At this point in the year, we look back at what we did, and how it worked out last season. But even though it isn't New years yet, we also look forward and begin to plan what we want to see in the year coming...

So the beginnin' of December is as good a time to start this thread as any.

Most plants, if we hot house them or start them indoors, we can think about a ninety day lead time where the plants can grow before setting them out of doors based on the plants needing about that much time to get ready to produce.

The thing is - in different places the expected last frost is a "WINDOW" that can be subject to disaster if we guess wrong. Most of my own I seed in the ground outdoors from the start, because of bad luck with getting plants used to being outside. Those are some notions to kick around.

Also, this year I plan on a WHOLE LOT MORE AND BETTER Poblano pepper plants, and the seeds I got from Parks Seeds last year I am probably not going to use. Here is my reasoning:

The peppers I got from Parks were a hybrid. The seed can't really be expected to do well twice in a row. (the ones I got from the peppers that formed)

I recently got TWO POUNDS of dried Poblano Peppers from a company in Dallas Texas. The reason I sent for them was because I didn't get enough peppers to store and I came to like them better'n a pig loves slop...

Well, these peppers are naturally dried, not roasted dry, and they are each FILLED with seeds. They are also fully ripe red peppers.

* NOTE: Poblano Peppers when they are fresh and just off the bush are called Poblano peppers. When they are dried they are called "ANCHO CHILI's"

Looking at the dried peppers, they had to have been at least three times the size of the hybrid peppers I harvested, and I am pretty sure they are organically grown heirloom types - NO HYBRIDIZATION! So they should breed true.

I am going to have a whole mess of these seeds - so if anyone is interested PM me for an address and send an SASE. You can probably also find them in local markets and get seeds that way





NOTE: To rehydrate a dried chili pepper you place it in a dish with about 1/8 of an inch of cold water, and cover it for about fifteen minutes. They can then be used for cooking.

Poblanos fresh off the bush are a large pepper suitable for stuffing, with a flavor like long green or Anahiem chili peppers. When they are dried and rehydrated - for some reason they develop a flavor that is similar to Apples, with a pepper hot included...


Roger? I'd like to send you some whole pepper pods to experiment with in the kitchen. I read about that "APPLE" flavor, but didn't believe it, last night I tried rehydrating one - and yeah... I would never have thought so but it is true

Its a kitchen curiousity

 

I will probably take you up on those seeds, Wolf.

If you like, I can send you some tomato seeds from heirloom plants. I can't remember off-hand the variety, but I think it had "black" in the name. I wrote it down somewhere.

I am also hoping to grow more tomatoes, peppers and herbs. I also will try cucumbers, but they didn't do as well this year as they have in the past.

I tried potatoes that had gone to seed and it was hit or miss. About half grew well, while the other half only produced marble-sized tubers.

 

I don't understand potatos yet. Why are there "Seed Potatos", what makes them somehow different?

How loose should the soil be?

And so on... I just haven't gotten the results with them that it seems like I should.

Never got any decent onions either, it bugs me.

I have put one of the dried Poblano (ancho) seeds in a small pot indoors to see if they WILL sprout, did that about two days ago. We should hold off until I see if they will sprout up like I think they will. If they do - I have tons of those seeds, and it might be quicker for you to look for a store nearby that caters to Mexican and international foods and nab a bag of Ancho Chili's. It doesn't have to be a big one, but this seems to me to be an even better way to get seeds for these than to order hybrids from a seed seller online.

~Hybrids never breed right. To grow hybrids means buying new seed every year from whoever crossed them.

 

I received an "herb starting kit" for Christmas. I planted it just to see how it will do...supposed to have 6 or 7 different herbs, and all the seeds were just jumbled together in a little bag. I do not have much faith in these fast-food style kits, but maybe something will grow.

Let me know about those seeds, Wolf, and I'll try to remember to find the name of those tomato seeds I saved.

 

I don't see any sprouts so far, maybe they need more heat. I keep the place at around 70 degrees, and that might not be enough to hatch peppers.

I have a major garden re-think in front of me too, as far as where everything is going to be. In the area I have been clearing out I think I want to plant a whole bunch of ornamental corn to shade out weeds and provide 'Green manure' at the end of it all. There is a corn that is called "Glass Gem" that has amazing colors, and is also supposed to be eatable. Gardening should be fun!

I have also been reading through Masanobu Fukuoka's book "The One Straw Revolution" which is about natural farming. I'm getting a lot of ideas from it that I want to look into.

