, in the larger and smaller varieties. Our rain in July was said to be close to 4" above average on 7-21. Earlier in the season, we in a semi-drought - in the past, I almost never had to water the plants in spring, but not this season!

A number of the tomatoes are not doing well, due to the diseases, from the rain and humidity. Venus, Marizol, Ruth's Perfect (one of the two much worse; one not as bad), one of the Kustengolds is really bad (but the other is hardly affected at all - more on this later).

However, some of them are surprisingly resistant, despite being OP. The June Pink and Esmerelda Goshina Green don't have nearly as much problems as others, and the Weetang Shebang seems fairly resistant. Here are the photos I took of the one non-resistant Kustengold, and one that hardly got any diseases. And the two Weetang Shebang plants, showing that is growing more compacted, yet both times I got more tomatoes from those!

The Kozachka plant is growing fine in the same EB as the diseased Kustengold, so it's not the soil.
The diseased Kustengold, 7-22. Still got a lot of ripe tomatoes from it. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Much better Kustengold - hardly any disease, compared to the other plant. 7-22 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Weetang Shebang, 7-22. Smaller, more disease resistant than others, and more tomatoes! by pepperhead212, on Flickr

What I'll do is bag some blossoms on the good plant of the Kustengold, and if any of the others I have more than one of seem better than the second one, I'll bag the blossoms on those, to save some.

Here's the rest of the things I harvested today:
7-22 harvest...forgot the eggplants, but Ill probably go out again. lol by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Some of the tomatoes harvested on 7-22, showing the relative sizes. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

My tomatillos started getting full sized today. A lot more tomatoes, too, and a couple more cukes and bitter melons.
Most of the harvest for 7-24. Tomatillos just starting to get full sized! by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I cleaned up a lot of my dead tomato leaves and branches, and pulled out my totally browned dill plants - I only save a small portion of the seeds, as there's only a few I have to grow, and the seeds I grow aren't as good as the seeds I buy - probably different varieties better for the seed spice.

[pepperhead212]

It's capsaicin day! I could have picked even more - as you can see, that Death Spiral has one ripe one, and there are a couple more Paper Lantern habaneros ready.
Death Spiral, starting to ripen. 7-27 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Another Death Spiral, beginning to ripen. 7-27 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Paper Lantern Habaneros ripening. 7-27 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Here's a bunch of habaneros I harvested today:
A lot of Gold Bullet Habaneros, plus 3 chococolates and one Paper Lantern. Plus one kohlrabi. 7-27 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

It's been 4 years since I grew this, but fortunately, it keeps frozen indefinitely in vacuum seal. I'll probably look into some way of using the old as an insect repellent or insecticide!

This year I started my lemongrass stalks in some water on 4-14 - I remember I bought it the day before, because I had an appt. that day right up the street, from the Korean market, where I bought it! Now, just a little over 3 months later, here's the 4 plants (actually 3 - one is out of the photo). Those sage and rosemary plants behind are quite large, but these are already dwarfing those, and still have over 3 months, before I have to dig them up!
Lemongrass, in front of some large sage and rosemary plants. 7-27 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[imafan26]

I am harvesting more of the Burpee experimental #5. It appears to be some kind of roasting pepper. At first I thought it was and anaheim but it had no heat. It does not have a strong flavor either. It is thin walled so I don't know if I can roast it. If I make stuffed peppers with them, would it be o.k. to leave the skins on?

[pepperhead212]

That's not one of the Numex varieties I've grown. It doesn't sound like one I'll be growing!

A few more peppers ripening today. I knocked a couple of half ripe habaneros off by accident, but the others I pulled off on purpose with only a hint of ripeness.
Misc. peppers, harvested on 7-30 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I used that red Paper Lantern habanero a couple of days ago in that small amount of bean salad I made, and that told me that it wasn't that hot, compared to most habaneros I've grown, and also it didn't have that intense habanero flavor. It reminded me of the Scotch Bonnet I grew years ago, that had less habanero flavor, but also had some regular pepper flavor in with it. I tried it by itself today, and that one was the same - probably around 200k, with the mixed flavor. That's good, if using it in a Caribbean dish, or anything calling for the Scotch Bonnet.

