Stefan_W's 2013 Pods A-Ripenin'! Glog

I am going to start the new glog for my upcoming growing season on a bit of a personal note. One year ago tomorrow (January 3rd) is the one year anniversary of the day that my daughter was diagnosed with a tumour that is lodged in the middle of her brain. The past year has involved treatments and hospital stays, and there were at least three different points when we were pretty sure she was not going to make it. But she is a fighter, and nothing could keep her down for long.

Sofia has personally planted every pepper and tomato seed that I have started in the past three growing seasons. She beat the odds last year to help me, and once again she is defying what medicine has to say to help me out this year.

We started a jalapeno plant about a week ago just for the sake of watching it grow, because we both love it so much. One of the jalapenos grew to the point that it had its firt couple of leaves, so we transplanted him into a bigger pot. While we were at it I decided to put in some aji lemondrops, partly because they take a long time to fruit up and I wanted to give them a huge head start.

This is the jalapeno plant. I pulled the second one out because we did not need it, and discovered that the roots had grown all of the way down to the bottom of the cell.

My daughter personally doing the transplant.

Her aim is better than mine, and so it turned out perfectly.

Next up was taking out the lemondrop seeds from peppermania.

I need a few extras of this type, so I asked Sofia to plant two seeds in each of the four cells. Two plants will be for us, and whatever else grows will be given away to good friends.

Two of the three tiers in my lighting stand are currently being used as toy shelves, which is cool for now. The lights are adjustable, and moved down to get close to the seedling.

The heating pad works extremely well, and once the cells are covered the top clouds up in no time.

A happy early jalapeno seedling in his new home. I thought I heard "feeeeeed meeeeee" coming from that direction, but I'm not sure.

That's it for today, folks! Welcome to my new glog

 

[Stefan_W]

lol that was funny man... Hey Stefan, them plants of yours are looking super fine. Glad to see things are warming up your side and good job on overwintering that Tabasco... going to be a major bonus. Good luck!

Thank you very much! I nearly tossed the overwinters a couple of times when I got frustrated, but now that spring is around the corner I am happy that I stuck it out.

 

[Stefan_W]

I'm only doing a partial update this week. I was planning on getting a load of garden prep done on Sunday, and to start hardening off plants that same day, but I ended up coming down with a kick assed flu about half way through. As a result I did not completely finish my garden project, and I had to wait until today to start hardening my plants off.

Last year was the first year of gardening after finding out about Sofia's brain tumour and going through treatment. I decided to make the garden accessible for her by eating up some garden space with mulch covered walkways. This is the area I built last year, which is where the tomatoes (front) and peas (back along fence) are grown.

However, I did not have time to do the entire garden. I'm including this wide shot to show how the other half of the garden was incomplete.

The right hand side of the garden is used to grow carrots and spinach in the main area, peas and beans in the boxes in the back portion, and normally cucumbers in the cedar boxes on the right hand side. I was attacked by cucumber beetles last year, and decided to take a year off from growing cukes. I put some garlic in the boxes to make sure the beetles take a hike, and figured it was a good idea to plant extra peppers there. This is why I am able to try out some new pepper varieties this year. Anyway, as you can see from this picture the area is far from accessible for Sofia, which wont due. Her magic pixie dust has to be involved in all stages!

So I built up a structure for the garden area, and added mulch pathways. I got sick right at this point, and the soil still needs to be added (from the tomato area, to rotate the soil), and another few inches of mulch are needed.

But, as you can see from pea planting this morning, it did the trick for now. Sofia is safe and secure on the new pathways, and will definitely be able to help out with the peppers when they go in on Sunday.

Today was the first day of hardening off the pepper and tomato plants. It was all i could do to stop myself from just putting the tomato plants in the ground right away. We are overcast for the next couple of days, so I figured the chances of shock from the sun are minimal, and the overnight temps are perfect. But then common sense prevailed and I held myself back. For now.

The overwinters went out as well. I have to admit that a lot of the plants are looking pretty rough, but I guess that is expected considering how long they have been inside. They need to be in their homes.

The herbs did go out for good. I'm sure the rosemary and mint can withstand anything, and the others can be easily replaced it they don't make it. But I am sure everything will be fine, because there is nothing all that finicky in this bunch.

Last shot is of my garlic. I really love growing this stuff, and it ends up going into all of my hot sauces so it is definitely on topic.

