DesertChris' High Desert Extreme Gardening Glog

StupidJerk · Jun 27, 2013

DesertChris said:
Heck yeah.....I agree 100%.... I would like to move near the ocean in tropical Florida...LOL (especially after seeing all Ramone's pods constantly!!)

But then you have to live with mosquitos and the worlds worst superhero... FLORIDA MAN!
https://mobile.twitter.com/_FloridaMan

DesertChris · Jun 27, 2013

StupidJerk said:
But then you have to live with mosquitos and the worlds worst superhero... FLORIDA MAN!
https://mobile.twitter.com/_FloridaMan

Bwahahahaha...... Florida Man is.... well.....hmmmmm.... I can't think of the right description.

I think I could deal with the mosquitos if I could have peppers nearly year round

DesertChris · Jun 27, 2013

Pulled up all the turnips today

Here is the area they were in.... It is LOADED with earthworms!! There were worms in every single root mass.
I raked it flat again, and watered the heck out of it.
That soil is so rich and fluffy, I can hardly believe it is in the desert...lol
Must be the worm castings....or something...
I'll be sowing seeds in that area tomorrow, for a couple types of Chard, and a couple types of Kale

Here's the pile of turnips.
We'll refrigerate them until we have time to slice, blanch, and freeze them

Here they are sprayed off and drying before they go into the refrigerator

StupidJerk · Jun 27, 2013

I didn't know you could grow kale in the summer. I don't know why I thought you couldn't.

DesertChris · Jun 27, 2013

StupidJerk said:
I didn't know you could grow kale in the summer. I don't know why I thought you couldn't.

I don't know if I can grow kale either...lol... but I am going to give it a go.

We grew huge chard plants last summer though, so I know that will do well

wildseed57 · Jun 28, 2013

Looking good there Chris, despite the fires and weather problems gardening is always a gamble the main thing is adapt and over come.
I've got kale and swiss chard growing now. My tomatoes and tomatillos are all blooming, I've lots of small green tomatoes and my sweet pepper are podding up even my eggplants are doing well despite the 90F temps and heat index hitting 110 and they are talking about the heat index hitting 120F next week so our hot weather is here. What I don't like is the Humidity we get just enough rain to make things so sticky that you can't stand to be outside.
I would like to live in Florida but they have discovered a new monster mosquito that is 5 times bigger than the regular ones and it bite really hurts, the upside is that so far its not known to spread any diseases though that could change so far they are just found in Orlando, I do like all the Fishing and tropical fruit that they have there and the big avocados, I guess there is just no happy medium no matter where you go.

DesertChris · Jun 28, 2013

wildseed57 said:
Looking good there Chris, despite the fires and weather problems gardening is always a gamble the main thing is adapt and over come.
I've got kale and swiss chard growing now. My tomatoes and tomatillos are all blooming, I've lots of small green tomatoes and my sweet pepper are podding up even my eggplants are doing well despite the 90F temps and heat index hitting 110 and they are talking about the heat index hitting 120F next week so our hot weather is here. What I don't like is the Humidity we get just enough rain to make things so sticky that you can't stand to be outside.
I would like to live in Florida but they have discovered a new monster mosquito that is 5 times bigger than the regular ones and it bite really hurts, the upside is that so far its not known to spread any diseases though that could change so far they are just found in Orlando, I do like all the Fishing and tropical fruit that they have there and the big avocados, I guess there is just no happy medium no matter where you go.

I agree, everywhere has its postives and negatives.....well...except San Diego, that place is perfect...lol
I grew up down there, but housing is way too expensive for me to justify moving back there. (I suppose that is the one negative...hahaha)

Same here!!
Tomatoes are fruiting up, sweet peppers are starting to pod, some of the annuums too...
Eggplants seem to do fine in the heat, we grew a ton of purple ones last year, but this year we are trying out a white type of them

Tomatillos are going crazy with growth, and fruiting up too. (but those are a desert plant)

Almost done with the goat pen garden where the Chinenses will go into the ground.
Worked on it more today, in the 100+ temps...lol
All the trenches are prepped, I just need to level them out a little, and soak everything nice and deep with a ton of water.....
So I get to dig around moving dirt this weekend, and the highs will be 110+/-

After the heat wave passes on monday, I'll put them into the ground (around 400 plants), it's supposed to drop back to 100 and below....
Those poor Chinenses are really needing to get into the soil. But they should be ready for it since they are on the porch in the heat and sun.
At that point I'll have to rename that garden area something like "The Burn Your Face Off Garden"....Bwahahahaha :onfire:

Oh.... The replacement Red Bhuts are starting to pop...15 hooked last night... I might just direct plant the peat pellets into the Red Bhut Garden area....
I haven't decided yet, but that might be the easiest/fastest way to re-populate the couple rows that need plants.

