pepperhead212's 2024 garden

[PlainJane]

Looks heavenly!

[pepperhead212]

I harvested a bunch more greens from the hydroponics tonight; made something with them for dinner, but got started too late, so I only had a small amount, to sample it late in the evening. After trimming and chopping these greens, I got over 4 qts combined in the salad spinner.
Russian red kale, from the hydroponics, 2-13 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Mizuna from the hydroponics, small leaf on the left, large leaf on the right. Neither bolting still, on 2-13 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[JayneR13]

One of the ladies I work with at the pantry told me that she finds kale less bitter if she chops it first, then rinses. Have you found this to be true?

Nice harvest!

[pepperhead212]

I always chop it first, and add the greens to the salad spinner, rinse well, then spin dry. Also, that Russian red kale doesn't seem to get bitter, but maybe that's because it's inside.

[pepperhead212]

Yesterday, before I made that dish with the bacon, chickpeas, and greens, I harvested more of that wide leaf mizuna, and that last Koquie bok choy, that was the last one to bolt. I've harvested quite a few lower stems from it, to use in stir-fries, and it just kept growing! I also cut back that Za'atar, which was getting overgrown, and I'm hoping that it dries well, like other oregano types.
The Koquie bok choy, started a week into November, just started to bolt on 2-23! by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The Koquie bok choy, harvested on 2-23, just started to bolt, and the dried edges of some leaves was the only problem. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Over 4 qts of Za'atar, from the one plant, trimmed away on 2-23 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The Za'atar harvested, on 2-23, spread out on a 12x24 tray, to dry it out. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The Wu Choy, just started to send up a flower stalk, though no bolting yet. The Za'atar plant on right, after trimming way back. 2-23 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Today I trimmed back all that epazote (all those red leaves in the back of that first photo), and took it up to the Mexican grocery. Got about a 6 qt bag of that stuff! Another 2 months before I root some of those things, so I can plant them outside faster than by seeds.

[pepperhead212]

UPDATE - My mistake - it's not the wild Za'atar, like I was thinking I would get , and like I got before from Baker Creek (did not have great success with those, which are the true Za'atar - Origanum syiacum). I got this here: https://trueloveseeds.com/products/leba ... 7116&_ss=r

When I got the seeds, listed as Lebanese Za'atar, I didn't even look at the full description (just saw "Za'atar"), but when I did now, I saw that it was a different genus, and way down in the description, I see it is "also known as" Summer Savory! I tried growing this outside back in the 90s sometime, but the leaves were nowhere near as large (about half the size), and it just didn't do much out there. But then, a lot of the greens and herbs get huge leaves in the hydroponics, compared to outside. The aroma is similar to thyme, with some hints of other scents mixed in. There is another one I have a patch of already, that is often known as Za'atar, but is a subspecies of the same species that includes Greek oregano and marjoram - Origanum vulgare. That one is known as Syrian oregano, or thyme scented oregano - the reason I grow it, because it's much easier to strip and mince than regular thyme! I'll find out if the summer savory dries as well, and comes off the branches easily.
​
Of course, now I'm going to have to grow that wild Za'atar again!

[pepperhead212]

Today I got my trays out of the shed, along with some of the small pots, for starting some of the brassicas in, and those types of things. Very windy, and the same tomorrow, though warmer. I pulled that large tarp, that I protected the rosemary with twice, out flat on the lawn to dry, weighting it down, and tomorrow I'll fold it up. Once it started getting dark, I came in, and ate some leftovers, then went to my workshop, and cut up 2 more sub-irrigated planters. I had one that I made last year, but hadn't used yet, and I had 2 more of the same tubs, so I used the one from last year as a template. I'll finish them tomorrow, though it will be about 2 months before I use them.
Made 2 more Sub-irrigated planters today, or at least I cut the pieces up and drilled them. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[JayneR13]

That's an incredible amount of greens you're harvesting! And all good stuff-no recalls! I think of that when I walk past the bagged salad mixes in the store, then go back to my hydroponics greens.

