2019 Hay Bale Pepper Patch

I've been a member for a while but never posted a grow log. My usual garden is too boring for that. I use 20-30 pots and overwinter my mama plants in a hillbilly winter shelter. Our ground here isn't good for in soil gardening and I've not been enthused enough to undertake the work and expense to build raised beds.
 
Now I have my peppers working the way I want and have the need for a much larger grow to supply a project. The main peppers I'll grow will be reaper, douglah and fatalii. For a couple of years I'll do hay bale gardens and heap tons of organic trash into the area. I have monumental amounts of pine straw, oak leaves and bonfire ash every year to dump in the walkways. I think this will do a world of good to make this new garden area mo'betta for eventual in ground growing.
 
I closed off a 38x38 patch in the NE field that gets full sun. This is the area I chose. The big painted guy is my fertilizer supplier.
 
The little painted guy is my running buddy and load inspector.
 
 

 

[DWB]

Thanks y'all. I hope all of us have a great season. I know I'm due for one without tons of BS to deal with.

When the tumor came up on Cody, I decided to wait until late to start plants. Not wanting to be forced into slowing nursery growth like last year and wind up with a mess. We'll see what goes on after his appointment the 29th and Lia's appointment April 10. I expect it may take a couple of weeks to actually get Cody scheduled on their machine to get him cleaned up.

Cancer Surgery. No Knife. – Auburn Veterinarian – Auburn University | College of Veterinary Medicine

mag.auburnvetmed.com

If so, I'll probably start planting out after we get home and be available for frost management. I highly doubt Lia will have anything done on the 10th except positive tumor ID and her regular, quarterly scans. By them, frost will be much less of a concern.

If all this goes as suspected, I'll be able to keep the starts as they are in their small cells and peat pellets and feed them with the Masterblend hydro. If not, I'll have to plant the pepper pellets in sock pots and transplant the squashes and tomatoes to other pots and set them out mid-April.

I have 50 YNBS, 34 Amish Paste tomato starts and will have up to 34 various squash starts ready to go. I'm also starting about 10 backup YNBS and a few of my Douglah, Cardi Scorpion and Reaper. plants

The extended hard freeze in late December wasn't kind to my mama plants in the hillbilly witter shelter. I did keep several lights going in there but I wasn't aggressive enough with the 250W heat lamp. Most of them survived and should be okay but I'm afraid at least two will be toast. I'm not absolutely are what those are until I unload.

 

[DWB]

Making some progress. The patch is pretty well mulched in. I'll keep pouring it on throughout the season. I have quite a bit piled here and there.

The tomatoes are coming along. I thinned them down to one per cell on Friday and moved them out to the level 1 nursery with the peppers and squash. I'm putting some new pepper seedlings in this chamber.

The peppers didn't do a lot this week. I kept it very hot in there to continue sprouting some planted squash seeds. I know that doesn't make them happy when they're babies. I have canoe leaves too but I'm not concerned, largely because I don't know what causes them. Probably the +85° temps I maintained and turning the fan off. during the really cold times.