Feb. 12:  Chilies from the first batch have been coming up throughout the week. The first batch of tomatoes also are up.

I planted some more bell peppers and some cabbage in the greenhouse and some lettuce outside. Garlic had come up outside so I thinned it. I noticed that something has been mowing my leeks off at the ground so I covered them up o give them a chance to grow. They have made a coule of inches of progress already.

No peppers have come up yet. Perhaps because it has been so cold.
I planted a batch of jalapeños, bell peppers, paprika, and early girl tomatoes today.

I'm still having problems with mice. They dug back in and went after the spinach again. I have blocked them once more, hopefully for good. Unfortunately there is a least one still inside so I will have to catch it soon.

I have also been seeing some aphid on what is left of my Bok Choy. I sprayed it with a mixture of dish soap, garlic, and coffee. They did not like the spray and emediately started crawling off. It Must have been too strong for the radishes that are starting in that same crate as it killed a few plants. However it did get rid of the aphid. I'm still seeing the flying version on my plastic, so I will have to keep monitoring for them.

Jan 13: Planted a few (2 or 3) pots of several chilies and bell peppers today. Jallepenos, big jims, bells, and paprika.

Jan 8th 2017.

Extra Dwarf Bok Choy

I did not record any of my 2016 gardening activities but will try to do better in 2017. At the end of 2016 I put double pane solex panels on my new north facing greenhouse. I planted spinach, lettuce, onions, bok choy, leeks, and Chinese cabbage. The bok choy was the first to be planted, and we have been eating it for some time. 

Lettuce as second patch joins what is left of first

Mice have been a problem again. They kept getting in and eating plants. They nearly wiped out my first planting of spinach, and mowed off the lettuce like cows in a pasture. I have caught over 20 mice, but now I think I have them blocked out since no new ones have arrived in a couple of weeks.

Rectangle: back half Chinese Cabage, front half replanted lettuce.
Top pot: bell pepper. Bottom pot: Rosemary.

On Jan 8th I replanted the spinach and planted a pot of thyme and basil. I replanted the mowed off lettuce two weeks ago,and that is already up again.



















I planted one of the original crates with half lettuce and half Chinese cabbage. The mice mowed off the lettuce and left the Chinese cabbage untouched. I guess I don't have any Chinese mice.

I also have one bell pepper I transferred from last summer's garden, a pot of rosemary, and a pot of wonder berries.

Garden update

My garden is staring to take off. It is mostly tomatoes and chilies, but I also have onions, Spinich, carrots, kale, Swiss chard, melons, can't elope, squash, corn, radishes, flowers...

Tomatoes and chilies

 

Lettuce and Bok Chou

Amaranth

 

Posted with Blogsy

March 19

March 19th: Pablanos and Toro chilies are coming up. My jalepino from last year has survived first in the house and now the green house and actually has a chili on it. Vine Cherry and Rutgers tomatoes are also coming up. I think the Roma seed I planted must not have been any good. So I have replanted them from a different source and some new Roma like tomatoes as well.

 

Posted with Blogsy

March 8th

 

The Salinas and Aneheims are starting to come up but the Pablanos are nowhere to be seen, so I replanted them.

Mar. 9th: Rutgers tomatoes have started coming up.

My chilies are doing very well this year with no mice to dig up,the seeds.

I do, however have a golfer in my hot windows. He is having a hay day, but my anger has not built to a level to seek vengeance yet.

While I have been working in the garden, lair has been making some beautiful necklaces.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/TLCDesignJewelry?ref=s2-header-shopname

 

Posted with Blogsy

Ray's Garden 2014

Solexx Panels

I planted my chilies and peppers in the green house between Feb 10th and 17th. The first chili just came up on Feb 19th. I have planted jallepenos, Big Jims, bananas, pablanos, Anaheims, and Salinas chilies plus yolo wonder and china giant bell

Feb 28: most of the chilies from Feb 10th are up, some of the others as well. Temperature of the soil plays a big difference in what has come up. I have a heater under the plants and the plants in the middle have come up quicker and more reliably than those on the edge where it doesn't get as warm.

Chilies

I got Solexx panels for my birthday and put them up today, replacing the double layers of cheap plastic. The panels actually came in a big 49" by 22' roll and was very easy to cut and install--much easier than the plastic. Also I won't have to replace it every year or worry that the wind is going to shred it to bits. An added bonus is that the cats' claws won't put holes in it, so I will have to find something else to cuss at.

May 1st: Planted Roma and Rutgers Tomatoes.

 

Posted with Blogsy

Getting greenhouse rolling

Emily and I put the green house back together today. She helped clean it all out and put new plastic on it. Then we planted three types of bell peppers: golden summer, northern king, and fat & sassy.
We also planted chilies: jalapeños, big Jims, banana chilies, tomorrow we need to finish the chilies with cayenne, pablanos, a couple habaneros, and a few others. Then some tomatoes and who knows what else.

Monster Cauliflower

A couple of weeks ago I covered my tomatoes and chilies because a brief cold front was coming through for two day with temps down around 30 degrees after which we would have at least 10 days of warmth. This past Friday another cold front came through of a more severe nature with temperatures at 20 or below for several nights in a row. So I picked the rest of my tomatoes and chilies and let them ripen inside. That is pretty much the end of the garden except for the cabbage family. It will be interseting to see how they do as winter comes on.

Speaking of the cabbage family we picked a whopper of a cauliflower last week. The Gardener's Handbook says, "Cauliflower usually will not grow to the same size in the home garden as you will find in the store."

So who knows when I will write in this again. Until then... dream green. Not politically correct green but manure green.

