pepperhead212's 2023 garden

[pepperhead212]

I've been harvesting a quart to a quart and a half daily, to build up the tomatoes for those dinners. Today was 3 days worth, due to the rain, and a generous number are ripening on all of them. Even some of those dead Red Brandywine tomatoes are turning red - I'll see if all of them turn.
over 3 qts of mostly smaller tomatoes, 7-17 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The larger tomatoes coming in now, the largest ones the Hippie Zepras. 7-17 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I also picked a few cukes and eggplants:
Cucumbers and eggplants, 7-17 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

I harvested at least 15 more eggplants yesterday, to add to the ones I still had left after making that ratatouille flavored dish a couple of nights ago. Most of the varieties have totally stopped flowering - just what was already formed was maturing, and the ones that stopped are almost out of fruits. The Asian String eggplant is the only one that doesn't seem bothered by the high heat, with a bunch of new blossoms, and all different sizes of fruits. The UH Green Long had 2 new blossoms, but only one full sized EP, and only one blossom on the Choryoku Green, and and again, only one full sized. The others - Ichiban, LA Long Green (mis-named, since they are 5" max!), and Batac - I couldn't find a single blossom on, but hopefully I'll get some cooler days (and nights), that will trigger some blossoming, before it gets back up again. Surprisingly, fewer tomatoes have been doing this so far, due to the heat.
A bunch more eggplants today, at least 15 more, plus 7 or 8 from 2 days ago. Time to dehydrate again! by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I also harvested the cherry and other smaller tomatoes yesterday. I'll be cutting up some of those for the dehydrator, as well, since I still have a bunch of those from before, as well.
Smaller tomatoes, harvested on 7-20 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

Before the humidity came down, later in the day (which it did, finally, though it didn't matter to the mosquitoes!), I cut up the rest of my eggplants, and 4 trays of tomatoes, to go into the dehydrator. Still had a good amount of slightly less ripe tomatoes, but I left those to ripen a little longer, for maybe another one of those salads I make with cherry tomatoes. And even though I pulled every one that had a hint of ripe yesterday (those that need another day), there were a bunch when I went out there today that were totally ripe, though I didn't pick them.
3 more trays of eggplant, and first 4 trays of tomatoes in the dehydrator. by pepperhead212, on Flickr


Cherry tomatoes left after the 4 trays went in the dehydrator. These were not quite as ripe. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

All I picked today was one more cucumber, and trimmed some of the usual things. The Kajari melon hasn't started ripening, but one of the plants has 5 fruits forming on it already, and the other plant seems it only has 3, though maybe I just didn't see some! There are several bottle gourds ready to pick, and they seem to be getting something to pollinate them now - in the beginning, I always have to hand pollinate them, with Q-tips, since they are night flowering. The bitter melons are starting to produce now - usually, they are earlier, but I think because of the cooler spring I had, they are later, like the okra this season.
5 Kajari melons on one plant, visible in one photo. 7-21 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

First of the White bitter melons, growing faster than the green Sayonara. 7-20 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The first Sayonara bitter melon, about the same size as the White one, though this started earlier. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[imafan26]

How do you cook your bitter melon? It has a lot of health benefits. The leaves are also edible. In Asia, bitter is one of the 4 tastes, so they like some bitterness in their dishes. The longer bitter melon is less bitter than the small wild ones. I can eat a little bitter melon stuffed and steamed, or in some Filipino dishes like pinakbet. The secret to reducing the bitterness is to add the bitter melon in near the end so it does not over cook and to shake the pan and not stir it after it is added.

[pepperhead212]

imafan I make some Thai dishes, where I add some bitter melon cubed, in place of those bitter/pea eggplants, using it just as a flavoring, though not dishes based on bitter melons. And some Indian dishes I've made had small amounts of bitter melons, like curries, with other vegetables, but some things were mainly bitter melons. And some things made with grated bitter melon - some tikki, some muthia (some logs of dough, steamed, sliced, and fried), and some type of roti. And there was also a "dry chutney" I made with it, that was very good. Similar things I make with the grated bottle gourds. Here's the best blog I've found for these recipes, as well as many other Indian dishes:
https://www.tarladalal.com/recipes-usin ... ageindex=1

[pepperhead212]

The melons are getting close to full size, with the largest ones, but no hints of ripening yet. We have some highs forecast in the high 90s this week - not good for many things, but it should help these, and many of my peppers get ripe!

