GARDEN 2023

[Pearl]

I've only encountered it one time. Is there such a thing as a hot sweet bell pepper?

I've had peppers cross pollinate, !!!

 

[Chesney Richardson]

Not that I know of but there's hot peppers that look like bell peppers lol

 

[snappy1]

I've only encountered it one time. Is there such a thing as a hot sweet bell pepper?

I grew Cajun bell peppers one year. They were a little smaller and had a spicy taste!

 

[joel]

@joel my basil is from seed I’ve saved each year for many years and was given to me by my grandmother who had saved it from hers
@Magus I’ve never even heard that. I have several varieties of peppers all planted in the same plot and they all appear as they should- so don’t appear to have cross pollinated. Based on that alone I’d say probably not unless they did some genetic engineering or something.

My Brother in law is 82 this month & he had peas ready to pick.
I ask what kind(name) he had?
HE said Grandpa peas, I said never heard of them thinking he was pulling my leg..
He said he did not know the name, his grandfather gave them to him.
Every seed companies has so called Heirloom seeds from pioneer times & they may know where the seeds come from, but I'm not sure.
So maybe I was like a kid in a candy store, but BIL has garlic, greasy beans that go way back.
I was glad to get a 1/2 bushel of peas to shell, the hand full of dry ones got me going.

 

[joel]

I grew Cajun bell peppers one year. They were a little smaller and had a spicy taste!

I grew long horn hot peppers for my daughter & planted a large yellow bell pepper next to it.
They look the same before they bloomed & grew fruit.
I had hot sweet bell peppers on one plant next to the hot long horn pepper.

 

[sonya123]

If you have potatoes how do you dig them up? I hate doing that to be honest, seems like half of them I split in half with the shovel , then you have to use them up really fast or they go bad. Can't dig them up with anything else we have, the ground is too hard. Suggestions?

I just planted some Kale, and put some more broccolie seeds in the ground
We have about 100 lbs of tomatoes to sell this weekend, hope they stay good but probably. If we don't sell them all I am going to make lots of pasta sauce out of them and can it
We also picked a bucket of plums, but I learned last year to not take them all to the market, or I won't have any. They are not the kind you can buy in the store.

 

[Bacpacker]

We have a lot of red clay here. When I grew them in the ground, I used a middle buster plow behind my little Kubota. Just rolls them out. But last 2 years I started planting in my raised beds. They are filled with mushroom compost. In just dig them out by hand. Easy, peasy and they are pretty clean right off. I got a bushel from one 3x12 bed. Still got 2 more beds to dig. Also trying to grow a second crop this fall

 

[Chesney Richardson]

I use a tater plow on a Ford 2610, lol I'm almost positive that's not what it's actually called but that's what we always called it lmao

 

[joel]

 

[sonya123]

we don't have this tractor attachment I need to know how you do it by hand LOL, we do pretty much most stuff that way. We have a regular plow but it's way too big for that

 

[Chesney Richardson]

A pitchfork is what my Daddy used, or a small rake, heck I've even used a big flathead screwdriver lol

 

[joel]

I have this garden fork, that I dig root crops with.
When I have short rows

 

[LadyLocust]

View attachment 114181
I have this garden fork, that I dig root crops with.
When I have short rows

This is what we use.

 

[Bacpacker]

I do to for smaller projects.

Ill post a pic of the plow I use with the tractor. Cost maybe 150 when I got it.

 

[LadyLocust]

Picked a ton of tomatoes last night. I went to bed and Hubby was still "making his rounds." This morning over coffee, he said "I think you've been avoiding your cucumber plant." To which I replied, "There is no thinking about it. Last time I looked there were a ton of little cukes 3-4" long." He cracked up laughing. Probably a dozen cukes on the counter when I went into the kitchen I only have 1 plant!

 

[LadyLocust]

So I counted: Hubby picked 13 cukes off our 1 plant last night and we just went out and picked 10 more . I can’t remember what kind it is, but 1 plant will feed a family. I might need to save a seed.

 

[Amish Heart]

I had 2 of my plants do alot, too...the others, not so many. I planted Marketmore this year. The turkeys are enjoying our excess

 

[Bacpacker]

Sounds like what I've been picking. 3 plants and getting a bucket full

 

[sonya123]

View attachment 114181
I have this garden fork, that I dig root crops with.

