It's Pepper Time!

There are tons of different varieties of peppers, and we grow our fair share. Peppers are a must in our garden, and by far my husbands favorite thing to grow. Every year, we try to grow 15-20 different varieties of peppers in our garden. Most of these we start from seed.

Here are a few of the varieties we are growing this year...

Ghost Pepper

Sweet Banana Pepper

Yellow Bell Pepper

Red Bell Pepper

Purple Cayenne Pepper

Fish Pepper

Jalapeno Peppers

Bell Peppers

Hot Banana Peppers

Tabasco Peppers

Loco Hot Peppers

Cayenne Peppers

Lemon Drop Peppers

Habanero Peppers

We can't eat the peppers as fast as we're harvesting them. There are a bunch of ways to preserve peppers for winter use, including drying, freezing and canning. We make crushed red pepper every fall, which usually lasts us through the following summer. And, this year we bought a dehydrator; we plan to use that for most of the hot peppers.



Do you grow peppers? What is your favorite?

Easy Edibles #3: Collecting Lettuce Seeds

This is my third post in a series I'm writing about easy edibles to collect and grow from seed. In my first, two posts I wrote about collecting radish seeds and pea seeds. Today, it's all about lettuce.

I have been collecting lettuce seeds for several years now. This year, I bought a packet of lettuce seed for the first time in probably 5 years. I only bought the packet because it was a beautiful purple variety that I didn't have. I love the color that the purple lettuce has added to my vegetable garden this year.

Beautiful lettuce

In order for it to set seed, lettuce first needs to bolt (i.e.: flower).

Lettuce bolted (flowering)

It's nice, because you can continue to harvest leaves off of the lettuce plants until they start to bolt.

Once they start to bolt, I pull most of the plants out for one last large harvest.

I always leave a few plants in the garden to set seed.

They aren't very pretty once they bolt, and the flowers are insignificant.

When the seeds are ready to harvest, the flower head will be dried out and have puffs of white cotton coming out around the top, similar to a dandelion.

The easiest way to collect the seeds is to carefully pinch the flower heads into a bucket or bag. Then break apart the flower head and the seeds will fall out. Allow the seeds to dry completely before storing. 

The seeds are small, flat and oval shaped. They can vary in color from dark gray-brown to almost white.

Lettuce seeds and flower heads

There will be a lot of chaff (flower head pieces and other plant debris) mixed in with the seeds. It's difficult to get rid of all the chaff with lettuce seeds. But don't worry, chaff won't affect the seeds ability to germinate.

Lettuce seeds do great using the winter sowing method. They can also be direct sown or started indoors. I find it easiest to either direct sown or winter sow the seeds. Lettuce will also reseed itself in the garden, which can be nice. The stuff that reseeds itself is ready to eat much earlier than the stuff I plant myself in the spring. Volunteer plants are easy to pull out if they become a nuisance.

If you get in the habit of collecting lettuce seeds every year, you'll never have to buy them again. You'll also be able to share with friends.

Other articles in this series:
Collecting Radish Seeds
Collecting Pea Seeds
Collecting Cilantro Seeds
Collecting Dill Seeds  

Weekly Harvest

The harvest has really started to pick up around here, soon I will be harvesting daily. The beans and cucumbers seem to grow to maturity over night. I have been canning and pickling like crazy, and I've decided to add those counts here weekly too. The dehydrator and steamer have also been working more this week, and will soon be working overtime.

Here's the harvest totals for this week...

Some of this weeks harvest

August 20th:

• 8lbs 7oz Cucumbers
• Canned 6 quarts pickles 

August 21st:

• 3oz Hot Banana Pepper
• 1oz Banana Pepper
• 11oz Crookneck Squash
• 3oz Cucumber
• 2oz Jalapeno
• 1oz Loco

August 22nd:

• 8oz Tomato
• 10oz Crookneck Squash

August 24th:

• 6oz Green Beans

August 25th:

• 2lbs 5oz Cucumbers
• 1lb 2oz Kohlrabi
• 3oz Banana Pepper
• 7oz Green pepper

Steamer working hard

What have you been harvesting?

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My totals so far (starting on 7/1 and excluding the salad greens and herbs):

• Casabella peppers: 3oz
  
• Collard greens: 7oz
• Crookneck squash: 3 lbs, 13oz
• Cucumbers:  27 lbs, 12oz
• Banana peppers:  1 lb 14oz
• Bell peppers:  2 lbs, 12oz
• Green beans:  8 lbs, 7oz
• Habenaro Pepper: 3oz 
• Hot Banana Pepper: 1 lb
• Jalapenos:  2 lbs, 2oz
• Kohlrabi:  2 lb, 14oz
• Loco Hot Pepper: 5oz 
• Okra: 2.5oz
• Peas:  1 lb, 11oz
• Rutabaga:  13oz 
• Squash:  1 lb 13oz
• Swiss Chard:  1oz
• Tabasco Pepper: 1oz 
• Tomatoes:  3 lbs, 13.5oz
• Turnip:  5 lbs, 10oz 

Canning totals:

• Green beans: 17 pints
• Pickles: 16 quarts
• Sweet Peppers: 4 pints

What I've canned so far

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Free Houseplant Giveaway!