I also got a few eggplants today. They are slowing some, due to the intense heat this month, but it's getting cooler now...hopefully for a while.
9 eggplants (2 already cooking) - 7-30 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

Earlier, I got a bunch of my tomatoes cleaned off the counters, and got another gallon of tomatoes packed, and in the freezer. I always pack the cherries in between the larger varieties, to take up as much space as possible. I also got my dehydrator emptied, and ready for the next loads. In between things, I got some bread dough made, and it's baking now, since I finally had a day without AC!
Second gallon of tomatoes to go into the freezer this season. 2 more will be enough. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I went to a friend's house today, to share that sambar I made last night, and some more of that pachadi I made - a double recipe. They made some roti, to have with it. When I got back, I went back to the garden...of course, since it was nice out! I cleaned a bunch of dead foliage off cukes and tomatoes - some had major problems, which I'll post about on the tomato thread. Still, I'm getting a lot of tomatoes, even from the ones I won't grow again! Here's what I harvested today:
Harvest for 7-31, plus a few more things not in the photo, that I took to a friend's house. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[applestar]

Looking good!

I obsess and sort my tomatoes by color and size…sometimes by variety I never thought how practical it would be to pack the different size together. Give me a moment to re-program. LOL

How do you store the tomatillos?

[pepperhead212]

apple, when first harvesting the different tomatoes, I keep them separate, so that I can taste test them, but once I have sampled them, as long as all taste good (!), I pack them together, except when drying golds together, separate from others.

I just harvested several of my favorite tasting tomatoes of the season Saturday - Golden Buddha. I harvested some very small ones a few weeks ago, but they were on a dying branch (more on that later), and never really got ripe, even though they were blushing. Last week I got some that I left on until totally ripe, and the flavor reminds me of the Amish gold slicer, and KBX - a delicious, balanced flavor, with enough of both acidity and sweetness, and a true tomato flavor. Unfortunately, one of the plants had about 3/4 of the foliage die off, top to bottom, while the one right next to it is relatively resistant to whatever killed that! I bagged some new growth on the good one, and the tomatoes forming in that I'll save seeds from, if it continues the resistance. It's a little late, but looks like it'll produce a lot, given its size. Fairly large fruits, largest a little over 14 oz, smallest (except those earliest) over 8 oz, so far.
Golden Buddha harvested on 7-31 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

A while back I reported my dissatisfaction with that Honeycomb that I tried this year. I pulled all of the ripe fruits from it, hoping that the next batch would improve. The flavor did improve; much sweeter, though still not as good the others - reminds me of some others that were sweet, but not as much flavor. But the main problem was the splitting - over 75% were split, once they ripened, while I had no problems with all those other varieties. I wish it had worked out - the plant was huge, with an incredible number of tomatoes on it! When I pulled the plant out yesterday, I kept finding more of the vines, filling up a trashcan with it. Here's a handful from a single cluster, showing the splitting.
Honeycomb, showing the large percentage of splitting. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

I have another tomato splitting - Esmerelda Golosina - but the strange thing is, it has only started recently, despite being in a near drought, until last night, and only one of the two plants had half the fruits split, while not one on the other! So far, the flavor has been good, but not as strong as the green zebra - still my favorite green variety.

I'm starting to get a good number of beans, but I don't know how they will produce, with this heat coming again!:( Cukes are starting to fizzle out, though I have one later, and 2 even later, that will start producing eventually. The tomatoes are still producing fairly well, and the bottle gourds are starting up again. And the peppers love heat, so they aren't going to mind this heat! I never got to picking those today - I have to do that early, as that's when they are in the shade out front.
Misc. harvest for 08-05. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

A good sized bottle gourd, plus some tomatoes. 8-8 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The first cukes are starting to fade away, but the beans are kicking in. 8-8 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

I got a few peppers today. The habaneros I took up to my local Mexican grocer - didn't put any Death Spirals in there, but I told him I'd bring him a few, later on.
Paper lantern, Gold Bullet, and Chocolate Habanero 8-9 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Thai, Hong Gochu Korean, and Hanoi Market peppers. 8-10 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I also picked a few more beans, and took those, and the ones from before, and sat in front of the TV (cooling off from being out in that heat!), and strung the beans (I could tell what varieties they were!), and broke them up - I ended up with almost a pint of strings and tips. Then I steamed them, using that quick method I learned from ATK - steamed 2 batches for 3 minutes, and spread out on the trays. Here's one, showing how it dries out, and cooks the rest of the way. Tomorrow it is going into a new dish.
Quick steamed beans, cooling, and dried off. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

I harvested those large bottle gourds, I posted on another thread, and I harvested some more peppers, but not all of them. Those paper lantern habs are going crazy, and are a type of indeterminate pepper, with all different sizes of fruits, and a bunch ripening every time I harvest, and always flowering.
Misc. peppers harvested on 8-16 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

And the blauhilde purple pole beans are still producing the most, though the green varieties have already started up again, now that the heat wave is over! They keep growing, just not flowering, in that extreme heat, so now the vines are huge!
A few okra, 3 Esmerelda tomatoes, and some green beans, but mostly blauhilde, again! by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[HoneyBerry]

Nice harvest Pepperhead.
Once I read about how people who eat lots of chili peppers become less sensitive to the heat over time. It was interesting to me. It seemed that capsaicin actually deadens the nerves over time. Topically this would be helpful for back pain, which I have plenty of. I never got around to researching deeper. I should do that. Tiger Balm has capsaicin as one of the ingredients. I would like to find a product that has no menthol, only capsaicin. I might try to make it myself. Capsaicin + carrier oil.

