Devv-2017-Having a good time in the dirt

Another season has come and gone. Time to start a new one!
 
Although I did already a few weeks ago . After last years dismal (late) start I jumped in a bit early to insure I could have viable plants come dirt day. I can always cut them back, if I need to. I have to compile a list yet, but I'm growing the full spectrum. Sweets, to supers, based upon what we will actually use. Most of my list is to make LB happy; I'm really glad to see her infuse peppers in more and more dishes. Can't beat that when the wife takes interest
 

 
Not the best pic; but the shelf is being sketchy, and I don't need all the babies bouncing off the floor.
 
Good luck to all this season

 

[Devv]

Excellent grow Scott you have smashed this season ..... Hugel bed is a winner plants loving their new home

 
Thanks John!
 
I'm still waiting for the Chinense to kick in and show their stuff. They're ready!
 
The Hugel Bed has surpassed my first season expectations by far! And they say they get better each year   My next little experiment is going where the onions are planted. I'm going to make a "Terra Preta" like bed. I just don't know yet how much soil to cover the char with.
 

 

[moruga welder]

Hi Rick!
 
We just used a tomato sauce LB came up with. Garden grown tom's, fresh basil, oregano with some olive oil, and a dash garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper.
 
The plants are doing well, the weather is conducive to nice growth and fruit setting.
 

 
Large Orange Thai, ready to pour on the pod production.
 

 
Saw the Lady Bug, then the ants, and a few Aphids. We're expecting rain, so Ma Nature has this one.
 

 
Poblano had a few pods.
 

 
Jimmy Nardello ready for business.
 

 
Gochu should have the first ripe pods.
 

 
I believe this is the B-Goat, forking nicely with the start of some flowers
 

 
One of the GD plants.
 

 
We will have pods soon!
 

 
Mr. Kurt aka-Kurtovska Kapijas loading up!
 

 
Got the rest of the mulch down. The initial pile of mature mulch was about 7'x20'x3' high, it's almost gone now. I have a few more plants that need a final home. I may just pot them up. You can see here I scaled back some, still planted way more than we can use.
 

 
The plants in the Hugel Bed are doing much better than I expected for a the first year

Rocking that garden Scott !   Great to see Pods ,  gonna be a great grow ,     

 

[Superhot Sim]

This Glog is a real education Scott, beds are doing you proud, your going to be well rewarded for your efforts. Seeing your Gochu loading up is awesome, I know it's a annum but one that excites me as I cannot wait to make Ricks Gochuang spicy ketchup.

Plants are looking stellar buddy. Bossing it big time.
How's the mata gang ?



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[Devv]

Rocking that garden Scott !   Great to see Pods ,  gonna be a great grow ,     

 

Thanks Frank!
 
I'm still waiting on the Chinense to kick in and go nuts. I should have started them earlier; I have a bout 6 weeks before it gets hot. Once June hits I might get another two weeks if Ma Nature is in a good mood.

 

[Devv]

This Glog is a real education Scott, beds are doing you proud, your going to be well rewarded for your efforts. Seeing your Gochu loading up is awesome, I know it's a annum but one that excites me as I cannot wait to make Ricks Gochuang spicy ketchup.

Plants are looking stellar buddy. Bossing it big time.
How's the mata gang ?



Sent from my VFD 900 using Tapatalk

 
Thanks Sim!
 
The Maters are doing well:
 

 

 
The taller ones are closing in on 5 feet.
 

 
They're setting fruit at the 3 foot level.
 

 
Here ya go Eric! It's flowering   It's behind the taller ones by 3-4 weeks, but it has enough time to bulk up and set.

 

[Devv]

 
Always glad to see my little soldiers at work
 

 
The Urfa Bieber's came through true.
 

 
The Billy Bikers did not. I saved these seeds from Biker pods a few years ago that were sent to me, I forget who sent them. Evidently, we have a cross going on as these look like Jimmy Nardello's kinda...
 

 
The Purple Jalapeno is doing well, setting pods and more flowers. This is my first year growing these, how do I know when they're ripe? Anyone?
 

 
Large Orange Thai has pods! This is a good all around pepper that won't run the family off
 

 
The back half of the garden. Some Comfrey, if anyone wants some PM me. Garlic and the crazy Peach tree. I cut this thing back, way back and it grows like crazy. This is the downhill side of the garden and the nutrients wash down from the upper portion, no need to fertilize down here. Note the potatoes below, we just stuck them in the dirt.
 

 
F5 NagaBrain in RCW in background.
 

 
Here's the NagaBrain, it's doing "OK".
 

 
First ripe (almost) pod! Mini Red Rocoto.
 

 
Late starts from Gary. P Dreadie and a BOC

 

[Trippa]

Awesome stuff Devv!! Glad your grow is right on schedule ... Lots of pods coming which is all any of us can wish for. I just want one ripe one !!

 

[sobelri]

This Glog is a real education 

 
Agreed.  Thanks for the updates.  

 

[OCD Chilehead]

Excellent looking plants. The garden is looking fantastic. Peach tree is doing well. I wish I had fruit trees. I'm thinking of planting blackberry and raspberry plants.

 

[stickman]

Hi Scott, you're getting stellar results! Nice to see the start of ripening pods, and a little surprised that the first would be a C. Pubiscens, but not complaining. Here's hoping it's the start of a very fruitful season.
 
I'm not surprised the Biker Billy didn't grow true... it was an f1 cross right outta the gate, so unstable in succeeding generations.
 
