Why people like me should not pre-sprout peppers...

This is not Pizza. Although it can go on Pizza. And I usually don't bother trying to grow them, because I have very little luck, (or perhaps not enough patience to bother with them) and I don't really care for them anyway. And maybe they pick up on my lack of caring, so they don't grow well for me. I know, plants have feelings too, and they know when they are unwanted. So, tell me why five year old Carribean Red Habanero seed has a %100 germination rate in five days? I told it not to bother too much, and not to hurry, cause I was in no way ready for it yet. Peppers are apparently just like my children. THEY DON'T LISTEN.




Same for the other three types of peppers that I pre-sprouted (I blame this blogger for even thinking of doing this, cause I never do, never have, and never planned on it.) But now that I know how well this works for peppers, which can take up to 2-3 weeks to get growing when they are started the same way I start tomatoes, if I ever do actually want to grow peppers for real, I will start them this way again. Never mind that the shelf life for pepper seeds is supposed to be much shorter than for tomato seeds, so I think %100 on five year seed is also a good indication that this is an excellent way to get them going. Although I didn't believe it until I tried it. I figured all my pepper seeds were too old, they would not sprout, so what the hell. And now I'm stuck with all these little pepper seeds that are sprouting, and in need of potting up.

If you actually want to grow pepper plants, this technique is very simple. Seeds, coffee filters, water, ziplock baggies and a warm spot such as the top of your fridge, water heater, radio (if you're like me and it's on almost 24/7) and keep on eye on them. Keep the filter moist (won't dry out very quickly in a zip bag) and once they start sprouting, pot them up very shallow in little cells as if they were little tomato seeds. Peppers like it warm, and lots of light.

That is pretty much it.

What is a brug

Brugmansia: Candida

These are gorgeous perennial plants native to South America. In our cold climates, they need to be wintered indoors. They cannot tolerate frost. The blooms are very large, and fragrant. There are singles -such as the one pictured above- doubles and triples with the flower form. Usually they are propagated very easily by cuttings, but some very interesting breeding work is done crossing specific parents and propagating the seeds.

For more information and some fantastic pictures, a good website to check out is ABADS.

I have several varieties that I grow, and I usually have cuttings, plants and/or seeds available for pick up in my area or postage. They are related to Daturas and are amazing plants!

I'm back...

After a long time away from this blog and my enthusiam for gardening, I am slowing waking up to the potential of a tomato seed again.
I have been super busy with work, and a few personal matters had consumed me for the last while. I am ready to indulge in the soil now.

First things first. The list of tomatoes seeds that I have at my fingertips.

Ananas Noir
Omar's Lebanese
Green Zebra
Carbon
Orange Russian
Mortgage Lifter
Gold Medal
Black Krim
Pineapple
Black From Tula
Neves Azorean Red
Siberian
Kelloggs Breakfast
Hillbilly
Principe Borghese
Mr Bruno
Long Shelf Life
Jaune Flamme
Cherokee Purple
Black Plum
Black Pear
Black Cherry
Pruden's Purple
Zigan
Box Car Willie
Cannabec Rose
Vah-tan
Vova Yellow
Stupice
Palmira's Italian Heirloom
Rhoades Heirloom
Rutgers
Purpe Price
Reisentraube
Orange Jubilee
Russian Persimon
Clear Pink Early
Rouge D'Irak
Russe
Unikalny
Dar
Dubrava
Khirh
Jagodka
Van Hert Ohio
Russian Size
Giant Italian Paste
Silvery Fir Tree
Moscow Suburb
Memory of Vavilov
Kremlin Chiming Clock
Talalichinski
Blue
Jack White
Mers de Nom
Hoskins-Barger

and soon to receive:

Caspian Pink
Thessaloniki
MoneyMaker
Paul Robeson
Break o' Day
German Red Strawberry
Arkansas Traveller

I am trying to narrow down what I will grow this year, and I am having a hard time doing so. Such a hard time, in fact, that the last seven are ones I ordered the other day. And I recently asked a fellow gardener if she had any Eva's Purple Ball (cause I need another variety like I need another cat!)

In general, you want to start your tomato seeds 8 weeks from your last frost date. If you plan to follow the Moon phases, then plant just after the nearest new moon. This year I plan to start quite early, some this weekend and some just after Feb. 24th (new moon). Absolutely perfect timing for me. My last frost date is usually end of May, beginning of June. Technically I should be waiting till late March/early April to start but I have shop lights for indoors and outdoor grow tunnels and mini greenhouses so the plants should still thrive for an extra few weeks before planting out permanently. I want to start them early this year to get some really good large plants for my annual sales and to hopefully improve the chances of getting some of the late long season growing tomatoes.

I am really hoping this summer will be much better that last year. With all the additional compost I have at my disposal at least my raised beds will be full of great soil. Now if only the sun and the temperatures cooperate.

Winter Gardening...

AKA daydreaming.

If you get the itch to start as soon as the snow hits, then join the club. Nothing makes me miss summer in the yard more than a few inches of snow. It's not even the cold that bothers me, it's the simple fact that I know I will have to wait almost half a year before I can start the silliness all over again. And come September/October, lament all the things I had planned on doing that I didn't, and promising myself that I will, definitely,for sure, absolutely, do it next year (even though I know bloody well I probably won't.)

So I putter with my indoor plants. Maybe I'll plant a few select tomato seeds like last winter, and I'll have the earliest tomatoes ever, like last year with my Galina cross. I read through online cataloges, and make big plans, even though I know I probably won't follow through. Maybe I'll make a small hotbox outdoors sometime in March or April. I'll start swapping seeds with people, and making lists.

Winter sowing is big for some people, but I haven't tried it and don't know if I will.