I'll have to try Za'atar one of these days! And isn't summer savory more of an herb? Was it tasty?

[pepperhead212]

That summer savory is an herb, and tastes a little like thyme (though less than the wild Za'atar or the Syrian oregano), and a little like oregano, and a hint of rosemary when crushing some between my fingers, though there was none of that left in that dish I used it in. I read somewhere that the savory is an aphid repellent plant, so I might plant some around my okra, and maybe grind some up, along with other similar herbal insecticides, strain it out, and use that in the spray. It is almost completely dry now, sitting in that tray on top of the wok about 8" over the griddle, with those pilot lights, which is about 94° - which is better for herbs than high temp dehydration. I'll find out how much flavor is in the dry.

[GoDawgs]

One of the ladies I work with at the pantry told me that she finds kale less bitter if she chops it first, then rinses. Have you found this to be true?

I grow kale fall and spring and not found them to be bitter. They can get a bit strong (as do collards) once the heat of summer arrives but I wouldn't call it bitter. Maybe folks interpret tastes differently. I know that's sure true about the taste of tomatoes. LOL!

[pepperhead212]

Here are those sub-irrigated planters, completed, except for the screen covers over the trays. Even though it got to 67° here today, it was very windy, and the temp dropped early, so I did mostly inside stuff today.
The finished SIPs, except for the screen covers for the tray of each one, and lining the wicking chimneys. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[JayneR13]

Those look like self-watering containers, or are they hydroponics? I've tried SWCs and never been happy with them. The soil is just too wet for the plant roots to be healthy, although I know others swear by them. Different methods for different regions I suppose.

[pepperhead212]

Those are homemade versions of Earthboxes, in which the soil mix is not sitting in the water, but those corner "wicking columns" keep it damp. When I make those SIPs, I place the finished tray in the tub, then draw a line in the corner of each one on top, then take it out, and below it, in each corner, on the curve, drill a hole, so the water drains out, and it doesn't matter as much how level it is, or if it changes through the year, as it will drain out the lowest one. And the water will always be 1/2-3/4" away from the tray. Watering of these things can be a major chore, if you don't have a set of drip lines set up on a timer!

And something I would not have thought about, until I stopped to think about it ( ), to make some logic out of it: my tomatoes, as well as some other veggies, started producing earlier! Then I realized, the soil gets warmer quicker, and I get blossoms sometimes faster than I would when starting a few plants earlier, and putting them in the ground in WOWs (wall o'waters). Yet the heat of these things doesn't seem to affect the tomatoes, any more than the air temps in the high 90s. Maybe because the soil mix is never dry.

[pepperhead212]

The only onions I have out there are scallions, the ones that died back in late fall, and a bunch of seeds of 3 varieties I planted in mid fall, none of which have come up yet. Here are the ones coming back now:
Scallions, coming up just a little later than the garlic. 3-7 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The only thing I went out there for today, when I noticed those scallions, was to harvest some rosemary, for something I'm making for dinner. Way too windy to do anything today!
Rosemary, cut a few hours before I'll be using it. A little more than I'll need. 3-7 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

Today I got my rain barrel set up, for that rain forecast to be here Sunday. And this morning, around 8 am, when I checked the seeds I planted for all those cold weather crops, the first ones came up overnight, so on with the lights (or at least a few of them)! The first ones up were the Giant White Kohlrabi, Pachay Bok Choy, Merlot Napa, and Wasabina Mustard. And not a single one of those was up when I checked last night, around 1 am.

I also got all 4 of those "windowsill boxes" in around the deck, cleaning any roots left in a couple of them, and replacing about ¼ of the soil in each. There may be some frosts left, but no long term freezes for them, and the sun will heat them up quickly.

