DesertChris' High Desert Extreme Gardening Glog

DesertChris · May 22, 2013

Mr. Hill said:
Darn, want to give any tips on growing Garlic that Big???

Also WOW that's a lot of pepper strains, I like it!!

Thanks!!

We got the garlic from the farmer's market, It was a big variety of some sort, so after 10 months or so, we got a bunch of big garlic

Yeah, I went a bit overboard on peppers this year....lol
The plan is to see which ones do well here in the harsh conditions.

Where abouts in Norcal are you? I have lived in Sebastopol, Fort Bragg, Eureka and Arcata.
I sure miss the area up there!!

Mr. Hill · May 22, 2013

DesertChris said:
Thanks!!

We got the garlic from the farmer's market, It was a big variety of some sort, so after 10 months or so, we got a bunch of big garlic

Yeah, I went a bit overboard on peppers this year....lol
The plan is to see which ones do well here in the harsh conditions.

Oh ok, I have been thinking of getting some of them from the Farmers market too for next year. Elephant Garlic I like growing too!! I am kind of doing the same with my peppers and growing like 5 of each strain I wanted to grow this year same with the Tomatoes.. Now if the Deer will just stay out of the Garden..

DesertChris · May 22, 2013

Mr. Hill said:
Oh ok, I have been thinking of getting some of them from the Farmers market too for next year. Elephant Garlic I like growing too!! I am kind of doing the same with my peppers and growing like 5 of each strain I wanted to grow this year same with the Tomatoes.. Now if the Deer will just stay out of the Garden..

Funny thing is that I asked the vendor what variety of garlic it was, he said he didn't know...lol
I assume it is some kind of elephant garlic.
I had a couple refular garlics too, and they all matured at the same time, so I figure the bigger stuff is the way to go.
More garlic to eat and took the same timeframe to grow.

Yeah, deer may be worse than rabbits!!

Devv · May 22, 2013

Chris,

I have wet the area around the fence to see their tracks, don't know if it will work with your wind.

I could send ya a few arrows :rolleyes:

DesertChris · May 22, 2013

Devv said:
Chris,

I have wet the area around the fence to see their tracks, don't know if it will work with your wind.

I could send ya a few arrows

I heard urine works to deter them too.... So I just peed on the fence where I think it might have come in....lol
I usually fluff up the sand where I suspect the entry point is, but it has been too windy for the tracks to stay long enough for me to see.
Might try the water trick. Thanks!

Devv · May 22, 2013

They can be a real pain, I used the concrete because the buggers dug under the new fence. I was like dang what's it gonna take? Last year I tried the electric fence and it's too dry for it to be conductive all year round. But I cheated and wet the area along the fence line. Fried a few of them :party:

22 works too

DesertChris · May 22, 2013

I wish my gal would just let me shoot them (she thinks they are cute...aaaargh)
Yep, 22 with a scope, I could nail em good, and out here nobody would care....shoot, I might even get some applause!

Back when this was all fields of barley etc.... They would do an annual rabbit stampede...hundreds of people scaring the rabbits in one direction into a walled off area where other folks would unleash endless bullets into them....but that was a long time ago....

Mr. Hill · May 22, 2013

Deer are worse they can eat like 6lb of plants a day.

there so use to people that peeing didn't work, one time when I was hunting I had to pee in the woods a few hours latter I came back the same spot I pees to find a few does there sniffing the pee, so I really don't think it works.

Gut piles do would for deer or rabbits, well for a week or so.

Doesn't look like Elephant Garlic there is a type that gets really big other then elephant..

DesertChris · May 22, 2013

Mr. Hill said:
Deer are worse they can eat like 6lb of plants a day. there so use to people that peeing didn't work, one time when I was hunting I had to pee in the woods a few hours latter I came back the same spot I pees to find a few does there sniffing the pee, so I really don't think it works.

Gut piles do would for deer or rabbits, well for a week or so.

Yep, deer can be a total menace....when I lived in Fort Bragg, CA, they got so populous at the place I lived, that I had to drive through them like traffic cones at night..... Until a mountain lion moved into the area and ate most of them...lol

Mr. Hill · May 22, 2013

LOL I really like Fort Bragg, have a nice Vacation there even got out on a boat Rock fishing..

wildseed57 · May 22, 2013

I managed to get most of my peppers and tomatoes planted today, we had some flooding in the area a while back and now a population of rats have moved close by if not right in the back yard, so far I have not seen a rat during the day, but I suspect that there is plenty of movement at night especially when my sister's dog is inside.
I flooded and packed down all the holes, but am waiting for the first sign of activity, then they are in for a very unpleasant surprise.
Yeah having a nail go right through my shoe and foot brought new meaning to the word "hurt" especially when they cut my boot off and basically pulled the nail out with some pliers. The three shots they gave me in the foot and "in" the wound so they could clean it, didn't curb the pain what so ever.
Losing my Yorke to a damn snake was very sad, I had him for a several years and he was always ready to play and have some fun.
I still miss him, but have moved on and have another little dog that is a great little friend, I make sure that he does not go looking down holes or running into wooded areas with out me being right there with him.
I planted quite a few peppers -8 Chocolate Bhuts, 5 Chocolate Naga's, 7 pod Infinities, 8 red brain strains, 1 Primo pepper plant, some F5 Bhut/Naga crosses, T.S. cardi, 6 Barrakapores, 5 Yellow T.S. and some red Pakistani peppers along with a couple of crosses of my own., A lot of hard work getting them in a long with about 30 tomatoes so far with still more to plant.I was hoping for more Primos to sprout but they never did , but 1 plant will give me plenty fresh seeds for next year and I have some wild peppers that I hope will sprout soon.
Your plants look like they are coming right along, won't be to long and you'll be pulling pods. Sounds like you don't get the Nasty storms where your at, that will help out a lot, nothing like losing your garden to a bad storm or worse.

