pepperhead212's 2022 garden

[pepperhead212]

I have 9 butternut squash out there now, with another bunch of flowers starting up, which is normal for this variety - Polaris. It gets a second crop, for the fall; the smaller variety - Honeybush - had early, smaller fruits, too, but the plants just died off last year. These others have a larger, late crop.

Also, they last a long time! Today I cut up my last 4 butternuts from last year! One little spot starting to go bad on one of them, so I cut all of them up, getting 75.5 oz of cubes, I'm putting in the dehydrator, and over a cup of seeds.
One of 4 butternuts from last season! 8-7 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

75.5 oz of trimmed butternuts, ready for dehydration. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

About a cup of seeds, plus all the trimmings from the butternuts. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

I had skipped yesterday, in the tomatoes, and today I picked over 4 quarts of just cherry tomatoes, at least half of those the Bumblebee Sunrise. Even with this intense heat, those weren't bothered, and the Green Grapes and Sunsugars weren't too bothered either. The Oaxacan Jewels kept blooming, too, and the Amish Gold Slicers were only slightly slowed down. Tropical Sunset was definitely affected by the heat, as well as the Brandyboy F2, though that one came back quickly, with a number of blooms, before we had our latest heatwave, and there are new, green tomatoes on it now. Here are those cherries I harvested today:
About 4 quarts of cherry tomatoes, mostly Sunrise, 8-8 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

There were large tomatoes ready for picking, which I might do after dinner.

Update - Here's was what I got later - some tomatoes, Behold eggplants, the first Thai red long beans (bunch more started) and some blauhilde, and some sambar cucumbers. I didn't stay out there long!
Cukes, eggplant, tomatoes, and a few beans. 8-8 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

Those Arunas and Santakas are ripening big time now! Both of those are determinate types, which ripen a large number pretty much all the same, and ripen pretty much the same time, and, with most I have had like that, once I pick a generous amount of the ripe ones, it triggers them to another flowering, for a later crop. Still more than half the arunas left, but this should do it. I'll pick many of those Santakas later this week, early in the day, when the shade is there.
Aruna peppers ripening, 8-9. Should flower quickly, after all these are picked. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Santaka Thai peppers, ripening quickly, 8-9 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

And here's the start of this year's dried peppers. Those green ones are last year's frozen ones I still had in there, since I don't need them anymore! Also had about a dozen red Thai peppers - I estimated pretty well how many to freeze.
Dried ones from a couple days ago, and a few jalapenos. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

I got 8 more of those long red Thai beans, with those just getting started. And more of those Sunrise cherry tomatoes, which are producing most, though some of the others should start turning out more, now that it's finally supposed to get cooler, with low 80s eventually, and down in the 60s at night. May we'll get more rain with that, too, after that 1.48" last night.
More Sunrise, and 8 more long red Thai beans, that seem to like the heat! by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

A few more tomatoes today, slowing down some, due to that heat, but I see a lot of new green growth on many of the plants. And I'm sure the blossoms will start up, on those that were slowed by the heat.
Misc. tomatoes, 8-12 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

More of the Amish Gold Slicers, 8-12 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I also picked what maybe the last Armenian cucumber on the plant - only 6 all season. And only 2 of the 3 Asian Pickling Melons - don't know if it will grow or flower anymore.
Probably the last Armenian Cucumber, and the only 2 Asian Pickling Melon, so far. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I have been getting a lot of Mexican Sunflowers on the two plants out front, by my okra. The monarch butterflies like that, but I never see them on all those Zinnias. The ones on the right seem less prone to whatever causes the browning on the leaves, so I'm saving seeds from those, which should be easy.
One of the monarchs that like those Mexican Sunflowers out there. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The only peppers I picked today were a few more Arunas - 12 more yesterday and today ripening, but still no new blossoms. The Kanthari, both greens and violet, are starting to ripen. And those Superchilis, that I picked all those ripe peppers from about a week ago already have full sized green peppers, grown from little buds that were waiting for those peppers to be picked!
Green Kanthari, ripening on 8-12. Was supposed to be White, but went from green to red. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

One of the Violet Kanthari, turning ripe on 8-12 by pepperhead212, on Flickr
One of those Superchili plants, that I harvested all those ripe fruits from, that the new peppers are full sized on already! by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

And guess what - here's more peppers! These are the ones that I use the most - dried in a lot of cuisines, and fresh, both red and green, in some cuisines. The Thai santaka grow in clusters, so are more decorative, but the Vesuvius are easier to pick, and they come right off - the santaka I have to cut off, or parts of the stems can come off. Both produce a lot, as there are still a lot of greens left, and I see a lot of buds, waiting for this picking to start flowering again.
Thai peppers, ready to harvest, 8-14 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Close to 2 qts of Thai peppers, harvested on 8-14 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

