Peppers ~ Southern Summer Favorites to Plant This Week

The following tips are courtesy of Home Depot's Garden Club.  Click on the source link at the end of the post to join.

Peppers are easy to grow in the garden and containers and thrive in long, hot summers with a weekly watering of 1-2”.

Huge, sweet red bells, mildly hot Anaheims, petite purple sweets, and wildly hot yellow habaneros – take your choice or plant them all in the garden or containers.

Peppers love hot weather, so pepper transplants, seeds and seedlings should be set out only after soil temperatures are above 65 degrees. Once the plants have flowered, give them a dose of Epsom salts (magnesium) to produce bigger peppers and more of them.

A note about hot peppers. Be mean to them, especially as they approach maturity. Quit watering as much, and don’t worry if leaves go limp in the afternoon sun. Lack of moisture concentrates the capsicum in the pepper, raising the heat level.

1. To speed germination, place the seeds between a few damp paper towels and put in a zippered plastic bag in a warm place. The top of the refrigerator works fine.
2. Add a 1” layer of compost over the planting bed, or scratch an organic vegetable fertilizer into containers before planting. 
3. As soon as the pepper seeds sprout, carefully plant them in individual containers or directly into the ground spaced 12-18” apart.
4. Water deeply, 1-2” every 5-7 days, unless plants are in containers, which require more frequent watering.
5. When flowers appear, scratch a tablespoon of Epsom salts around the base of each pepper plant. Or spray the tops and bottoms of leaves with 1 tablespoon of Epsom salts mixed with 1 quart of warm water.
6. Mulch flowering plants with 2” of organic mulch.
7. Cage or stake plants as they grow taller and begin producing peppers.

Another excellent post about growing peppers

 from Mother Earth Living . . . click here.

Source of featured article

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DIY Concrete Containers

Making concrete planters has to be one of the most satisfying and useful crafts ever.  
I love the selection of molds in this video!
Once you make a couple, your imagination will go wild with all kinds of stuff to use to for molds to make not only containers, but pavers and decorative border pavers for your plant beds and excellent for raised beds!  After a couple of years, they become awesome memories of previous seasons.
With so much to do and so little time to devote to the garden, I sincerely hope that I can get my hand in the concrete to make some memories for my garden.
This video is an excellent guide from HGTV . . . check it out!

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It's finally here!

Up until last week, the arrival of Spring was questionable with night time temps dipping into the 40's.  I don't remember a winter lasting so long in my part of the world!

The Captain has been busy taking down the huge tree that fell on our storage shed.  What a mess it is!  Vines have grown all through the branches and over the roof.  I can't bear to go out there, it breaks my heart.  We already had a huge task at hand before the tree catastrophe.

I've finally accepted the fact that I am disabled and can't garden the way I used to.  There was a time not too long ago when I could get as much done out there as any man and sometimes more.  

The path that I set out all those years ago is still there and in great shape, although it is now covered with ground cover and weeds.  The guys told me I could probably pull off doing the path, but it would not last more than a year or so.  Haha . . . I made each paver out of concrete, using meat and fruit trays from the grocery story as a form.  Each was painted with enamel acrylic.  I wanted it to look wild.  Even the paint endured years of wear and weather.

The way it was . . . a photo from 1999.

The plan is for The Captain to clear the paths and we will begin to build raised beds here and there to make it easy for me.  I can still walk, but can't be on my legs very long, so I need to sit a lot.  

It is not fun starting over again with the hindrance of a disability and the wrath of nature.  We still don't have running water . . . another hindrance!  Long story told in some of my other blogs . . . difficult to garden without water.  So, this will mainly be the year of building what we will call the infrastructure of raised beds built around the paths and start on a pond or two.

Having a disability should not stop me completely . . . and I hope to show others with disabilities that they too, can have a garden.

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Make a Backyard Pond from a Tire!

This has got to be the most ingenious trash-to-treasure project for the garden I have seen yet!

The photos were found on Pinterest, unfortunately, they were linked to just a photo since the original blog it was posted to has been removed.  So . . . no instructions or tutorial . . . just awesome inspiration.