Thanks for having a look at my half-way update. I plan to finish off new garden area tomorrow, which will let me shift to getting my rain barrels set up and all that other fun stuff. I probably wont post any pics until transplant time though.

A last note: I ate the first aji lemondrop last night. It was still very green, and when I took a bite out of the end there was no heat. I was disappointed. Then I took a bigger bite, and when I started chewing on the seed area my mouth lit up! Lesson learned about hot peppers always being hot.

 

[GA Growhead]

Really like how you have your space managed. Looks good!
Sorry you got under the weather, but glad you are hardening off!

 

[stickman]

Hi Stefan, Nice use of space in your back yard, and most excellent that you're beginning to set plants outside in the ground!
It's good to see your helper out there too. What's not to like!

 

[WalkGood]

Great pics! Beautiful plot planning (excellent use of space), layout and pathways … Love the look of the brick around the garden front too. I happy to see you’ve incorporated pixie in the prep and love the shot of Sofia planting \o/

On another note, I’m going to copy your bamboo idea for my Everglades tomatoes which soon need to be moved and Steve wants a starter. I already have loads of bamboo and all I need is the cage material that you used. I can see my vines working their way thru dat up to our fence top and running along it. Thank you!!!

 

[Stefan_W]

Really like how you have your space managed. Looks good!
Sorry you got under the weather, but glad you are hardening off!

Thanks! This is only a portion of the garden, but I realized early on that I have very limited space. I got inventive and started growing upwards when I can and things like that.

Hi Stefan, Nice use of space in your back yard, and most excellent that you're beginning to set plants outside in the ground!
It's good to see your helper out there too. What's not to like!

I discovered tonight that some of my tomato plants were starting to break at the base, so I ended up having to do an emergency planting this evening and all of my tomatoes are now out there. So much for hardening off

Great pics! Beautiful plot planning (excellent use of space), layout and pathways … Love the look of the brick around the garden front too. I happy to see you’ve incorporated pixie in the prep and love the shot of Sofia planting \o/

On another note, I’m going to copy your bamboo idea for my Everglades tomatoes which soon need to be moved and Steve wants a starter. I already have loads of bamboo and all I need is the cage material that you used. I can see my vines working their way thru dat up to our fence top and running along it. Thank you!!!

The bamboo gives it a more natural look, which is why I picked that for staking. Good luck with your tomatoes!

 

[PeriPeri]

Woa Stefan that is an absolutely stunning layout! Great to see spring has sprung and you have Sofia there to help you get it right dad

 

[Stefan_W]

Woa Stefan that is an absolutely stunning layout! Great to see spring has sprung and you have Sofia there to help you get it right dad

Thanks, it was a lot of work but totally worth it. I will try to post a video later on in the summer to show the whole thing.

 

[Sanarda]

I see Sophie spreading some more of her magic planting pixie dust. The garden looks terrific. I too cant wait to get them into their final spots.

 

[roper2008]

All that hard work paid off, looks great. Very nice for Sophia.

 

[Stefan_W]

I see Sophie spreading some more of her magic planting pixie dust. The garden looks terrific. I too cant wait to get them into their final spots.

Thank you very much! I now have mine out for good, and I will snap some pics when I have a moment. It is always a special time when they move into their new homes.

All that hard work paid off, looks great. Very nice for Sophia.

Thank you very much! Sofia absolutely love it.

Thank you for stopping by and having a look!

 

[DocNrock]

Stefan, I absolutely love the way you did the garden space. Very nice landscaping layout. The pic of Sofia sowing the peas definitely made me smile. Glad to see her out there getting involved. I think the OWs will brighten up when they get some sunshine. I know mine looked pretty rough but they are pulling out of their funk and starting to really grow. I'm sure yours will do the same, especially in-ground.

Sucks about the flu, man. Hopefully it is over by now. Maybe the weather will cooperate and you can finish the planters this coming weekend and get some of the hardeners in ground!

Looking awesome, bro! BTW, any news about the job in academia you were working on before?

 

[Stefan_W]

Stefan, I absolutely love the way you did the garden space. Very nice landscaping layout. The pic of Sofia sowing the peas definitely made me smile. Glad to see her out there getting involved. I think the OWs will brighten up when they get some sunshine. I know mine looked pretty rough but they are pulling out of their funk and starting to really grow. I'm sure yours will do the same, especially in-ground.

