Highalt's 2012 Grow Log

highalt · Mar 20, 2012

Pizza boxes (slaps self on forehead), why didn't I think of that! As I was reading that, I glanced over at my 13 year old son's computer desk and noticed a small empty pizza box left there Sunday afternoon, haha! Guess where it is now?

Okay, this is totally off topic, but I started a thread over in the Growing - Other section about wintersowing. Tonight I am doing a talk at a local MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) meeting.

Here are the pre-prepped containers loaded up and ready to go. All they have to do is sow the seeds, and label the outside of the container with what type of seed was sown.

I'm assuming these are non-gardeners, so I'm trying to make it foolproof by giving them instructions:

Wonder how many people there will start using this technique? I did a talk/demonstration of this at the Colorado Farm Show, my daughter's preschool, and another local women's group last year. Just trying to show people an easy way to start seeds, if they don't have the space or time to do it indoors. I don't use this method for peppers, but I use it for lettuce and other leafy greens, broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes, herbs, and flowers. I need all my indoor space for peppers, so this works for me. Check it out if you are interested.

highalt · Mar 24, 2012

Here's some pictures of my pepper sprouts taken today.

Sandia

Biker Billy Hybrid Jalapeno - Check out the fused leaf!

Chimayo

Costeno Amarillo

Chocolate Habanero - Look how much smaller the chinenses are, even though they were sown ~ 3 weeks ahead of the annuums.

This one is supposed to be Fish, but it doesn't show any variegation yet. When should I expect that?

... and finally, one of my contenders for the Longest Chile Competition, Big Jim

I'll try and get some more pics later.

Thanks for stopping by!

Ooops, I forgot one. Gave up on the first Peach Habaneros I sowed, sow I resowed, and now look who shows up!

jsschrstrcks · Mar 24, 2012

Not sure if you have yours going outside yet, or still inside under lights... But from another thread I was reading, the guy didn't expect the varigation until he put them outside... Its apparently a genetic deformity that causes part of the plant (and fruit) to produce too little chlorophyll. Which seems counter productive for a plant, and kinda cool at the same time.

jsschrstrcks · Mar 25, 2012

I use it for lettuce and other leafy greens

I have some lettuce that may well be trying to take over the world... I started some this winter in a pot on the porch... the seeds fell through my deck, onto the ground, and started more lettuce plants, which quickly took over under the deck... Then started into the yard... I ended up transplanting them into the garden... But I think if left to their own devices, would outgrow the grass in my yard.

highalt · Mar 25, 2012

Well, if you have to have a plant take over, at least it's something edible! Maybe that's natures way of hinting that you need to eat more salads, haha! In my yard, the only things taking over are bindweed, dandelions, and grass. Technically, I think dandelion greens are edible, but don't sound very tasty to me. I've also heard about people making dandelion wine, but can't say that I've ever tried that either.

So, why is it that the grass in the yard struggles to grow, but in the vegetable and flower beds it grows like a weed?

stickman · Mar 26, 2012

You don't use the green parts to make dandelion wine, you just use the flower petals for flavor and color, and raisins for sugar and fruit flavor.
I suspect the grass grows better in the gardens because you fertilize the gardens more than you do the yard...

highalt · Mar 26, 2012

Thanks for that information, Stickman! Have you ever tasted the dandelion wine? Just curious about the flavor, not that I'm ready to try my hand at wine making yet.

The overwintering plants are stuck inside today. Sustained winds of 25 - 30 mph, with gusts in the past four hours of up to 52 mph. I hate the wind!!!

S.S.Tupperware · Mar 26, 2012

Lookin good, have ya grew the Chimayo before? I have a couple this year for the first time...

stickman · Mar 26, 2012

highalt said:
Thanks for that information, Stickman! Have you ever tasted the dandelion wine? Just curious about the flavor, not that I'm ready to try my hand at wine making it.

No, I was a little too young to drink it, but I was once paid to collect the dandelion flowers for someone who was going to make it. I think I was about 10 at the time, and he paid fifty cents for a shopping bag full of dandelion flowers. That was good money for a kid in the late sixties...My grandmother fed dandelion greens to her kids during the depression, and my mom tried to feed them to us without success. We all thought they were too bitter. I came across the recipe for dandelion wine during my beer brewing days.

highalt · Mar 27, 2012

S.S.Tupperware said:
Lookin good, have ya grew the Chimayo before? I have a couple this year for the first time...

I grew it last year, but I'm not convinced the seed I had was the real Chimayo. The pods did not match up with any photos or descriptions that I found on the internet. I'm trying it again from a different seed source this time. We'll have to compare pod photos later in the season.

highalt · Apr 3, 2012

Potted up the last of the sprouts today. Even though I have more of the 3" pots, I decided to put them in the 2 1/4" pots, so that I could still fit them all on top of the grow table, instead of putting some underneath. They should be okay in that size pot for a little while, since they are so far behind all the rest of the sprouts.

They are in the middle in the black pots in this photo.

The rest of babies have grown a lot the past week and a half, so I took a few more pictures. These are the annuums, which are much further along than the chinense and baccatums, even though they were started three weeks later.

Here is a shot of my two Inca Red Drops. The one on the right had fused cotyledons, and has been sitting there doing nothing, but I noticed today a tiny bump on the stem, so I think it will send out true leaves soon.

Check out this Tobago Seasoning. The first couple of leaves were heart shaped, but the newer ones are back to normal.

Here he is next to the other Tobago Seasoning, which is a bit further along.

Some of the fastest growers - Aji Angelo, and Aji Chinchi Amarillo

A couple of Cachuchas

The way the light is hitting it, the newer leaves on this Trinidad Perfume look a little yellow, but in person they are fine.

