Gardening: My Tomatoe and Pepper Progress

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I haven't eaten a lot of deer, but would love to try more of it. Every time I have had elk I have really enjoyed it.

So it hailed over an inch of hail by my house today. I am so pissed I think my wife got the Gardens covered. If she didn't i have to go through like an insurance adjuster. This keep, this a loss, etc... you might be able to see the smoke coming out of my ears if you look towards the sky. The cages help cover them you throw the tarp on the tops of the cages.
 
Ps, the kabobs and tabbouleh look great. Thank you for the recipe. You weren't joking about the parsley. I have no problems with that. I love Epicurious and Gourmet magazine especially.
 
applescrap said:
Ps, the kabobs and tabbouleh look great. Thank you for the recipe. You weren't joking about the parsley. I have no problems with that. I love Epicurious and Gourmet magazine especially.
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I haven't got those, but I did subscribe to the print and online Cooks Illustrated and it was solid gold, every issue. I mean solid gold. I held onto them forever. But all it takes is one de-cluttering frenzy and gone.
 
I love deer, grew up eating lots of it, plenty of squirrel and rabbit too but nothing beats a good pot of deer chili. You can make your own chili powder out of those habs, but I would recommend mixing some other milder peppers in though, or blending it with some store bought. You just need to smoke the peppers a little, maybe put a slight char on them before or after, then if they are not dried completely finish drying them, (food dehydrator works fine) and then use something like a coffee grinder to make your powder. I like to mix in some paprika for fun.

Those pools look like they work well. I've got a cool homemade gardening gizmo I will take some pics of when I get a chance this week.

I have been so busy, finding out that the wife is pregnant, remodeling the house, planning for a vacation to San Diego to visit the in-laws, and trying like hell to get my electric brewery up and going. Phew!
 
passedpawn said:
I haven't got those, but I did subscribe to the print and online Cooks Illustrated and it was solid gold, every issue. I mean solid gold. I held onto them forever. But all it takes is one de-cluttering frenzy and gone.
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Me too passedpawn, :) it was my Christmas gift. I love the show and mag. i dont get gourmet magazine but love it. When we cut cable and used antenna got pbs and americas test kitchen. So happy, this one says cooks country? But others say cooks illl. I think.

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estricklin said:
I love deer, grew up eating lots of it, plenty of squirrel and rabbit too but nothing beats a good pot of deer chili. You can make your own chili powder out of those habs, but I would recommend mixing some other milder peppers in though, or blending it with some store bought. You just need to smoke the peppers a little, maybe put a slight char on them before or after, then if they are not dried completely finish drying them, (food dehydrator works fine) and then use something like a coffee grinder to make your powder. I like to mix in some paprika for fun.

Those pools look like they work well. I've got a cool homemade gardening gizmo I will take some pics of when I get a chance this week.

I have been so busy, finding out that the wife is pregnant, remodeling the house, planning for a vacation to San Diego to visit the in-laws, and trying like hell to get my electric brewery up and going. Phew!
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Cogratulations! Was wondering what you were up to. Send pics, of garden and electric, would love to see.
 
estricklin said:
I love deer, grew up eating lots of it, plenty of squirrel and rabbit too but nothing beats a good pot of deer chili. You can make your own chili powder out of those habs, but I would recommend mixing some other milder peppers in though, or blending it with some store bought. You just need to smoke the peppers a little, maybe put a slight char on them before or after, then if they are not dried completely finish drying them, (food dehydrator works fine) and then use something like a coffee grinder to make your powder. I like to mix in some paprika for fun.

Those pools look like they work well. I've got a cool homemade gardening gizmo I will take some pics of when I get a chance this week.

I have been so busy, finding out that the wife is pregnant, remodeling the house, planning for a vacation to San Diego to visit the in-laws, and trying like hell to get my electric brewery up and going. Phew!
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Grats!! :mug::)
 
Glad it worked. Your work is clean, what is the advantage over hose?

I'm still messin' around with the floats; have little leaks here and there. Not enough to really worry about. Pleasantly the t's aren't leaking. At this point I'll just shoot some pictures here and there. I need to build some more just to have stuff to post! Mostly I really want net cups to make lettuce, herbage, and spinach. Sub-irrigated In trays with 1/4 inch water. And you guessed it....dank hops. I think a Walmart bag will be perfect to contain the Hops from taking over your yard. Last year I built a really cool sprinkler for my kids and the turd cracked. Anyways I'm thinking it could work as a hop or green bean trellis. Here's a pic in case anybody wants to make it. This isn't mine but mine looks similar.

