pepperhead212's 2024 garden

[pepperhead212]

Today it was the smaller tomatoes again, with over 4 qts of them, after 3 days.
All Sunsugar tomatoes, harvested August 1st, first in 3 days. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

A heaping 4 qt bowl of the smaller tomatoes, August 1st, 3 days since last harvest. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[troy2702]

It looks like you've got quite the haul from your garden! Those tomatoes and peppers seem to be in abundance, and it's nice to see some cucumbers in the mix as well. It seems like a great variety for some delicious recipes or preserving for later use. How has your growing season been so far?

[pepperhead212]

@troy2702 I've had a good season, overall, with pluses and minuses, as always, but a lot more pluses! A very good tomato season, with several I will probably grow again (this season I only had 4 repeats, in the 21!).

I picked most of the Thai Vesuvius that were ripe, or turning, and a lot of ripening Arunas. And the first ripe Red Habanero, and 3 ripe Datil peppers. Also got about a half dozen ripe Hanoi Markets, but unfortunately, those, and the other peppers under cover looked like they came down with a blight or something like what happens with tomatoes! And those, and the Thai Vesuvius (which also was not doing well), had ants all over them, which would come back, despite whatever I would do to kill them. The Thai Dragons right next to the Vesuvius, had no problems, so I think the Vesuvius were weakened when they were blown over in a wind storm in the spring; killed the Aji Dulce, and one Tomato, but blew a bunch of things over, despite being staked. Next season I'll have to use large stakes from the beginning, even when I know they won't be that tall!

Here are the ones from today. That habanero isn't very hot compared to my usual ones (maybe 200k), but great habanero flavor, in that lentil salad I made with it.
Peppers from August 2nd, first habanero, first 3 datil, several more Hanoi Markets, mostly Aruna. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[troy2702]

It sounds like you've had a fruitful season with your peppers and tomatoes, despite some challenges. The variety of peppers you harvested looks vibrant and healthy! It's unfortunate about the blight and ant issues, but it seems like you're already planning improvements for next season. The habanero in that lentil salad sounds delicious, even if it wasn't as hot as usual. Keep up the great work in your garden!

[pepperhead212]

Peppers are starting to ripen now.
First trays of peppers to go into the dehydrator, 3 trays of Thai, and 1 Aruna. The Aruna is still loaded with peppers, but starting to flower some more already.
First 4 sheets of peppers, going in the dehydrator, 8-3 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

Unfortunately, when I checked my garden this morning for any damage from that wind last night, my Datil plant had gotten blown over, despite the stake - just not thick enough. Hopefully, it will recover, but only time will tell. Fortunately, that was the only thing that seems to have been damaged by that 60 mph wind.

To attack that problem with the ants, and whatever they seem to be bringing with them, I brushed some tanglefoot on the lower part of the plant and the stake - if they are on them, there is no way to get off now! I then made up a pyrethrin spray, and sprayed all of those pepper plants, to kill the ants there already, plus whatever they are bringing with them (I haven't seen any aphids, but there could be other things). I rarely resort to this, and the Surround I don't use on peppers (except before they set fruit), as it is too much of a pain to get off small fruits, like cherry tomatoes, and DE doesn't really do much. The tanglefoot does prevent any ants from showing up again, however.

[JayneR13]

I’m having ant problems for the first time this year. Mine are in the house, so I’m using vinegar to wipe counters and such. Unbelievable. I’ll have to look into tanglefoot.