DesertChris · May 23, 2013

Mr. Hill said:
LOL I really like Fort Bragg, have a nice Vacation there even got out on a boat Rock fishing..

I loved living up there! 8 years, and it was wonderful. Previously I had spent 1 year in a little village named Albion about a half hour south of there.

wildseed57 said:
I managed to get most of my peppers and tomatoes planted today, we had some flooding in the area a while back and now a population of rats have moved close by if not right in the back yard, so far I have not seen a rat during the day, but I suspect that there is plenty of movement at night especially when my sister's dog is inside.
I flooded and packed down all the holes, but am waiting for the first sign of activity, then they are in for a very unpleasant surprise.
Yeah having a nail go right through my shoe and foot brought new meaning to the word "hurt" especially when they cut my boot off and basically pulled the nail out with some pliers. The three shots they gave me in the foot and "in" the wound so they could clean it, didn't curb the pain what so ever.
Losing my Yorke to a damn snake was very sad, I had him for a several years and he was always ready to play and have some fun.
I still miss him, but have moved on and have another little dog that is a great little friend, I make sure that he does not go looking down holes or running into wooded areas with out me being right there with him.
I planted quite a few peppers -8 Chocolate Bhuts, 5 Chocolate Naga's, 7 pod Infinities, 8 red brain strains, 1 Primo pepper plant, some F5 Bhut/Naga crosses, T.S. cardi, 6 Barrakapores, 5 Yellow T.S. and some red Pakistani peppers along with a couple of crosses of my own., A lot of hard work getting them in a long with about 30 tomatoes so far with still more to plant.I was hoping for more Primos to sprout but they never did , but 1 plant will give me plenty fresh seeds for next year and I have some wild peppers that I hope will sprout soon.
Your plants look like they are coming right along, won't be to long and you'll be pulling pods. Sounds like you don't get the Nasty storms where your at, that will help out a lot, nothing like losing your garden to a bad storm or worse.

Glad to hear you got your plants in the ground! That list is packing some heat

I'm also anxiously waiting for a few varieties to sprout before I call it quits on germinating seeds....

Yep, luckily it is just wind we deal with, no real crazy storms. But last year we had crazy humidity for weeks in the peak of summer.
110°+ and near 100% humidity....total misery....

Dang rodents....so far I have had to deal with mice, ground squirrels and rabbits.... I would be happy if I never saw any of them again...lol

Pulpiteer · May 23, 2013

This truly is an extreme gardening glog - holy cow... The size of the garlic, hand digging mini-canyons for irrigation, 2,000 peppers, planting 700 in one day... :shocked:

DesertChris · May 23, 2013

Pulpiteer said:
This truly is an extreme gardening glog - holy cow... The size of the garlic, hand digging mini-canyons for irrigation, 2,000 peppers, planting 700 in one day...

Hahaha, Thanks Andy.

However, I should be at 1275 peppers, but a stupid rabbit has been invading the garden at night.
It has clipped about 15 off at the base, and trimmed another 15 or so back severely (those might come back to life since there are nodes left on the stems....maybe)

I sprayed everything with juice from orange hababero puree... the dang rabbit laughed at me, and murdered all 16 eggplant seedlings....
So I spent some time today rabbit proofing that garden #1.
Chicken wire all the way around the fences, including the gate openings.
Noe I have to step over chicken wire to get in there, but hopefully that'll keep him out.

The good news is the red bhut garden (#3) is ready and soaked well... I can plant those really soon.
However, I think I will rabbit proof it first!!!!!

Goat pen garden #2 (for the chinense varieties) is coming along, just neet to move a bunch of soil around, finish soaking, and rabbit proof it a little also.

Devv · May 23, 2013

Dang wabitts! I feel your pain!

Makes me want to fly out there and help you uh remove them, I have several methods

DesertChris · May 23, 2013

Devv said:
Dang wabitts! I feel your pain!

Makes me want to fly out there and help you uh remove them, I have several methods

I wish you would!!

My gal is tired of hearing me whine about it...hahahaha
I think she is just ignoring me now.

I think (hope) my latest round of rabbit proofing might do the trick.... only time will tell.

highalt · May 23, 2013

Sorry to hear about your nocturnal visitations! Like you don't have enough to deal with in the dessert!!!

Can't seem to get anything in the ground, thanks to the constant winds. Soooo annoying!

DesertChris · May 23, 2013

Here are what my Eggplants look like now

Dinner tonight, Fried potatoes and Ham... I added a heaping spoon of arbol pepper flakes to mine

Dinnet last night was Egg, Maple Sausage and Cheese Sandwiches
I added Chocolate Habanero Powder to mine

highalt said:
Sorry to hear about your nocturnal visitations! Like you don't have enough to deal with in the dessert!!!

Can't seem to get anything in the ground, thanks to the constant winds. Soooo annoying!

Thank you for the sympathy!!

I hear you on the wind! It has been freaky windy here too.
I can only last a little while in it, so I am way behind on planting stuff.
I only have Garden #1 planted.
Still getting #2,#3,#4 ready, so can't plant them yet

highalt · May 23, 2013

Mmmm, the ham and potatoes is looking pretty tasty! Haven't started making dinner yet, and was thinking of declaring it a "leftover" night, but I do love some breakfast for dinner!

DesertChris · May 23, 2013

highalt said:
Mmmm, the ham and potatoes is looking pretty tasty! Haven't started making dinner yet, and was thinking of declaring it a "leftover" night, but I do love some breakfast for dinner!

We love breakfast for dinner too!
Might have to do that a couple more nights... I think there are about 5 dozen fresh chicken eggs in the fridge, and they lay more every day...lol