Pulpiteer 2016 Grow Log - better late than never.

Sawyer · May 31, 2016

Hey Andy, looks like you've got things rolling along. I love the tires and chickens. I'd like to get some chickens, too, but have a lot of prep work to do first. What did you use to cut the rims on the tires? I have access to a bunch of old tires and am thinking of building a low retaining wall with some. I want to drill or cut the bottom rim to prevent them from holding water, but am not sure how best to do it.

Pulpiteer · Jun 7, 2016

OCD Chilehead said:
Very nice pile of mulch. That's gold in my garden. Will make great compost. Plants are really going to kick off soon. Comfrey looks good. Glad to see some bee's. I've seen bees for the first time in years in my yard. I've been reading the benefits of planting comfrey. From medicinal uses to breaking up clay and nutrients for the soil.

Thank you. Yeah, I love using it. A lot of it is pine, so I think I'll let that sit for a year and compost in place.

I really like the comfrey, I'll have more below, but besides food for bees, it's great to make a fertilizer out of it.

Sawyer said:
Hey Andy, looks like you've got things rolling along. I love the tires and chickens. I'd like to get some chickens, too, but have a lot of prep work to do first. What did you use to cut the rims on the tires? I have access to a bunch of old tires and am thinking of building a low retaining wall with some. I want to drill or cut the bottom rim to prevent them from holding water, but am not sure how best to do it.

Thanks, things are coming nicely now. I'm hoping for a good year. I was blessed to have a parishioner help with the tires. He used a sawzall on them, with the garden hose running a trickle of water over the blade and tire where he was cutting so it didn't over heat there. He went through it surprisingly fast, and it is a great help. He then used a drill to put just a few drainage holes in the bottom. It didn't take many. I hope that helps!

So, here's a shot of the pepper area with the raised beds. They are settling in now and things are actually looking pretty good. I'm pleased. Hopefully they will root in and take off soon. We've had good warm weather now for a bit, so I'm optimistic. The barrel has comfrey and water and is making a comfrey tea for fertilizer. I’ll be able to use that in about three weeks. I'll use it both as a foliar fertilizer and I'll pour it into the root zones.

Here is a look down a row that’s in the long bed with wood sides:

The plants are doing well. They are adjusting. Some of the bigger leaves they develop inside are being beaten up and shed, but smaller ones are taking their place. Usually when this happens the new growth comes in more dense than before.

Here is a jalapeno

And this one is a Pineapple Rocoto from one of the over wintered plants. It’s just about time to pick it.

I think this one is a Bahamian Goat:

Here are two of the Scotch Bonnet Black River plants from the seed that some folks brought back from a missionary trip – I’m excited to see how they will turn out.

Here is the little chicken tractor. We’ve got 4 Isa Browns in here. There is a laying box about halfway back and we get 3 to 4 eggs a day. It has worked great.

Here is my youngest carrying one of the birds, which he caught himself. These birds have been great with the kids. His hair is in ponytails because his older two sister had them and he thought it would be funny.

Finally, a shot of the front yard from a different angle. Things are filling in nicely. We've had a few berries and many flowers and a bit of growth this year. In a few years it'll be awesome.

That's what I've got - thanks for stopping by!

OCD Chilehead · Jun 7, 2016

Nice to know about the tea. Beds are looking great. I love the berries. I'm going to get some cuttings from a friend of mine this week. Should have planted berries years ago. Interested in seeing how the SB Black River turns out as well. That's a big chicken. Looks like a beautiful day. Thanks for sharing.

stickman · Jun 8, 2016

Your plantation is looking great Andy... ripe pods is fantastic!

My observation with the leaves exactly... I think they grow bigger leaves to make up for the relatively weak artificial light when we have them indoors, and shed them when they get set outside under natural sunlight and in the wind. Keep on truckin'!

romy6 · Jun 9, 2016

Looking great Andy amazing how fast our kids grow . Glad your cherishing every minute with them

Devv · Jun 9, 2016

Nice update Andy!

