Decided to harvest some pepper corns to make white pepper. My first harvest in 2 years. Grown in a greenhouse. I think I'm up to 300 seedling transplants of Cole crops. I haven't started any pepper seeds yet. Only tomato seeds for the greenhouse and they will be ready for their containers after this cold snap. It's cooler at the other end and figure they will stall out growing from cooler container mix.

Pepper

Pepper Niger is the name of it.

Those peppercorns are really cool.

My halapeno and Thai peppers came up more quickly than I thought, and I didn’t have the lights on yet, so I’m starting those over today. I forgot they’re quicker than bell peppers.

No signs of life in any of my wintersown containers yet, except my bunching onions. I’ve finished tomatoes and perennials, gett getting ready to start my annuals. My guess is around 200 jugs and 3-4 sterilite containers. My yard swallows a lot of plants, and I’m planning on sharing with a couple friends and the fling.

HJ, you could start a WS test jug or two. Just need a couple jugs, tape, potting soil, and seeds. Start some zinnias like I usually give you, or basil. Both WS well.

I’m going to trial a couple new disease resistant hybrids this year. Big Beef Plus, Celebrity Plus, and Better Boy Plus. Second year trialing Early Girl Plus. I should have a few to share.

Just waiting on my nursery to get their onions and seed potatoes in. I can hopefully get a load of chicken poop compost at the same time.

Also needs the weather to be warm enough on a weekend when i have nothing else going on that i can finish cleaning up and plant them.

Hi Friends.

Thanks for starting the thread, Lynn.

We've had an active weekend and I can't believe the work week starts again in a few short hours. lol

We came home early from a Superbowl party because we really don't care about football and the amount of "upset" at the way the game was going was messing with my energy levels.

Rebecca, I really need to get my life together and do some zinnias and basil in jugs. Is it too late? We don't really drink milk and when I do buy it, it's often in cartons. What sort of jugs would the do well in besides the milk ones? How about those clam shells that lettuce comes in?

Most of the herbs are showing up now, even the lavender and I didn't stratify it. Oddly, the parsley hasn't show up. And the valerian....and a couple of others that aren't coming to my mind right now. But, everything else is showing up.

In a week or so, I'll start the peppers and tomatoes and maybe a few other things.

I always feel like I'm a month behind mentally. I don't like it. I just need an extra month to get ready for spring. And for the holidays too.

My order of Dixon Dale onions should be here Tuesday. I will have to wait for the garden to dry before I can get my tractor in to prepare a row for them. I'm only planting 5 bundles this year. I knew I should have waited until the end of the month to have them shipped.

I was hoping the ground would dry enough to plant next week. I might plant a few in the greenhouse.

Rebecca, I planted Big Beef Plus in 2022. But results were inconclusive because that was a terrible year for tomatoes, worst year I'd ever had.

I grow Big Beef. Have for years, And was curious about BB Plus, so I ordered the seed again this year. Will see how it goes. Its a popular choice at Johnny's.

From Johnny's site, it appears the major diff between Big Beef and Big Beef Plus is disease resistance. Maybe the BB Plus will help with the blight that kills my plants.

Plus has these two, that BB does not

Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus (Intermediate)

Fusarium Crown and Root Rot (High)

Big Beef(F1) Tomato Seed

Nice combination of size, taste, and earliness.

Still unsurpassed as the top choice for fresh market beefsteak tomatoes. Large, avg. 10–12 oz., mostly blemish-free, globe-shaped red fruit. They have full flavor—among the best—and ripen early for their size. Broad disease resistance package. AAS Winner. Indeterminate.

Disease Resistance:

• Alternaria Stem Canker (High)

• Fusarium Wilt races 1, 2 (High)

• Gray Leaf Spot (High)

• Nematodes (High)

• Tobacco Mosaic Virus (High)

• Verticillium Wilt (High)

Big Beef Plus(F1) Tomato Seed

An even better Big Beef.

One of the best-loved beefsteaks, now with improved flavor, color, and adaptability. Sweeter than the original, with added TSWV resistance for protection in warmer climates. Crimson gene lends a richer red internal color. Very similar in size, shape, and yield to Big Beef. Indeterminate.

