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George's 2015 - Yokohama Down In Flames

New season starting!

New grow box. Bigger than the last.
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Tough decisions to make.
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Just Chinense starting today. Plenty of baccatum and a few annum coming soon.
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My beautiful bug slayer was nearby. Just for luck.
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So, seeds started today:
Yellow Devils tongue
Bhut orange Copenhagen
Carolina reaper
Reaper x bubblegum
Peach congo
Mako akokosrade
Chocolate bhut
red jays Ghost Scorpion.

Plenty more to follow, this Is just Chinense
 
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Pretty cool G! I've heard of Hedgehogs but never seen one... Here in the States we have Porcupines instead. They're much bigger and about as dumb as dirt. Their only natural enemy is a big Weasel called a Fisher. Porcupines seem to crave salt... when I was backpacking on the Appalachian Trail in the '70s we had to hang our packs and hiking boots out of their reach because they'd chew on them for the salt from our sweat. They also chew tool handles and even automobile steering wheels if you leave the windows open.
 
thats insane that they are so attracted to salt haha!

Actually the two species are not related. although it would seem so. Hedgehogs are Erinaceinae, porcupines are actualy rodents and more live a beaver than a hedgehog.

We get wild hedgehogs in the UK but they ave become rarer in the last ten years and the european hedgehog is now considered endangered. change of environment/disease etc. They have always been easy road kill thanks to their poor eyesight but the sudden decline suggests its not just traffic doing it.

we are suggested to turn over bonfire piles before lighting it cause hedgehogs love to burrow in and take a nap. Their only predator are Badgers, the only wild animal in the UK im genuinely scared of.

my Hedgehog is an african pygmy. shes a hybrid so to speak.
i have to keep her burrow heated, so theres an STC controller making sure it stays at 24-28 c. 
if the temperature gets too low for a few days she will hibernate. 

she is of African origin so not expected to hibernate so they cant build fat reserves like European relatives would in preparation to hibernate.
So, if she gets cold enough to hibernate, its curtains. basically because although her body says 'sleep!' she hasnt got the ability to build up a food store.

luckily her burrow is warm. she comes out a few times a day and eats and runs and then back to lovely warm bed.

we have a heated carpet in our livig room which she loves to stumble about on and nap on. feed her a few meal worms and shes happy!

envy her life.

sorry about the hedgehog lesson.
In Japanese they are called 'harinesumi' which means 'needle mouse'.

I love my needle mouse too much.
 
Nice job G! I think you'll like the Chimayos, they're always one of the first chiles to set pods and ripen in my garden. Not surprising since they're grown in the mountains north of Albuquerque, New Mexico where it's a short season. They make great chili powder! :drooling:
 
Very cool that you started a Hops vine... have you grown them before? I have a Hop hill at my Mom's place that's very well established. It's a Hallertauer... I planted it next to the south-facing side of her barn about 15-20 years ago if I remember correctly. Nice to see you're on the Tomatoes as well. I won't be starting mine for another 2-3 weeks.
 
not tried growing hops before, but my parents have. they take a few years to get established. i can keep potting it up and hope to have some ground/my own brewery premises to put them in one day.
Hallertau are kickass hops. very soft and my favourite all the time i was home brewing before i went pro.

Daytime temps are set to hit 15c next week. as a result the Sugi 'Japanese cedar' are flowering and making my life barely worth living. pollen sucks!
Planning to have tomatoes start indoors and get them in a polytent middle of march. will see how the temps pan out. definitely warmer in the day, night times have a bit of a way to go.

Store bought tomatoes are pretty crap here, and you pay a dollar for one decent sized tomato. i grew some last year, but they were momotaro and a yellow cherry. both nice, but if i can grow Erica.. they taste great!
 
Here's how things are looking. Need to separate and cull some, some I will give to friends.
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Bonchi project underway. Korean gochu on the left, orange 7 pot on the right (it's starting to wake up and put out foliage.
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Assumed that my jays red ghost Scorpion I planted were duds. But found this today. Haha. Longest Germination I've had! It was sowed a month ago!
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Tomatoes are coming up.
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Today I started tomatillo and Pineapple Ground Cherry.
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Looking good G! Nice to see the first set of true leaves on your round 1 sowing and Tomatoes popped! I love that Hallertau hop-hill but don't brew any more. Can you get rhizomes  for them where you are?
 
wouldn't be impossible to get Hallertau, it would take some  research work and money. they are actually a German hop in origin, but grow well in the northwest USA too.
It happened that my mate (he does gardening pretty damn well!) is growing hops. he needed to move/repot his centennial hop and gave me a cutting. the Rhizome already had buds growing on it, so i should see sprouts some time soon.

Centennial is not my favourite hop, but it is a hop i trust and like. Some hops are 'dangerous' or easy to overdo. centennial has a great citrus/pine character yet soft enough to fit in well with any pale ale or IPA and its my number one favourite dry hop.

Hops actually don't grow particularly well in Japan (or at least kanto area. they grow better in cooler parts) because of the heat and humidity. I am growing them for fun/decoration.
 
Late to the party.  I was worried what I was going to find when I got caught up, based on the title.  Glad to see things haven't literally gone down in flames.
 
Tipsy looks kind of like a chestnut bur with legs.
 
Cool about the hops.  I think I have a Centennial here.  Will have to wait to see if it sprouts out this year.  Mt. Hood has done the best for me here, so far, and is the only one I have that I'm pretty confident will return year to year.
 
Starting to get crowded as I separate
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Roots grew much quicker with leaf mulch this year. Hope I didn't damage roots in separation.
I need to give away or cull soon anyway, but I want to pick healthy candidates.
 
Good activity on the Orange 7 pot bonchi
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Looks like the frosts are over, too.
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Planning to harden off indoors next to the window, soon. Then I can get them outside in the polytent in a few weeks time.
 
You have all of my wife's sympathies for your pollen allergies... she has 'em too. :rolleyes: Very cool that your seedlings roots are loving the shredded leaf compost. When the snow finally melts here I'll be raking up soggy leaves to dry and shred before spading them into the garden along with composted horse manure and my amendments. I did that last year and had an excellent crop. Cheers!
 
Very cool G! I used Azomite in my garden last year and I think it made a positive difference... nice sturdy plants with clean-looking foliage and blemish-free fruits. Have you grown Tomatillos before? I love my Chile Verde and Tomatillo salsa, so I always put a few plants in along with my other Tomatoes. Cheers!
 
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