Last year I gave away a big box of houseplants to two lucky winners. It was so much fun that I decided to do it again this year. I have a large collection of houseplants and always seem to have a bunch of extras.

Just a few of my houseplants

Now I get to share those extras with you again! I'll do the same type of contest I did last year, and choose two random winners at the end. Each winner will receive a box packed full of plants.

I have a large variety of common houseplants, as well as a variety of succulents and tropical plants in my collection. Each prize will include cuttings and divisions from a variety of these plants. I will choose the plants that I send, but I will include plants that you want if I have them.

A couple more in my houseplant collection

I'll give you two weeks to enter the contest (deadline is Friday, September 7th). Then I will pick two names randomly (via random.org) from all the people who entered the contest. You can enter your name in the drawing more than once, and there are several ways you can enter to win.

A few more of my houseplants

Here are all the ways you can enter to win (each one counts as one entry into the drawing, and none of them are mandatory)...

1. Leave a comment here and tell me your favorite houseplant (or type of houseplant), or your wishlist.  
2. Write a blog post about your favorite houseplant, or something houseplant related, and post the link here in the comments. (make sure to include a link back to this blog post on your blog post mentioning my contest)
3. Become a new follower of my blog
4. Like me on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/GetBusyGardening)
5. Start following me on Twitter (GetBusyGardenin - yes without the last 'g')
6. Start following me on Pinterest (http://pinterest.com/aschune/)
7. Start following me on Google+ (getbusygardening@gmail.com)
8. Share this contest on FB, retweet... ect.

**Important: Please make sure to post a comment listing each thing you do (ie: started following my blog, FB, Twitter...etc) - otherwise I won't be able to track the contest entries. Also please leave your email address in the comments if it's not on your blog's profile. Once I choose a winner, I will post it on my blog and I will contact the winner via email.

If you live outside of the Continental US, you can't win the plants (unfortunately).

I can't wait to see your lists of favorite plants, it's so much fun to read about everyone elses collections! So tell your friends, tell your family, tell you neighbors! And enter the contest now...

Late Summer To Do List

It's been so hot this summer, that it's been hard to get out in the garden. I don't know about you, but my gardens are looking pretty neglected right now. Now that the weather has started to cool down a bit, it's a great time to get out in the gardens and do some much needed maintenance. 

Trim back overgrown perennials - Tidy up the garden by trimming back overgrown perennials. Spring and early summer perennials can grow weedy and begin to die back in the late summer, taking away from the beauty of the plants that are blooming now. Trimming back tired perennials will make the current bloomers stand out, making your gardens look even more beautiful.

Late summer blooming perennials

Deadhead spent flowers - Deadheading means cutting faded flowers off a plant.

Deadhead plants to encourage more blooms

Deadheading encourages the plant to produce more blooms because they don't have to spend their energy producing seeds.

It keeps your plants blooming, and the garden looking tidy.

If you plan on collecting seeds, leave a few flower heads on the plant so they can develop seeds.



 
Weed prevention - The fall weeds will be setting seed soon. Save yourself some hard work by preventing weeds ahead of time. Now is a great time to refresh the mulch in the gardens, or add Preen (chemical weed inhibitor).

Refresh summer pots - This has been a tough summer for potted plants. They are probably looking worn out by now, and in need of some TLC. Give your potted plants a boost by trimming them back, deadheading, and adding fertilizer. If they are beyond saving, refresh them with some frost hardy annuals for beautiful fall color.

Trim the tomatoes - Tomato plants can grow huge over the hot summer months. It's good practice to trim them back for maximum tomato production. Cut off all the suckers, trim off leggy or weak growth, and remove any leaves that are burned or yellowing. Also, remove the leaves towards the bottom of the plant, especially the ones that are touching the ground.

Trim tomatoes for maximum tomato production

Squash vines growing on a trellis

Mind your vines -  Vine vegetables like beans, cucumbers and squash can can become bullies in the late summer garden.

Train and trim the vines to control the growth and keep them from growing on the surrounding plants.

If you don't grow your vines on trellises, consider doing this next year.

Trellises make taming and harvesting vine vegetables much easier.


Plant the second crops - Pull out the tired spring crops and plant the second crops. There's still time to start some stuff from seed, like lettuce, spinach and other leafy crops. For other cold weather crops, check your local nursery for seedlings, many garden centers sell cold crop seedlings this time of year.