Disease Resistance:

• Alternaria Stem Canker (High)
• Fusarium Crown and Root Rot (High)
• Fusarium Wilt races 1, 2 (High)
• Gray Leaf Spot (High)
• Nematodes (Intermediate)
• Tomato Mosaic Virus (High)
• Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus (Intermediate)
• Verticillium Wilt (High)

Has anyone grown sunchokes or jeru artichokes

I have tried sunchokes, but I have gophers so bad I only got a few of what looked like a large harvest. If I try chokes again they will have to be protected in some way. One of the things we did not like about the chokes was they were hard to clean. The chokes produced very well till the gophers found them.

After this cold snap I plan to try some winter sow with a different twist We dont drink milk from jugs and only jugs I have are distilled water once in awhile so I am planning to try to use the cloches I got from Dollar Tree last couple of years. Think that will work? And I can plant where I want them to grow and not transplant. My peppers are still not up, planted 4 days ago. I expected at least a few to pop by now. The birds have been emptying feeders faster than I can fill them, problem is having several crows - that I do not like.

Kim , I tried artichokes some years back.

I remember they were a lot like growing horse radish , , except in taste.

Been so long now , don't remember how they tasted , maybe like a watered down potato..?

It's something different to try.

farmergardener , birds can be a problem for early spring planting.

Either digging up a fresh planting of seed or picking at the shoots later.

Crows are bad , so's black birds. and those chick birds with the striped heads.

Another thing about birds, they can seed out a fencerow with something like poison ivy.

Rick

I grew Jerusalem artichokes at my old house. I planned to use as a substitute for water chestnuts, so you can gather from that, not a distinctive taste. You have to watch them, there's a lot of undigestable fiber which gives some people bad gas. 10 years after we moved the neighbor was still trying to get rid of them.

Always wanted to try pepper corns. I'm curious is white pepper Milder?

Good to know y’all. I am really looking for a potato substitute besides cassava. I do believe I will grow it in a pot.

Onions came today. Some of the Texas Legend have large bulbs. but there’s plenty of good sized ones too.

I posted the last post from my phone.

I might look for another bundle of Texas Legend locally, because although there are some decent sized bulbs, a lot of them are too big really.

I splurged on some of their onion fertilizer.

Yesterday was rough. I woke up with the worst headache and tried to work but ended up coming home from work. Part of the problem is I took Advil on an empty stomach at 5 am and that caused me to throw up and they entire day just was a waste.

You know how when you have a normal feeling day after a really bad one....it feels like such a blessing. It feels good to feel good.

Some of you might have seen the Facebook post last night. Luckily I was feeling somewhat better when I made the post although my voice sounds weird (weirder than usual). I am very happy with the germination on this first round of seedlings.

A friend hinted around about me starting a Sungold for her. Long story, but I'm glad I checked my tomato seeds because I am completely out of Sungold seed and ordered some. Along with some lunchbox peppers. I did save some seed from 2 years ago. It was seed from store-bought peppers and they did okay. Actually better than okay. But, I wanted to order new seed because I use those little peppers a lot.

I need to order some larger peat pellets for the tomatoes and peppers. Once I get those in, I'll probably start those seeds. Hopefully the Sungold comes in soon. I sorta now remember using the last of the Sungold to start fall tomatoes last year.

I want to grow regular artichoke because I use it so often in cooking. Tried it a couple of times but it failed. Need to try again. Kim, I've never tried the Jerusalem artichoke or sunchokes. One of the YouTubers was going to put them away from her garden. Jessica maybe? Makes me think they're quite vigorous. A pot is a good idea.

Jennifer, I hope you’re feeling better. I had a headache for three days last week. That was absolutely no fun at all. It really does slow me down a little. I think it was just talking about SUNCHOKES. It is a great substitute for potatoes for people that have blood sugar issues so I am going to give it a try as long as you cook them thoroughly. You should not have any of the side effects.

The thing with sun chokes is you have to leave them in the ground until you use them. They will shrivel up to nothing if you harvest them and try to store them like a potato. I've grown them but never ate any. Rumor is it can make you gassy.

It would be good for hard times if you had an area you could plant and forget about.

busy1, I think that's what the YouTuber did. Put them in an area away from their garden, but they would be there for hard times if needed.

I am happy to have a bad weather day at home. I've sorted through our "important" papers. Haven't done that in months. Got our papers together for our tax appointment this afternoon. Always makes me nervous--taxes.

Laundry and getting the kombucha going again.

Also found the missing pears in the freezer. I knew they were in there somewhere.

