We're off!

 As usual I have procrastinated, but since I targeted starting so early, I'm actually right on track. I guess that counts as a life hack! Anyway, I have started quite a number of different tomatoes and peppers. I've got seven fiberglass tough planters (like a long window planter) under the fluorescents right now and they're doing very well so far. One planter has a ton of weeds in it, but the rest seem good so far. I used clear packing tape to stick labels written in sharpie on the side of the planters. Will they stay stuck on? Will they fade? Who can say!

Seeds starting under lights

Have I mentioned garlic? I have 55 garlic bulbs and they look great so far! I'm optimistic for a nice haul of garlic this year.

One of the hardneck garlic beds

Some tomato seedlings already putting on extra sets of leaves.

The soil I have the seedlings in is somewhat sandy and seems to dry out pretty quickly. I need to keep on top of watering.

Gardenfest 2023 review/2024 preview

Update from 6/23/2023 - My prep this year was decidedly lacking. Rather than beat myself up over it, I decided to just roll with it. Last year I was very aggressive about bringing in pepper plants - 28 of them made it into the basement. Whereas last year things went swimmingly, with almost all plants making it through, this year it looks like only 8 made it. And whereas last year they really took off within a week of being put outside, these 8 survivors seem to be a bit less vigorous. Last year the overwinter leaves kind of fell off and new leaves popped up everywhere. This year the regrowth seems much more subdued.

Today, 03/10/2024 - Last year was unimpressive. I got a few zucchini (planted late, did not keep up with them well). Tomatoes were pathetic. Definitely focusing on other things. This year, as I perpetually say, will be different. There is at least some hope that I may do a better job. I've already started some peppers and I'm working on tomatoes today. I've cleaned out some of the spider webs in the basement (lol, what a metaphor!), and I've got my first batch of peppers under lights. 

The hot pepper selection was interesting. I dug through my last 12 years of seed packets and came up with the following that I started last weekend:

• Poinsetta - None sprouted.
• Hungarian Hot Wax - None sprouted.
• Caperino - None sprouted.
• Pablano - None sprouted.
• Habanero - None sprouted.
• Sweet Banana - None sprouted.
• Pepperoncini - None sprouted.
• Tabasco - None sprouted.
• Buena Mulata
• Cayenne
• Datil
• Korean Dark Green 

So only the last four sprouted. Maaaaaybe I'll get some of those. I think my problem is that I have a lot of old seeds.

Today I also planted 

• Serrano
• Jalapeno
• Anaheim/Big Jim - a New Mexico type of chile

Went a lot heavier on these than the other types, these are the ones I enjoy the most. I really, really hope the New Mexican type of green chiles do well, I'd like to get a big enough harvest to justify getting a roaster. A hand cranked, propane fired roaster would be really fun, and a great way to prep them. 

Spent some time today deciding which types of tomato to plant.

• YES - Rutgers - These are reliable.
• YES - Black Vernissage - See how they stack up to Cherokee Purple
• YES - Brandywine - Low output but maybe do 1.
• YES - Beefsteak - Low output but maybe do 1.
• YES - Spoon - These are fun.
• YES - Black Cherry - Pretty, good flavor. Get loads of tomatoes.
• YES - Yellow Pear - Yes, looking for a nice range of cherry colors this year.
• YES - Roma - Doing sauce mostly, so yes.
• YES - A Grappoli D'Invierno - Got a lot of these.
• YES - San Marzano - Mostly using them for sauce, so no brainer here. 
• YES - Cherokee Purple - My favorite!
• YES - Napa chardonnay - Yeah, doing a rainbow of cherry tomatoes.
• YES - Green Doctors - Yeah, doing a rainbow of cherry tomatoes.
• YES - Red Cherry, Large Fruited - Yeah, doing a rainbow of cherry tomatoes.
• YES - Sungold - A great cherry variety.

Decided against these.

• NO - Brandywine Pink - Low output.
• NO - Gezahnte - I don't think these fared well.
• NO - Mortgage Lifter - Never get much from these

The two major themes this year are cherry tomatoes - I want a nice variety of colors, and tomato sauce, so somewhat of a preference for paste types. I also am being less tolerant of varieties that produced poorly. I want to make up for my lack of tomatoes last year and see if I can have a great year.

Other things on the agenda for... soonish... eggplant, ground cherries, and huckleberries.

Another big theme this year is berries. I had elderberries for a few years, but they got lost in the backyard jungle and never saw them again. The black raspberries that used to be everywhere in the back are largely gone. I think the jungle swallowed them up as well. Last fall I hired a landscaper to clear the back yard. Expensive, but the change is very dramatic. I will definitely have some extra space for plants.

