Planting Peppers

We're in the middle of a mini heat wave.  Today the temperature got up to 27C in the shade, when normal for this time of the year is 15C.  I decided that the peppers could go outside as long as they were protected.

I've been reading up on peppers lately as I've only recently started growing them.  They are members of the same family as tomatoes and potatoes, so I've had to readjust where I was planning on growing them because I'd thought to plant them where potatoes had been last year.  Not the best idea, so I've moved their location.

I also discovered you can plant them up to the seed leaves.  I don't think they will produce roots on the buried stem as tomatoes do, but it probably gives them a bit more stability.

You can plant them quite close together, although I haven't done that.  Each plant went into the ground with a good half-cup of my fertilizer which had been mixed well into the soil.  Seven plants went into one space - 2 Jalapeños, 2 Ancho, 2 Salsa and one Hungarian Hot Wax.

You should keep hots and sweets separate.  Gypsy, which is a good one for the west coast, is going to go into pots.  There are 4 of them, and because they'll go into pots, I'm keeping them in the potting shed a little longer.  Apparently if you mix hots and sweets, the sweets will get hotter and the hots sweeter.

Today's planting of the hots went into a bed that had onions last year.  The bed is nicely fertile and as I said above, each plant got a good dose of fertilizer.  Also in this bed are Red Sails Lettuce, the celery and garlic.  I located a piece of Remay cloth which would just cover the peppers.  I'll keep it in place until June.  This will keep off breezes, provide a bit of protection at night and allow any rainwater to go through.  At that time, I'll give each plant the support of a tomato cage.

For now, they're tucked into their loose covering, which is held in place with a few rocks.  The heat we're expecting over the next little while and their Remay protection will give them a good start.

Elsewhere in the garden, things are springing up in the good weather.  The snow peas are starting to climb their zig zag fence and before you know it, will be sprouting flowers.  How I love the spring!

Experimenting with Tomatoes

Out in the stores and garden nurseries, tomato, pepper and squash plants are for sale.  It's much too early to put them out yet, but they're for sale because people want them.  Lovely warm days like today make you think it's safe, but you really need steady 10C nighttime temperatures for them to be transplanted outside.

We are in a nice warm spell and have more and better on the way so I thought I'd make a little experiment with my tomatoes.  Today I started getting my tomato bed ready and am planning on planting out the tomatoes in a couple of weeks if the weather is nice then.  The bed was turned over and I placed the 6' poles in the bed where each tomato is going to be seated - 10 in all.  Each pair was joined across the top with curved plastic water piping.  I dug a good-sized hole beside each pole and put a cup of my homemade fertilizer in each, mixing it in well with the earth, then watered each hole.

Planted and ready for its hotcap

I picked one of the bigger Health Kick plants for the experiment.  Another the same size will be the control and be planted beside it when the time comes.  I removed the bottom seed leaves and planted it fairly deep - just to where the seed leaves would have been - and then filled around it.  I topped it off with a hotcap which will stay on until the weather is reliably warm.

Protection in place for the experiment, the rest of the bed waits a couple of weeks

I've already performed this experiment once this year.  a couple of months earlier, I seeded celery which I'm growing for the first time.  Half a dozen plants were set in March.  The rest of the seeding remained in the potting shed until a couple of weeks ago, when I set out another half dozen seedlings.

Victoria Celery

The difference is very obvious.  The plants on the left were the latest to be set out, while the plants on the right, seeded at the same time, have been delayed by their cooler environment.

Totem Strawberries

In the rest of the garden, the strawberries are now flowering.  A week ago, I gave this bed a good watering with diluted fish fertilizer.  Next month we can expect to harvest juicy delicious Totem strawberries.

Looking up into the pink dogwood tree

Cherokee Chief pink dogwood is coming into full bloom.  This young tree has struggled against deer predation until a few years ago when we enlarged our fenced area and brought it into protection.  This year, it's going to be gorgeous!

Update May 12th - It's only 9 days later, but the weather's been so nice I decided to go ahead and plant the rest of the tomatoes.  Night time temps are above 10C.  The control plant in the potting shed is taller than the one planted out early, but the experimental plant is much sturdier whereas the plants in the potting shed are starting to get a bit too lanky.  If the weather turns cool, I'll cover the tomatoes with Remay cloth for protection.

April 2015 - Unseasonably Warm!

In all the stores selling vegetable plants you can see tomatoes, peppers and basil for sale.  With the wonderfully warm weather we've been getting this year, it's very tempting for a novice gardener to put these plants outdoors - after all, if they're selling them, it must be okay to put them out, right?  Not so.  These plants don't go outside until we have reliable nighttime temperatures of 10C.  And as for the basil, you don't dare plant it out until June as it's very touchy to cool weather.