Right now the big push is to get some Christmas baking done, and get the house in order. I remember reading somewhere a Chinese prediction that the way you spend the New Year's day is how the rest of your year will go. Last year I screwed that up royally, with the messiest house imagineable! And it turned out true!

Frosty is ready...

What? Thinking Frosty the snowman and Santa already? Snow will do that to you.



But I'm talking about Frosty Pink, one of my brugs. Her seed pods are finally ready, and I've harvested at least 50 nice fresh seeds. I've promised some seeds to friends. This year, I also have a noid white with a huge seed pod, and another noid pink with a pod as well. So if anyone is looking to experiment a bit, I am offering for free, packets of 5 brug seeds. The only thing I ask in return, is that you keep me updated on the babies' progress if possible. These are a labour of love, and a love of experimenting. There is absolutely no guarantee on the color these babies will turn out to be, and most likely they will not flower until the third year, which makes them a long term commitment. The noid white babies will probably be white. Frosty Pink is a roll of the dice. I didn't pollinate these myself, so I don't know who is the other parent. Frosty was in the brug bed (how appropriate!) when she got knocked up, so it could be the Candida, the other pink, or even self-pollination (I won't go there!) I'm not sure if Frosty is self pollinating, I'd have to look that up.

So if anyone would like some seeds, either from Frosty or the others, or a mix, they are yours for the asking. I also have cuttings, but would rather not mail them out unless you ask really really nice and pay the postage. Seeds are just so much easier, and I don't mind covering the postage for them. Anyone in Aylmer/Ottawa area is more than welcome to come and pick up a few cuttings.

Garden chores for a rainy day...

This morning was spent finally, finally, organizing my tomato seeds. Peeling the little seeds off of the paper towels wads that I had thrown into an old coffee tin to keep together until said organizing day. I did manage to save quite a few varieties this year, despite the not so great growing season. I never did bag any of the flowers, so chances are some of them may have gotten crossed. I guess I'll find out next year when I grow them out. If I do trade seeds with anyone, or send seeds, I'll be sure to mention that fact, so other growers will know what they are getting.

Seed list 2008

Box Car Willie
Prudens Purple
Purple Cherokee
Kellogs Breakfast
Black Cherry
Silvery Fir Tree
Jaune Flamme
Bloody Butcher
Meg's Orange Cherry (a Galina X, F2)
Galina's
Japanese Black Trifele
Canabec Rose
Rhoades
Green Zebra
Orange LSL ( a mislabeled or crossed tomato, LongShelfLife it wasn't, but amazingly good)
Vova Yellow
Zigan
Santalina F2
Black Pear

There are a few that seem to have disappeared into the void somewhere. I don't know what happened to Mortgage Lifter, Eva's Purple Ball (I know I saved seeds from it!), Black From Tula, Black Krim (wait, did I even grow that? or just that I wanted to?) note to self: keep better notes!!! As for Hillbilly, Pineapple, Gold Medal, Carbon, Omar's Lebanese, just don't even go there. I have no idea what happened to them.

I still have many seeds left from all the trades I made this year, and lots of saved seed from last year, and some seeds from the Great Tomato Growers,
wonderful people who started me off on my obsessive heirloom tomato journey. They have an incredible variety of tomato seed, and are very generous. I encourage everyone to check out their blog, and follow the links to their lists of tomatoes.

Overall, I am slightly more organized this year. And now that winter is coming, I can't wait to start gardening again. Figures.

I have been waiting for a good oportunity to do a final yard cleanup, and to winterize my roses. I have a few bags of hay to pile up around them this year. I want to finish cleaning up the brug bed and dig in a lot of horse manure to overwinter. I need to plant some garlic that I got this fall from my mom, who bought it from Mennonites at a farmer's market. I hope it's not too late, but I have a feeling I may be really behind with that. I've never grown garlic before, but I love to cook with it, and tend to use a lot so I thought it would be worth a try. Any help there would be appreciated!!

One final note, please contact me if you are interested in any seeds. I am always glad to share them.

Happy Halloween!!!

What's that got to do with tomatoes? Absolutely Nothing!!! (Does anyone else have music running through their minds, when they write certain things done?) Ah, never mind.

Pumpkins are a pretty easy thing to grow. Especially accidental out-of-the-compost pumpkins. They thrive in a rich, moist soil, which the compost pile provides magnificently! No matter how inconvenient a spot that may be to have pumpkins growing, it is ideal! Which leads me to garden amendments, top dressing, and composting.

I've talked about compost and additions to the garden before, but I'll touch on it again, because this year I have a special offer for any one in the Aylmer/Ottawa area. Free horse manure!!! Now if you find this offer exciting, you are either a freak, or a gardener, or both. Welcome to the club! Please send me an email for further directions. This offer is open to anyone, large or small amounts, and did I mention, free??

One reason I've been so MIA around this blog is that my days are filled; with feeding, turning out, occasionally mucking out, and general horsey stuff. Even riding once in a while. And big animals like horses produce a lot of really great potential compost. I have yet to take advantage of this fact, but I'm planning to this weekend. We have a window of opportunity weather-wise, for a really good clean up outside, which should include top dressing and/or digging in amendments into the beds. With manure, you want to make sure you get the oldest, well-rotted stuff possible, fresh is too strong and will burn the roots. If you're digging it into a veggie bed that is empty, overwintering fresher stuff should be okay. The worms and other little buggies will do the job for you. If you are side dressing shrubs, trees or perennials, the older the better the manure.

You can't get much better than horse manure. Horses are fed purely hay and grain (and the occasional bunch of carrots), unlike what is considered 'food' for cows or pigs. And the use of antibiotics and such is purely medicinal, not an every day ocurrance as it is with many other farm animals. To my mind, other than possibly mushroom compost, this makes it the safest, purest, most 'organic' compost available. Now's the perfect time to dig in!!