I uncovered 2 of my pepper tubs today (skipped the third one because it was in the sun already - I'll have to start earlier), and harvested about the same amount of the same things - the Big Mic and some jalapeños. And the same tub - the one with Joe Parker, Numex 6-4, and a Pimiendo De Pedron - had a bunch of aphids! I hosed them all off, let it dry, and sprayed everything with a homemade mix of garlic, hot pepper, rosemary, mint, and a few of the new leaves I trim from the tomatoes, when I pull some of the suckers. I blended that well, then strained it, and diluted it, and added some ThermX70, and sprayed a bunch of it on the infested plants, and what was left on the other tub, even though they didn't have the aphids (there were a few ants below, but nothing like the infested plants). I couldn't add any Neem oil, as it is forecast to be in the 90s soon. I'll see how it works. In just another week, I can uncover these for good, as it is around 8-1 that the pepper maggot flies are gone for the

The Thai peppers are starting to ripen big time now. And one of those Datil peppers ripened, which is very early for a chinense pepper. I was actually going to pop it in my mouth out there, when I picked it, but decided not to, though they aren't supposed to be as hot as many of the habaneros, and certainly not a super-hot. There are a bunch of Red Savinas on the plant, but none ripening, as that was the last plant that went in this season.
Big Mic Numex, and some Jalapeño M, and Pumpkin Spice Jalapeños. 7-23 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

A bunch of Thai Vesuvius ripening, 7-23 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

A few of the Thai Dragons ripening, 7-23 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

A very small Datil pepper ripening, 7-23. Most are much larger, like that one above it. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

There have been a few ripe peppers, but they are really starting to ripen fast now! And I noticed that the Aruna and Datil peppers are like the Thai Vesuvius - indeterminate types, that are LOADED with peppers, almost all full sized, and very few open flowers on them now. Here are the ripening ones.
Thai Vesuvius:
Thai Vesuvius, 7-26 by pepperhead212, on Flickr


The Thai Vesuvius, and a smaller number of Superchili and Thai Dragons, above. 7-26 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

One of the 2 Superchili plants, ready to pick the ripe ones.
One of the 2 Superchili plants, ready to pick the ripe ones. 7-26 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

And here's the first ripening Kajari melon.
First ripening Kajari melon, with a bad spot on the upper right, that maybe triggered the early ripening. 7-26 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

I had trouble with beans this season, having to re-plant many of them, and eventually all the spots weren't filled, and I filled up some of the empty spots with some of those Rattlesnake pole beans, since I had saved about a half cup of them last year. A bunch of those came up, but I won't know which ones, until the beans are there. A bunch of the beans that did come up had run all the way up the 7' trellis, and I had to weave them back down, and I pinched the tips of those longest vines, and they sent side shoots out. I saw my first beans today - one of the long beans, Full #5. I see a lot of different flowers on them, as well, so different varieties are finally producing.
First of the beans - one of the long beans, Full #5. One is over 1 1/2 ft already, and this is the first time I saw it! by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Also got some more eggplants, a couple more of those melons, a few more large tomatoes, and a bunch more of the smaller tomatoes yesterday. A few more of those cherries ripened by the time I went out today!
Mostly eggplant, but a few tomatoes, 2 more Kajari melons, and a snowy cucumber. 7-28 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Almost 4 qts of the smaller tomatoes. 7-28 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

And a little more okra daily. For some reason, the okra was not doing well, yet okra usually loves heat!
Okra - Big Buck, Little Lucy, and Star Of David. 7-28 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