*EDIT: DONE deal, I just sent for five fifty seed packs of Glass Gem corn on Amazon. That should be good for five fifty foot rows, and seeds for later on once I harvest them.

 

We seem to have a very strange weather trend going on this year.
It snowed here in the Western region in November - three months ahead of when snow is usual for around here

In recent days I stumbled on a sight that just plain confuses me to no end...
We are in the middle of winter here, no doubt about it. The statistical coldest day of the winter in my area is the 14th of January, as reported by weather records going back more than a hundred years.

Now see this!




That was yesterday, today I realized that if I wanted to grow many of the plants that do best in cold weather, I should set out some seeds for them. To my amazement I found Cilantro sprouts! Cilantro is a summer herb, 'far as I know...




Plants that do best in winter include Cabbage, bunching varieties of Lettuce, Spinach, Brussels Sprout, and similar things that tend to curl their leaves into a tight ball for cold protection.

These same plants tend to do badly in the warm months because of insect pests, and due to the fact that they "BOLT" - send up a tall stalk in the center to form seeds which is a thing you never want lettuce or cabbage to do.

Looking to the left of the lettuce planter above, there are a lot of what appears to be new clover sprouts.

While most people regard clover as a pest plant - in recent reading I have seen advice that in off-production months both clover and various kinds of beans are an ideal "COVER CROP" that will produce what is called "Green manure" that can be turned back into the soil, as well as the nitrogen fixing tendency of any kind of bean plant.

CLOVER, it seems, is not bad stuff at all.

In line with the soil improvement notions, I have decided to plant the large area I have been clearing on the side of my property with a mix of snap beans, and ornamental corn, since the straw and leftover matter from these two plants will build the soil, and also shade out most weeds naturally - eliminating the need for herbicides.


I will set the seeds in the ground, and then let that patch do it's own thing until I harvest dried ears of very pretty corn for later sale to people who want to use them as holiday decorations

*I will also save hundreds of seeds for replanting.

 

Best Pepper Plants, Tomato Plants & Eggplants - ChilePlants.com

Hey Wolf! Here's a site you might find interesting. They'll send you a catalog for free if you want one. They have quite the selection.

 

Forgot to add that they have a pretty good chart for pepper comparison:

Best Pepper Plants - ChilePlants.com

 

I reorganized my biggest planters, they are now along a south facing wall, with some leftover that I am not sure yet where I will spot them. I may just line the rest up on the other side of the sidewalk from these.




I have been thinking that Rufus's doghouse doesn't have to be on the porch, that would open up a lot more spaces.

*It might also keep him from chewing up my damn siding too...

 

Those planters look tired. Sorry....can never resist a pun.

Looks like you have plenty of planting space for herbs & veggies....I'm a little jealous.

 

As a matter of fact, this morning I put a ring of Cilantro seeds around the lettuce in the center one, and just to the right of it I planted a large variety of spinach because it is likely to be cold for a while yet. In fact the National Weather Service had this to say:

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
943 AM CST THU JAN 22 2015

DISCUSSION
15Z SURFACE ANALYSIS PLACES AN AREA OF LOW PRESSURE
OVER SOUTHERN TEXAS. MEANWHILE...A SUBTLE MID LEVEL SHORTWAVE
TROUGH EMBEDDED WITHIN SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT IS MOVING ACROSS THE
LOWER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY THIS MORNING. HAVE UPDATED RAIN
CHANCES...TEMPERATURES TO REFLECT CURRENT TRENDS. OTHERWISE...NO
OTHER CHANGES AT THIS MOMENT.



PREV DISCUSSION
/ISSUED 627 AM CST THU JAN 22 2015/

DISCUSSION...

UPDATED FOR 12Z AVIATION DISCUSSION

PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 313 AM CST THU JAN 22 2015/

HIGH CLOUDS CONTINUE TO MOVE INTO THE FORECAST AREA THIS MORNING
WITH TEMPERATURES RANGING FROM AROUND 30 DEGREES TO THE MID 40S.
MOISTURE HAS BEGUN TO MOVE INTO THE REGION AHEAD OF A DEVELOPING
LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WHICH IS LOCATED OVER SOUTH TEXAS. AS THE LOW
MOVES EAST TODAY SOME LIGHT RAIN IS EXPECTED TO SPREAD INTO THE
FORECAST AREA.

