The cold is in the air, leaves are falling and i find myself already missing the bounty of the growing season . We are working hard to get the last of the produce in. Cant wsit for it to be over or already missing the growing season?
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Yes,I’m missing it too,Clark.Seems over too soon,but the new things planted or grafted this year give a lot to envision and think about. Brady
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Mine doesn’t really end it just shifts focus from outside to in. I’m looking forward to the outside being over as this is about as busy a time as harvest. Prepping garden beds for next year, covering strawberries, collecting leaves. Thinning perennials, which I did some today. The ground is bone dry and hard to work with too. I weeded a lot too. I got my garlic in, I need to make room in the garage from potted plants, I have a ton of bulbs to plant, also cherry and peach seeds. I just finished scarifying my raspberry and blackberry crosses. and have them in seed trays now. I’m experimenting with different scarification rates in sulfuric acid so have them labeled by time in acid.
I prepared my indoor lights for my hot pepper bonsai plants,. I grow Mexican oregano, Mexican bush oregano, African blue basil hybrid, and Arp rosemary were brought in and put under lights or in south windows. First i had to debug and spray them to avoid bringing in any aphids. A major problem if any slip in! I need to let the cacti get very dry or risk killing them.
Those will be brought in later. the tropical trees need to be brought in. I need to root prune, replace soil, and repot a Hibiscus tree. The Jasmine plants need to be pruned and deflowered before bringing in. Debugged too! I still have blackberry and raspberry canes to remove. The fruit trees and brambles need to be sprayed with Wilt stop soon. Busy, busy busy! And let’s not even mention the kitchen stuff like canning, drying, preserves, jam, sauces etc and I’m still harvesting too. Prep all the containers for next year, the torture never stops. Plus monitor the 50 or so plants now in the house! So my season shifts, to winter season, it’s a tough one with plenty to do.
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Drew I think has the right frame of mind. Nothing has really ended, just a new phase has begun. One that I always overlook or procrastinate about until it’s too late. There is much to do now that cannot be done later. The indoor grows are a good idea to help with the fix. Great post!
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I am as obsessive in my own ways as Drew, so I’m actually relieved that most of the harvest is in and my tasks for the next two seasons are predictable without much chance of any little crisis. As long as temps don’t go much below -16 this winter there won’t be any fruit related worries for a while. Sleep will be deeper.
In two weeks the last of my apples will be in, my freezer is full of a wide range of stone fruit and blueberries and I can enjoy the harvest without having to fight for it.
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Yes, to reap the benefits of our hard work. Often this is the time I can cook with my tomato sauce, use the spices I made. This year I have jalapeno powder, and sweet paprika. Dry beans for the first time. Man those were easy to grow, so i see chili cooking to warm my stomach and soul, besides the house!
My tomato sauce came out better this year too, I have one more batch to do. Their does come a time where I look forward to spring. After a very cold week, with plenty of snow can do it for me. Usually at that point I pull the catalogs out or go to the nursery sites and ponder what possibilities I wish to realize for the next year’s garden. I just started grafting and the first year was a bust, pissed about that, although anxious to try again. By March it is seed starting time. Next year though I have a lot of work to do on my house and cottage so my veggie garden is going to be small next year. I need to be away quite a bit, so it’s going to be small, bummer!
Ripped my tomatoes out last Friday… all done here. I like being done …it allows a break to figure out what worked/what didn’t and plans to try new stuff. I already have a lot of changes in mind. I also have more trees that “should” come into bearing next year along with my regular trees.
I LOVE the end of season. I have too many things I am trying to grow and its such a relief I can let nature “clean up” all those diseases bugs etc for a fresh start with shiny new shoots promised next spring. I am already working on my winter clean-up, looking forward to all the ragged beds I can make better for next year, pruning back the gangly mess, etc. I still have many apples and pears to eat left. Once I run out of them in midwinter I will be a bit bummed, but kiwis will be coming in about then.
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Could you please clarify that for me, Scott. The sentence sounded like kiwis would be ready to pick in mid-winter. I think I totally misunderstood that.
Drew, do you grow Thai hot peppers? I grew them for the first time this year because my wife and I don’t really like the flavors that accompany habeneros.
They are so beautiful, easy to grow and bountiful. Oh yeah, and hot, hot, hot. Put about 4 or 5 of the things in a half cup of sesame oil, microwave to a boil and you have the best hot oil I can imagine.