Turn the compost bin - Turning the compost bin makes the compost break down faster. Also, add any compost that's ready to garden beds to replenish the nutrients.

This is a busy time of year, and most of our focus goes to harvesting and preserving the harvest. Taking some time to give your other garden areas some late summer TLC will keep everything looking as beautiful as it does in early summer.

Weekly Harvest

Whew, I can't believe it's already August 20th! Where has August gone? Soon we will be talking about the F (frost) word and protecting our gardens. Yuck! I am not ready for that.

On to a happier topic, this weeks harvest. This weeks theme was hot peppers, here's the list...

Habanero peppers

August 15th:

• 9oz Tomatoes
• 10oz Cucumbers

August 16th:

• 2oz Tomatoes
• 1oz Green Beans
• 1oz Swiss chard

Mix of hot peppers

 
August 17th:

• 11oz Hot Banana Pepper
• 3oz Habenaro Pepper
• 1oz Tabasco Pepper
• 4oz Loco Hot Pepper
• 1oz Okra

Drying hot peppers

August 19th:

• 2lb 6oz Green Beans

We dehydrated the hot peppers again.

We will use those for hot sauces, chili and other recipes to keep us warm this winter.

I also canned more green beans, and the rest I ate raw or steamed.

What have you been harvesting?

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My totals so far (starting on 7/1 and excluding the salad greens and herbs):

• Casabella peppers: 3oz
  
• Collard greens: 7oz
• Crook neck squash: 2lbs, 8oz
• Cucumbers:  16lbs, 13oz
• Banana peppers:  1lb 10oz
• Bell peppers:  2lb, 5oz
• Green beans:  8lbs, 1oz
• Habenaro Pepper: 3oz 
• Hot Banana Pepper: 13oz
• Jalapenos:  2lbs, 10oz
• Kohlrabi:  1lb, 12oz
• Loco Hot Pepper: 4oz 
• Okra: 2.5oz
• Peas:  1lb, 11oz
• Rutabaga:  13oz 
• Squash:  1lb 13oz
• Swiss Chard:  1oz
• Tabasco Pepper: 1oz 
• Tomatoes:  3lbs, 5.5oz
• Turnip:  5lbs, 10oz

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Easy Edibles #2: Collecting Pea Seeds

This is my second post in a series I'm writing about easy edibles to collect and grow from seed. Last week, I wrote about collecting radish seeds. Next is peas.

Peas ready to harvest

Pea seeds are one of the easiest types of seed to collect, and one of the most recognizable seeds.

The seeds are the peas inside the pods that we love to eat.

I collect seeds from my pea plants every year.

Most of the time I don't even think about leaving some on the plant for seeds.

I always seem to miss several pea pods during the harvest. By the time I notice them, they are yellow or brown. I usually find the bulk of them when I pull the plants out after they are done producing.

If you want to collect seeds from your pea plants, leave a few pea pods on the plant and allow them to turn brown and dry out.

Pea seeds are ready to collect when the pods are brown and the seeds rattle around in the pod. The pods don't have to be completely dried out, but that's a good indication they are ready too.

To collect the seeds, simply break open the pod; usually the seeds will just fall out. The seeds will be wrinkly and hard. Depending on the variety, they might be light green or tan in color.  Be sure to allow the seeds to dry out completely before storing.

Pea seeds and pods

Pea seeds germinate best when started indoors or direct sown. They don't do well with the winter sowing method, the seeds tend to rot.

Keeping seeds from the peas you grew in your garden is fun. This way you can grow the varieties you love year after year, and it won't cost you a dime.

Other articles in this series:
Collecting Radish Seeds
Collection Lettuce Seeds
Collecting Cilantro Seeds
Collecting Dill Seeds

Garden Gate Unveiled

On my Facebook page last week, I posted this picture of my garden gate and asked people what color I should paint it. Well, I had almost 100 suggestions of colors and other creative ways I could paint my gate. It was a hard decision.

Garden gate waiting to be painted

I was torn between barn red, orange/terracotta or blue. In the end I chose blue because it's a color I don't have in my garden. I already have tons of red, orange and terracotta. I wanted this gate to stand out and not blend in with the rest of the yard.

Painted garden gate

I took the advice of some of my Facebook followers and used stain rather than paint, but the colors were more limited. There were only two blues, so it was either this or light blue. I wish it was a brighter blue, but when the sun shines on it, it looks brilliant. I'm happy with it.

Garden gate after painting

Accent pots filled with flowers

Like I said, I don't have any other blue accents in the garden, so now I get to have fun adding them.

I found these three pots and filled them with flowers in complimentary colors.

Don't they look awesome?

Plus I have tons of stain left, and I plan to paint a few other things for accent pieces.

(Look out tomato cages, I have my eye on you...)

Thank you to everyone who made suggestions on how to give my garden gate new life! It was tons of fun to read all of the comments, some of you had me laughing!