Devv · Jun 28, 2013

Chris,

It's sooo humid in Fla.!

Although it's a little bit hotter here than I would like it to be in the summer, I'll take the arid climate here any day.

I grew up on an island, so I know humidity.

But where Ramon lives is way cool because it rarely freezes, and is truly tropical...trade offs

WalkGood · Jun 28, 2013

Came back to see da video, “pretty darn quick, they can definitely out run an aphid.” I’ll say they’re much quicker than the little ones I had hatch but I found a bigger one yesterday, didn’t post but got a pic. Still not as big as yours but what I found very interesting is that they’re not afraid of Mr. Hand, lolz. The one I messed around with let me pick her up and have my way with her, hahahahaha. I didn’t hurt her and soon released but amazingly she didn’t run off.

Awesome lady bug infusion, wish I had that many … all the ones here are locals but if I see them go away I’ll have to order some cause I’ve yet to find a close place that carries them. Lately more and more have shown up, probably cause the aphids are back, yea horny worms and aphids, that sucks!

Mantis egg thingamajigs now dat’s bad azz, Rambo troops full force … dat should do the trick ^_^ … Dam birds better stay away, why not have some pellet practice or put some poles up with fishing line to keep some birds away. Been doing that on our floating dock to keep the ducks away and it’s been working fine.

DesertChris said:
… I would like to move near the ocean in tropical Florida...LOL (especially after seeing all Ramone's pods constantly!!)

Be for warned, I had mites, aphids and now hornworms of epic proportions, dam aphids again … soon come mites, WTF is next o_O I’m ready to go back to orchids and start buying my pods from you guys to make my powders, sauces and other stuff, lolz.

Nice turnip haul, yea mon \o/
I’m liking the "The Burn Your Face Off Garden," don’t forget the cam
Looking forward to seeing the red Bhut Jolokia garden, can’t imagine all dat heat and I only have one plant going, lolz. Well at least it’s podding \o/ and it should produce more than we need.

Great stuff as always Chris … keep up dat intense desert grow brethren, have a great weekend mon!

DesertChris · Jul 2, 2013

OK, Stupid heat wave peaked at around 113° on sunday...Yikes!!
And I worked in the gardens all through the last few super hot days...
But now I am very very close to being finished with garden building and planting....

3 of the 4 gardens are planted out, and growing nicely...
And garden #4 (goat pen / burn your face garden) is now ready to plant all the chinense varieties into it...FINALLY!!
So the plan is to plant them in ground tomorrow evening, and our boy is going to be my helper...yippee!!

The other last touch is to finish the tomato trellis system we devised for this year... I have it 3/4 of the way finished, and will finish it up around noon tomorrow.

Sooooo, after I get those last bits done, expect to see some information, photos and videos in a big update

Devv said:
Chris,

It's sooo humid in Fla.!
Oooooo
Although it's a little bit hotter here than I would like it to be in the summer, I'll take the arid climate here any day.

I grew up on an island, so I know humidity.

But where Ramon lives is way cool because it rarely freezes, and is truly tropical...trade offs

I would sure enjoy the humidity, that is one of the main reasons we want to move from here....the dry dry air makes our skin super dry....
Living with some humidity is so much better for the skin!!

WalkGood said:
Came back to see da video, “pretty darn quick, they can definitely out run an aphid.” I’ll say they’re much quicker than the little ones I had hatch but I found a bigger one yesterday, didn’t post but got a pic. Still not as big as yours but what I found very interesting is that they’re not afraid of Mr. Hand, lolz. The one I messed around with let me pick her up and have my way with her, hahahahaha. I didn’t hurt her and soon released but amazingly she didn’t run off.

Awesome lady bug infusion, wish I had that many … all the ones here are locals but if I see them go away I’ll have to order some cause I’ve yet to find a close place that carries them. Lately more and more have shown up, probably cause the aphids are back, yea horny worms and aphids, that sucks!

Mantis egg thingamajigs now dat’s bad azz, Rambo troops full force … dat should do the trick ^_^ … Dam birds better stay away, why not have some pellet practice or put some poles up with fishing line to keep some birds away. Been doing that on our floating dock to keep the ducks away and it’s been working fine.

Be for warned, I had mites, aphids and now hornworms of epic proportions, dam aphids again … soon come mites, WTF is next o_O I’m ready to go back to orchids and start buying my pods from you guys to make my powders, sauces and other stuff, lolz.