I did a lot today, mainly because it was a gorgeous day, only getting up to 80°, and a 52° dewpoint!! That's unbelievable, compared to what we've been dealing with lately. Even when I went to Aldi at 9 am, it was 67°, and there was almost no dew on the lawn; lately, I've had to wait until 2 or 3 pm for the dew to evaporate, in the 90+ and super-humid days we've been having. It was totally dried up by 10:30 am, when I went out and uncovered my peppers. I've had some yellow tape traps out there the last several days, and no pepper maggot flies, so I took the cover off the 3 tubs. The one I didn't uncover last time had aphids, as I was afraid of, so I hosed them off, and since it got so cool out, I sprayed them with neem oil, and some potassium bicarbonate, to maybe deal with any fungal problems. After this, I mowed my lawn, and trimmed a bunch of overgrowth, from my neighbor's fence. Then I pulled a number of plants that I wasn't getting any more from in the garden - the bottle gourds, some of the cucumbers, and of course, a few weeds. I got 3 cans of lawn trash for tomorrow's pickup.

I don't know if it was just the intense heat that stopped those varieties of things totally stop, or almost stop, but I just pulled every thing that wasn't doing something, and am replacing with something that will, eventually produce something. I planted some County Fair seeds, and some County Fair Improved (both of these I stocked up on in spring, with some free shipping from a couple places), to see if there is a difference. And the original is the only variety of CF is the only cucumber I didn't pull out, as it is still producing. I get first harvest in about 55 days, but probably less, starting in the heat. I'm also going to start some cauliflower, and other larger fall crops - things I usually don't have luck with, but I'll see if this works out better than later.
I think those varieties of bottle gourds must not like heat, because after those last few that I harvested, they totally stopped flowering, and many leaves turned brown, and usually they have no problems with diseases or insects. These must not like heat, but next year I'll find a variety from the south. I pulled these, and that's where I planted some of the cucumber seeds.

I saw the first 4 butternut squash out there, plus a number more just forming. Seems they all form one, while growing in the beginning, but many more, come September. In the meantime, I always harvest a bunch of the male blossoms, which it creates in large numbers.
one of the first 4 butternut squash I have. 7-30 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Every morning I'm starting to get more okra, including some odd shaped Star of Davids. The Emerald is not producing well, and the Hill Country Red is very slow, with some fat okra, like Star of David.
Okra, morning harvest, 7-30 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[imafan26]

It is a nice harvest. Thanks for the link to the bitter melon recipes. I needed some new ones.

[pepperhead212]

I got a lot done these last several days, because the weather got so much better, with below average temperature and humidity, which made it bearable to be out there for hours. Yesterday it started getting more humid, and even more today, and warmer, but still not like it had been, with those heat indexes well over 100°. I don't know how those people can deal with that constantly.

I pulled out some "bad plants" - things that just stopped producing, in that heat, but didn't seem to be coming back at all. The bottle gourds must have been northern varieties, as the heat did them in! Several cucumbers also didn't come back, while 2 of the first (from early May) County Fair plants are still producing, and two later planted CFs are starting to produce, and I planted 3 more CFs, and 2 County Fair "Improved", to see what the difference is. I figure I'll get some, starting in mid-Sept. I also started some cabbage and cauliflower seeds, to go into those places I pulled the plants from. Tomorrow I might pull the onions and shallots - I "bent them over" a couple days ago, to speed up the process, and I'll see what they look like.

I was going to cut some male butternut blossoms, while weeding today, but there really weren't that many. Surprisingly, there were a lot of just forming butternuts, however, in addition to those 4 almost mature ones, which they always seem to get one of early, on each plant. I didn't count them, but there were a bunch, which are early.

Something I did, just before I came in, was I set up that rosemary to air layer one of the branches. I scraped the needles, and some of the bark off the stem, brushed with some rooting gel, and set up that tube by moistening the coir/peat mix with some water with a small amount of that Clonex in it. This took about 6 weeks to start seeing roots in rosemary, when I did it before, compared to 7 months with the kaffir lime tree!