Sucks about the flu, man. Hopefully it is over by now. Maybe the weather will cooperate and you can finish the planters this coming weekend and get some of the hardeners in ground!

Looking awesome, bro! BTW, any news about the job in academia you were working on before?

I have a few new pics of the garden space after I finished on Sunday that I'll post when I have extra energy. I hope that mine work out as well as yours, because they really suffered at the end. I hardened them off for three days, and then came to the conclusion that they were losing leaves and dying back indoors anyway so I just put them out. Now they are sun scalded but I can see new growth already coming out, which is what I was aiming for.

I am still waiting for word on whether I am short listed. The hiring committee made their decision over a week ago, but they have to wait for word from the Dean's office before they are allowed to contact anyone about it. To be honest, I am pretty happy waiting around for a while because if I do manage to get it I would prefer to move in the fall rather than in July.

Thanks for stopping in! I'll be catching up on picture posting and reading other glogs later in the week.

 

[Stefan_W]

A quick update. First off, I did not get the position I applied for which means I do not have to move. I am not heartbroken because I have a job, and I only applied so that I could teach in a place that is close to my family. I may or may not apply for anything else in academia down the road, which is also fine because I spent 5 1/2 years teaching in universities already so I had some time to live that dream.

Ok, on to pepper stuff.

This first shot is a closeup that shows what is happening with my overwintered tabasco. Even though the leaves are just starting to show up and the plant itself looks bare when you look closely you see this all over it. This plant is going to produce big this year.

No surprise that the firecracker chillies are first out of the gate, seeing as cayennes are always pretty early. I have flowers and mini pods here and there on other plants, but this plant has put out a couple of flowers and even a pod since I set my plants out a few days ago.

Now a couple of pics to show what the garden space now looks like.

This shot is taken from beside the house, near where you enter the backyard through the side. You can see the rows of supers in pots, with the supers that are planted with garlic in between in the boxes behind them. To the left in the big pots you'll see the edge of the overwinters.

This is the garden space that I revamped to make sure it is fully accessible for Sofia. The tomatoes are along the right in the first two plots, and further back is the area for carrots and spinach. In behind that you can see the box with 4 supers (Jonah, red moruga scorp, yellow moruga scorp, and yellow brain). At the very back left is the pile of bamboo that I use for staking the tomato plants a bit later on in the season. The peas are all along the left hand side in boxes.

Turning slightly from the view of the last pic, you can see how many of the pots are orientated. In the near set of three are the sweet peppers. The black pots in the middle house the madame jeanette and the peach scotch bonnet. Back further next to the 2 overwinters is the aji lemondrop.

Turning again you can see the grouping of large pots that hold an early jalapeno, tobago treasure, and paprika. The black pot by the steps has the bahamian goat pepper.

Not much to show yet. The plants are recovering very quickly from the sun scald and leave damage/drop, with new growth showing up on all of them. We are supposed to get rain the next three or four days, and I'm expecting some pretty big improvements over that time.

Thanks for having a look!

 

[Trippa]

Best of luck with the hardening off and season ahead. A workmate is flying up to Canada from Australia tomorrow for a family get together ...he reckons its going to be freezing !!

 

[Stefan_W]

Best of luck with the hardening off and season ahead. A workmate is flying up to Canada from Australia tomorrow for a family get together ...he reckons its going to be freezing !!

It was sitting at about 25-27 in Ottawa most days until now. We are expecting things to turn cold this weekend, and I'm worried about the overnight lows taking their tolls on my peppers. Rumour has it that it will drop to about 3 or so, which is dangerously cold.

 

[amps]

How did you deal with the frost last night buddy? My kitchen is a jungle right now from having to bring everything inside.

 

[stickman]

Aw geez... it's supposed to get down to -1 C tonight, and it's been cold all day. Hope you have a warm place to put your chiles for a couple more days!

 

[Stefan_W]

I think I am in trouble. We are having high winds and mixed rain, so throwing a blanket over them is not an option. There is no way to move the pots, especially the big ones. I just have to ride it out and cross my fingers that everything will work out for the best.

What a nightmare spring this year.

 

[stickman]

I think I am in trouble. We are having high winds and mixed rain, so throwing a blanket over them is not an option. There is no way to move the pots, especially the big ones. I just have to ride it out and cross my fingers that everything will work out for the best.

What a nightmare spring this year.

 
Ouch! We'll be pulling for ya! Hope your babies get through this...