Harvest Day

 Left: A bouquet of Ethan's flowers for Mom.

Right: A very large flower from Ethan garden.

Some red flowers are blooming now.

 I can't believe it has been nearly a month since I wrote here last.
I have been busy canning and getting the boys off to college. I have canned about 4 cases of peaches and given as much more away to family. So far I have put up 2 cases of salsa a case of spaghetti sauce, and a few bottles of ketchup.

Here is my biggest watermelon so far at 30 lbs.

Emily's melon

Five different chilies

Peaches

Two of my bush type cucumbers are putting on like crazy and my peaches are starting to get ripe, forcing me to ease into canning mode. I have put up 14 pints of sweet relish and six quarts of peaches.

Cucumbers

Anaheim, Banana, and Poblano Chilies

My banana chilies continue to be productive and I just harvested my first batch of poblanos (a large meaty chili) which turned out great as rellenos.The rest I roasted and froze. I have also frozen a couple gallon bags of chopped chilies and eaten a fare amount of banana chilies stuffed with cream cheese. My wife and daughter love these because they don't have heat.







My corn patch is small this year, but we are eating it several times a week. Of  course the squash and tomatoes are still producing. My new food mill should be here Wednesday. Then I can start doing something with the tomatoes. I plan ketchup, spaghetti sauce, and salsa among other things.

The watermelons continue to grow. They are getting long but not too big around yet.

Anybody need any dill seed? I think I will have a gallon when I am done and all my dill came up volunteer so I don't need it for seed. How many quarts of pickles will a gallon of dill make?

My old laptop died making it difficult to keep this blog up to date. Fortunately my new laptop is up and running, so now I am trying to get caught up.

Everyone around me is having trouble with rabbits eating everything because of the extreme drought. They mow beans and chilies off nightly. They have hit me a couple of times but not too bad. I have tried to fence them out, but I'm sure they could get in if they tried. Luckily they seem content to munch on the lawn and don't put too much effort into getting by my fences.

A few things I have learned so far: Kale grows great but the kids don't like it. Same with collards--a few will go a long ways. The cabbage family need to go in even earlier. Corn is very picky about too much nitrogen. Yellow pear tomatoes need to be separated twice as far as normal. Dill is a weed and will come up everywhere I don't have plastic.

 I have picked a few tomatoes, chilies, squash, beans, and cilantro. My corn is tasseling. Some of my chilies are 3ft high and some tomatoes 4ft. I am harvesting dill seed and coriander seed.

The watermelons and cantaloupe are just putting on.

My grapes are putting on like crazy this year

It has been a week of trials including a few in the garden. Rabbits mowed off one of my corn rows and tiny black beetles attached my chilies, bean, and cabbage plants. I applied homemade pepper spray to the corn  which is working so far on the rabbits while malathion is doing the trick on the beetles. For the pepper spray I just mix some of the hottest chili powder on hand with some water and then spray it on the corn. Rabbits don't seem to like it. Just have to be careful to reapply it if it washes off.

Emily and I eat at least one Kohlrabi every day now. Trying to find new ways to use chard. Some of the Spinach is going to seed. I ate a small carrot yesterday and I also have two zucchinis and a few chilies blooming. Need to get the rest of my beans and corn planted. Then I can sit on my butt and watch the plants grow. Don't I wish.




June 17: I have all my corn and beans planted and they are mostly up. Dill and cilantro are blooming. Waiting for that first tomato to turn red. Been eating squash flowers for a week or so.

All of my roses are blooming.

A Rose for Emily

The garden is looking very good for May 27th. I've never had this many things this big at this time of year.

We even found a couple of tomatoes.


Beets are ready. Peas have been coming off for a while. We have also been eating a few kohlbari which are quite good and easy to grow.

Can't keep up with Chard

Broccoli is blooming.

I just need some more bell peppers. The ones I planted are up but they grow so slow. I think I will buy a dozen or so, so I don't have to wait so long.

I also can't keep up with the potatoes. I need to bank them about everyother day. Half of my aspargus are finally up. The corn I planted through hole in black plastic came up much better that the plain row and is growing much faster. More heat?


Ethan's flowers are still coming along.



Roses

Friday 18th: I am at Six flags Magic Mountain with Kailab and the other seniors. Emily is the gardener this week. She claims I have a broccoli head the size of her hand and that the bell peppers have not come up yet. She is a good little gardener so hopefully everything will be good when I get back after being gone for four days.

So I think I have about everything in the ground. Of course I still have a couple batches of corn to plant but otherwise everything is planted.

About a week ago I planted a row of sorghum that Dad gave me (Happy Birthday Dad). They should give my beans something to climb on and provide some good bird watching opportunities in the fall. Oh and they are a nice treat. That reminds me--I still have to plant some more beans.

This week I put out some more cabbage, finished of the chili and tomato rows, replaced some plants that died, planted some cucumbers, cantaloupe, watermelon, and (what the heck) a couple hills of eggplant. Also planted a row of bell peppers since I can't figure out which of my remaining chili plants are bells.

This is my normal week for putting in the garden. It is sure nice to be eating veggies instead of just planting them. Now it is time for that long wait until the first tomato sets and then eventually ripens. At least I can chew on some lettuce, spinach, chard, or peas while I wait.

Roses, chives, and thyme are blooming. I even planted a few flowers (ones you cant eat) for Laura for Mother's Day

I haven't planted anything else. Getting ready to take Ethan to MCT next week but here are some pictures of my arugula, broccoli, and kohlrabi.

Arugula with chard in foreground

Broccoli is taking off

Kohlrabi is growing away