Just started to air layer a branch of the rosemary, 8-5 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

A few tomatoes the last couple of days, too. I'm getting some of the larger tomatoes, but in a few more weeks is when I'll hit a lull, which is when the blossoms that dropped in that hot spell, would be ripening. Cherries come back quickly, if they even stop flowering.
Tomatoes from 8-5 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Tomatoes from 8-4 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

I saw this when picking some spotted lanternflies off of my basil (fortunately, not as many this year). Hopefully the praying mantis likes those!
One of my helpers, on my Thai Basil plant - small, but growing quickly, I hope! by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

More peppers today! Imagine that.
Those Arunas are ripening now, and there are a lot more of them out there on just 3 plants. The Datil is starting to ripen fast, too, and that's just one plant. And that Red Savina started ripening. Early August is earlier than many varieties ripen; though the reason I stopped growing many varieties was because they ripened so late, many of them they have improved to much earlier.
Ripening Arunas, with many more to come. 8-6 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Yellow Datil peppers, Thai peppers, Jalafuegos ripening, and just 2 each of Hanoi Market and Big Mic ripening. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The larger Maui Purple plant, with many peppers ripening, 8-6. I didn't pick any of those yet, as the red peppers look better in the almost black leaves! by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[imafan26]

Did you have to do anthing special to get the Datil peppers to germinate? I tried a couple of times, but I could not get them to germinate.

[pepperhead212]

I just soak them overnight in a KNO3 solution, which I do with all my pepper seeds - a tsp/liter. I only got 2 out of 5 to germinate, but I got them in a trade, so I don't know how old they were.

[pepperhead212]

More peppers ready for the dehydrator!
Peppers for dehydrator, Numex and jalapeños on top, then Thais, and Arunas. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

More peppers!

That one Datil pepper plant is incredibly productive, and delicious, fresh and dried. As I said before, it does not look or taste like a chinense pepper, which it is listed as, but has a really strong regular pepper flavor. It is maybe 80-100k heat units, so it's not mild, but still not as hot as a normal habanero. I'm going to try some crushed ones - crushed yellow pepper flakes!
Here's some datil, and some arunas from one day, and more ripening 5 days later!
Datil and Aruna peppers, 8-14 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

more Arunas and Datil peppers, 8-19 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The red savinas are late this year, only because the Chocolate Habaneros did not germinate, so I planted some again, plus some red savinas, in case that happened again, which did happen. So the red savinas are my hot habaneros this season. Aji Dulce is starting to ripen now, for my almost no heat hab.
Red Savina peppers ripening, 8-19 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

A few Thai peppers ripening, 8-19 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[imafan26]

I have grown red savinas before. It is one of the better habaneros, Lots of heat and less turpentine. I have datil seeds and I have potassium nitrate, but it is as hard as a rock. I will have to figure out how to get it out of the bottle.

[pepperhead212]

And more peppers, just 4 days later!

The Maui Purple are a little later than most, but a little earlier than the ones I had before, which were about a week later. I left most on the front plants, just for appearance, and this bowl came all from the side plant.
One Maui Purple plant, with a bunch of ripe peppers. 8-23 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Ripe Maui Purple peppers, picked from just one plant. 8-23 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Ripening Arunas, picked from 3 plants. 8-23 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Datil, Aji Dulce (red, almost no heat habanero), and misc. Thai peppers. 8-23 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Misc. larger peppers, including a few jalapeños, which aren't doing much. 8-23 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

And a few tomatoes, as well. A lot of cherries on the bottom.
Misc. tomatoes ripening, from the blossoms after the bad blossom drop from the heat. 8-23 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