[pepperhead212]

Seems like every spring I get ants in my kitchen, no matter how careful I am about leaving them food anywhere! I've tried a number of ant bait traps, but it seems like I'm just feeding them - they never disappear or reduce in numbers. Last year I found something that actually worked, and they disappeared quickly. It's STEM, which I got at half price from Dollar General, one is aerosol, and one in a pump spray. It's a safe spray labeled to kill ants, roaches, and flies, and I think they have 4 different types, labeled for different insects, but they all have the same 2 active ingredients - Lemongrass oil, and Geraniol, which is a component of citronella. I sprayed behind my dishwasher, underneath the dish draining tray, and various other areas, and they disappeared quickly, and this year I did a prophylactic spray, with the same spray, and did not get any at all, which is a first! I also got an aerosol can, this one listing spiders as things it kills (though, like I said, same ingredients), and sprayed around in my basement, and got very few webs to walk through, since then. I originally got them, since they were half price, the first year they carried them, with the digital coupons, and this year they were about 1/3 off, when the coupon was there.

Today, when checking those peppers, there wasn't an ant on any of them, and those Thai Vesuvius are already recovering some. And later, more tomatoes, as usual.
8 qts, 3 qts, and 2 qts of tomatoes, harvested on 8-5 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[JayneR13]

I've been having problems with ants for the first time this year myself! I've been spraying vinegar, which is working well. I wear gloves when I'm getting some compost from my barrel, otherwise they'll swarm me and bite! Such little creatures bite hard too! Ugh!

Your tomatoes look lovely, as always! Yum!

[pepperhead212]

I got another 3 qts of the smaller tomatoes yesterday, and maybe another 2 qts of the larger ones, but today I bit the bullet, and pulled out two of my largest tomato plants - Green Giants - that I have not gotten a single useable tomato from! Too bad, because it was one of the most disease resistant, if it wasn't for the splitting and rotting, before it would become useable. I was even looking at the green tomatoes, but they would start going bad in some way, before anywhere near full grown. Only had 2 other varieties this happened with - both black.

I made a triple recipe of that ratatouille soup I made recently - used over 6 lbs of tomatoes in it! Also some eggplant and bottle gourd, along with the other seasonings. I put a little citric acid in it, along with some sugar, to counteract it, and it tasted about the same, and I pressure canned it, so it was not necessary. I only filled 2" from the top, but it dropped even more, because there was foam, and it filled 6 quart jars, plus the one in front, that was about 3" from the top. I pressure canned them for 80 minutes, outside, to keep the steam and heat out!
canned ratatouille soup, 8-10 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

I had to pull out a few pepper plants today - the plants did not recover from those wind storms I had recently; though only one showed visible damage, the wilting was almost immediate with 2 of them, and the Datil - the one that was worst - was the slowest to wilt. I let peppers ripen, as much as they could, then pulled every pepper from the Arunas, when I pulled the plants. I'll separate the unripe peppers, and probably make some Thai green curry paste with them, and freeze it.
mostly Aruna peppers, but a few Thai peppers ripening. 8-12 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

My pole beans are starting to kick in, and yesterday I saw the first long beans on the vines, so soon I'll have more of those than I know what to do with. The cukes hit a lull, but the old plants are flowering again - same with the eggplants, which have new fruits and blossoms all over them. Must have been that delay reaction to that intense heat, that caused the lull, and they are coming back strong now. Surprisingly, the heat didn't seem to affect most of the tomatoes, as they just kept producing, which usually only the cherries do, and sometimes not all of those.

Soon, I have to start thinking about planting fall plants. I'm afraid that if I do it too soon I will jinx things, and get another September like the last one...

[JayneR13]

I hear you! It's been a rough year. The zucchini I transplanted didn't seem to think too much of its new space, because it's wilted over. Sigh.

[MissS]

I hear you! It's been a rough year. The zucchini I transplanted didn't seem to think too much of its new space, because it's wilted over. Sigh.

Zucchini don't really like transplanting. If you can offer it some shade for a few days, it would appreciate it while it recovers from the shock of being moved. If you could place a laundry basket or box over it to keep it out of the direct sun during the heat of the day, it won't wilt so badly and it will improve it's chances for survival.