It was nice to sleep to 730 this morning. Really nice.

I do feel bad for the people who had to get out today. Tom went in a couple of hours late. I'm afraid the roads won't be much better when we go to our tax appointment.

I started Whole 30 on a bad week. I sure would like to be baking cookies and bread. Oh well.

I would like to be baking cookies and bread too. For some reason I was craving stuffing so I got some and made that with some chicken. It just seemed like a nice warm meal for a cold yucky day. I am so ready to get in the garden. But it looks like it will be at least another week to 10 days.

About fertilizing for onions.

I'm way behind in amending my ground due to all the winter weather.

Thinking about applying some 10-20-10 right in the furrow while planting out onion bundles.

I know Dixondale has their own product for that but it's expensive.

Any thoughts?

Rick

I use 10-20-10 and 13-13-13 all the time because I cant afford the other stuff. I still have quite a bit left from my wildlife gardening, and food plot days. When we had the problem a few years ago I tried to stock up because of supply chain. Even when I lived in town years ago I would buy fertilizer in 50 pound bags and store it in milk jugs. I have tried the high dollar stuff a few times, I could not tell it was worth the extra cost. If you only buy a few pounds a year it does not matter about cost per pound. I am high on compost, and backing that up when necessary with the 50# bags of the cheaper stuff from the Farmers Co-op. If I just use the fertilizer on my garden a bag will last for years, but you need to store in and keep it dry.

I almost never put chemical fertilizer in contact with seeds or young roots, I side dress when I can, and water it in after the seed or plant is established.

I've had OSU test my soil every year for at least 15 years. They've never recommended anything but nitrogen. I've read that most soils in this area have an over abundance of phosphorus and potassium. OSU says I'll never need to add those.

It takes a couple of weeks to get the results, but I find it helpful to get it tested. They don't recommend annual tests, but I like to see what's going on with it.

I have a small garden, so its not a big expense, but when I need to add nitrogen I buy the 46-0-0 from Amazon. I've no doubt the 36-0-0 would work the same and that can be found in 40 pound bags most everywhere, I get it at Ace Hardware for the lawn.

Nitrogen from Amazon, Five pounds for $16

Here's a 14 pound bag of 29-0-4 from Ace Hardware for $25

The earlier I get the soil test done, the quicker the results. And I need to do that now as last year, my PH was dropping below 6 . I added lime last fall and I'm curious if its yet to act. It takes lime a long time to change the PH. Tomatoes like PH between 6 and 7 .

The hands down best onions I ever grew I used buffalo manure compost tea. Every Sunday I watered a trench I made between the rows of onions. Then I would fill the tank up stir and let sit until the next week. I grew over 200 onions that year and they were the best. I sold at market that year and people lined up for onions. That reminds me I need to go get some manure next trip to the panhandle.

Farmgardenerok: Yes, cloches do work with wintersowing. I usually cut my milk jugs in half when I plant them out, which means I have two cloches for the next year.

HJ, you should have said something. I'm almost positive I have some sungold seeds left. I might have even started some already, I forget what all I started lol.

I'm not very good about fertilizing. Usually I just dump some fish emulsion on everything and call it good. I have been experimenting with fermented weeds. They have some fancy name for it but it's basically a bucket full of weeds, spent plants, rotted fruits, etc, filled with water and left to sit until it stinks horribly. Then dilute it and use as a liquid drench. Most things last year did better than the previous year, so I'm optimistic about the results.

I started a few seeds (mostly micro varieties) several weeks ago, then started the annual "Superbowl Sunday Seeds". I already have a few micros sprouted, itty bitty tiny things still but full of promise. Plus, since they can grow in as little as a gallon, I plan to bring them indoors once they're big enough to transplant. Right now I'm hoping that grow tent keeps things warm enough. I'll have to go out later today and check it, but last year it kept right above freezing even during the cold snap.

A friend contacted me this week about an idea she has. She has some idea around "food, gardening, data and health". And being a data geek, I'm intrigued. Plants and numbers, science and gardens. Count me in! We're supposed to meet up for lunch sometime to discuss it. There's a Youtuber I enjoy that does different experiments in his garden, then posts the results. Things like growing crops in a dozen different methods and then comparing the harvest results. Yes, I wave my geek flag proudly.