When we get around to making this pond, we will take lots of photos and make a tutorial for this project.

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Paper Pulp Seed Starters

It is that time of year when we can't wait to plant our seeds and get a head start on Spring.  

I've been looking for inexpensive ways to start seeds and especially love it is something that can be recycled.

Would you believe these seed starters were made out of junk mail that you would normally toss in the garbage?  How about using newspaper instead of throwing them away? Ingenious idea!

Chris at 365 Days of DIY came up with this awesome idea.  Click here for the tutorial with photos.

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Recycling in the garden

Don't throw away those toilet paper or paper towel rolls!

This has got to be one of the best ideas I've seen for recycling items for starting seedlings.  My favorite is egg cartons!

How to make it:

1. Using scissors, cut six to eight small slits in the end of your toilet paper roll (if using a paper towel roll, cut the roll into three pieces before beginning this step).

2. Fold the strips down so they overlap.

3. Fill carefully with wet soil, and set in a baking sheet.

4. Plant one seed per roll. After germination, just plant the whole thing in your garden! If you don’t mind transplanting your seedlings, you can use all kinds of recyclables for germination: Takeout containers, plastic cups, soda bottles and shoe boxes – just to name a few.

Photo and Info Source

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Winter Sowing

Moving our clocks forward is around the corner which means so is spring!  Here in Florida, there is already a change in the air and it has been very pleasant to get out there and do pre-spring clean up.

Get an early start on spring by starting your seeds indoors.  There are so many methods and don't necessarily have to be expensive.  Utilizing egg cartons is my favorite method for seed starting.  The following article from HGTV Gardens has some other great ideas.

In the past I purchased my seeds from the popular catalog companies, which can get rather pricey.  Last year, I ordered lots of seed from Amazon.com which saved me quite a bit of money.  Check them out!  Even better . . . do a search on free seeds and you will find lots of offers for limited amounts of free seeds.  

Join a seed swapping group and get tons of seed for the price of postage unless you find a local seed swapping group that organizes get togethers.  In the past I've even swapped plants with other gardeners with great rewards of getting a ton of new plants for free and making some awesome gardening friends.  Back in the day, we hosted some awesome plant and seed swaps complete with BBQ grill going and everyone bringing a cover dish.  Loads of fun!

Gardening doesn't have to be fancy or expensive.  Just use your imagination and do your research!

I'm so ready for spring!!!

Winter Sowing

Satisfy the itch to garden in January by starting seeds—outdoors. Winter sowing techniques are super easy and reliable.

by Julie A. Martens, HGTV Gardens

"Get your hands dirty this winter by starting seeds outdoors using a practice called winter sowing. This method forgoes supplemental lighting and pricey seed-starting kits and lets nature’s rhythms coax seeds to sprout. Winter sowing is simple and yields sturdy seedlings that are ready to grow. If you have avoided starting seeds because you lack space or sunny windows, check out winter sowing.

To get started with winter sowing, you’ll need supplies you probably have around the house. Plastic containers, like milk jugs, 2-liter bottles or clear-lidded clamshell-type containers serve as a mini-greenhouse for the seeds. Use a box cutter or pen knife to cut around the middle of the container. Leave roughly a one-half inch section uncut to act as a hinge. What you’re doing is creating a hinged container that opens. Clamshell containers don’t require cutting.

Punch drainage holes in the bottom of the container. Use a lighter to heat the tip of the screwdriver to make punching through plastic easier. The container forms a mini-greenhouse for your seeds. Cut slits in the lid of the container to provide ventilation and prevent heat build-up. If your container has a lid (milk jug, 2-liter bottle), remove it.

Fill the container with 2 to 3 inches of soil. Winter sowing works best with a soil a mix that’s light and drains well. Bagged commercial peat moss and perlite mixes work great. Avoid mixes that feature water retention agents or moisture control properties. Wet soil thoroughly, place seeds on the surface, and add additional soil as needed to cover seeds. Pat the soil lightly to ensure good seed to soil contact, and close your container. Use a piece of duct tape to hold the container closed. Be sure to label containers with planting date and seed."