My tomato and pepper plants are happily spending their time in the potting shed.  I'm not worried if the tomatoes get a little "leggy" as I can plant them right up to the bottom set of the first true leaves.  In the meantime, I'm making sure that their new homes outside will be ready for them when the time comes.  I've always known that tomatoes and potatoes are from the same family, but I recently learned that peppers come from this family as well.  This totally blows my garden plan right out the window as you shouldn't really plant these in the same bed in successive years.  Crop rotation means that you should wait until at least one year before planting in the same bed as a family member again.  So it's back to the drawing board!

The onions and leeks have now been planted and as I don't think I'll have enough Copra Onions from what I seeded, I picked up a package of yellow onion sets to fill up the bed.  This year I've planted Chinook Leeks in addition to Bandit.  Chinook are a summer harvest leek while Bandit is good in the cold weather.  Both are protected by pieces of fencing in case cats decide to try out the lovely loose soil!

The leeks are looking wonderful.  Last year I purchased 3 bulbs from Salt Spring Seeds to go with those I've saved from last year's harvest.  Leningrad, Czech and Spanish Roja are at the right of the garlic bed.  Leningrad has enormous cloves - there were only 4 on the bulb!

This year we took out one bed of asparagus and replaced it with new rootstock.  The older bed that remains is starting to show the first new spears and I've already helped myself to one delicious snack of raw asparagus!  The tiny seedlings at the left bottom of the picture are dill seedlings.  I finally have dill volunteers established in my asparagus after years of trying.  They are good companion plants and the dill keeps away the asparagus beetle.

In the snow pea bed, the young plants are just starting to climb their zig zag fence.  Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce plants have been nestled in the gaps.

When I turned over last year's Pacific Russet Potato bed, I discovered that one plant hadn't been dug up!  I found at least 9 lovely potatoes which had already started to sprout and moved them to a new home.  7 of the 9 plants are above the ground now and doing well.  We were very impressed with this potato last year and are delighted at the jump we've gotten on the potato season.  Another bed has Seiglinde Potatoes planted from purchased seed potatoes.

All in all, the garden is doing well.  It's very tempting to push the season and set out plants early, but I'm trying my best to avoid the urge.  And May isn't that far away after all!

Potting Up

Yesterday I finally got around to potting up little transplants.  I'm growing a lot of tomato plants for friends this year and have moved the tiny seedlings out to the potting shed.  Tomato seeds need heat for germination, but once they're up, they can take some cool temperatures.  With night time temperatures starting the move up, the potting shed it the place for them so they don't become too leggy.

Tomato and pepper seedlings in their temporary new homes

I always put the transplanted tomatoes deeper in the soil.  They will create roots on the buried stem, making the plant stronger and also making them less leggy.  More detailed directions on potting up tomato seedlings can be found in a March post from last year. At the same time, I potted up pepper plants.  They've been in the potting shed for a week now and are doing well.

My big problem is with pots.  I love to give away plants, but it's leaving me a bit short of 4" and 6" pots.  I'll have to ask for some pots in return!

Victoria Celery

This year I'm growing celery for the first time.  I carefully transplanted a dozen tiny seedlings into 6-pack planters and they have all survived.  Naturally, the ones left in the starting pot are ahead of them, not having suffered the shock of transplanting.  I may set out some of those as well as there are lots to choose from.

Lettuce Seedlings

Lettuce plants are also doing very well and I'll probably be able to set them outside any day now.

Red Currant volunteer against the potting shed

Today the weather is glorious, in spite of a dismal prediction.  The blue orchard bees are starting to emerge from their winter homes and the red currant is loud with the noise of pollination.

In the pond, the water marigold is coming into full bloom.  Fish are starting to come up for food and all the aquatic plants are waking up.  Spring is definitely here!

Hectic Spring

This time of year is always a flurry of activity.  Each week something needs to be seeded, moved to the potting shed because it has sprouted or transplanted into the garden.  There's also the beds to be readied.  There's a big pile of SeaSoil sitting on and under tarps and as the driver wasn't able to back up to where we wanted it dumped, it will have to be moved.  The maple leaves that were gathered last fall now need to be shredded.

Asparagus roots to be discarded with the finished bed in the background

First on the agenda was removing one bed of asparagus.  These particular plants are quite old - at least 15 years old - and needed to be replaced.  It was a lot of hard work for my husband, digging out the bed and depositing the root-filled soil on a tarp.  Then he sifted out the roots and dumped the dirt back in the pit.  In between layers of sifted soil, we added a good thick layer of SeaSoil.  The bed is filled now to overflowing but rain will tamp it down and we're expecting some this next week.  I'll buy a package of asparagus roots and plant them next week.

I'm growing celery for the first time.  A friend that I give tomato seedlings to has grown it for years and says it's pretty easy.  She freezes chopped celery to add to soups and stews during the winter.  I bought seeds of a variety called Victoria which is apparently quite popular in Britain.  The tiny seeds took a couple of weeks to germinate.  Today I transplanted a dozen tiny seedlings to 6-pack planters and they're sitting under plastic in the potting shed.  Any seedlings that fail to take will be replaced with a good supply of what remains in the spouting pot.

