[gardeners] Thursday in the garden
George Shirley (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Fri, 27 Oct 2000 08:20:27 -0500
Went out yesterday afternoon about 4:30 pm and found the chiles were outdoing
themselves again. Picked about 3 quarts of the "Longhorn" mild chile we have
developed over the last ten years, some were 8 inches long and 2 inches in
diameter and right tasty. Picked about a pint and a half of hot chiles as the
cool weather has slowed them down somewhat. The Thai HotxLonghorn cross I'm
playing with now seems to have the vitality of both parents and can stand some
cool weather like the Longhorn. I did harvest my first Corno di Toro. I lost all
the plants that were started in January so started some more seed in May, one
plant survived of that batch and has grown into a healthy plant. I currently
have it in a 10 gallon nursery pot ready to go into the greenhouse at the first
sign of cold weather. It has about a dozen chiles on it now and I picked one
that was on the bottom touching the soil. I was afraid it would rot so, I think,
picked it a little early. It was about 4 inches long and about 3 inches in
diameter at the top. The flesh was succulent, meaty, and crisp with a sweet
flavor. I think we will continue to grow this variety but I will find another
source of seed.
The main garden grows apace, with little cabbages starting to head up already.
The carrot row looks like a chia pet with little green carrot tops poking out
everywhere. The radishes are wall to wall but, then, we've never had a radish
famine here. The chard is up about an inch and I'm waiting impatiently for a
mess of fresh chard. The green beans are about 6 inches tall and still agrowing.
We've even got Florence Fennel up and growing. I found a small packet of seeds
in the seed saver and decided to plant them. Tried them in the spring a couple
of years ago and they couldn't handle the early heat we get here. Kohlrabi's are
poking up too. The scallions I planted earlier are topping 6 inches tall now and
I'm about ready to pick a few greens off them.
Miz Anne's calendulas are getting bigger too, if we get lots of blooms I will be
able to make a bigger batch of "healing" salve this year. Lots of friends and
relatives swear by it and want more. Sighh, the days of a JuJu man are often
long. <VBG>
Gotta go now, friends from Washington State are due in about 1 pm and I have to
vacuum, clean the kitchen and finish yesterday's wash plus go get a few
groceries. We haven't seen these folks since 1986 even though we've always kept
in touch. We were all "best friends" in the Middle East and they helped us keep
our sanity and vice versa. Really looking forward to seeing them.
Life is good.
George