Photo and Article Source

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Light the Way

I love what lighting can do for the nighttime landscape!

Here is some inspiration . . . love those lights.

A complementary mix of outdoor lights illuminates the path, all while keeping the focus on the luscious landscape . . . photo from DIY Network.

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Outdoor Fireplace

This photo is for inspiration only since the article I originally linked to on Pinterest has been removed from the website.  I hate when that happens!

There is something about this backyard scenario that is so cozy and inviting.  From my experience, even a small terracotta fire pot chimney in my back yard sets that cozy environment.  There is something about an outdoor fire on a chilly night that is so inviting!

Click here for an article on the Better Homes and Gardens website that features 20 outdoor fireplace ideas that will get your inspiration going if you are ready to add that cozy mood to your back yard.

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Plant a Spring Container Garden . . . Lettuces

It is never too early in the season to start thinking about spring plantings, especially if you live in a subtropical climate as I do.  

I found the following article very interesting since I love container gardening and have been meaning to give growing lettuces a try.  You may want to try growing lettuces this spring after reading this article!

Growing Gourmet Greens

Of all the planting I do each year, I think my spring container kitchen garden is my favorite. Maybe it’s because the containers are conveniently placed right outside the kitchen door or maybe it’s because it’s so easy to plant, maintain and harvest.

Whatever the reason, I look forward to the first cutting of container-grown spring greens. I prefer to plant and grow baby lettuce mixes because they grow quickly and a packet of seeds yields enough for many salads or sandwich toppings. They’re also inexpensive, too. These are the same pricey gourmet blends found in up-scale grocery stores, specialty produce markets and farmers’ markets.

I buy packets of mesclun which are mixes of small salad greens that vary in color, textures and flavors. Traditional mesclun salad mixes include chervil, arugula, lettuces and endive, but they can also include dandelion, mizuna, mâche, radicchio and sorrel.

Look for salad mixes that offer assorted colors, textures and flavors. I like combinations that include bronze and lime-green leaves, curley and leafy textures and flavors that are tangy or peppery. Baby leaf spinach is also a good choice.

The tender leaves will grow quickly and can be cut and recut several times. For a continuous harvest, sow successive batches until the weather gets too hot.

In addition to planting from seed, consider adding small transplants, like chives. The chives in my container are perennial, so they’re the first greens to appear in my container garden each year.

Planting is Super Simple

One of the advantages of planting in containers is that you can plant 4-6 weeks before the last killing frost in your area. Another advantage is that you don’t have to wait for the soil to warm before planting. Just fill a container with new potting soil and you’re ready to plant.

Planting Instructions

1. Fill a container with soil to within 2 inches of the rim.
2. Tear open a small corner of the seed packet.
3. Sprinkle seeds lightly over the top of soil, with seeds landing about a half inch apart.
4. Cover with a thin layer (about 1/4 inch) of soil.
5. Pat down the soil gently.
6. Water with a fine spray to keep seeds in their place.

Grow the plants by placing the container in a sunny spot and keeping the soil moist. When leaves are about 5 inches tall, grab a small section and use scissors to make a clean cut; leave several inches of plant remaining. New leaves will sprout from the roots you’ve left behind.

Wash greens carefully and blot dry. Use immediately in a spring salad or to top sandwiches. Refrigerated greens can be stored in a plastic bag for several days.

Disclaimer about photo and article source . . . In the past, I have given websites the courtesy of not cutting and pasting their articles into my blog posts and just providing a link to the article.  In going back through all of my blogs, it occurs to me that most websites reconfigure their websites often and wipe out articles all together or change the url, making it impossible to find the article again.  That is a major waste of time and lots of valuable information lost!

I would prefer to preserve the entire article and give the website credit for the article and promotion for their website.  In the case of this article, it comes from VegetableGardener.com, one of my favorite blogs.  An email subscription is available for their newsletters which is the source of this article.

Photo and article by Jodi Torpey

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