So, what do you think?

How to Clean Terracotta Pots

Terracotta pots have a timeless beauty and can last for several years if given some TLC once and a while. One of the advantages of using terracotta pots is that they can absorb water, and help prevent over-watering (I use them for all of my succulents and cacti).

But, terracotta pots also absorb fertilizers, salts and other chemicals in the water. Over time, these will build up and create a crusty residue on your beautiful pots.

Crusty residue on a terracotta pot

The good news is, it doesn't take much time to give new life to your terracotta pots. Don't buy new pots, you can save yourself tons of money with just a little elbow grease. 

Check this out, I recently got a bunch of free clay pots from a nice lady on Craigslist. There were about 25 various sized pots in total, awesome score! These are old and looking worse for wear, but I can see the beauty that lies beneath all that grime.

Crusty old terracotta pots

Here's how I cleaned them...

Step 1: Remove any loose dirt.  Brush off as much dirt as you can, but you don't have to get it all off. I got this fancy pot brush for Christmas a few years back, but you don't need to go out and buy one of these. Before I got this brush, I used a cheap toilet brush that I bought for a few dollars (but please don't use an old toilet brush - yuck!)

Remove loose dirt from terracotta pot

Step 2: Soak pots in vinegar/water solution.  Ideally, you would use 1 cup of white vinegar (5% acidity) for every 3-4 cups of water. The less vinegar you use, the longer you'll need to soak the pots. Completely submerge the pots in the solution. You may hear a sizzling sounds or see bubbles. Don't worry; that's a combination of the vinegar doing it's job at dissolving the buildup, and the pot absorbing the water. I start by soaking the pots for 20-30 minutes. If the buildup wipes or scrubs off easily, they're done. Otherwise, I'll soak them longer. Keep checking until all the residue is easy to remove. You may need to use your brush to scrub it off.

Soak terracotta pots in vinegar/water solution

For really tough crusty buildup, you can soak the pot in pure vinegar (here I'm just soaking the rim of the pot where the buildup is the worse). If you soak the entire pot in vinegar, you might want to soak it in water afterward to dilute the vinegar that the pot absorbed.

Soak terracotta pot in vinegar to remove tough crusty buildup

Step 3: Run through the dishwasher. As a last step, I run the pots through the quick wash cycle on my dishwasher. This will help to disinfect the pots and clean them. If you don't have a dishwasher, you can scrub the pots in soapy water (will require a little extra elbow grease).

That's it, I told you it was easy. As for those dirty old pots I got for free. Well, here's what they look like now...

Clean, shiny and new looking terracotta pots

Can you believe these are the same pots? Seriously, this took about 30 minutes of my time (not counting the time I let the pots soak, and the time it took for the dishwasher to run) and I have what look like brand new terracotta pots.

I'm pretty sure it's been several years since these pots have been cleaned (if ever). It's good practice to clean terracotta pots every time you use them to keep them looking beautiful, and prevent pests and diseases.

What do you think of my free pots now?

This Weeks Harvest

I had a busy and very productive weekend. I got lots of cleanup work done in the gardens, and harvested a bunch of stuff too. Plus, I spent some time cooking and preserving my harvests. Whew, it's a busy time of year in the garden!

This week I harvested the following...

Squash harvest

August 8th:

• 4oz Tomatoes
• 4oz Green Peppers
• 1oz Habenaro

5lbs of green beans

August 10th:

• 1lb 13oz Squash
• 7oz Kohlrabi
• 1oz Green Beans

August 12th:

• 1oz Habenaro
• 1lb 3oz Banana Pepper
• 1lb Bell Pepper
• 4oz Tomatoes
• 4oz 'Loco' hot pepper
• 2oz Okra
• 3oz Casabella Pepper
• 2oz Peas
• 5lbs Green Beans

Colorful harvest

Yesterday I canned the beans and peppers. Ended up with 12 pint jars of beans and 4 pint jars of sweet peppers. Look how pretty they are...

Canned 12 jars green beans and 4 jars peppers

What about you, what have you been harvesting?

My totals so far (starting on 7/1 and excluding the salad greens and herbs):

• Casabella peppers: 3oz
  
• Collard greens: 7oz
• Crook neck squash: 2lbs, 8oz
• Cucumbers:  16lbs, 3oz
• Banana peppers:  1lb 10oz
• Bell peppers:  2lb, 5oz
• Green beans:  5lbs, 10oz
• Habenaro: 2oz
• Jalapenos:  2lbs, 10oz
• Kohlrabi:  1lb, 12oz
• Okra: 2oz
• Peas:  1lb, 11oz
• Rutabaga:  13oz 
• Squash:  1lb 13oz
• Tomatoes:  2lbs, 10.5oz
• Turnip:  5lbs, 10oz

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