I made a delicious creole type dish in the Instant Pot today, a rice dish, like jambalaya, but some venison/pork chorizo sausage, that I added some smoke seasoning to, so it had similar andouille seasonings. I started by pre-cooking the sausage, on high sauté, and while cooking, I cut up onion, green pepper, and celery, and started cooking them in some olive oil, after setting the meat aside. While cooking this "Holy Trinity", I cut up the tomatoes, garlic, okra, and beans, and got the bay leaves, cloves, and Syrian oregano (my easy way to get thyme flavor) ready, and when the onions started browning, added the garlic and cloves, stirring just a minute. Then I added the blended tomatoes, and rinsed out the blender with another 2 c of water, and added that, and 4 fresh bay leaves. Cooked that down on sauté medium, about 5 minutes, then added about 2½ c of okra, and 1¼ c parboiled rice, mixed well, salted with about 3/4 tsp salt (more in sausage, later), then set to cook on pressure cook/low for 15 minutes, then let pressure release naturally (took about 8 minutes). Then I added the cut up beans, and cooked sausage, mixed well, and let it sit for 10 minutes, cooking with retained heat. The beans needed 2 more minutes cooking, and that was it! Got over 3 qts of the rice mix.
Tomatoes for the creole dish, a little over 3 c, after blending. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Cooking the onion, green peppers, and celery - the Holy Trinity - for the creole dish, on high sauté in IP. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Syrian oregano, what I use for most things calling for thyme. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Okra added to the tomatoes, after cooking down some with the seasonings. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Several different beans I'm adding to the creole dish at the end, with the pre-cooked meat, like adding the shrimp to jambalaya at the end, to avoid overcooking. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Some homemade sausage, with venison and pork, pre-cooked in the IP on sauté. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Finished Creole type dish, with beans, okra, sausage, and parboiled rice. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

I went over to see a gardening (and cooking) friend - the Indian lady, that I give my extra seedlings to, along with her son, that I got hooked on peppers. It was only a couple of years ago they bought the house and the property there, so she hasn't been growing a lot there until the last two seasons, but she's making up for it! Her garden is even larger than mine, already, and discussing next season with me already, so I definitely got her hooked! And I took her over my bag of greens seeds, and helped her plant some leaf lettuce, and some greens I told her I often use in Indian food - some senosai, boc choy, and misuna - and gave her cauliflower and cabbage extras I had - about 3 weeks old, I think. She has even more Kajari and bitter melons growing, on the same number of plants I have! Her son bought a Trinidad Scorpion plant, when they were in a nursery in spring, so he grew a variety I didn't start this season, and I told him I'd dehydrate them for him. We split one today, not chewing it long at all, and it was the hottest pepper of the year, so far, but no Wartryx yet.
Bitter melon harvest from 3 plants in my friend's garden! 8-31 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Ripening Trinidad Scorpions, from a friend's garden. 8-31 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I harvested a few okra in the morning, as usual, and some more Aruna, Datil, and Big Mic peppers, which are the usual big producers. A few more of those long beans, as well, but I didn't even look at my tomatoes, as I had enough for now.

[pepperhead212]

More peppers!
I must say, that Pumpkin Spice Jalapeño I grew the first time this year is very productive, and a good flavor, but little heat (for those who like that). And this isn't just me - a friend I sent some of the first ones with (another plus - one of the earliest of the season) asked me if I had grown some sweet peppers! And the jalapeño m wasn't much hotter, but it also wasn't as productive. The pumpkin spice plants were loaded with full sized (another thing - not very large, about 2") green ones, and many smaller ones, in addition to the ripe ones I picked. Those smaller ones in the photo were knocked off, by accident. Arunas were loaded, again, and the misc. Thai peppers were loaded with reds and browns.
Ripen Aruna peppers, 9-12 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Ripe and ripening Thai peppers, 9-12 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Misc. peppers - Big Mic, Joe E Parker, Pumpkin Spice Jalapeño, Jalapeño M, Datil, Aji Dulce, Hanoi Market 9-12 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

I'm finally getting some cukes on some plants that I planted on about 7-20, when I was pulling some tomatoes or other cucumber plants that had either died, or were not worth keeping. The regular County Fair cucumbers did not do well, but the CF Improved plants are doing well, and I'm getting cukes on them, in just under 2 months. And there's a lot of smaller ones. I sprayed Surround on them a couple of times, early on, but the main thing I've been spraying on them is H2O2, 1/2 c/gal, w/nothing added (H202 reacts with just about everything.