Last, but not least, Rain Forest. Check out the leaves coming out where the cotyledons are.

Guess that's all I can post at one time.

So when do you guys start taking the babies outside for some real sun? I've been opening the window for a few hours each afternoon, to get them used to the sun and the wind, but we've had some days that were just too windy to even take the chance.

PaulG · Apr 4, 2012

You are getting quite a set up going, there!
The seedlings look great! Good luck going forward...

Nice grow table. Should work great.
Your seedlings are coming right along.

highalt · Apr 6, 2012

Well, the overwintering plants are stuck inside again today, and I can't even open the window for the babies. Sustained winds of 32 mph at the moment, with gusts of 48 mph. Really getting tired of the wind!!! We just had one of the driest March's on record, and red flag warnings just about every day this past week or so. Glad it's too early to plant anything out! Predicted low of 26 degrees tonight. So much for the blossoms on the peach and apples trees. Even if I had enough covers for all of them, with these winds, the covers would probably cause more damage than the frost!

How do the rest of you in the colder zones make it through these last few weeks before the last frost date, with all the southerners posting pictures of their plants in the ground, pod harvests, etc.? I'm having a serious case of zone envy today :tear:

Signed,
Grumpy Girl

PaulG · Apr 6, 2012

I guess Rocky Mountain High can have it's down side, huh?
I hope your weather mellows out a little. Twenty six? I thought
we were bad. Our last below 30 day was some weeks ago. Here
we just sort of hover around cold and damp for a lot of the Spring,
so I can't be much help for you except to wish you good luck
getting into the growing season : )

stickman · Apr 6, 2012

highalt said:
Well, the overwintering plants are stuck inside again today, and I can't even open the window for the babies. Sustained winds of 32 mph at the moment, with gusts of 48 mph. Really getting tired of the wind!!! We just had one of the driest March's on record, and red flag warnings just about every day this past week or so. Glad it's too early to plant anything out! Predicted low of 26 degrees tonight. So much for the blossoms on the peach and apples trees. Even if I had enough covers for all of them, with these winds, the covers would probably cause more damage than the frost!

How do the rest of you in the colder zones make it through these last few weeks before the last frost date, with all the southerners posting pictures of their plants in the ground, pod harvests, etc.? I'm having a serious case of zone envy today

Signed,
Grumpy Girl

I'm with you sister... sounds pretty much like here. We've been having red flag warnings for the last few weeks, sustained winds and overnight temps. in the twenties and thirties. After the week of early summer weather before that it seems like a cruel joke, but what the heck, at least I didn't put my pants on back to front this morning and I'm still looking at the grass from the right side... I guess I'll call it a win.
It reminds me of the time I spent at Ft Carson, CO in the early 80's. The state of Colorado bought a huge tract of land up near the Continental Divide by Fairplay for a timber reserve. There were no access roads, and rather than bid out the job to private contractors, they asked the Army brass if they'd lend the combat engineer battallion I was a part of to them to get the job done. The six companies in my battallion took turns, a week at a time each, getting the roadbeds cleared, drained and graded. Most of us used chainsaws to do the cutting and bulldozers to clear the stumps, but one green Lieutenant thought he's save time by using explosives to cut the trees. He and his men spent so much time putting out fires they hardly got any road built the first time they went out. They knew better after that...

highalt · Apr 6, 2012

There was a wildfire on the other side of the state recently, that burned a lot of houses, and 3 people died. Usually, the wildfire season doesn't get going until May, but it is just so dry this year. The part that amazes me is that the cause was a controlled burn. I can't figure out why they do the controlled burns during the windiest time of year.

Over six hours now of sustained winds between 30 - 40 mph, with gusts over 50 mph ...

stickman · Apr 6, 2012

highalt said:
There was a wildfire on the other side of the state recently, that burned a lot of houses, and 3 people died. Usually, the wildfire season doesn't get going until May, but it is just so dry this year. The part that amazes me is that the cause was a controlled burn. I can't figure out why they do the controlled burns during the windiest time of year.

Over six hours now of sustained winds between 30 - 40 mph, with gusts over 50 mph ...

The other thing I remember is experiencing a Chinook coming down out of hills one day in early April that evaporated three feet of snow in a few hours. No runoff!

highalt · Apr 10, 2012

Today was gorgeous! The high reached 78 degrees, with only a gentle breeze. I spent as much time outside as I could, because the forecast is calling for the winds to pick back up tomorrow, with a small chance of snow by the weekend.

Even though it will be a month before I can plant out, I have been doing a lot of work in the garden, pulling weeds, trimming back perennials, and herbs, etc. In the vegetable bed, I took out one of the tomato stakes, and spread the remaining stakes out further, since the back row wasn't getting enough sun.

Here is the bed now. On the right is a small patch of garlic planted last fall. You can see everything is bone dry here. The irrigation ditch will hopefully be up and running soon.

This bed will hold 13 pepper plants, in addition to 6 tomato plants, carrots, lettuce, radishes, cucumbers, basil, peas, and garlic.

Not a lot of change in the pepper sprouts, but I did want to show the Inca Red Drop with the fused cotyledons finally sprouted leaves! Yippee!!!

Here's his big brother. They were sown at the same time.

Check out the leaves on this Biker Billy Hybrid Jalapeno. His brother has normal leaves.

I have been pinching off most of the blooms on the overwintering pepper plants, but let a couple of them go on the Pasilla Bajio.

PaulG · Apr 10, 2012

highalt said:
I hate the wind!!!

Me, too. It's the only kind of weather I can't get along with!
Your seedlings look great - some weird leaf mutations just for fun : )

stc3248 · Apr 11, 2012

Cool plants! Nice work in the garden to! So you have this spot and the community garden...will you have any containers or anything elsewhere?