A couple of days ago, my 19 year old friend, that I got hooked on gardening a few years ago, with his Mom, sampled the first ripe Carolina reaper from his garden. I have sampled them, but he hasn't, though he did have those death spirals last season, which was hotter than the "chocolate reaper", he grew the year before. I wanted him to cut them into quarters, and sample those, but he got sort of antsy about it, and all he did was rub the pepper over his tongue. He sat there, and after about 10 seconds, said "OMG, and started drinking the milk, and realized, it wasn't going to do anything! lol So he ran for some ice cream he had, and realized that only worked for as long as it was still icey! I finally sampled the quarter I tried, and it wasn't as hot as the year I grew it, but hotter than an entire death spiral I sampled last season. I could only keep this one in my mouth for 29 sec, the original I tried a quarter of only 18 seconds. I told him this need left on longer, to get riper, and it will probably be up there.k

Another pepper I took him to sample were some of those Kanthari peppers - the green ones are ripening first, but the violets are right behind, and they probably have a hundred or so tiny peppers on each plant, still producing, and growing. I found out they are a frutescens variety, with that distinctive flavor, probably under 100k, but not much! And I got my friend to sample it, by reminding him that we've already had the hottest, and this was going to be a piece of cake. So he popped one, and was blown over by the instantaneous heat! I kept chewing it over a minute, and he couldn't figure out how, and I told him the endorphins from that first one were still active - his were, too, but he hadn't chewed that as long, and the ice cream deactivated it some. His Mom was listening to us talking about all this, and cracking up! Two years ago, when she saw us sampling that Chocolate Reaper, wanted to see how hot that could possibly be? We were showing her all the oils on the veins, after we cut one open, and she took a knife and (though we both recommended against it) barely touched the tip of it to the oil, then barely touched it to her tongue...and felt like she was going to die! She did what he did with this reaper - kept ice cream on her tongue, until it was bearable. Ever since, she has only watched this, from a distance. (rofl)

Here are those Kanthari peppers ripening, and when picking them, I was reminded of another unique thing about them - when ripe, the peppers just pop right off! This is not something good about many peppers - when you pick them when ripe, they don't come off easily! Those Santaka Thai peppers I have to use scissors for - while doing this, I was reminded of one of the advantages of the Thai Vesuvius - they come off fairly quickly, w/o breaking off anything with it.

I only picked 4 of these today, to make something with, but there are countless ones out there!
The green Kanthari peppers ripening, 8-16. These are definitely a C. frutescens variety. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

Last night I got these cherries, and tonight a few smaller of the large ones ripening. It barely stayed light enough for me to spray almost the entire garden with that H2O2 spray - 2 gallons of it, as a fungicide, for most things. I always wait until late, so the bees and other pollinators are pretty much gone, but it's getting dark faster now!
All the cherries, Wed 8-17 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Still a lot of cherries, as well as flowers on them, and new growth and blossoms on almost all of the larger ones, which is why I mixed up that that H2O2 solution - those, and eggplants got the first part, the rest went on everything else. A few herbs were the only ones not sprayed.

That pickling melon, that was harvested a few days ago, died almost overnight, like a bacterial wilt! And it seemed the harvest triggered one of the female flowers to set already! Doesn't make sense.
That pickling melon plant died almost overnight, as bacterial wilt does with cucumber. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

Yesterday, I put 3 more trays each of tomatoes and peppers in the dehydrator! I picked a bunch more peppers today, and if it stayed dark longer, I would have picked some eggplants, which are starting up again, though I see the heat is coming back.

Those aruna peppers initially formed a fairly large number of peppers on the two plants, which took quite a while to start ripening, but has been happening quickly, once it started. Plus there are many more flowers, and new peppers on both plants, so it seems fairly productive. I'm hoping it is similar to a pepper I used to get the seeds for at Pinetree - Superthai - which was long, and about 50k heat level. The good thing I used it for was Nam Prik Pao - something hotter peppers weren't as good in, and some peppers just didn't get that caramelized flavor in, like this did. However they dropped Superthai for years (and the one with that name now, is totally different), and I hadn't been able to stabilize it, as many times as I saved seeds. And a number of similar looking peppers, like this, were too hot (yes, I said that!), or no flavor. I'm hoping, with this variety, it is similar, since it is OP.
More Aruna peppers ripening, since I put a full tray in dehydrator yesterday. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Another favorite, and unique pepper - Hanoi Market - is starting to ripen faster now. I had gotten a couple at a time a little while ago, but now they are starting to ripen faster, which is about normal for them. Only other one of the orange peppers that I have grown that had a similar taste - Bulgarian Carrot - but that's hotter, and not as productive. And the places that used to carry the seeds stopped carrying them, so I have to save them.
Hanoi Market peppers, starting to ripen quickly, 8-22 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