[JayneR13]

I'll give that a try. It's pretty wilted over though. I may have learned something the hard way LOL

[pepperhead212]

For all my cucurbits, I start them in Jiffy Pellets, or something similar, so they don't really get "transplanted", but get to grow some, before going out. And birds notoriously eat those seeds around here, if I direct seed them.

Speaking of direct seeding, I have some dill and basil that I planted about a week ago, that are growing to get some better late crops. I planted some basil cuttings, as well, and this is why I was planting these - to get cuttings in the fall, for the basils, since I could only get cuttings from one, last season, due to the flowering.

[pepperhead212]

I was over at my friend's garden yesterday (the ones I give all my "extra" seedlings to), and the Datil pepper I gave him is doing well, and he said I could have any I wanted! He said that he was the only one that can eat those, so he doesn't need many of them. The variety they liked was the one I thought would be popular - the Big Mic, which is a large, Anaheim/Numex, and mild, so everyone can eat it, but it has great flavor and production. She fell in love with that one, as well as several of the tomatoes, and had the same problems with the varieties I had trouble with, as far as splitting, and diseases. And also had the same varieties getting HUGE, and she realizes she has to give them more space! She wants to plant some garlic this year, too, so we were trying to find a good place for that.

Only one of those Aruna plants survived that (or those) wind storm, and today I pulled every pepper off the last plant, and pulled the plant. I also pulled a few ripe Datil peppers, and left those on the plant, to see how many more will ripen on the dead plant. The habaneros are ripening well, and producing well.
A bunch of green Aruna peppers, and a few ripe Red Habanero and Yellow Datil peppers. 8-14 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[Shule]

Those cherry tomatoes look so good. Your fruits have really nice colors!

[pepperhead212]

Later today, when the shade was out back, I worked on the tomatoes, mostly, and got another 4 qts of the smaller tomatoes. The larger tomatoes I had inside, I had to take care of later, and cut them all up, to put into the dehydrator - 6 trays of them. Once they shrink up some, I can put some closer together, and put some peppers in the empty spots.

Those Zluta Gold Kytice cherries had a large number of ripe fruits again. They are sort of a semi-determinate, in that they produce a large number of flowers, then a bunch of fruits, almost all the same size, and ripening at the same time, then shortly after picking, another large number of blossoms open in the same clusters, that were just sitting dormant, waiting for something to trigger them! It's too bad they are so small - their only drawback. Good flavor, though not as sweet as Sunsugar or Sungold. They are very disease resistant. Some people might like the fact that they don't grow as tall as most other cherries.
About 2½ c of the Zluta Gold Kytice, and a few others. 8-14 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

A 4 qt bowl of the smaller tomatoes, 8-14 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

Today I got quite a bit of work done outside, due to the nice weather, but I would have done even more, if it wasn't so windy! Maybe tomorrow I'll do that stuff. The long beans are starting to mature now, and the eggplants are having a second on all of the plants, except for the Long Purple. Later, inside, I got 3 trays of hot peppers (mostly Aruna) and 3 trays of cubed up eggplant ready for the dehydrator.
3 more eggplants, about 3 more quarts of tomatoes, and the first 2 Thai red long beans, about 24" long. 8-20 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Sunday I got some seeds started for my fall crops, and this morning, I saw 2 had sprouted in less than 48 hours - the lettuce, and the Merlot red cabbage, a type of napa. I also planted senposai, bok choy (koquie heat resistant), late choy sum (green family, supposed to be cold resistant), and wu choy dark horse, supposed to be resistant to 14°F. Also planted kohlrabi - Kolibri purple hybrid, Grand Duke, and the new one (to me), the green Tianjin. The lettuce is from the first seeds I saved this time, from the latest plant to bolt, which was incredibly late, considering how it got early this season! Not all the flowerheads (or whatever they're called) are dried, and ready to harvest, so I just plucked one dried one, and got way more seeds than I needed, and they are definitely viable.

[PlainJane]

I’m always amazed at how quickly fresh lettuce seed sprouts.