Summer Gardening Observations

[Tsalagi]

Well, we've learned a thing or three this summer in our container gardening experiment.

We discovered that, evidently, squirrels rather enjoy tomatoes, ripe or not. I noticed that there's not just one squirrel living in my backyard woodpile, but an entire family. Oh, well, whaddya gonna do? They gotta eat and they're entertaining.  So, scratch off tomatoes as a container garden success story here. Better to buy them from the community market. And take advantage of Safeway selling Cherokee Purple tomatoes rather cheaply this summer---UMMMM!!! 

Jalapeno, Habanero, and Thai chile plants in containers are a huge success!! Lots and lots of jalapenos so far---and hot, too!  We lost one---count 'em, ONE---jalapeno to a squirrel. Found it in the yard with one little bite out of it. I wish I could have seen him take that bite out of it. Noticed the water pan for the birds was almost dry.  After that little exposure to Sir Jalapeno, the squirrels give the chile plants a wide berth. No more losses. They haven't even considered trying on a habanero or Thai chile on for size. The jalapenos have produced a lot of chiles and I've gotten both greens and let some ripen to red. This week's harvest is in the food dehydrator right now. I'm drying them. Some books say drying them can't be done. We'll see about that. The house smells great right now!! The habaneros are coming in, lots of fruit. And the Thai have lots of chiles on there. Success!! Chiles are a winner!

Saskatoon Serviceberry. We planted this in the yard. No container. It loves it here. And we got berries off it. Success! I might need to plant another! This was my wife's choice and a great choice at that. This is a winner! And didn't need a container. Got from a native plant store here.


Purslane. Another success story. Planted this in the yard and it's taking off like rockets. If it comes back next year, it's a success story.


Our mints came back, including our Oswego Tea. Mint loves this place.  Our thyme made a weak return. But the mints can be counted on each year to show up. They're all success stories.

Planted some shallots in the yard. They came up. We'll have to see what the bulbs look like before I call them a success.

[zenmonkeyman]

Congrats on a successful gardening season!  Very inspiring.  I'm in the process of moving back to the land, so I'm building a library of horticulture, agriculture, etc.  Serviceberry grows wild everywhere, so I probably won't include it in my orchard, even though it's The Best Tasting Berry Anywhere Ever.

[Josh]

Cool, Glad your garden was a success.  I am gonna plant one next year.   

[aero86]

what type of container gardening did you do?  just totes with soil?  i think ill do that next year, so the dogs dont feel the need to rummage through my special dirt..

[JW_Halverson]

Do you think you could plant short pepper plants aound the base of your tomatoes as a way of foiling the tree rats? 

I think the only thing better than seeing that squirkel gnosh that pepper would be getting video and posting it here!

[Tsalagi]

LOL, yeah, if I could figure out a way to "bait" that squirrel into eating another jalapeno, I'd borrow a trail cam and post the video.  I don't know if planting peppers around the tomatoes would foil them. It's a great idea, though. My wife said no more tomatoes. But I think your idea would work. So, that frees up more room for everyone's favorite food: Chiles!

  Those jalapenos I ran though the dehydrator last night came out great! You CAN dehydrate them. They took on a "fire-roasted" aroma, too, because I had the dehydrator cranked up to top temp. I'll now have these chiles for the winter. I also discovered a jalapeno powder at the local greengrocer here that smells outstanding. I can't wait to cook with it.

The containers we used were just the cheap plastic garden pots, oh, about a 4 or 5 gallon pot. Got 'em free from a neighbor moving out. Terra cotta does not survive the winter here. I mean, it's entertaining to watch a de facto "homegrown" PBS documentary "The Power Of Ice" going on outside out sliding glass door. But it's a mess to clean up in summer. (Note I did not say "spring"---we get snow in spring here.) This winter, we watched in awe as mini-glaciers carved valleys in our big terra cotta pot, leaving alluvial deposits on our porch in a testament to the power of ice.

[Deo]

I found that a Paiute dead fall works wonders on squirrels, they taste good cooked over a fire and make a great stew or with gravy and rice. The Tsalagi used the skins of tree squirrels for bow strings.

[mullet]

 I used to feed my squirrels in the front yard till they found my Pineapples in the backyard.The pellet rifle has almost eliminated that problem. And the tree rat cracker spread is delicious.

[Alpinbogen]

More congrats on successful peppers and gardening!  I would have loved to have seen that squirrel as well!   

This spring we converted a bed of shrubs into a garden.  We built four terraced raised beds for vegetables and built a paver patio and steps.  This year is sort of a test.  So far so good, but we'll make some changes next year.  Observations on my end include that I need to invest in some really heavy duty, really tall tomato cages next year.  These cheapo galvanized things aren't cutting it.  Neither are the stouter epoxy coated deals.  I want something made from rebar!  I think we'll also do fewer tomatoes (we've got tons), and maybe a bigger variety of herbs.  Our broccoli is almost done, and something has been eating the brussel sprout leaves.  Our peppers have been coming in great and we have a big variety.  Pole beans are finally forming.  The few carrots we've dared to pull so soon have been tiny.  We'll see what becomes of the potatoes.  Zuccini is doing well and I may do another bed just for them.

Easter weekend.


Mid May.


Today.

[Tsalagi]

Nice garden, Alpinbogen! Pole beans, if you get more than you can handle, are great run through a dehydrator. They're called "Leather Breeches" then and you can keep them a long time.

These squirrels are kind of an "emergency meat-on-the-hoof" herd, I figure. Mullet, you're growing pineapples?

[El Destructo]

Yes....Eddie can grow Pineapple and all sorts of Goodies...all year long where He lives....as for the Pepper Plants around the Tomatoe Plants...don't know about keeping the Tree Rats away...but the Tomaoes will be spicy....give it a Try....I ruined all of my Wifes Cherry Tomatoes this way....ruined them for Her....I loved them....

And as for the Tree Rats...if the Pellet Rifle aint Your thing....try a 68mm Paint Ball Pistol...now the Neighborhood has mulicolored Squirrels running...and limping around........ ....

[chasing crow]

I never tried dehydrated jalepinos, but I will now. I usually throw them in the freezer and pull them out and chop while still frozen for pico. Works well and seems to cut down on the heat to the hands while cutting.

[jamie]

tsalagi congrats on the garden. if you want the purslane to come back, leave some so they can go to seed. we dont have to plant it in the northeast its abundant. its usually what i eat throughout the day when im working. customers thank me when they see me weeding. didnt even have to ask me. little do they know im gathering lunch.  what el'd said about the peppers next to the tomatoes is true. i sprinkled cayenne on mine to keep the critters off and they absorbed it. they were delicious. peace

[shikari]

Tsalagi you can also smoke the red ripe jalapaneos and preserve them in an adobo sauce for chipotle peppers.I grow a lot of thai peppers myself and preserve enough to hopefuly last me the winter,I also grow nag jolokias and bhoot jolokias,one good way for preserving the thai's is to put them in a mason jar after washing them and letting them sit in the sun for an hour and then filling the jar with fresh lime juice a few cloves of garlic anda few slices of fresh ginger.

[Tsalagi]

We're going to let the purslane go to seed. Spicy tomatoes sound great. I can't touch the squirrels, as much as Brunswick Stew is tempting. The wife likes them.

 Ok, Shikari, inquiring minds want to know: Are the bhut jolokia peppers really as hot as the legends make them out to be? How do they stack up next to a habanero? I've never seen them for sale around here and you can find every chile under the sun here just about---it's Arizona, after all.  Great advice on the Thai chiles. I'll need to do that with them.