I had grand daughter buy me some cloches last year, but I never used them. From what I am gathering, these will do to winter sow under? If so, what is the best plant to winter sow under these? I got these for frost protection, I never thought that they would be UV resistant enough for winter sowing, if so I can go plant some things in the garden now. I think that I have around 15 of these.

When I planted my pepper seed, I had a packet of banana pepper, that I'd gotten from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange in 2021. I was gonna toss em in the trash. Banana pepper is not a big deal with Mrs Dollar.

But instead, I planted them, thinking not many would germinate. And it took a while, but I got almost 100% germination. And now I have 28 baby banana pepper plants and I can only put one in the garden.

Just when you least expect it .............................

Jen, I used to use fish emulsion and I left my quart bottle outside one time and a neighbor‘s dog stole the whole jug of fertilizer. I decided I better not take a chance using it with random dogs. They might come dig up my garden. I get my Espoma Fertilizer cheap at Ace Hardware. They send me coupons for five dollars off five dollar purchase all the time. I use those to get stuff for free or about half price. I got their calendar too and it has coupons in it Lynn that is great germination especially for Baker Creek. Larry, my sister got me a couple of those cloche. I did use them to keep the bugs off of a couple of small plants last year.

Looks like we're going to have a few more frigid nights. Still to wet here to do anything anyway.

That’s very true. We are still very wet here as well. I do have three mountains of mulch. I need to move as soon as I can get outside.

Beautiful day spent at the basketball games. Got home and it is 50° and very windy. It looks like I won’t be able to work outside at all until next weekend.

There will be no outside gardening here for awhile either, Kim. It wasn't bad when I went out this morning to feed everyone, but it's unpleasant now.

I did sort through my onions because I need to take some of them to a friend tomorrow. I also bagged up some of the 3 varieties of cucumbers that I'm trying this year. She wants to try them too.

If my Sungold seed was here, I would start tomato seed tonight. I'll wait another week and if it's not here at that time, I'll start the others.

This year we really need to focus on making some repairs on things like the coop. It's been 7 and a half years since we repurposed it to be a coop. The pen that is attached needs some work as well. Things need maintenance once in awhile and we've been neglectful.

Still plan on growing plenty of food, flowers and herbs, tho.

We took my Mom furniture shopping this morning and to lunch. And got a few things done inside. We might just relax tonight. Watch some TV.

I'm concerned that I might not be able to make it to Edmond on Tuesday. Maybe if the weather comes in later in the evening. I'll go to work on Monday to get some things done just in case things are shut down Wednesday and Thursday.

What's everyone else up to this weekend?

Snowing here in OKC.

Rick

I’m not opposed to snow if I can stay home. I need to do so many things I can’t see straight

Madge, and I tried to have a "together" day yesterday for Valentines day. We went out to eat, and she wanted to go shopping, so I went to Harbor Freight to walk around. and look at all the stuff that I don't need. We also went out to eat this morning, and I bought a few plant supplies at the Co-op.

I bought a small container of what was listed as Iris a few days ago. I potted them up into a larger pot, and they shot up like crazy. These plants are not what I expected. They look like something that I already have that I have been trying to get rid of for years. The plants that I have outside I call Japanese Iris. I am not sure of these plants, can anyone tell me what they are?

Jennifer, I hope to start a few tomato seeds tonight also. I started over 200 pepper seeds the 13th. I started the pepper seeds with my "new to me" 105 count cell inserts, which I had sorry luck with the last time I tried them. If I start tomato seeds tonight, I plan on going back to my favorite method, which is just making 3 meatloaf size mounds of potting soil across a seed tray, and planting rows of seeds along the tops of each meatloaf. When the seedlings get large enough to pot up I just lift them out with a plastic fork, and place them in a container. I seem to get by handling fewer containers that way. I expect to plant 75 or 80 seeds tonight. I normally do this after Madge goes to bed, so I wont be in her way in the kitchen.

I plan on potting up seedlings in this terrible cold spell the next two days. And canning apples. I have over 50# to put up and I want to get it all done. I also plan on doing a few more jugs to set out WS. When I get back home I am getting row cover back out for onions and cabbages

I plan on potting up a few things also. I also found a bottle of pepper seeds that were not marked, I may fix up a milk jug for winter sow with these seeds in it just to see what kind of peppers they are.

Our low for Ft. Smith is predicted to be 7 degrees this week, so I may try to plant my 3 bundles of onions by this week end. I also plan to start a few tomato seeds.

I started a new thread.