Another berry project - I took cuttings from a blackberry bramble at the community garden and put them in water. They're sprouted nicely, I will see if I can start them in soil soon. I also put some blueberries and blackberries from work and put them in the freezer. Will defrost them soon and see if I can grow plants from the seeds. And finally will need to hit the nurseries in the area to see what else I can scrounge up. Strawberries would be awesome, but I think I will try a variety of things if I can find them.

Some scavenged photos of the mediocre attempt that was 2023...

Peas

Got some peas at least

Tomato seedlings. NONE came up.

Baby zuke

Zukes always give me something for my effort

Yum

My one tomato. Miserable! Got a few at least.

Lotta kale.

Okra flower. I got some pods but I think I left them on the plant too long.

Pepper Post

 Yesterday I spend harvesting peppers and weighing each type. First the pretty pick of the varieties I harvested yesterday.

9/10/2022 harvest

 Here's the rundown.

Jalapeños were the top producer. I'm cool with that - I've been adding them 2 or 3 at a time, thin sliced, to my eggs in the mornings. It will take a LONG TIME to eat over two and a half pounds of them though. It does have me very excited to overwinter peppers this year though. If I get results like this with other peppers I'm going to be very pleased.

Jalapeño bounty

The cayenne harvest was pretty small, but it'll make enough powder for a few meals. And still plenty not quite ready yet on the plants. Next step is running them through the dehydrator. 

Serranoes harvest was not gigantic either, but I don't have too many plants and they're all in two liter bottles. I will overwinter these and repot for next year.

Serranoes 

The Korean Dark Greens are a bit of a mystery, not sure how hot they will be. I think I may dehydrate and powder those as well.

And finally, my favorite, New Mexico Chiles. They are a mix of Big Jim and Anaheim. Felt like one variety was lighter in color than the other, but they might just be not as ripe, *shrug*. And not sure which is which. Next year labelling will be KEY! Anyway, these will be roasted, the skin peeled, and then frozen. Green chile for the winter, woot woot!

The prettiest 2/3 of my Green Chile haul

These are all the ones I grew this year, other than the Jalapeños which were started last year and kept inside over the winter.

Love me some Baker Creek

I'm not sure what happened with the Tabascos - maybe they just got lost in the shuffle. Ah well, next year!

Big Pick

 The older boy back from school in faraway lands, so have neglected the garden a bit. Have definitely kept up with watering, otherwise it'd be all shriveled and brown, but I'm much overdue for a pick. I think some tomatoes have gone bad and there are a ton that are at least ready to pick. So today I pick. The haul so far:

• 756g of Jalapeño Peppers
• 264g Anaheim Peppers
• 5g Cayenne (hah, just one nice and red)
• 215g Long Beans (like a foot long!)
• 1682g Roma
• 1240g A Grappoli D'Invierno
• 698g Black Cherry (minus the ones I've snacked on, kept up with these better)
• 248g Beit Cukes
• 483g Brandywine Tomato
• 921g Cherokee Purple Tomato
• 1065g Hungarian Tomato
• 972g Beefsteak Tomato

For a grand total of 1.025kg peppers (2.26lbs) and 7.061kg tomatoes (15.5 lbs). There were another couple pounds that were overripe and squishy. And there are plenty more still on the vines.

A big chunk of the harvest today

Some of the veggies I have not pictured before.

Anaheim Pepper

Hungarian Tomato

Beefsteak Tomato

Brandywine Tomato

Cayenne Pepper

Long Beans

More Seeds

Second batch of seeds set in a tray to germinate the 29th (first batch was the 25th). I have quite an array of peppers and tomatoes at this point. Also ordered some seeds - a couple stragglers I could not find locally - most notable Black Cherry and Sungold. Should be here early next week I guess? Anyway, The San Marzanos are starting to sprout. The other tray of tomatoes looks like a few on the cusp of sprouting. The peppers not so much.

Tasks for this weekend - start some snap peas in the back/side yard at home. Use some chicken wire to protect them from varmints. Get the community garden plot set up for zucchini. Way early, but if no more frosts I'm golden.

Toodling right along

Every year I say I'll be so much more diligent. Every year. And yet every year I fall behind, plan poorly, do a fraction of what I wanted to. Ah well. I didn't plant all the tomato varieties I intended to, but I have a decent selection. Here's what the community garden looks like. My swanky new 20' x 25' plot.