First cukes on the County Fair Improved on 9-17, planted around 7-20. by pepperhead212, on Flickr



Today, I cleaned out one of my beds, and put about 1½ 32 gal trash cans full of old potting mix, from re-potting, or when refreshing the SIPs. The leaves were in a pile at one end, and I pulled them onto the end I cleaned and re-covered, before cleaning out the other half. I didn't put any more leaves in, since it was supposed to rain (and actually did rain .21", so far), so I figured that would level the soil better.

Bed cleaned out, with a layer of old potting mix, saved when re-potting. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Before it started raining, I pulled the zinnias out front, and threw all that away with the stuff from out back, since Monday is lawn trash day here. It has rained .21", so far, with more to come overnight.

[applestar]

Looking good! We’re DEFINITELY into fall weather now and need to get ready for winter.

Surprisingly, my garlic ordered from a reputable garlic supplier is supposed to be delivered today.0 Feels a bit early. When are you planting yours?

[pepperhead212]

apple Seems my garlic always comes a little early, too, though not way too early. They are supposed to be shipped around 10-1, and I'm planning on putting them in the ground on or around the 15th - they seemed to do a little better when I planted them around that time last year, instead of around 3 weeks later, like I used to.

[pepperhead212]

I have at least 18 butternut squash almost ready to harvest out there (some definitely ready to harvest), and what is almost unbelievable, I still have 7 (plus the 4 I just cut up) butternuts from last season, almost a year old! I always watch them closely for any bad spots forming. Surprisingly, they have lasted a long time, even that very small one. Only one of these 11 was getting slightly soft by now, and it wasn't the smallest one! Amazing how hard they have stayed. I got 2 trays of cubes for the dehydrator, and I only cut up 4, to leave room for other things - I might cut up more.
A small butternut squash, almost 1 year old, and still good! 9-28 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

7 of the 11 butternut squash I still have from almost a year ago! I cut up 4 of them, only one slightly soft, others rock hard. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

A little more than a cup of seeds from the 4 butternut squash I cut up, to dehydrate. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[applestar]

Those C. moschata types really make winter squash growing fun. And those hybrid varieties with extra productivity bred into them, as well as maturing earlier.

I’m still playing with the heirlooms so the vigorous vines take up lots of space, and only expected to set 2 fruits per vine at most— but well worth the effort so far.

[pepperhead212]

About a month ago, I started air layering this rosemary stem, and today, it was ready to plant! I've done this with my curry tree and lime tree before, and it's easy to do, and with this was was even faster than the others. I wanted to get another "backup plant" in a pot, as last winter, the outside plants had nearly died from an extremely cold snap, though it had survived the same temperature all 3 years previously. Eventually, I dug it all out (not enough was going to come back), and planted the "backup" potted plant I had up to that point, and it has taken off this summer. And I wanted another backup plant, so I air layered this one. The first stem I air layered died, but the second one rooted well, and I planted it in a 3 gal fabric pot, with some worm castings in the mix, with a generous amount of perlite, for drainage. I also moistened the surface of the soil mix with some Bt israelensis, to kill any fungus gnat larvae, that may appear. (I also have to do this with all the rest of my plants that will be brought in soon).

Air layered rosemary branch, cut away from the plant. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Air layered Hill-Hardy rosemary branch, planted in a 3 gallon fabric potter, 10-2-23 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Here's the rosemary plant that I planted back in spring, and it has about doubled in size. So now I'll have another backup in a pot! That sage is surprisingly hardy - I cut it almost all the way to the ground, as the winter seemed to kill it all, and they grow right back!
Backup rosemary plant, about doubled in size in 6 months. 10-2-23 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Here's the rosemary, next to the sage plant, showing how huge it got after cutting down to the groun by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

3 days ago I harvested 8 butternuts, and today I harvested 11 more butternuts - still 2 almost full sized, on one plant, but green, so I left those. One is just lightening some, the other just green. Surprisingly, no other various small ones, like there usually are, which I just cut up into pieces for a curry - they're still good, even green!
About a third of my ripened butternut squash, 10-3 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Butternut harvest, 10-6, only 2 left in the garden. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Today I sealed the ends of the first ones I harvested, with the shellac. They had dried out enough now. At first, the stems sort of "weep", and the sap eventually dries, and then I brush the shellac on.

