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.
 
 

 

[PaulG]

Incredible jungle there, DW! Beautiful dense, green
rows.
 
My chinense look like sticks with leaves on them 
 
That first pic looks like a slice of paradise!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

[DWB]

Thanks Paul but be careful what you wish for. Your plants are wonderful and I got me some serious jungle but I wish I had your "sticks and leaves" configuration in my garden.
 
I went picking this morning and spent close to 2 hours doing 2½ rows. I wish it was hands and knees but more like forearms and knees using one arm up in the jungle to grab pods I could find while using the other paw to keep my field of vision to the pod clear. Always being so careful to avoid breaking off leaves, branches and the pods I wasn't gonna pick.
 
I filled my basket but was sweating my thingies off and had to change into dry clothes before carrying on to the next task of the day  I couldn't buck up for any more picking. I'll go back for more tomorrow.
 

 
 

 

[CaneDog]

Those two-months' growth shots are awesome DWB, as is your latest haul.  The picking doesn't sound a day at the park, but at least there's a high payoff.  Looks like my kind of Easter basket!

 

[DWB]

That basket was 9 pounds 14 oz net.

 

[BDASPNY]

that's one incredible haul!   picking sounds tough but worth it,

 

[PaulG]

One reason my plants are in containers off
the ground    
 
Great money shot, DW! The colors are really
beautiful, and there are some amazing pods
in there! Certainly worth the effort.
 
Good luck bringing in the rest of this round...
 
 

 

[DWB]

I guess it's not too early to start working on stuff for next year. I have some patches of Pensacola Bahiagrass out in the far front yard that grows really thick and heavy if I let it grow a couple weeks. Makes a lot of clippings that are easy to scoop up. Can collect 10 cf in no time.
 

 
Then a quick run over to the compost side of the garden and do layers of rotting oak leaves and grass clippings. Two of each here and will follow that with a heavy top coat of horse manure and a handful of ammonium nitrate tomorrow. I'll do this for the rest of mowing season and should have a nice pile of good compost ready for next season. I'll also be hauling in more loads of the sheepstuff/hay compost like the pile in the background.
 

 
 
I started this pile of tree trimmings and yard waste in 2015. It began life as a 12' pile resulting from massive front yard tree trimming project and I've continually added to it ever since. Mostly hardwood trimmings but some pine, cedar and other softwood stuff too. It's an ill-fated burn pile cuz it's in a place that's not really great for incineration due to the canopy above. The pile has been built up to 12' tall many times and melted back down to this height over and over again. There's gotta be a bunch of nicely rotted material at the bottom. Probably a few yards of it since this pile is perennially wet and forever in the shade. Maybe in the winter I'll dismantle it for a while and haul the good stuff to the garden for top dressing.
 

 
 
 

 

[DWB]

Peppers lookin good DW, and that brisket looks awesome. Now next time don't tease us. Cut that bad boy so we can lick our screens!

 
Did a big ol' hunk of pig today. Started the fire at 5 AM and never lifted the lid after placing the pig. Gotta love a kamodo cooker. After wrapping and resting a while and feeding the pups, the pig ready to eat at 5 PM. I didn't need to cut it. Just pull it with a fork. I made a pot of southern style green beans with this morning's picking for the side. Yum!
 
Happy 4th of July y'all.
 

 

 

[CaneDog]

Bet that was damn good.  Happy Fourth DWB

 

[BDASPNY]

that looks incredible!

 

[Devv]

Good plan in all regards. A bit counter-intuitive but I guess the rules change sometimes. I'm definitely getting my short course in jungle management.
 
Edit: I guess it started going wrong way back here in April. Maybe I should have started cutting side shoots until I had at least a foot or two of open stem. What do you think guys?
 

 
late responses, because I was away. I'm in the same boat, the bonnets seemed to sprawl and now all the limbs are hanging low. I could add to that but it would just get me in trouble one way or the other, I seem to be good at that...
 

 

[Devv]

Just got caught up. Congrats on a stellar year buddy! The plants and the pulls look great!
 
I certainly here you about the crawling. If you grow in the dirt in the south and plant in a depression, it just makes the process harder. I wonder how long I can do this....10 more years? I hope so!
 
I do the same with everything I can get my hands on to put back into the garden. I compost all the kitchen waste, add all the raked leaves, and get mulch from the county yard and regrind it with a DR chipper. By the time I use it, it's like dirt.

 

[DWB]

Just got caught up. Congrats on a stellar year buddy! The plants and the pulls look great!
 
I certainly here you about the crawling. If you grow in the dirt in the south and plant in a depression, it just makes the process harder. I wonder how long I can do this....10 more years? I hope so!
 
I do the same with everything I can get my hands on to put back into the garden. I compost all the kitchen waste, add all the raked leaves, and get mulch from the county yard and regrind it with a DR chipper. By the time I use it, it's like dirt.

 
Thanks Scott. I started pyrethrin spraying last week for stink bugs but how do you even adequately spray something like this?
 
I'd love to have me a nice wood chipper but I'd probably kill it in no time at all with all the tree trash and trimmings I have around here. I borrowed one before but it was a smaller one and I wasn't impressed. I bought a big electric one once and it was a joke. I returned it almost immediately. Which model of DR do you have and how is it holding up?
 
Weekly growth shot. The jungle consumes all. The head-high support ropes set at 5½-6' on the end posts are now engulfed by the plants. The plants are pushing the shade ceiling upwards.
 

 

[PaulG]

You are a victim of your own success, DW!

 

[DWB]

You are a victim of your own success, DW!

 
Paul, that's about as succinctly it can ever be said.
 

 

[DWB]

I was gone most of the day. We got an inch of rain today. It came in two showers that happened when I was here and don't know how many when I wasn't. About 7:30 I went out to the garden to do a quick 5 gal. BT/soap spray and found this. Made me want to cry. This is in the "young/small" row
 

 
The good news is at least I can ripen the pods.
 

 
 

 

[juanitos]

ah yeah the curse of having a really good harvest is you gotta support em or branches hit the floor.
 
looking good tho anyway

 

[DWB]

ah yeah the curse of having a really good harvest is you gotta support em or branches hit the floor.
 
looking good tho anyway

 
I have to get in there and install support fencing today.
 

 
 
Talk about being asleep at the wheel, I guess I was hoping to get away with it. I corralled the row on the right nearly two months ago.
 

 

[Walchit]

I wish I had some monsters like that. I'm gonna have to downsize, and try to grow correctly next year

 

[juanitos]

 
I have to get in there and install support fencing today.
 
Talk about being asleep at the wheel, I guess I was hoping to get away with it. I corralled the row on the right nearly two months ago.
 

 
nice shrubbery!
 
yeah people don't believe when i say 4-5 ft row spacing. like the guys trying to do square foot gardening who put 16 plants in a 4x4 bed. it's too much if you have really good growth like you!