[pepperhead212]

HoneyBerry, Funny you should mention the back pain - when I had terrible back pain, and eventually had surgery on it, peppers helped relieve the pain, but not the topical application. That never really helped me, and the time I made some myself, it was waaaaay too potent, and burned me, the only time I used it, even though I made it "weak". However, what I did was chew the peppers, to help the endorphins kick in, and it works better than narcotic pain killers! And I was taking double the prescription amounts, and could only sleep maybe 3 1/2 hours. But I would chew a red savana habanero (or actually a half), the hottest pepper available at the time, at about 550k - I'd chew it until I couldn't chew it any longer, then spit it out, and the intense heat would become bearable in about 5 minutes, and in about 15-20 minutes the endorphins had kicked in so much that I could eventually sleep for 5 1/2 to 6 hours - much longer than with pills. A few years ago, when I messed my knee up, and got surgery, I did the same thing with the chocolate habaneros. I was given prescriptions for oxycodone, for 72 pills, by 3 doctors, but only used a dozen of them, early on.

I get somewhat less sensitive to heat, when doing this, or eating some really hot dishes for several days, but the sensitivity comes back quickly! It's not permanent, by any means.

[HoneyBerry]

I want to try eating chili peppers for a while and see if it relieves my back pain. Makes sense that it wouldn’t work so well topically. I want to find that article. I might have kept it. It was about really hard core chili pepper eaters in Mexico or South America. They must have a constant surge of endorphins. That is a good feeling. I remember that from when I used to run.

[pepperhead212]

The death spirals are starting to ripen more. I don't know what I'll do with them, though maybe I'll take some to the Mexican grocer, and warn him about them - maybe someone in his kitchen will like them!
3 ripe Death Spirals, plus a few others. 8-17 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The weird thing is most of the flowers, and eventually the fruits, were up above on the death spirals - mine and my friends. About the lower foot or a little more are bare (except for the long branches going out, and the ends of those are getting some, though covered with leaves.
Even more in the future! by pepperhead212, on Flickr

My friend's mom just told me that his plant is taller than she is, and she's about his height!

[HoneyBerry]

Pepperhead:
Looking at your beautiful pictures got to me. I just made a run to the store and bought me a small bag of orange habaneros.

[pepperhead212]

I didn't do much out there today, due to the wetness, though the pepper plants dried off early, so I picked about 4 c of Thai peppers. Still at least as much on the same 3 plants, mostly green, but some turning a little brown. I might go out and pick all of them tomorrow, and freeze the greens for Indian and Thai foods - they are sort of like determinate tomatoes, and all are pretty much the same size, and no flowers, and once most are off, flowering will start again.
About a quart of ripe Thai peppers from 3 plants, 8-21 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

Those 3 plants I harvested all of the red peppers from yesterday, had a bunch of those brown peppers, I left on them, ripened quickly! I pulled every pepper from all 3 plants - only one was smaller than the rest, around 1 1/2". I'll separate the green ones from the rest, and freeze them quickly.
Over 5 more cups of Thai peppers, 8-22, from the 3 plants that all of the red ones were picked from yesterday. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

And here's even more peppers, that paper lantern being the most productive habanero this year.
Peppers, plus a few okra and eggplant, 8-22 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

And I got more beans - the Blauhilde (purples) and the Kentucky wonder poles are the ones getting overgrown quickly, with the beans forming early, while the Withner (sort of flat beans) and Blue Lake pole beans are doing well, even when a little large. And the Thai red long beans are doing well, without hollowing out in this heat.