And more Thai peppers today, after putting those 2 trays in the dehydrator yesterday. And a few more jalapenos.
More Thai Santaka and Vesuvius, plus a few jalapenos. 8-22 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

And here's another pepper that I didn't harvest, as it will get hotter, on the plant.
Reapers ripening quickly, 8-22 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

My Thai red long beans are producing quickly now, and have to be picked daily, like okra, or they get too large. There's one I missed yesterday, and it got too large, so I'll leave it until dried, to save seeds.
Thai red long bean, got overgrown, so I'll save it for the seeds. Was probably ready yesterday, but I missed it. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Thai red long bean my most productive now, though others are coming back some, after that heat let up. 90s coming back, though. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I harvested the butternuts today - only one per plant, though the polaris will have much more later. The Butterbush only produced one per plant, then they just die off, like last year, so I won't grow those again.
Far right 3 Butterbush, the rest Polaris Butternut, harvested 8-22 Another flush of fruits forming on Polaris, which is usually more. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

A couple of days ago I planted some greens, and today a few started showing. So I put them under an LED today, and later, noticed a few more were showing.
Here's a few of the greens germinating -a few more varieties showed later. 8-22 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

And one last thing I did, since they were getting too large, was to trim one of the kaffir lime trees, so I could walk by it easier! There are no restaurants/grocers in the area to share it with, like I do with epazote and curry leaves, so they just get thrown out.
A bunch of excess, trimmed Kaffir lime leaves. Not even finished yet! Have to trim them way back, before re-potting. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

I'm getting new fruits set on that Number One bitter melon plant, that stopped producing at the end of July. I pulled the Big Top, which didn't produce as much, and started turning orange at almost exactly the same time. Usually I just pull all of them, but I thought I'd try leaving it, pulling all the blossoms, and dead sections, sort of like trimming the lower sections of tomatoes. It continued to grow, and on 8-23 I saw the first blossoms, with fruit set! Here they were today, the largest about 3 1/2" long. There is another vine in the other direction that is getting blossoms, and should set some more fruit.

I'm thinking of planting some more seeds next year sometime around a week into July, and use those for the later harvest, and just pull those that start turning at the end of the month, which is pretty much normal here. Not sure why - it has happened with every variety, some even earlier. It seems they would all be heat resistant, and the longest days were in June, and getting shorter since, so I can't figure this out, especially since this is setting fruit again. We'll see if these stay green, or turn quickly.
One of 5 new bitter melons setting on an old plant, 8-82, that stopped producing at the end of last month. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Here's another one of the 5 bitter melons, 8-26 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I pulled a few more things out there today, to make room for a number of brassicas - we'll see how the direct seeded ones do (komatsuna, senposai, shogoin, bok choy, and some cauliflower - more inside), compared to the ones I started indoors. I also have some sugar snap and snowpeas planted I actually had a cucumber forming on that last plant, but it wasn't going to do much else, so that was the last of 4 to come out. One of two Sambar cucumbers came out, as well as that only Armenian cucumber came out. That was still alive, and had nothing come down with any of the diseases the others have come down with. If it had produced more, I would have grown it again, but 5 cucumbers, with that last one not very large, just didn't hack it. I have 3 cucumbers, and one bottle gourd, all starting in early August, and starting to climb the trellises. One of the 2 old bottle gourd plants is still there, and has some new fruits on it, finally - they have to be hand pollinated, but they always have a bunch of female blossoms, before any males show up, unlike most squash, that do the opposite. Finally, some males showed up, and I could start pollinating! I'm going to try some other varieties next year, to see if they do better.

The eggplants are producing again, mostly the Ichiban is starting up again, but the others are getting some, too. It's getting hot again, but not as hot as back when the higher heat put a halt on most of the tomatoes and the eggplants. Both are coming back some now.

Beans are taking a while coming back, though the Thai red long beans are doing great, as usual in the heat. Those, and my peppers are never bothered by the heat!

My starters are doing well - only 2 out of 36 pots I had to put seeds in again.