The garden is thriving!

Glad to see the kids out there with you, it's setting a great foundation that they will carry on as they get older. I'm really glad to see my oldest who has 4 kids of his own carrying on the gardening tradition. I'm a "skip generation" kid, as my parents never grew, but my Mom's side lived off what they produced. They call me a "throwback" LOL

Here's to gardening! Ones brain loves it

Hybrid Mode 01 · Jun 11, 2016

Great looking plants! They should be off to the races any day now with the heat here in the midwest. Looks like your fruit trees are liking their new home, too.

Trident chilli · Jun 12, 2016

Andy those Black River bonnets are really coming along nicely now they are in the dirt ... will be watching their development

KiNGDeNNiZ · Jun 23, 2016

Pastor andy...things look great. How's the galapagoense....
I wish I had time to construct a germ station like yours. And the plot configuration with the tires..nice..

PaulG · Jun 24, 2016

Your grows are always awesome, Andy, but this
year you are raising the bar! The grow room upgrades
are great - just keeps getting better and better in there.

Also glad to hear that the pepper draft was a success.
200 plants? That's awesome. I hope you get to stay with
your congregation for a long time to keep developing
your new plantation!

Pulpiteer · Jun 30, 2016

OCD Chilehead said:
Nice to know about the tea. Beds are looking great. I love the berries. I'm going to get some cuttings from a friend of mine this week. Should have planted berries years ago. Interested in seeing how the SB Black River turns out as well. That's a big chicken. Looks like a beautiful day. Thanks for sharing.

I actually just used the comfrey tea tonight for the first time. I smells terrible and the stench stays on my hands for a long time. That's the downside. It is a good fertilizer though.

stickman said:
Your plantation is looking great Andy... ripe pods is fantastic!

My observation with the leaves exactly... I think they grow bigger leaves to make up for the relatively weak artificial light when we have them indoors, and shed them when they get set outside under natural sunlight and in the wind. Keep on truckin'!

Thanks Rick!

romy6 said:
Looking great Andy amazing how fast our kids grow . Glad your cherishing every minute with them

Thanks Jamie - the seed you sent has worked out great. Excited to see how the pods turn out!

Devv said:
Nice update Andy!

The garden is thriving!

Glad to see the kids out there with you, it's setting a great foundation that they will carry on as they get older. I'm really glad to see my oldest who has 4 kids of his own carrying on the gardening tradition. I'm a "skip generation" kid, as my parents never grew, but my Mom's side lived off what they produced. They call me a "throwback" LOL

Here's to gardening! Ones brain loves it

Thank you! I'm hoping the gardening bug catches on with a few of them. If nothing else they are getting exposed to some good stuff.

Hybrid Mode 01 said:
Great looking plants! They should be off to the races any day now with the heat here in the midwest. Looks like your fruit trees are liking their new home, too.

Thank you. Yeah, the heat has really been intense and the peppers have loved it.

Trident chilli said:
Andy those Black River bonnets are really coming along nicely now they are in the dirt ... will be watching their development

They are. I'm really curious how they will turn out. I've got to check those plants in particular to see if they are forming any pods...

KiNGDeNNiZ said:
Pastor andy...things look great. How's the galapagoense....
I wish I had time to construct a germ station like yours. And the plot configuration with the tires..nice..

Howdy Dennis, the galap is going slow for some reason. It's in a pot on the other side of the house - my best isolation spot so I can save seed. I hope I can get a pod from it.

PaulG said:
Your grows are always awesome, Andy, but this
year you are raising the bar! The grow room upgrades
are great - just keeps getting better and better in there.

Also glad to hear that the pepper draft was a success.
200 plants? That's awesome. I hope you get to stay with
your congregation for a long time to keep developing
your new plantation!

I hope so too Paul - thanks for checking in!

It’s been hard to keep up with the updates. Things are actually moving along rather well. The raised beds are working great, but so is the early hot weather. The peppers are happy. The only real challenge has been water. I think I need to move to an irrigation system next year. That will cut down on work and on water.

