RIP Aconcagua Pepper

Oh well.

I came back from our honeymoon and all the peppers on the plant were dead and the leaves were droopy and falling off/nibbled to bits.  I'm thinking bugs, based on all the nibbles.  Aconcagua peppers are not really common in Maryland- I doubt I'd try them again. 

See you all in 2 days,

Christine

The Peppers of Leggett Farms

California Wonder bell pepper from the craigslist sale in May.

After making me feel like a terrible gardener for months, my pepper plants finally decided it was time to make some peppers.  As you can see above, that bell pepper is well on its way to being on my plate.  The healthy bell pepper plant has 3 peppers growing on it right now, the other two being much smaller than the one pictured above.

Click for more peppers!

Seeing Even More Red

Four. Four cayenne peppers.  So, what do you do when you have 4 freshly picked cayenne peppers?  You string them up and dry them!  Once they're all dried up I'll chop them up super finely and they will be red pepper flakes.  Stringing up the peppers is kind of a no-brainer.  All you need is a needle, thread, clear tape, a sun-facing window, and, well, the peppers. 

A New Addition to the Raised Bed Garden

As I've probably mentioned a few times, we live down the street from a sort of permanent farmer's market.  They grow corn and loads of petunias, which they sell in giant hanging baskets.  I was drawn into their store the other day because of a giant 30% OFF LILACS AND AZALEAS! sign (woohoo for my lovely lilac).  While wandering around the store, I noticed a table with a little sign that said, FREE.  The table was covered in some sickly looking plants, mainly tomatoes of the roma variety.  When I say sickly looking, I mean practically dead, leaves shriveled, mostly-brown plants.  Call me an optimist (or unrealistic), but I decided to take home a California wonder sweet bell pepper plant.  I already have one California wonder, but it hasn't done much except get big.  No flowers, no nothing.  So, when I saw this California wonder with two wee flowers, I thought, "Why not?"

Most of the leaves had been cut off, but the flowers still grew.

Magic Beans? I Mean Peppers...

I remember being a child and feeling wonder at the small bulb of a burgeoning tomato that, mere days before, was but a flower.   Well, my cayenne peppers are giving all tomatoes ever a run for their money.  Yesterday, I took a picture of the largest of the cayenne peppers.  Voila:

Aww look at the flower aka future pepper in the background.

As you can see from the scale of my fingers since I have no rulers, the pepper is approximately 1.5 fingers wide.  That was yesterday morning.  This afternoon, 28 hours later...

What? I don't even...

Uhhh... it is now approximately 2-2.5 fingers long and beefier in every way.  Go, pepper, go!  There are now 4 peppers on the plant in addition to this one that are the size this pepper was yesterday, so this baby is producin'.  I'm sure that I'm not mixing up peppers because this one is at the very top of the plant and the next pepper down is quite a ways down. 

Between the tomatoes I'm growing, cilantro, and cayenne peppers, I'm going to have the summer of the salsa, it seems.

Stay spicy,

Christine

Leggett Farms

Tiny success.

We've had our first success here at Leggett Farms (which is what I have decided to call my wee vegetable garden. Suck it, spellcheck. No, I do not mean Legged Farms).  Above, you can see my very first cayenne pepper.  The first pepper started popping not too long after I put the plant into the garden bed.  I probably would have had the first growth 2 weeks ago if I had moved the plant sooner.

Protip: big plants don't like living in little Styrofoam cups.

The cayenne plant is about 1.5 ft tall and has a plethora of flowers and buds, all of which have the potential to become chilies like this little guy.  Right now, I'm watering the garden once a day and adding a little Miracle Grow all purpose plant food every 14 days.

Have a spicy day!

Christine

Houston.. we have sprouts!

Whoaaa

Against all odds, the cilantro, basil, AND serrano chilis have sprouted (far right column).  That packet of seeds traveled all over the world, lived on a bookcase for 2 years, then the bottom of a box for 2, and finally... sprouted.  In fact, they've actually sprouted more little shoots than the basil has. 

In other news, I am sad to say RIP to my original basil, parsley, and rosemary plants.  Some sort of bacteria/fungus took them over.  I'm in the middle of moving, so I kind of didn't treat them until it was too late.  Plus side: I've got new basil on the way!

Craigslist Gardening

I was looking for nearby yard sales on craigslist when I happened upon a gardener's dream come true: herbs! fruit! veggies! $1 per plant already sprouted with soil in a little Styrofoam cup! I just had to stop by and I ended up picking up 5 plants.  They are all grown at home by this guy: http://www.therustedgarden.blogspot.com/  Apparently he does the sprout sale once a year.  Not too shabby at all.  I ended up picking out these bad boys:

Cucumbers

Bell pepper- California Wonder variety

Cayenne pepper for my spice-loving fiance

Green zucchini! Two plants that should really spread out.

Aconcagua! Which is.. apparently a type of sweet pepper that's long and narrow

All and all, I'm terribly excited.  I might need to briefly re-pot them before I plant them since we're moving in a few weeks and it will take some time to build and secure the raised bed garden of my dreams.  That is, if a raised bed is even possible.  I might have to plant the garden on the sloping side of the house due to the sun- the house faces exactly South-East and I doubt my future husband wants tomatoes on the front lawn.

Total money spent gardening today: $5.00

Grow grow grow,

Christine