Besides these, I also got some more long beans and other pole beans, a few tomatoes, and close to 3 more qts of cherry tomatoes - mostly sunsugars and Juliets.

[pepperhead212]

Today I peeled, seeded, and cut up the last 7 of those butternuts, I still had from last season, and I got almost 7 trays ready to go into the dehydrator. Only one of them had some spongy spots, but there were no "bad spots" on any of them, turning rotten, or anything that that. And I got another 2 cups or so of seeds, though the 2 small ones had seeds that were sort of flat - those might have been some of the ones that didn't totally ripen before the plants were pulled out, like the last 2 out there now. I got about 3 gallons of trimmings for the compost.

About 3 gallons of trimmings from the last 7 butternut squash, from last year. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[applestar]

Wow that’s amazing that they lasted so long! Is sealing the stem end the key?

You dehydrated them? as slices? How do you use the dehydrated pieces later?

Haha, so many ?’s.

[pepperhead212]

apple, I think sealing the ends definitely helps, but the varieties also make a difference. That Polaris that is a hybrid I get from Pinetree Garden Seeds, and I've tried probably a dozen others, through the years, that just don't produce as many, or keep as well, or both! Most only produced 2/plant, no matter how large the vine would get, and some would start getting soft in 3 months, some less. Even other hybrids didn't work as well, though I keep trying! This year, nothing new, but next season I'll be trying a new variety I got in a trade - only a generic a guy in GA says produces well for him, even in the heat, and several per vine. Nothing about storage, but I'll figure that out!

I dry them in cubes - 1/2-3/4", for the most part. And I make a flour out of them - while they can be re-hydrated, like I do with eggplant, they tend to disintegrate more, and the flour can also be re-hydrated, to substitute for pumpkin purée. I frequently use it as a substitute for some of the flour in flat breads - same with the eggplant flour.

[applestar]

I knew about your eggplants, but that’s an intriguing idea.

Picturing your pantry with jars of mysterious powders LOL

[pepperhead212]

And here's what those butternuts reduce to - 1 lb reduces to just under an ounce: .959 oz. And I ended up with 9.55 oz, which was just under 10 lbs of squash.

[pepperhead212]

Early on, the weather was cool, and breezy, though not as bad as yesterday, and it soon got better, so I went out, and got busy. The best thing was, after it got cold (48° and 49°) the last two nights, there were no mosquitoes or no-see-ums! First time since May, maybe! I cleaned out the row, where all those squash grew, and pulled that landscape fabric out, and sort of shook it off, then rolled it up (amazingly, it's still good after 6 years!). Then I 'tilled the row - I might cover it with black plastic, since I probably won't be planting there until spring.
Cleaned up row from the butternut squash, behind the rosemary. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

This season, the garlic I think I'll plant in a raised bed, and I got that bed cleaned out more, and scratched some fertilizer in the surface of it. I was going to plant it this weekend, but rain is forecast for both days, so it looks like Thursday and Friday the garlic is going in!

The last thing I did today was pick a bunch of peppers. The Datil is very productive this year - just one plant has given me all these peppers I got this year! The Joe Parker was late, but eventually, productive, and the Big Mic started early, and kept producing all season. Those Pimiendo de Pedron were slow, but once they started producing, they ripened quickly, while the other larger, mild varieties stayed green a long time. Jalapeños haven't been that great this year - I'll have to try others next season. The Thai peppers were good, as usual, and the Thai Vesuvius was the best, again. Aruna was very productive and is winding town now. Those new Maui Purples are the same, almost black color, the old Maui Purple used to be, but the peppers are better - not bitter, when ripened, and only about as hot, or a little more than Thai Vesuvius, and can be used in the same types of foods, fresh or dry. I bagged some blossoms on the largest plant, and got 2 ripe peppers inside them - I tagged them, and left them to totally ripen, before I harvest them, for the seeds.
Ripening Datil peppers, from one plant, plus some Aruna, 10-9 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