Anyway, here’s a shot of the garden tonight. Things are coming along very nicely.

The tires are filling in. I’ve got tons of peppers on the plants and they are really doing well.

The rectangle raised bed is doing great as well. There are a lot of baccatuums in there.

Including these bishop’s crowns

Some non-peppers
Pink Champagne Currants – wonderful taste and beautiful berries

We had a raccoon kill two of the four of our chickens, so I got some baby chicks to replace them. Here is one of them with my younger daughter.

The raccoon, unfortunately, caught a bad case of something when it drank from some coke out by where it found the chickens. I don't think he made it. I really don't like those things.

Anyway, things are really going well. The heat is helping, but so are the raised beds. I think it'll be a great year come harvest time if everything continues.

Thanks for stopping by!

[

PaulG · Jun 30, 2016

Glad to see those raised beds coming along so well, Andy.

stickman · Jun 30, 2016

Great results with your raised beds Andy! I forget... what Baccatum varieties have you got planted? I'll be interested to hear your opinion of how they taste when they ripen up. They grow great here, but the ones I've grown before seem to have a somewhat soapy taste I'd rather avoid.

OCD Chilehead · Jul 1, 2016

Looking good, Andy. Sorry to hear about the chicks. I wish I had a bigger spread, so j could have some chickens. They really beat down the insects. Plus, I love fresh eggs.

Beds are looking great. They'll start branching out soon.

Pulpiteer · Jul 22, 2016

PaulG said:
Glad to see those raised beds coming along so well, Andy.

Thanks Paul! They are rockin' now.

stickman said:
Great results with your raised beds Andy! I forget... what Baccatum varieties have you got planted? I'll be interested to hear your opinion of how they taste when they ripen up. They grow great here, but the ones I've grown before seem to have a somewhat soapy taste I'd rather avoid.

Thanks Rick - I have Aji Cito, Aji Habanero, Aji Melocoton, Aji Peruvian, Bishops Crown, Brazialian Starfish, Orange Starfish, and Aji Fantasy. I had some Aji Citos just last week, mixed with pasta. I love them. I haven't had the soapy taste in the ones I've grown. I've enjoyed the taste of all the varieties I've had - and some of the fatter ones make for great poppers. If you do that and taste soap, just add more bacon

OCD Chilehead said:
Looking good, Andy. Sorry to hear about the chicks. I wish I had a bigger spread, so j could have some chickens. They really beat down the insects. Plus, I love fresh eggs.

Beds are looking great. They'll start branching out soon.

Thanks - part of the reason I've not been on here much is I've been so busy with chicken stuff. We got more birds and now have to house them. So I recently finished a coop and a chicken run. I am enjoying having the chickens much more than I thought I would. They are fun to have and give you eggs.

Alright - things really are going well so far this year. The raised beds plus the crazy heat we've had, have worked together so for the first time in this new place I have some growth I'm proud of! Here's a shot of the garden as a whole:

A closer shot of a raised bed. The plants are really doing well

I had an extra couple pallets, so I cut them in half, screwed them together, and filled it up for a new raised bed. These are pepper plants that were left over that didn’t get drafted that I couldn’t throw out. They look scrawny now, but much of that filler is rabbit manure, so I expect them to grow.

If I remember correctly, these are Trinidad Scorpion Moruga Blend Oranges. They look like they’ll be mean ones…

Here’s a new one for me that I’m excited about – an Aji Fantasy. There are several on this plant.

I believe these are FDA red Scotch Bonnets. Great shape to them.

And I think these are my 7 Pot yellows

I harvested some biker billy jalapenos and hot cherry peppers, stuffed them with goat cheese and wrapped them with real bacon from a place down the road - it's cajun spiced bacon. They were wonderful.

Here is a shot of the new chicken coop and run. I got a lot of help on this, since I haven't built anything before. It cost more than I initially hoped, but it turned out to be a better building than I was planning on, so hopefully this works for all my chickens. Now I've just got to wait until the chicks are big enough to mix with the adults and hope they don't all kill each other... Anyone with experience mixing chickens?