Seedlings!  Seedlings!

I also seeded the tomatoes today.  Because I now grow lots of tomatoes for friends, there's quite an array of pots.  I'm not sure where I'm going to put them all because they need heat for germination and there's only so much room under the grow light in the living room.  Perhaps it's time to get a bigger one!  For now I'll probably put them in plastic bags and sit them on the living room window still until the peppers finally sprout and I can move them to the potting shed.

About half of the raised beds are prepared.  Each one had a good amount of SeaSoil added, then a good dusting of my fertilizer.  At this time of the year, I wonder how I can possibly fill them.  By the end of April I'll be wishing I had more room!

Plan 2015

Today it suddenly occurred to me that it might be a good idea to have a plan for the garden.  What a novel idea!

The first step was to go up to the garden, pen and paper in hand, and sketch out a rough plan of the garden.  Most of our beds are concrete and so are permanent installations.  The perennial bed in the centre of the plateau and the asparagus beds are also permanent installations.  Our original wooden beds have just about outlived their purposes and are rotting away.  Two half barrels will also have limited life.  Then there are tire stacks which can be considered transitional as well.

Sketch done, I made a better job of it in the house and scanned the result.  Then out came the seed packages to make sure I have everything accounted for.  And here's the result:

Gardening Plan for 2015

One half of the asparagus bed will be dug up this year as it's nearing the end of its productive life.  These were our first asparagus plants and are about 15 years old.  We'll replace them with new plants and then next year or the year after, do the same to the other side of the asparagus bed.

Beds 10, 11 and 12 will be dismantled after this growing season and at this point we're thinking of replacing them with 3 4x4 concrete beds.  Between 11 and 12 there's the top of a massive rock which prevents us from constructing one long bed.

I've left one 4x4 bed and 2 tire stacks empty at this point as you always forget something.  And in half of the compost bin this year, I'll grow Waltham Butternut Squash.  They should be very happy!

So that's the plan.  We'll see if I actually follow it!

New Toys - A Digression

And a digression will tell you exactly why I call myself The Messy Gardener - I'm easily distracted. Nevertheless, there is a garden connection in my new toys.

My first new toy is a digital weather station bought from Lee Valley, which we got because the thermometer on the side of the house doesn't really give accurate readings and you have to go outside to see it properly.  It comes with one sensor which you mount in a shady location, but I purchased an extra one because I planned to mount one in the garden and another below the house.  Shady locations in my garden are hard to find!  Mounting it on the north wall of the potting shed was turned down because the potting shed can get quite hot, hence inaccurate readings.  I finally decided to mount it on the inside of one of the gates to the pond.  It was a good thing I bought an extra sensor, because the first time the gate was closed, the vibrations rendered the sensor inoperable.  I found a much more detailed manual online which advised you not to joggle the sensors in any way.  Too bad that wasn't in the manual that came with the sensor!  And good thing I bought an extra sensor!

La Crosse Wireless Weather Forecast Station

The second sensor was mounted on a post under our bedroom deck and now we have a properly working weather station.  The time is taken from the Atomic Clock, so it's very accurate and we have indoor and outdoor temperatures as well as minimum and maximum temperatures.  As you can see, this morning was cold and clear.

My second new toy is my Fitbit Charge.  We grow our own vegetables because we want healthy food inside our bodies.  It was long since time that I worked on the outside to make my body healthier.  A note on my daughter's Facebook page asked friends what they knew about the Fitbit.  I've wanted a good step counter for a long time and it seemed like a good product to investigate.  It turns out this was exactly what I was needing.  You wear the Fitbit all the time - except when in the bathtub or shower.  My Charge counts my step and gives me goals to work towards.  It translates steps into stairs climbed and miles travelled.  It is a proper encouragement to get moving.  It even monitors my sleep.  Now that my daughter has one too, we challenge each other and that is an even greater encouragement.  Turns out we're a bit more competitive than we'd thought!  And as for the garden connection, you can log activities of which gardening is one.  Turning over the soil is translated into steps and periods of activity.

This morning, my Fitbit, the dog and I walked to the ferry terminal to get the car that my husband had left there.  A walk on Thetis Island is a definite workout as there's hardly a level place on the island.

Ice on the slough

The walk to the ferry terminal is a beautiful one as well and one I hadn't taken for quite a while.  The cold morning had put ice on the slough - just a thin layer, but ice nevertheless. Oh! And the walk was some 3,800 steps which is over a third of my daily goal of 10,000 steps.

Telegraph Harbour on a March morning

British Columbia's Gulf Islands are gorgeous places to live.  There's hardly a spot that isn't photogenic so taking a point-and-click camera with you whenever you go for a walk is a must.

Preedy Harbour looking to Mount Brenton

So, yes, my new toys are a bit of a digression for a gardening blog, but there is a connection.  I now can accurately gauge the overnight temperatures for transplanting outside in the spring, and my activity in the garden can be measured and help me to get myself in better health.  It's all good!