Pole beans, 8-22 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

I got more peppers today, and those Paper Lantern habaneros must be on steroids! They are definitely a keeper. As I've noted before, the flavor is similar to Scotch Bonnet - not as hot as some other habaneros (around 200k, if I were to guess), and also with some other pepper flavor with the habanero flavor, so it would probably be good as a substitute when Scotch Bonnets are called for.
Habanero and Thai peppers, 8-27 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Early yesterday I harvested just under 2 lbs of cherry tomatoes, 24 oz to use in that pasta dish, and today, there was another 6 cups or so ready to pick! There was even more, on just one plant, but it started raining, so I had to quit!
About 6 more cups of cherries, in about a day and a half, 8-27. Mostly Weetang Shebang golds. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I harvested the first butternuts today - small ones, though 2 more larger ones on the second plant. Many more on the two Polaris vines, as usual, and also 5, so far, of the Tetsukabuto, on just 2 plants.
Butterbush - small butternuts, 8-27. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

And more beans! After freezing the 56 oz of them yesterday, I went out and picked even more than this, and this many today. It's letting up some, except for the Thai long red beans, due to the heat wave. Today's the last day of that, so they will rebound.
One days worth of beans, 8-27 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[imafan26]

If you start basil in water, how long does it take to make roots? Could I put a root stimulant or miracle grow in the water or just plain water?

I usually start plants in perlite and not in water, but some things like basil might be worthwhile.

[pepperhead212]

I've had basil cuttings start to root in the cloner in just 3 days, and they are usually ready in 7 or 8 days. I put Clonex in the water, and dip them in a gel (though I know it gets washed off!), though I'm sure some root stimulant could be added to water to get the same results.

[imafan26]

Thanks pepperhead212 I have some basil that are going over the hill so I want to clone them rather than start new seeds.

[applestar]

Are you growing the Butterbush in that landscape fabric mulched drip irrigated squash row on the ground or in a SIP?

Do you have a photo of their growth habit or describe how “bushy” it is?

[Gary350]

You have a very nice variety of peppers, are those all spicy hot? I would love to grow variety like that just to check out all the flavors but the smallest thing I can buy are 4 packs at the garden store a dozen 4 packs = 48 pepper plants. Our garden store does not have much variety only best sellers. If someone had pepper variety at Farmers Market I would buy some of each. I will grow Poblano peppers next year if I can no one sold Poblano plants this year.

[pepperhead212]

Gary, All of my peppers are hot - the mildest ones are the Numex and poblanos, then the jalapeños, but everything else is considerably hotter. The ones I use the most are the Thai/jyoti - the 2-3" x 1/4" ones, which I dry most of, but also freeze a bunch of, both red and green.

apple, I grew those Butterbush on the ground, with the 4' wide fabric on the row. Here is a photo I just took, showing the second plant - the first plant still has one fruit, but most has died off (those brown leaves on the right). They definitely do not send off the mile-long vines the regular ones do!
One of the butterbush plants, with a larger fruit, still maturing. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Here is the photo of 7 regular vines - 2 Testukabuto, and 2 Polaris butternuts, plus 3 bottlenecks, way back at the end. You can see the yellow flowers of the Polaris pretty far back! Only a few yellowed leaves, which is normal - no problems with powdery mildew, or any other fungal diseases this year, despite the wet and humid August we've had. I do spray Surround, with some potassium bicarbonate in the solution, to help prevent these, especially early in the season.
2 Tetsukabuto and 2 polaris butternut vines, with bottleneck gourds at the far end, 8-29 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

I'm planting some pepper seeds, plus some eggplant seeds, and 2 curry tree seeds in my Instant Pot, on low temp yogurt mode - approximately 90° constant. I have to reset it at noon every day, since it only goes for 24 hours. It's just an experiment, with some pepper seeds I won't use again, plus one I want to see if I can start - Maui Purple. Also I'll put one petri dish of some eggplant seeds, to see how it works. I'll keep you informed on results.
Longhorn, Craig's jalapeños, and Maui Purple peppers, plus 2 curry tree seeds, planted 9-29 in IP by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[applestar]

Ooh that’s going to be interesting!

[pepperhead212]

It wasn't really great out there today - still humid, and mosquitoes all over wanting to land on me, but fortunately, I sprayed myself, before going to work. I was hoping this melting Styrofoam would sort of keep them away from the area, but it didn't.

I cut the floating cover for the 12 gal hydro system, and it fits great. I got it in place, and filled both tubs to capacity, then added about 2/3 of the nutrients. They test about where they should, but I'll let it stabilize overnight, and check again, then tweak it up to where I want it. Then start planting!
Just cut the holes and the notches in the floating cover for the 12 gal hydro system, with this tool by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Both tubs filled up, and about 2/3 of the nutrients added. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

I harvested a lot of capsaicin today!