[pepperhead212]

When I checked the seedlings this morning, all but one variety, of the 16 I planted, had at least one sprout, and many had sprouts in all 4 pots. The only one that doesn't have any is that koquie bok choy, but it's just a little slower - they've all come up when I planted them before. Still none of the scallion seeds are up.

[pepperhead212]

I got a bunch done outside today, starting with getting a bunch of things out of the shed, and cleaning it out well, and organizing it again. The tractor started right up, after sitting there all winter! I was surprised, for sure. I was only getting it out of the way - nothing is growing yet. I tossed some grass seed in some of those bare areas, since that rain is forecast for Sunday. I tore down the nylon trellis the bean grows on, as it had gotten brittle, after about 4 or 5 years. While I was doing all these things, I had put about half that seedling mix I made up a while back on the grill to "cook", up to about 200°; the other half I'll cook tomorrow, cool, and get the micorrhyzae into it, to get it ready for planting soon. I planted some seeds in 2 of the windowsill boxes, using those seed sponges I got for the hydroponics. I soaked the sponges with a GA3 solution, and the parsley and dukat seeds I soaked in the solution for a few hours, before planting one of parsley and 3 of dukat dill in one box, and 2 of the saved leaf lettuce, and one leisure cilantro and one Burpee cilantro in another box. The other two boxes I'll leave empty, for now - one for the basils, the other maybe some greens.

[pepperhead212]

I didn't do much out there today, but I did cook that remaining seedling mix, and got the micorrhyzae mixed into each tray of it, as I dumbed them into the cleaned bucket. I cleaned out my small hydro tub - the dill, lettuce, Russian red kale, and the two mizunas. The small powerhead in that tub died, and even with an airstone, that many plants couldn't keep growing like they were all winter, and it's almost spring, so I wasn't going to try to get it running again. That Persian dill got huge - an over 1" diameter stalk! I won't put it in the hydroponics again, or the boxes around the deck, but I'm anxious to find out how well they grow in the ground, and how long they resist bolting, due to the heat. I put the remains of all those plants into my compost - no sense wasting any! I hosed off everything over the herb bed, so they could enjoy the runoff.

[JayneR13]

That’s interesting that you mix your mycorrhiza into the soil before planting. I’ve also read that mycorrhizae are planted along with the seedlings, with a few granules by the roots of each. Do you use a granular formulation?

[pepperhead212]

I use the granular for the seedlings - about 1 tsp/gal of soil mix. Then I put another pinch in the hole, when I plant them outside. I think it's that micorrhyzae that has made the seedlings grow so much faster, to the point that I have to start the seeds later, as they would be getting ready to go out, before the weather was ready! The first year I used it, I noticed the "fuzzy surface" on the soil, before I even planted the seeds in the pot, but that was using the powder, I had been using in the hydroponics, and the granular doesn't do this as fast. But the eggplant and tomato seedlings grow faster - peppers, not that noticeable. I used to plant EP on 3-23, but the first year I used it, they grew so fast that I had to re-pot most of them, as they had gotten rootbound, and just too large! I moved them 5 days later, then 4 days later, and this year will be 3 days after that, as they were still too large too soon! Tomatoes used to be started on 4-1, but by this year, I'm all the way to 4-8, and hopefully, they won't be ready too soon!

The seedling mix I make up is simple - about 7 parts peat/coir mix (depending on what I have on hand - no exact %), 2 parts perlite, and 1 part worm castings, which is the only fertilizer in here, except for the hydroponics nutrients I put in each time I water, about 1/4 tsp/gal of water, using the MaxiGro I use for the greens. I also add a small amount of that silicate supplement, used in hydro, for stronger stalks. Ever since I've been using that silicate solution, I've not had any tomatillos break on me! They used to be notorious for thin stalks, and I had to put stakes in all of them, and even that didn't always work! These are others that seem to benefit from the mico, but I know that silicate helps a lot. Yet these amounts are minute.