Finally, a giant pumpkin. My squash are on a mini-hugel bed. I buried some wood, then covered the pile with the garden plastic weed mulch/barrier stuff. The squash, cucumbers and pumpkin have gone crazy.

alright, I'm going to try to catch up with some other glogs.

Thanks for stopping by!

OCD Chilehead · Jul 23, 2016

Looks fantastic Andy. Thanks for the update. I love the garden. The tractor tires are awesome looking.

Bonnets are looking great. Nice foody pic. Yum!

I like the chicken pen. I had chickens once. They were great for insect control. The only problem j had was the rooster. The rooster would crow anytime you turned on the bathroom light, light from a neighbors car, anything that lit up. LoL! It was crazy and comical. Neighbors didn't like it, and we had to part ways.

Trident chilli · Jul 23, 2016

Great update Andy pleased your garden has really taken off .... Bonnets have a good shape and I am looking forward to a black river update. Plus one with Chuck on your chicken pen hopefully its construction will keep the racoons at bay

Pulpiteer · Jul 23, 2016

OCD Chilehead said:
Looks fantastic Andy. Thanks for the update. I love the garden. The tractor tires are awesome looking.

Bonnets are looking great. Nice foody pic. Yum!

I like the chicken pen. I had chickens once. They were great for insect control. The only problem j had was the rooster. The rooster would crow anytime you turned on the bathroom light, light from a neighbors car, anything that lit up. LoL! It was crazy and comical. Neighbors didn't like it, and we had to part ways.

Thanks! Yeah, those tractor tires are really working out. I think they will be a good long term solution for me.

I think with the chickens I'll be able to use them more for insects in the fall and spring - once stuff is either put away for the winter or not in yet. If we get a rooster out of those chicks, he's going in the freezer. Hopefully they'll just be hens.

Trident chilli said:
Great update Andy pleased your garden has really taken off .... Bonnets have a good shape and I am looking forward to a black river update. Plus one with Chuck on your chicken pen hopefully its construction will keep the racoons at bay

Thanks! My plants are coming nicely this year, which is a nice change. I didn't get a shot of the black river SB tonight, I need to do that for next time...

Alright, some pictures from tonight

Here is a ground level shot looking down a row of Baccatums

7 Pot Primo (Pepperlover)

These are the (not) 7 Pot Peach from Sawyer that are actually brown, fruity, and not too hot.

Here is a 7 Pot Bubblegum Brown from Romy6

Some funky shaped Brazilian Starfish from pepperlover

I think this is the one I had pictured yesterday - it isn't a yellow 7, it's actually a NeBru7 from Trident Chili. Pretty looking peppers!

Here is a Uruguay Seasoning (pepperlover)- very cool shape and look to these. I was excited about these last year and couldn't get any. That won't be a problem this year.

I'm growing some amaranth for the chickens to eat - just trying it out. This is a variety called Hopi Red from Baker Creek Heirloom seed.

Finally, I'm also growing ground cherries again this year. Here is a little bed with some of those and some Moonglow tomatoes.

Thanks for stopping by!

stickman · Jul 24, 2016

Your raised beds are looking extremely productive this year Andy, and your outdoor projects too. Definitely no moss on you.

Thanks for your impressions on the Baccatums you've tried, I'm still looking for the best varieties to grow here. Keep up the good work!

Devv · Jul 29, 2016

I've been missing your posts!

I really like what you have going on, chickens, I used to raise them, loved the natural eggs, but too many critters like the chickens more than we did. Maybe again when I retire, and can watch them better. Good luck with them! They are kind of mean to each other though..

Your garden has improved immensely since last year

Glad to see all the pods in the wings!

Mine was a late start. I wasn't really into it after the health issues last spring, but now I'm back and I can eat heat again! And I have the fall season to look forward to; 3 to 4 weeks and I should start to see good things

Wishing you continued success!