The garden plot

8 varieties of paste tomatoes. I made a lot of spaghetti sauce last year. I was very happy with the Amish paste, they're a local heirloom and they do very well in the community garden. Everyone talks up San Marzanos as the pinnacle of sauce tomatoes, so those were well represented as well. Plus a Roma. My Roma seeds were old and didn't germinate well. I wanted to include them for comparison if nothing else.

The rest:

• Cherokee purple - delicious if not prolific
• Brandywine
• Rutgers
• 4th of July - Their main virtue is supposed to be that they produce early, but I got them in late. Still, they've always done well for me.
• Plum Regal
• Indigo Rose - Supposed to be dark purple!
• Speckled Roman

Poor Tigerella didn't make the cut this year - didn't have seeds. Too bad, they'll be back though.

At home I'm doing cherry tomatoes. Right now I have four kinds in the dirt.

• Black Cherry - love the look and taste
• Sungold - Delicious and VERY prolific
• Yellow Pear - Adds another color to the mix, supposed to be prolific.
• Red Cherry large fruited - they always do well for me

First Sungold, plant is thriving on the front patio.

Totally dropped the ball on peppers this year. Not even growing jalapenos! I do have three kinds.

• Capt Joe E. Parker - A New Mexico type
• Long Cayenne
• Capperino - A small round type suitable for stuffing

Yeah, definitely dropped the ball. Ah well. 

Eggplants were even worse, only ONE came up of the 16 or so I planted. Husk cherries were a total zero. Not one sprouted. Too bad, those were sweet and tasty, would have loved to make some jam or a pie or something. Maybe try harder on those next year.

My cucumber setup from the last post has not kept the weeds out. Top of the chore list is weeding that patch. Only a few came up.

Also planted green beans. Not many sprouted, and some critter has been at them. Initially thought it was a groundhog but now I'm thinking it might have been deer. Leaving the back light on, maybe they'll be afraid to come in that close to the house.

One nice surprise, last year's dill seeded itself. I found 3 nice plants in some two gallon buckets I had it in last year. Those are huge, but a bit spindly. Further investigation turned up about 10 tiny volunteers springing up amongst the cherry tomato plants in the fenced in garden in the back yard. Which gets me excited for pickling. Set up some more cuke seeds on wet paper towels, I need more of them if I want to be awash in cukes for pickling. Although a smidge late to start.

Hungarian Wax Pickles

Really enjoyed the pickled banana peppers from last year, so I'm growing Hungarian Wax peppers this year for the same purpose. Should be a bit spicier. So here's my first shot at a recipe. Just refrigerator pickles until I find a recipe I like.

• 1 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 cup white vinegar (no culinary reason, just didn't have enough apple cider vinegar)
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 Tbs salt
• 1/2 Tbs sugar
• Small slices onion
• few cloves garlic

Lots going on in the garden, will update soon.

Pepper Plans

Last year's pepper harvest was really nice. This year's was plagued by mismanagement on my part. So many of the seeds I took from peppers I bought at the store failed to germinate. And some of those that did produced rather peculiar crossbreeds - I think my jalapenoes and my Hungarian Wax peppers from last year cross pollinated. Oops. Interesting, but not particularly exciting crossbreeds.

For next year I was thinking about the following varieties:

Pepper plan

Will probably select 2-4 additional varieties while browsing the seed catalogs and grow a couple of each. Since my peppers grew very well in buckets this year, I'll grow most of them in buckets. So I need...~70 buckets. Right now I've amassed 20. Probably will grow the Anaheims directly in the ground in the back garden, so that bumps it down to ~50.

Oh, another thing that worked really well this year is grass clippings in the pots. A layer of grass clippings helps the plants retain water and prevented weeds.

So... Terribly... Dry.

Done some drying lately. Made sun-dried (well, ok, oven-dried) tomatoes.

Into the oven you go, cherry tomatoes!

And back out again. Submerged in oil and put in the fridge.

Also dried some peppers. These were a gift from a friend, not from the garden. Maybe next year I'll have this kind of bounty. The habaneros didn't get completely bone dry, so I tossed them in a jar and put them in the freezer.

Habaneros before...

...and after.

Drying

Dried and ground

And relabelled.

One of our Cherokee Purple tomatoes out front just went nuts. Tons of tomatoes, but since it wasn't properly staked I missed out on most of them, chipmunks and squirrels and slugs got them first as the ripened. I pulled what was left on the plant (8 or 9? Picked 6 or 7 a week or so ago). Frost probably soon.

Loads of green Cherokee Purple tomatoes.