Nice turnip haul, yea mon \o/

I’m liking the "The Burn Your Face Off Garden," don’t forget the cam

Looking forward to seeing the red Bhut Jolokia garden, can’t imagine all dat heat and I only have one plant going, lolz. Well at least it’s podding \o/ and it should produce more than we need.

Great stuff as always Chris … keep up dat intense desert grow brethren, have a great weekend mon!

Thanks Ramon!!

It's weird, I had never even seen an aphid here, until this year....and then BLAM!... millions of the buggers... I had never seen so many!
So I leveled the aphid infested turnip patch, carefully hauled all the turnip greens to the front yard in the trash cans, and said goodbye to most of them that way... them mixed and sprayed 4 gallons of neem oil all over that area until it was completely soaked

Then released the 3000 ladybugs and put those 2 mantis egg cases out there.... hopefully it is all in control now....lol

The flies this year are worse than ever before too... billions of them by the back door....i got some ultra toxic fly scatterbait, and have been wiping them out like never before!!

It has been the aphid and fly apocalypse....lol

Next I am getting prepared for the hornworm invasion....it is inevitable....

I think this is the "year of the insect plagues".....

Then throw in the mice, squirrells, rabbits, goats, and even the neighbor's sheep....geez....the animal menaces have been adding up this year, but I will prevail!! hahahaa

Funny thing is the mites have been minimal this year.... last year they were on a rampage....

Nightshade · Jul 2, 2013

Yup heat has been tough!!!
I have been going crazy with the flies too!!

WalkGood · Jul 2, 2013

Chris, strange thing that I had an aphid infestation the day after you mentioned. Luckily it was contained to two plants and I practically dipped them in neem, lol. It's great that it kills them fast, been checking every day and AFAIK I'm clear but have a suspicion that it was the ant farmers cause I killed a bunch of them too. Looking forward to your big update, don't over do it in dat heat ...

DesertChris · Jul 3, 2013

Plant out day! plant out day!! plant out day!!! Chinense plants planting in the burn your face garden day!!!!

Update to come later....

DesertChris · Jul 4, 2013

Videos uploaded to youtube, photos uploaded to photobucket, and after fireworks I will put it all on here

DocNrock · Jul 5, 2013

Awesome, man! Huge turnip haul, ladybugs, and now the "burn your face garden" with the chinenses in? It's definitely Independence Day in the High Desert! Happy 4th!

DesertChris · Jul 5, 2013

DocNrock said:
Awesome, man! Huge turnip haul, ladybugs, and now the "burn your face garden" with the chinenses in? It's definitely Independence Day in the High Desert! Happy 4th!

Thanks Doc!!
We had a great time watching fireworks from the back porch....you can see all the fireworks shows in Lancaster and Palmdale. And then the one at the fairgrounds is the closest one at just a few miles away

I am super happy that all 4 gardens are now done and planted!!!! :dance:

OK......Here is my long overdue update...lol
Videos rather than a bunch of photos. Although there are a few photos.

Garden #1, the main garden where the Annuums and Tomatoes live.

Garden #1 part 2

OK, gonna need a bump.....

First Purple Jalapeno....it's a tiny little guy...lol

Jigsaw about to get new shoes

Roots a plenty in that little cup!

Dinner.... Salad with Chicken, Cheddar, Black Beans, Corn, BBQ Ranch Dressing and of course Arbol Pepper flakes

The very few pepper plants left on the porch, all potted up with new soil and shoes.... MoA, Ramone's JA Hab, Puckerbutt Reaper, Jigsaw, Purple Flash, Serrano braid and a few new seedlings....

Dangit, it won't let me embed more than 2 videos in a post....lol
here are links to the other 4 until I get a bump and can embed them

Garden #2 The Burn your face Garden finally planted out YESTERDAY!!!!! WOOHOO!!!

Garden #3 The Red Bhut Garden
This video stroll down Bhut Alley is dedicated to Ramone since he kept asking!

Garden #4 the sprawling plants garden

The culinary herb garden at the back of the house

Here are some tomato plants at wally world.... I had to laugh at the names of the varieties....I suppose with names like that they should do well in the desert!

Yatzy!

DocNrock · Jul 5, 2013

Now the hard work is done, Chris! Awesome you were able to watch the fireworks from your back yard. I could hear the various shows all around us, but topography prevented any line of sight. Oh well.

Gardens look awesome. Those tomato hybrids look like the ticket for your locale!