From two plants we probably have enough of them to last two years- and my wife is Ethiopian and been eating these kinds of peppers since she was a small child. I also started eating spicy Mexican food when I was quite young- just not so hot as what is standard fare in Ethiopia.
I should have said “coming out” not “in” - thats when they come out of the fridge. They go into the fridge around this time of year. They are not ready to eat until February.
I’ve never heard of storing kiwis in the fridge for months before eating them. What type are you talking about?
Deliciosa kiwis. My season is not quite long enough but they ripen well in the fridge.
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No, but I have grown similar peppers like Black Pearl, and also The Zimbabwe Birds eye Chili. Which probably looks identical to Thai hot peppers. I don’t much care for the habenero taste either. Scotch Bonnet is related although different. So many types of hot peppers, literally thousands of them. So far I have really liked the Fish pepper. it is a pretty plant, variegated leaves and peppers, that then turn slowly red. Not extremely hot, but hot enough. It grows well here too. I want to try others. The Peruvian hot peppers also grow well here.I have only tried Lemon Drop so far. A prolific plant too, although I didn’t care that much for the peppers.
I still have a Fish plant from last year. i turned it into a bonsai plant. I just brought it in for it’s 2nd winter. Some info on it
Fish Pepper - 80 days. An African-American heirloom popular in the
Philadelphia/Baltimore region. A pre-1947 variety that was used in fish
and shellfish cookery. The color of the fruit range from green, orange,
brown, white and red, being spicy and hot. What really makes this pepper
stand out is its wonderful foliage, as the 2-feet tall plants have
stunning white and green mottled leaves, which makes this variety superb
for ornamental and edible landscaping. Plant produces good yields of 3"
long hot peppers. Peppers are very hot and turn from cream white with
green stripes, to orange with brown stripes, then to red when mature.
Plant has variegated leaves. An African-American heirloom from the
Philadelphia/Baltimore/DC region. Famous seasoning used in Crab Houses
around the Chesapeake Bay. Peppers were dried and used as a spice to make
a cream sauce for shellfish. This variety is thought to have be brought
to America from Africa in the 1800’s.
It sounds like the Thai is working for you, keep growing it! Does it have upright peppers? Yes, very cool plants. The Zimbabwe Birds eye grows like that too.
I purchased mine from Africa.
The Zimbabwe Birds eye Chili - (Capsicum Frutescens)is different to the Thai Birds Eye.
Whilst similar in look and texture, the heat is more intense and it is
more flavoursome. Some say this is due to the strong african sun.
Very easy to grow and very prolific. A tiny little Piquin shaped very hot
pod. They grow skywards on the bush and it’s not uncommon to have over
500 on one plant. Maturing to a bright red.
Purchased from Seeds For Africa
Alan,
You likely already know but i learned the hard way when my thai hots are dry i powdered them in the blender and the smell of pepper spray filled my eyes, noise, and mouth which wss very unpleasant. I now grind upwind and wonder why i did not realize the dust would escape the blenfer lol!
Clark, that has happened to me too! With small peppers like the Thai, I would suggest drying whole. Do not dry to a crisp, leave some moisture in there. It really keeps the flavor better this way. Store in air tight jar, watch for mold, although i have never seen any grow. I cut them up when I use them as they are usually not dry enough to crumble, some do, others have more moisture. Using the seeds makes them even hotter, so watch it!
Oh I use a coffee grinder dedicated to peppers only. Works very well to make powder.
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They maybe more or less the same pepper. My wife is used to the Thai pepper because it is pretty much identical to one they use in Ethiopia, particularly with their Tar Tar dish (ground raw beef). Quite small pointing upward as you suggest.
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Yes, cool pepper I agree. Speaking of peppers I brought my Spanish Mammoth pepper in during this cold spell. I have it in a root pouch. It’s back outside now. Waiting for the last of the mammoth peppers to ripen! I like this plant! Peppers are huge! It produces about 6-8 of them, and they are very sweet and thick walled. Beautiful extremely dark red in color when ripe.
Drew, that is one beautiful pepper. Did you grow it from seed?
The only sweet pepper I grow anymore is the hybrid Carmen. It is the sweetest red pepper I’ve ever grown and the most productive, and by a long shot on both counts. I have bags in the freezer full of sliced up peppers that will provide all the cooking peppers needed until next summer.
I agree that your Spanish peppers are beautiful.
I let all my peppers die in the freeze. I had harvested all wee need weeks ago but stripped the plants to provide some for folks not so fortunate.
I start peppers and tomatoes from seed first week of March.