Huntsman's season 2011-2012

Last year I made the cardinal error of starting to plant some six or ten weeks late, and I paid for it, by playing catch-up all year! At the end of it all, my harvest was 60% down on the previous year, though on the plus side, I did sell my product far more successfully, though that's really due to an improved marketing strategy and has little to do with skills in my hobby. Shame on me...!

This year, I started one day earlier than my planned date, just to set the right tone, and after nuking the grow mix, pouring myself an Espresso and selecting the seeds, I got down to work...

A long way to go, I know, but at least this train is running on schedule...!

 

[kiddc]

whoaaaa, cant wait to see the progress of this log!

 

[patrick]

Well look who showed up! It's great to see you Huntsman! Looking forward to watching your log. Best of luck to you with this season.

 

[Josh]

Nice to see you back. Good luck with your grow this season.

 

[Nova]

Toot toot! Get that coal a shovlin'!
Great to hear from you again mate, best wishes with the grow.

 

[wolfwood2186]

Good luck with the plants. Hopefully about 100 days from now you will be rolling in the peppers.

 

[MGOLD86]

This is gonna be a great way to spend my off season! Looking forward to the peppers and brew. Good luck!

 

[huntsman]

Hey there, lads!

Greetings to 'net mates new and (specially) old...!

Had my nose to the grindstone this past Winter (Summer for the NH) and instead of making a fortune, all I have to show for it is a bandaged nose...

This will be my last season as a 'Fly By The Seat Of Your Pants' grower, and my intentions are to push the envelope as far as I can, hopefully correct the mistakes produced and then next season I can settle into a responsible growing position, concentrating on tomatoes and peppers.

That said, and I can hear you yelling "Expect the unexpected!", here's where we are after 30 days....

 

[patrick]

Looks like you're off to a great start Paul. Best of luck to you buddy.

You still playing with spiders?

 

[huntsman]

Hey Pat!

Oh yes - never give them up, though it's increasingly difficult to find new varieties...

Probably a good thing with the state of my finances!

Trust your collection is alive and well?

 

[huntsman]

After six weeks (1 Sept), I took a few snaps of the seedlings...

and here are the mangy lads that made it through winter: (Strangely, despite hessian, shade cloth and frost guard, only one of my 'Terra Firma' plants made it to Spring, an Aji Amarillo)

They're not much to look at, that's for sure, but at least they survived!

Now, I need to turn my attention to the veg patch....these sticks indicate where peppers were last season, but I need to start from scratch, and this time, I will be more organised.

 

[huntsman]

Yeah, as you can see, this patch is in a sorry state....

Here's some changes a month later:

We dropped three unwanted trees from just behind me here, (The shadow of one is in the top pic) as they were blocking our valuable sunlight, and have three citrus trees about to join that young white-peach tree in the corner...



The youngsters are doing well, too...

 

[Spuds]

Hey man, grow looking real nice there so far.

Where exactly are you?

 

[huntsman]

Hi Spuds!

I'm in Edenvale - the frost capital of the country.


Measuring out the beds...

No, it's not slave labour...

Companion planting for a decent harvest

 

[huntsman]

Some of these plants survived the winter, (see earlier pic) while others were planted in July...

We're putting in an irrigation system for the first time this weekend. Trenches need to be filled but we're almost done!

I'm going to order superhots from abroad, and hopefully those can hit the soil in a fortnight, but so far, so good...

 

[chilliover]

nice thread Huntsman

 

[huntsman]

Thanks chilliover -

It has a very select readership, but wtf...

We're starting to get ripening pods now...

This Malagueta is a great way to start any meal...

The plants in the veg patch are also starting to grow into their rightful places.....next series of pics should have good coverage...

 

[Pr0digal_son]

South Africa breeds the sweetest swings in golf,and obviously some fine gardens too.

 

[huntsman]

Well, that's very kind, but haven't you forgotten about a fellow from Latrobe...??

 

[Pr0digal_son]

Been following Charl Schwartzel for the past 3 years and telling everyone about him. Everyone at worked was laughing at me. The kid makes Adam Scotts swing look sloppy. Glad to see his putting has improved. Ok back to gardening. Sorry for the hijack.