I have one of those, that should work

When I have short rows

 

[sonya123]

Do you ever feel overwhelmed when tons of stuff from the garden piles up and all the fridges are full ? I feel like that today...I sure hope we sell most of it Saturday or I will have to "do something" with it.....

 

[sonya123]

So I counted: Hubby picked 13 cukes off our 1 plant last night and we just went out and picked 10 more . I can’t remember what kind it is, but 1 plant will feed a family. I might need to save a seed.

so what do you do with them? I tried canning them last year and they turned to mush
made cucumber kimchi out of some this year which I like , but husband and son don't.

 

[LadyLocust]

so what do you do with them? I tried canning them last year and they turned to mush
made cucumber kimchi out of some this year which I like , but husband and son don't.

Weeeellll, I glare at them when I walk by and see them on the counter
Hubby is trying "hot" pickles adding jalapenos in with them. He got the flavor he likes down but didn't add any citric acid or anything to keep them crisp. You can also add a grape leaf to each jar to keep them crisp. He wants to try again and add a little C.A.
Also, I just got off the phone with a friend who said when she has a ton, she runs them through the blender, then strains off the juice and just drinks the juice. Thought that sounded good too.

 

[LadyLocust]

Do you ever feel overwhelmed when tons of stuff from the garden piles up and all the fridges are full ? I feel like that today...I sure hope we sell most of it Saturday or I will have to "do something" with it.....

Yes!

I think 2 years ago??? The first week of Oct. my tomatoes were still producing. I had made sooo much sauce, and diced and salsa, and anything else I could do. I pulled my plants and put the garden to bed. Hubby couldn't believe it. It was actually nice in that I was able to get it all cleaned up before the really cold weather hit. I bring bags of produce to work and give them to the guys which is helpful also.

 

[joel]

so what do you do with them? I tried canning them last year and they turned to mush
made cucumber kimchi out of some this year which I like , but husband and son don't.

Some canning & I call friends, if I think the fruit will spoil before I can eat/can it.

 

[Amish Heart]

We are eating our cucumbers fresh, but I'm thinking of making some tzatiki sauce to go with some pork, too. That uses up alot of them. Around here, the ladies make a chilled cucumber dish...peeled, chopped cucumbers with some vinegar and some spice of some sort. Anyway, it's tasty. They just call it cucumbers. Our turkeys love chopped cucumbers and they've been getting one a day. Picked another bucket of cherry tomatoes, cut some in half and filled up the freeze dryer. Left a bag of them, some squash, and a bag of peppers with husband's doc office. Did that last week and a couple dz eggs, too. They already said they need more on Monday. Neighbor boy Levi took a large ziplock of cherry tomatoes home today after having supper with us. Thinking about making a large bowl of pico de gallo and freeze drying it. That'll be a good use of lots of cherry tomatoes, peppers, onion, and garlic. I have alot of all that.

 

[Bacpacker]

Dug another buselhel of taters this morning. Replanted a couple dozen well rooted starts, some even had tiny taters already forming on them

 

[LadyLocust]

Dug another buselhel of taters this morning. Replanted a couple dozen well rooted starts, some even had tiny taters already forming on them

Glad you took a day off!

Tomatoes & cukes!!!!!
Our huge ghost pepper plant only has 3 peppers on it. Other plants are developing their “second run.” Seems like there is an early wave then a bit of a lull, then whammo with a bunch. At least that’s how it’s gone previously.
My scarlet runners are gorgeous. And my 1 old mother stoddard plant it the size of a tree! I’ll have to take a picture of it. Other beans are still going also.

 

[Chesney Richardson]

My garden is definitely gearing up for round two lol, well not my squash/cukes, but luckily my compost pile provided me with like 14 volunteers lol we shall see what happens with those, my second planting of cherry tomatoes is producing like mad, watermelons are bout ripe although there was dinosaur tracks in the patch this morning.

 

[Justaguy987]

And just like that, the end of the 2023 garden may be here. Just like every year, we improved
The soil and our skills. But this year the rain and hail is what we could not control. We enjoyed a little squash and some peas. Onions look ok-ish, but the rest is very depressing. We may have cried a little last night. I still have hope. Without hope, we have nothing.

 

[Chesney Richardson]

Mine looks pretty naked since the sunnies squash and zucchini are gone, but hopefully the next round will be a good one