I harvested my four chinense peppers today, the gold bullet and chocolate habaneros, that are determinate types, and I got a large amount of all at once, earlier in the season, then they flowered again, and are just now ripe. The death spiral and paper lantern are indeterminate types, and have been growing, and producing more all summer, the death spiral the latest to start ripening, but the most of any! You can see in the photos of the branches, showing just a few on each plant, not even ripe yet -many of the smallest won't ripen, before frost.
Chocolate Habaneros, Gold Bullets, and Paper Lanterns, all one plant each, 10-7 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Death Spirals, all from one plant, 10-7 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Just one of many branches on the Death Spiral, showing the unripe peppers on it. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Not as visible on the Paper Lantern, but another closeup showing many of the unripe peppers. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

I got a bunch of seeds planted in the hydro today - still a few more to go. Only thing I'm rooting from a cutting is the red epazote - the other things I usually root didn't do well late into the season, so I didn't start my cloner.

Some of the seeds planted on 10-08 - lettuce, Mizuna, Serrata basil, Zaatar (2 sprouted seeds), two dills, baby bok choy, spearmint. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

Today I trimmed my curry tree; after it had gotten very cool the last two nights, I had to get it smaller, to at least bring onto my back porch, when it does that again. I got 9 or 10 twigs from the cuttings, to try to root. Two nights ago I trimmed a small amount, to take to some friends, but the large amount I trimmed today I took to an Indian market, where the guy loves getting these, and gives me deals, as well as samples of things they make there. He couldn't believe I had 2 bags of them this time. He wanted to know again if I had grown any plants; I told him the seeds did not do well for me (though I'm trying again), and I told him about the rooting I'm trying, so I'd let him know. He said he'd buy them from me, if I ever get them growing!
Just 3 branches I snipped off today, to take my friends some curry leaves. Hardly looks like I cut any! by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Over 5 gallons of curry tree trimmings. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Two bags of curry tree trimmings, ready to take to the Indian market, where they give me deals, in return by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Curry tree, still needing a little trimming, to bring inside. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

These are the cuttings I'm going to try to root. Tomorrow I'll make a pot or two, to start the cuttings in. One video shows a guy whittling the bark off the lower 1½", then dipping it in some turmeric, as their rooting compound! I'll try that, and a couple of compounds I have, and see if anything is better.
Stems from the curry tree, which I will attempt to root. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

Today I trimmed my two makrut/kaffir lime leaf trees. I wish I had a place to give them away, like I do with my curry leaves, and the Mexican things, but nothing like that around here. I also took two of the stems, and those ten from the curry tree, and am attempting to root those, not that I need any more! (rofl)

Those ten curry cuttings I'm starting, four are in turmeric, four in rooting powder, and four in gel. The two lime tree cuttings are in gel.


Those lime trees were almost as tall as me (78"!). As I was trimming them was when I thought of trying to root some, next to those curry cuttings.
Two makrut/kaffir lime trees, ready to be trimmed WAY back, to get ready to go indoors. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Here are the lime trees trimmed back - still need trimmed a little better, but I got 95 percent of it off. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Some of those leaves on one of the lime trees got huge:
These lime leaves look huge next to my hand, and I have large hands! by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The cuttings I just peeled the ends of with a vegetable peeler.
Curry tree stem, peeled, ready to be rooted. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Curry tree stem for rooting, coated with turmeric, to compare to the powder and gel compounds. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Ten curry tree cuttings, and two kaffir lime tree cuttings, put in the soil mix on 10-20, attempting to root. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

Today I did as much as I could, before the rain came, and got a lot done! I pulled most of the tomato plants that were left - just 5 cherries left. I pulled all of the tomatoes, including green tomatoes, leaving the smaller ones, except those that are small when mature.
Some of the last tomatoes of the year, 10-25 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Green tomatoes, from the plants I removed today. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I harvested some peppers today, before the sun got to that side of the house.
A few peppers, harvested on 10-25 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I trimmed my marjoram and Syrian oregano, to get a lot to dry, plus to root a couple of each, as a safety net, in case they were killed by intense cold. Each spring, I give the spare plant to a friend, and they just get larger!
Marjoram Left, and Syrian Oregano, harvested on 10-25 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

A few beans, I have been getting every day, but most had stopped, except for the Thai long reds. Seems the cold would have stopped those first!
Just a few beans at the end of the season, including the dry pod, of red Thai long beans. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Here's the largest greens I have in SIPs, previously with tomatoes, and just a half tsp Epsom salts, and a tsp calcium nitrate, in the very beginning.
Red Dragon cabbage, 4 plants in SIP, 10-25 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

And here's something that I have to harvest soon - lemongrass! This is larger than it has ever gotten for me.
4 lemongrass clusters, next to a large sage and rosemary plants. Ready to be harvested soon, 10-25 by pepperhead212, on Flickr