[pepperhead212]

I found something unusual in one of the pots of my kaffir lime trees - some mushrooms! And no, I'm not going to sample them! I never saw these particular varieties around here, and never saw any in my potted plants. Probably brought on by the raining, though it wasn't that much, and not enough to trigger mushroom growth in the yard or garden.
something I've never seen in my potted plants - mushrooms! by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

I planted a bunch of brassicas today, under cover, otherwise, it would be gone in the morning, thanks to the rabbits! I started it about 3 weeks ago inside, in the small, 72/tray pots. I have also been planting a row on the edge of onion sets, for scallions. I have 10 kohlrabis, of 2 varieties, and 2 each of senposai, Green Boy komatsuna (supposedly a more cold resistant variety), shogoin, purple napa, and green mizuna. I also have 10 Swiss chard - 6 magenta, and 4 perpetual spinach. I had a new variety of kale that just looked horrible - all 4 pots, so I might direct seed some of that in the only empty space there. And along one edge I put 4 small bok choys, and direct seeded some leaf lettuce. I didn't take any photos yet, except for the covered row, since there really isn't much growth yet. There are 3 quarter inch irrigation lines with 1/2 gal/hr every 6 inches, and it waters fairly quickly, but not too fast. This is the lightest Agribon, which I originally got for covering against pepper maggots, in hot weather. I might have to get some of the heavy sometime, to help get me farther into the winter.
Here's where I planted most of my greens, most of which I started inside a few weeks ago. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I also picked a good number of cherry tomatoes, and a few larger ones. Tomorrow, it's pepper picking day, early, while the shade is still in that area, and I'll also mow that part of the lawn, while in the shade. Today I mowed the back, when the shade got there.

[pepperhead212]

Got down to 56° last night, and nice today, but summer's coming back next week, from what I hear. Today I pulled the rest of my carrots - some not in real good condition. But I still got over 2 lbs, once cleaned and trimmed completely. And a lot for the compost, with the trimmings and especially the greens.
Triplets! Maybe more? 9-16 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Don't know what to call this! Most went to the compost. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

And here are some others I picked earlier, when the peppers are in the shade. Those long red Arunas will be dried, like the rest have been, but all the rest will be frozen. The orange Hanoi Market all get frozen, but with the red Thai and Superchilis I dry the early ones, and freeze these later ones, so they are in the freezer less time. And the later green ones I freeze in a separate jar, and vacuum bags, for the rest.
A few ripe peppers, picked on 9-16 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

I did something today that always seems to happen when I'm trying to bag the blossoms for those Hanoi Market peppers at this time of year (a variety I have to save seeds for, as I can't find them anymore). I always wait until now, to see which plant is the best, but at this time, with that "best plant", I have a hard time to find a stem with a flower bud that hasn't either opened, or set the fruits already - there may be a single bud at the very tip of some stems that haven't opened yet! So what I have to do is snip a couple set fruits, and an open blossom, and bag just the one unopened blossom. It's easier early in the season, to bag a number of the first formed buds on just one stem, but I don't know which will be the best plant (or if the plant is even the right one! lol). This gave me the idea to use from now on - bag some of the first stems on the first plants, label the plants A,B,C, or whatever, let the peppers ripen, and save the seeds, labeled. Then later in the season figure out which was the better plant, if any, and save those seeds only! This "problem" I've had with smaller peppers, too - where it was hard to find any unopened blossoms - like they are forming overnight, and opening before I see them! Don't have that problem with tomatoes, or any other plants I can think of.

Today I harvested a few eggplants - not sure if they are coming back after these rollercoaster temps I've had here - something that seemed to mess up a couple tomatoes, but not most. We'll see if the cool temps bother the peppers, or if it gets quite warm again, like a lot of places are doing!

[pepperhead212]

I picked all of the ripe Carolina Reaper peppers today - 48 of them on one plant - and took them up to the Mexican grocery/restaurant in town. The owner was standing out front when I walked up, and he knew I had something for him! I told him I had never brought him this one before, and wasn't sure if he would even want them, given how hot they are! He opened the bag and looked cautiously (not sure what he thought it would do), then he said "Oooohhhh...I've seen these but never had them before!" He told me there are a couple of guys in the kitchen that will want to try them, and there is a dish they will definitely make with it - a simple bean dish, usually black beans, since it is is a Yucatan dish, pork, onion, a little Mexican oregano, and habanero. In this case, they have used the ghost peppers - the superhots he does have sometimes, but he said he'd have them use this one, and see how much better it is. I'll have to go back in a few days, and ask him how they fared!

I got my corn tortillas, as always, and a large can of chipotles, and some Oaxacan string cheese. And I saw something I was low on last time I used it - True cinnamon, which he has in a bulk food bucket, so I got about 4½ oz, which is a generous amount, given how thin and light it is. When he rang the order up, he told me that was on him - a generous gift, in return for the peppers.