I'll be experimenting this year with green mulch under my taller plants that don't go into plastic mulch. I got a pound of Dutch White Clover seeds to sow underneath my Tomatoes and Lacinato Kale once they get well-established. This variety of Clover is only supposed to grow 6 inches tall, so it shouldn't shade out the veggies it's surrounding, but it'll grow thick and smother weeds, prevent erosion by wind or water, scavenge nutes and hold them in place, and add nitrogen to the soil to boot! It's a persistent perennial, but can be relatively easily smothered at the end of the season by covering with a thick cardboard or old carpet kill-mulch. Then by spring, the area will be ready to plant again. Your comment about nutrient drift in your beds makes me think you might be interested in this.
 
Cheers!

 

[Blitz527]

I am seriously.jealous awesome work. Looks amazing. Congrats on the first pods. I'm over here peeking every hour for signs of a flower HAHAHAHA come plant out, it won't take long I'm sure.

 

[Essegi]

Awesome! So much poddage and it's only April!

 

[meatfreak]

Wow Scott looks like your garden is on fire, everything looks superb! Great job and those maters are already going crazy. I've made it a sport to get them setting fruit as low as possible, that way I can get more yield cause I can only go to 7 ft plants 

 

[Devv]

Awesome stuff Devv!! Glad your grow is right on schedule ... Lots of pods coming which is all any of us can wish for. I just want one ripe one !!

 
Thanks Tristen!
 
You'll get that ripe one and many more!
 

 

[Devv]

 
Agreed.  Thanks for the updates.  

 
Thanks!
 
And welcome to my insanity
 

 

[Devv]

Excellent looking plants. The garden is looking fantastic. Peach tree is doing well. I wish I had fruit trees. I'm thinking of planting blackberry and raspberry plants.

 

Thanks Chuck!
 
I started with 15 Peach trees, I think I'm down to 12 now. I bought them in pairs of different chill hour ratings to see which do the best here. 3 of them set in mid February, rather early because there was still a chance of a frost. Somewhere I have a chart of what was planted where, and will buy more of the ones that produce well. We picked the first Peach today; once the green bottom turns yellow they're ready. They're usually eaten by the birds and the Racoons. So were going to pull them at first sign of ripening. That loaded down tree was like that last year and we only got to eat 4 Can you believe I removed more than half so they would not stress the tree?

 

[Devv]

Hi Scott, you're getting stellar results! Nice to see the start of ripening pods, and a little surprised that the first would be a C. Pubiscens, but not complaining. Here's hoping it's the start of a very fruitful season.
 
Well the Gochu has one turning, so I'll consider IT the real first one of the season. The C. Pubiscens were planted in mid summer; but that's the only way I get pods from them it seems.
 
I'm not surprised the Biker Billy didn't grow true... it was an f1 cross right outta the gate, so unstable in succeeding generations.
 
Now this I didn't know. But I did grow some from different seeds that were true last year. One thing I need to do is have a better method of organizing my seeds
 
I'll be experimenting this year with green mulch under my taller plants that don't go into plastic mulch. I got a pound of Dutch White Clover seeds to sow underneath my Tomatoes and Lacinato Kale once they get well-established. This variety of Clover is only supposed to grow 6 inches tall, so it shouldn't shade out the veggies it's surrounding, but it'll grow thick and smother weeds, prevent erosion by wind or water, scavenge nutes and hold them in place, and add nitrogen to the soil to boot! It's a persistent perennial, but can be relatively easily smothered at the end of the season by covering with a thick cardboard or old carpet kill-mulch. Then by spring, the area will be ready to plant again. Your comment about nutrient drift in your beds makes me think you might be interested in this.
 
I'll be watching to see how your experiment does. Any fear of them "stealing" from the intended crops?
 
I used cardboard 2 years ago to kill out sedge grass (nut grass). First I watered well in August after the garden was done to bring them out. Then used the pitch fork to expose the nut, which I disposed of. Then I covered the affected portion of the garden with cardboard and left it on until almost spring. I think I chased down 3 after that and haven't seen any more.
 
Also if you noticed I created several barriers to effectively terrace the garden The fence is one, and I have two more using 1x8's. I'm hoping that helps with the nutrient drift   Do you think the Clover will do well here?
 
Cheers!

 

 

[Devv]

I am seriously.jealous awesome work. Looks amazing. Congrats on the first pods. I'm over here peeking every hour for signs of a flower HAHAHAHA come plant out, it won't take long I'm sure.

 
Thanks Alex!
 
That garden is many years of work in the making, and that never stops   But that's half the fun! Soon it will be where I envisioned it to be many, many moons ago
 
You probably don't know this. But my season will end by early July. By then it gets way too hot to keep them watered and they will stop setting by early June; so it's a wait until mid September to see if they want to flower again. If I wait that long, I'll be pulling pods in December and January. But that time of year is to start the next season   I done it a few times, like last year. But not anymore. The last thin I want to do is get burned out on my favorite pastime.
 
So later this season I'll be watching all the Northern growers
 

 

[Devv]

Awesome! So much poddage and it's only April!

 
Thanks Giancarlo!
 
I'm still waiting on the Chinense to kick in; still learning here
 

 

[Devv]

Wow Scott looks like your garden is on fire, everything looks superb! Great job and those maters are already going crazy. I've made it a sport to get them setting fruit as low as possible, that way I can get more yield cause I can only go to 7 ft plants 

 
Thanks Stefan!
 
Maters I can do. The Chinense test me and I'm still trying to figure them out   So how do you train them to go 7'? Mine are about the height they get just before they start to fall down because the support limit has been reached. I need to break out the 3/8 rebar and stake the cages.