BY TONIGHT...THE SURFACE LOW WILL MOVE INTO THE WESTERN GULF OF
MEXICO AND BY FRIDAY MORNING WILL BE SOUTH OF NEW ORLEANS. AS A
RESULT MORE PRECIPITATION WILL SPREAD INTO THE FORECAST AREA. AS
TEMPERATURES TURN COLDER AND GET CLOSE TO FREEZING LATE TONIGHT A
MIX OF RAIN AND SNOW WILL BE POSSIBLE.

ON FRIDAY...THE SURFACE LOW WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE NORTHEAST AND
SHOULD REACH THE FLORIDA PANHANDLE BY FRIDAY EVENING. PRECIPITATION
WILL CONTINUE TO FALL ACROSS THE REGION WITH SOME AREAS SEEING A
MIX OF RAIN AND SNOW. AT THIS POINT ANY SNOW ACCUMULATION THAT
OCCURS WILL BE LIGHT SO A WATCH IS NOT NEEDED AT THIS TIME. BY
FRIDAY NIGHT THE LOW WILL BE MOVING TOWARD THE CAROLINA COAST WITH
PRECIPITATION ENDING FROM WEST TO EAST. WITH COLDER AIR BUILDING
INTO THE REGION MOST AREAS COULD SEE A CHANGE FROM RAIN TO SNOW
BEFORE THE PRECIPITATION ENDS WITH LITTLE ACCUMULATION EXPECTED.

BY SATURDAY...HIGH PRESSURE WILL BE CENTERED ACROSS THE WESTERN
U.S. WHICH WILL KEEP THINGS DRY OVER THE FORECAST AREA.
TEMPERATURES WILL BE PRETTY CLOSE TO NORMAL LEVELS. ON SUNDAY A
COLD FRONT WILL MOVE THROUGH THE FORECAST AREA. MOISTURE WILL BE
LIMITED SO THERE MAY BE AN ISOLATED SHOWER OVER EASTERN SECTIONS
OF THE FORECAST AREA SUNDAY EVENING BUT MOST AREAS SHOULD BE DRY.

HIGH PRESSURE WILL BUILD BACK INTO THE REGION ON MONDAY BRINGING A
PERIOD OF DRY WEATHER FROM MONDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. TEMPERATURES
WILL WARM SOME DURING THIS PERIOD BUT FOR THE MOST PART WILL
REMAIN CLOSE TO NORMAL LEVELS.

So, if you read through all of that, it means a short cold dip, and a slight rise above normal temps into next week.

I checked on it, because it felt a bit chilly and I wondered if things were about to flip over to what it just was again. It looks stable though.

I may get the tire on the left filled today, that would be good because I could put away my garden cart so it doesn't rust any more than it is already
(I need to sandblast and paint both of them this year. I may glass coat them so they don't have problems again.)

The overall plan calls for these to be Poblano planters, with Tomato's at the very ends

 

Now that is funny. I just came in the house to warm my hands. Sitting here about half asleep, it took me a few seconds to get what you said. About spit coffee all over the KB.
Thinking about tilling the garden spot again just to get some tractor seat time.

 

Heh... When I first started looking for ways to save cash at the grocery store, Steve Bricks said something about me having a "TRUCK GARDEN".

Well, I use oversize Mud Truck Tires for planters, to save myself whatever money I can to spend on my hotrod truck, so really -

Yeah man. It's a Truck Garden. I'm growing a truck with it...

 

Last picture today - I just got done filling all these with soil and setting the trellis around what will be a (green) Malabar Spinach vine set later on in spring, but for now I planted with Iceberg Lettuce. I went ahead with the trellis to keep Rufus out of it. It will also have a Poblano in it, dead center.

Left to right at this point is currently Iceberg, Grand Rapids Leaf, and Spinach.

The last tire on the right will be a Tomato plant, that will be companion planted with Basil. Just left of it I will copy the Malabar setup, possibly with the red stemmed version but probably NOT because I don't want cross pollination.

The middle planter will be for Poblano Peppers, and there is room for two more planters to the left of the trellised planter. (I have exactly two more 39 inch swampers for that).



There is one more tire that matches the one on the far right, it will be another Tomato/Basil set and go all the way at the left end, out of sight in this picture.

Rufus will have his hut out in the yard, and the whole front of my house will eventually be green and nutritious...

Who needs HEDGES? Ya can't eat em'...

 

Wolf....you should get a Rosemary plant and put it in a fairly sunny spot. It is perennial. In fact, it will turn into a bush and give you Rosemary for years. My bush died after about 11 years this past Spring, so this will be one of my investments this year.