I also picked about 1 1/2 c kanthari peppers - the frutescens variety, one of which was purple. And I dug the smallest one out of the ground, and planted it in a little less than 3 gal soil mix. And I'll cut it back even further. I'll see if it works out.
Purple Kanthari pepper, transplanted 9-27. Cut way back, but will definitely cut back more. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

About 1 1/2 c Kanthari peppers - a variety of frutescens peppers. 9-27 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

A pepper I started harvesting in early August, when I started ripening, was Aruna. They started out all about the same time and size, like a determinate type, but when about 1/3 of them had ripened, and had been harvested, it started flowering gradually again, and started growing like an indeterminate type, with a few ripening every couple of days, and always a few smaller, and all different sizes, as well as new flowers. I've got close to 2 qts dried from 2 plants, with a bunch more already picked, and many more all over the plants. It is about 5-6" by about 3/8", and about 30-40k, so a little milder than a similar pepper I've been trying to replace - Superthai - a hybrid (unfortunately) from Pinetree years ago, that they dropped, and years later the same name was totally different. And a couple of nights ago I made some simple hot oil with .75 oz aruna, slightly crushed, with 3/4 c oil, heated to about 375°, and the peppers darkened quickly, with a fantastic aroma from the caramelizing. I could still smell that this morning in my kitchen, from this small amount! Will definitely be good for when I make that nam prik pao.
Dried Aruna peppers, crushed some, and used to make some hot oil. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[PlainJane]

It’s so fun to make trades like that!

[pepperhead212]

I love doing that, @PlainJane, and they love getting those fresh things, just harvested! I do it all the time at the Mexican place, with my excess peppers and epazote, and at an Indian grocer occasionally, with my excess curry leaves.

[pepperhead212]

I did almost nothing related to the garden today, given the miserable weather, but I saw this plate of pods I had dried out long ago, so I removed the seeds! Some blue radishes I saved, when no other radishes were flowering - I'll see how they grow, as it was listed as a hybrid. The others are the Long Valor Beans, which I didn't get many of, at first, but liked what I got. Problem was, they must have had some sort of long day sensitivity, and in late June the leaves turned yellow, and fell off, by , sort of reverse of what happens with deciduous trees! Eventually, as days got shorter, it started growing more leaves, and some more beans, which I let dry on the vines. I got almost 50 beans, and I'll try it out next season by planting later, and see how it grows with shorter days.
Long valor beans, being removed from pods, and some blue radishes I also saved. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Got almost 50 long valor beans from all of the pods. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

No frost yet, despite the cool nights, but some things just stopped producing, due to the cold. I cut all my okra out, beans stopped long ago, and yesterday I pulled all the dried pods out, and pulled all of the beans from the pods. Surprisingly, the Thai long red beans are the last ones producing! I have a few dried pods of those, from which I'll save the seeds for planting, but but I'll pull the plants after that. After pulling all these dried beans from those other plants, and only getting a little over 8 oz, I said "This is why I don't ever grow beans just for dried beans!
3.6 oz of Rattlesnake pole beans, harvested from dried pods, 10-10 Some darker ones at the bottom. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

5.5 oz dried beans from dried pods - Blauhilde (darker), and Blue Lake Pole (white), 10-10 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

And here are a few jalapeños, to add to those previous ripe Thai peppers, and there are many more of those that are green, but full sized. I was going to continue picking those, but they started doing some really loud road work - can't complain, as they will be re-paving my street soon! So I came back inside until later.
The end of the jalapenos from the 2 plants, 10-11, only 3 from one plant. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Here's the ripe Aruna and Thai peppers from the last couple of days. The green ones I'll freeze, and use in the many recipes that call for green chiles.
Some of the latest ripe Thai peppers, 10-10 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Latest ripe Aruna 10-10 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

I got back out there and picked the majority of my remaining peppers. 3 of the plants had the majority of the peppers on them, like that one jalapeño had the most. I didn't pick any more Carolina Reapers or Hanoi Markets - they are best totally ripe. The one Thai Vesuvius and both Aruna peppers had an incredible amount on each plant, the second Thai Vesuvius still a good number, and the Thai Santaka plants not very productive late in the season.
All from just one Thai Vesuvius plant, 10-11 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Remaining peppers on all the Thai plants, and two Superchili - the light colored peppers. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

This photo shows a lot of the peppers all over just 2 Aruna plants. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

All of the peppers from just 2 Aruna plants, after a few ripe ones a couple days ago, and over a half gallon of dried peppers. 10-11 by pepperhead212, on Flickr