The Starting of the Garlic

      Garlic cloves in the ground.  Finally.  I had separated some bulbs weeks ago to save some nice big cloves to plant, as I have read that the bigger cloves make bigger bulbs next year.  So some of the bigger beauties need to go in the ground rather than in my tummy.  These cloves are the first to be planted, and were among my larger bulbs.  Please notice the quarter for an indication of size.

      One of the reasons it took me this long to plant is that I had not figured out where to put them.  The pepper plants are not doing much at this time, so yesterday I cleared out a section of this bed:

Clean up time,  October 24th,  2012

      I made furrows about six inches apart from each other, then put in cloves about six inches apart in each furrow.  A mistake I made last year was planting some cloves directly in a thick layer of pure mushroom soil.  That did not provide enough structure for the roots, and many of the plants fell over in the summer.  So these cloves were planted straight in the beds, and mushroom soil or leaf mold will be used for mulch as the garlic gets established.

New garlic planting, October 24th,  2012

      I smoothed the soil over the rows, and hope for a great harvest next year.  For some reason, the wrappers around the bulbs this year were very thin and most have broken.  It is reported that thin and breaking wrappers will reduce the storage potential for the bulbs.  Sixty seven cloves were planted, leaving many, many more to go.

Cayenne peppers pulled from bed

      The upside to this planting was the nice harvest of cayenne peppers from the bed.  The pretty ones will go to a jar for display and consumption.  The less than perfect ones will be kept to grind for that bug and bunny repellent that I always hope to make.

Dried Cayenne Peppers

      I don't know why I tried growing Cayenne peppers two years ago, as we did not think we liked hot peppers.  It was probably that the plants or seeds were on sale and I couldn't refuse a bargain.  Don't they make pretty dangly red peppers; I could grow them as an ornamental.  The first year they grew much better than sweet peppers, and I must have brought a whole plant onto the porch just before killing frost.  They dried by themselves, so we had a supply of dried hot peppers.  And found out they were quite good as pepper shavings in dishes that needed a little spicing up.  This past season, they did well again, and again I pulled the whole plants at the last minute, as in that freak Halloween snow event last year:

If only they had waited till Christmas

      The plants were hung upside down on the porch, and ignored other than sweeping up the fallen leaves.  But now the paper towel germination has been so successful, that I need every bit of space and more for the new veggie starts.

Dried Cayenne Peppers on porch,  2/7/2012

      That empty space behind the peppers is prime real estate, so it was time to pull off the dried peppers.  I put them into two jars, one with the perfect peppers for eating, and one with blemished peppers to be kept for possible bug spray.  I used one pepper on January 17th for seeds as I started eight different varieties of peppers.  The cayenne germinated in only five days, well ahead of any of the commercial seeds.  So I have great hot peppers, and they are free to boot.

Perfect, deep red peppers on the right

October Snow!!

      It's crazy.  It's October, the leaves are still hanging on to most trees, yet it is snowing.  A Noreaster is moving up the coast, with places in Maryland and Pennsylvania having received 10 inches of snow!  I still have peppers on the plants out back, and was going to pick them if this weather wasn't quite so yucky.  Two nice big Dr. Wyche tomatoes are still on the vine.  But instead of nice Indian Summer weather, we have white slush.
      Luckily there is a bit of cheer.  My Bird of Paradise that I've had for 25 years is faithfully performing its fall or winter ritual of beautiful bloom.  The show is just starting as it will continue to unfold as the days go by.  It is a ray of sunshine.

Bird of Paradise, 10/29/11

      You can see the Pin Oak tree in the background.  Most of the leaves still on the tree, yet it is snowing.  I wonder what the park garden will look like tomorrow.
      5:00 PM update.  The slop has turned into all snow, so it is not as bad to make the trip back to the garden.  And it was worth it to rescue these peppers if we get a freeze tonight.  In the bucket are assorted sweet peppers, and there are two plants of cayenne peppers pulled by the roots with the peppers still attached.  When the plants dry off, I think I will hang them in the porch for awhile.

Last of the pepper harvest, 10/29/11

 

Still Pickin

      The tomatoes over at the park are nearly finished except for an occasional Chocolate Cherry.  Yet in the back yard garden, many are still in decent production.  I believe it is the result of 30 years of organic additions making the soil not only hold water better, but yet not compact so as to also drain better.  Best of both worlds?
      We went to a party Saturday morning and I wanted to take something.  What better than a selection of tomatoes and peppers picked that morning.

Morning harvest, 9/17/11

      The big yellow tomato is Dr. Wyche, a most welcome volunteer from last year.  I am trying to save seed this year from three different tomatoes from the Dr. Wyche vines.  Just below and to the left are Brandywine tomatoes and just below and to the right are Cherokee Purple.  The dark cherry tomatoes to the right of the Cherokees are the Chocolate Cherry tomatoes.  The little tiny ones to the right of the picture are unknown annual volunteers that I like to think of as Wessie do tomatoes, after my Grandson Wesley who loves to pick them.  Basil, bell peppers, Cayenne. and an unknown pepper round out the harvest.  Simply scrumptious.