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Harvesting Time - What are you growing?

#142
Blueszilla said:
Post some pics when you do that, I'd like to see it.
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Will do, looks like the weather will break enough for me to do the woodwork this weekend with a little luck. We're using Sunlite brand corrugated polycarbonate panels from Home Depot, FWIW. I did a few small movable frames with some last year and we have a bunch of stuff starting under them right now.
 
#147
I've tried a few times in a few different areas in our yard. Not enough sun, not enough hot days, bad soil, too wet, they all work against me. I can usually get one or two of the factors needed for a good hot pepper, but over the years I've been trying (since 1999), I've never been able to harvest a decent number of peppers. I'll plant 3-6 plants, and maybe get 5-6 peppers worth eating.

-Mike
 
#148
Blueszilla said:
They're not hard to grow, but they like a lot of sun, and watering has to be closely monitored. Chile does well in a dry climate, that's why they grow so much of it here. I'm guessing it rains a bit more there than here.
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The climate in Washington is all over the map. I'm a couple of hours from Mike and on the other side of the mountains where it's a whole different world:

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#151
Blueszilla said:
Nice group of peppers there Charlie. Was re-reading some of the thread and thinking of doing some infusions, as you had described. Very intriguing.
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That was just the end of season harvest last year, done the day before a hard frost was incoming. It's always a fine line here from around mid-Oct on.

I've branched out to more ambitious infusions (blends, and/or added herbs), and for the last few years I've been working up to blended fermented sauces, innoculating new batches with older ones, and all kinds of other mad scientist stuff. I think I might try doing my own kimchi this year too.
 
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#152
Ok, not technically garden, but the warmer temps have me preparing bags of spawn for the 2-3 month window where growing mushrooms (edible) is reasonable without heating/cooling. Phoenix Oysters, grown on wood chips...neighbor had a huge box elder cut last fall, they chipped 100% of it and I got the whole pile of approx 8-10 yards. Mostlyt I grow on hay.
Oysters_2014first.jpg
 
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#153
Peppers need ample sulfur and calcium to thrive. Old-school suggestion used to be to throw 5-10 unburned matchheads in each hole when planting for the sulfur. Insufficient calcium is major cause of blossum-end rot in both peppers and tomatoes....that is where they rot or seem to decay at end away from stem for no reason. I plant about 30-36 peppers, usually freeze about 30 lbs(quart freezer bags) plus eat and give away a bunch more. Good pepper plants should give you at least a dozen peppers per plant in a season, 24-30+ on reallly good plants or smaller varieties.

I'm in cold,wet,short-season Michigan but I am blessed with a garden 100% in full sun and sandy soil. For a smaller plot I'd rather have sand as i can always add humus. Getting heavy clay to a good draining "fluff" is more work, imo.

Calcium and phosphorus - we save all our egg shells and then crush lightly. A handful around each plant like a donut creates an environment few cut-worms or grubs want to crawl across, ditto for a handful mixed in the soil directly around newly set out plants. :)
 
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