Sunday, October 2, 2011


Yesterday was a great morning in the garden, cool temps around 70, nice breeze. 
First item on my mental to do list was transplanting some peppers.  The ghost pepper has doubled in size in the last month and it was the first to go into the ground.  This started as a cutting my friend Paul took from his plant, then came here all the way from Phoenix on a business trip.  Before our version of winter comes around, I'll take a cutting off of it so I can share with some other friends who are also into heat.  The ghost pepper is hot, off the chart hot, hotter than my scotch bonnet's hot.  Check it out:


I also transplanted 2 long cayenne pepper plants that I started from seed and I have 2 more emerging in small containers.  The cayenne peppers serve a dual purpose, in addition to cooking with them, I also use them in homemade insecticidal soap.  Side note, I'm a little bummed that the cubanella's still haven't emerged but peppers are real slow growers so I haven't completely given up on them.

Transplanted some more iceberg lettuce and mixed greens.  I started them in soil blocks and they seem healthy enough to move to the ground. 

The beans are all doing great.  The black beans have small but beautiful purple flowers so the pods can't be too far behind. 


Red kidney beans, baby lima beans, and green beans all have lots of pods now.The lentils are still small and slow growing, between 4-6 inches tall. 

Put some broccoli seeds in containers and soil blocks, its fun to see which wins the race.  It’s time to start my swiss chard and according to Robert Bowden it's best to soak the seeds in water before planting them.  I put them in warm water in the morning and at the end of the day, I transferred the seeds to soil blocks I had prepared. 

Tomatoes are growing really fast now and flowering.  Two of the plants have some leaves turning brown, need to snap a picture and send it to Ed Thralls to figure out what the problem is.  I also need stronger stakes, hoping to recycle some 2x4's from a buddy of mine, ripping them down to 2x2's for this purpose.  Also in the tomato bed are radishes, looking real good now.  I'll be making salads fresh from the garden soon!


Finally, I transplanted 3 pineapples that I started from the discarded tops I cut off.  The oldest one is huge now, the other two are still wambly looking but there is some new growth so I'm sure they'll make it.  I also put my two potato plants into the ground.  According to the charts, it's too early but somehow the potatoes don't know that. 

Cucumbers are emerging nicely and so are some more black eyed peas in the same container.  Evidently, there were some peas that didn't get picked that were left in the compost.  Epic win for me, more black eyed peas!