A bunch of green Joe Parker, Numex 6-4, and Big Mic peppers, and red Pimiento de Pedron by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Various Thai and Jalapeño peppers, a lot of half sized jalapeños left. 10-9 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

I spent this evening separating a bunch of garlic for planting the next two days!

I have that Music and Bogatyr that I ordered the pound each of seed garlic for. Only two cloves with bad spots, and 5 too small to plant, so I have 48 - exactly enough to fill 2 rows.

Music, 48 cloves from a pound. Large cloves, largest 12.4 grams by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Leftover Music cloves. Just 2 larger ones with bad spots, and 5 thin cloves, I won't plant. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The Bogatyr is a little smaller, but still larger than most softnecks. They were very uniform, with very few small cloves, and only one with a bad spot, and just that one very small head (and I got more than a pound with both). And the skin was incredibly tight to all the cloves, so I assume it will be a good one for storage, like Metechi.

Bogatyr heads, before separation, similar to Metechi, which I'm growing in place of. fairly uniform, and I got 76 cloves in the pound. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Bogatyr, only one with a bad spot, and 3 too small to plant. And I didn't even separate that small head! by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The Estonian Reds are 10 heads I labeled last season, when I had harvested everything, and these were the largest; I also labeled 9 of the largest Georgian Fire heads - not quite as large, but close to it. One of the ER heads had just those two largest cloves, and one head had just 3! Yet, these things have even more potent flavor than most garlic, the Georgian Fire even more so! Not mild, like elephant garlic.

Just 10 heads of Estonian Red, 27.8 oz. Largest heads I've ever grown. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Estonian Red garlic, 44 cloves separated, 18.9 oz. Those 2 largest were 23.2 g, and 21.8 g. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Georgian Fire, 9 heads, almost as large as Estonian Red. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

41 cloves of Georgian Fire, 15.5 oz. Not one bad or small clove, in these, or the Estonian Reds. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I'll have a few empty spots out there, and I will probably fill it in with some Metchi from last season.

[applestar]

You’re probably right about the upcoming rainy days — I’ll see if I can plant my garlic before then, too.

[pepperhead212]

I finished the garlic today! As usual, I soaked it with a 50% isopropyl alcohol solution, starting the first batch - the Georgian Fire - and pouring it onto the next container, and soaking that, while planting the first batch. By the time I get to the last, there is about a quarter of the alcohol left, though still enough to coat everything, and sterilize it.

When I planted today, I found only one more double clove than I had before, so I ended up with 45 Estonian Reds, with 3 Metechis - plus 7 more Methechis, in addition to the 41 Georgian Fires. I had 2 extra Metechis, and I just shoved them in the other bed at the end. 48 Musics, and 72 Bogatyrs filled the 2 and 3 rows exactly.
Here's the first row of fabric, with the row of Garlic directly down the center of the bed, showing the placement string. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Finished bed of garlic, before putting on a layer of ground up leaves. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

I did go out and cover the garlic bed with some leaves today, since I have a feeling it is going to get windy, along with that rain that is coming in, and I don't want those strips to blow loose. After looking at everything else out there, I pulled all my okra out - I hadn't gotten much out of that all week, so the cold has done them in, but the peppers are still going nuts! I got some beans, but the long beans have especially been slowed up by the cold, and most of those I just left to save the seeds from. I picked a few eggplants, and more cherry tomatoes, but the cucumbers seem pretty much killed by the cold temps.
Garlic bed, covered with some leaves from last year, 10-13 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

I did absolutely nothing outside today - just that cooking inside! A few other things, too, but I spent much of the day in the kitchen. It was a lousy day today all day.