WalkGood · Jul 5, 2013

Chris great job on all the video's, love the way the tomato A-frames turned out and great garden layout
Congrats on da tiny purple Jal \o/
Jigsaw looks very lush, bet you can’t wait to see dat bad ~~boy~~ girl lush up. She will be an interesting one to feature and would make a great review subject for you
Chicken Salad’s a staple at our house, yours looks awesome!
Seeing your porch look empty is a great thing for you, now you can kick up your heels and enjoy a tall one
Awesome job on the “burn your face” and the “Red Bhut” garden, the plants in the Bhut seem to be getting bigger … both dem gardens will look awesome with a little more bushing up ^_^ Bet you can’t wait
Also great job on the sprawling one and I love the look of the herb garden!
All in all an impressive array of updates all rolled into one, great job!

Have an awesome day mon!

highalt · Jul 5, 2013

Great job on the goat pen garden! That's a huge area, and I know it took a lot of work to get it ready. It looks like garden #1 is really starting to take off. Your tomato trellis is not too far off from the Florida weave technique I'm using. Really enjoyed the tour!!! Thanks for the update!

BTW, I tried to LIKE it, but THP isn't letting me. Don't know why though, since it's my first LIKE of the day. :crazy:

DesertChris · Jul 5, 2013

OK, here are 2 of those videos embedded for folks who don't like to click links

(will embed the other 2 later)

Garden #2 The Burn your face Garden finally planted out YESTERDAY!!!!! WOOHOO!!!

Garden #3 The Red Bhut Garden
This video stroll down Bhut Alley is dedicated to Ramone since he kept asking!

DocNrock said:
Now the hard work is done, Chris! Awesome you were able to watch the fireworks from your back yard. I could hear the various shows all around us, but topography prevented any line of sight. Oh well.

Gardens look awesome. Those tomato hybrids look like the ticket for your locale!

Thanks Doc, it has been a ton of hard work putting in 3 more gardens this year... all the digging has wiped out my arms...lol

I thought those tomatoes were funny. All the varieties I planted were heirloom started from seed, and chosen for dealing with the heat.
I find that cherry and plum sizes do the best, but I found a few ather larger ones that I thought would do well.

And those tomato plants are seriously loaded with green fruits. When they start to ripen it'll be pasta sauce and fresh salsa making time

WalkGood said:
Chris great job on all the video's, love the way the tomato A-frames turned out and great garden layout

Congrats on da tiny purple Jal \o/

Jigsaw looks very lush, bet you can’t wait to see dat bad ~~boy~~ girl lush up. She will be an interesting one to feature and would make a great review subject for you

Chicken Salad’s a staple at our house, yours looks awesome!

Seeing your porch look empty is a great thing for you, now you can kick up your heels and enjoy a tall one

Awesome job on the “burn your face” and the “Red Bhut” garden, the plants in the Bhut seem to be getting bigger … both dem gardens will look awesome with a little more bushing up ^_^ Bet you can’t wait

Also great job on the sprawling one and I love the look of the herb garden!

All in all an impressive array of updates all rolled into one, great job!

Have an awesome day mon!

Thanks Ramone!
Things are coming along finally.....I always know that the fall is where my main harvest time will happen.
I just wish I had gotten the goat pen garden done sooner...lol
I think now that they are all in the ground, the growth should really take off

It looks a bit bare now, but in a couple months it is going to look like a bunch of green jungles out there.

That Jigsaw plant is growing like crazy, and I just gave it some better soil and an actual pot instead of a small cup...hahaha.... it should really take off now!

I kept one of the JA Habs on the patio, it forked at the cotyledons, and should be a monster of a plant!!

My gal is pretty happy to have her dining room and the porch back...hahahaha.... I had taken over every square inch of space with pepper plants!

highalt said:
Great job on the goat pen garden! That's a huge area, and I know it took a lot of work to get it ready. It looks like garden #1 is really starting to take off. Your tomato trellis is not too far off from the Florida weave technique I'm using. Really enjoyed the tour!!! Thanks for the update!

BTW, I tried to LIKE it, but THP isn't letting me. Don't know why though, since it's my first LIKE of the day.

Thanks Bonnie!
It was a ton of work. I think I will be sore for weeks...lol
I am super happy it is done, and next year it will be ready for planting in May, instead of July!!
So I figure all this work will pay off for the next couple years.

I am liking the trellises, last year we let the tomatoes sprawl on the ground, and it made harvesting them a pain. This year I have way more plants, and figure if they grow up rather than out, I can get to them easier

Lets hope the wind doesn't bite me in the rear end on that plan...lol