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applescrap said:
Glad it worked. Your work is clean, what is the advantage over hose?

I'm still messin' around with the floats; have little leaks here and there. Not enough to really worry about. Pleasantly the t's aren't leaking. At this point I'll just shoot some pictures here and there. I need to build some more just to have stuff to post! Mostly I really want net cups to make lettuce, herbage, and spinach. Sub-irrigated In trays with 1/4 inch water. And you guessed it....dank hops. I think a Walmart bag will be perfect to contain the Hops from taking over your yard. Last year I built a really cool sprinkler for my kids and the turd cracked. Anyways I'm thinking it could work as a hop or green bean trellis. Here's a pic in case anybody wants to make it. This isn't mine but mine looks similar.
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I need the hose to be able to water the tons of old fashioned potted plants we have around the back yard, and the peppers and herbs I have in the ground. And it will be interesting to see exactly how much water the plants are using each day (and that is lost to evaporation).

I think the sprinkler thing looks cool! I would play in it when it's 105 degrees here! Probably too little for hops, but should work great for green beans.
 
Staestc said:
I need the hose to be able to water the tons of old fashioned potted plants we have around the back yard, and the peppers and herbs I have in the ground. And it will be interesting to see exactly how much water the plants are using each day (and that is lost to evaporation).

I think the sprinkler thing looks cool! I would play in it when it's 105 degrees here! Probably too little for hops, but should work great for green beans.
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I lose very little to evaporation. For example, new plants in my pots only need to be watered once or twice a week. Mature plants need water twice a day now. Ugh. Tomatoes are voracious drinkers!

I've definitely got to catch up to you guys with trough and float valve.
 
passedpawn said:
I lose very little to evaporation. For example, new plants in my pots only need to be watered once or twice a week. Mature plants need water twice a day now. Ugh. Tomatoes are voracious drinkers!

I've definitely got to catch up to you guys with trough and float valve.
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Are you going to go rain gutter system? Larry nailed a rain gutter that is 10 feet long to two 10 foot long 2 by 4's. He started with cleats for support but later realized they were not necessary. From there you end cap them and put float in. There are detailed instructions online.
 
Staestc said:
I need the hose to be able to water the tons of old fashioned potted plants we have around the back yard, and the peppers and herbs I have in the ground. And it will be interesting to see exactly how much water the plants are using each day (and that is lost to evaporation).

I think the sprinkler thing looks cool! I would play in it when it's 105 degrees here! Probably too little for hops, but should work great for green beans.
Click to expand...

I use a brass y splitter. One side to the floats and the other for hose. Just an option. Yeah it was fun, cheap to make too. Never got hole size dialed in though
 
applescrap said:
Are you going to go rain gutter system? Larry nailed a rain gutter that is 10 feet long to two 10 foot long 2 by 4's. He started with cleats for support but later realized they were not necessary. From there you end cap them and put float in. There are detailed instructions online.
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Hey that's a good idea. I'll scour the webz tonight for plans. Thanks!
 
passedpawn said:
Hey that's a good idea. I'll scour the webz tonight for plans. Thanks!
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Ill find it for you. Larry then put carpet around them that he got used scraps of to keep weeds away. Then you can tell people to take their shoes off in your garden :).
 
applescrap said:
Check this out he used a float in 1 bucket to keep them all filled. It's not even a nice kerick valve.

Watch "2012 Bucket Garden Automatic Watering System Part 1" on YouTube
https://youtu.be/Tcw4NNCNbr8

And the rain gutter this will get you started

Watch "How To Build A Self Watering Rain Gutter Grow System!" on YouTube
https://youtu.be/GRQzhFBCot4
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My head is spinning with ideas. Thanks. I might put a return on the end of the trough, and a little aquarium pump in there to keep the water flowing to avoid problems with mosquitos. Otherwise, looks easy enough.
 
You're welcome. I use these and they are absolutely necessary. I use about a half in each pool. Larry says they are non toxic and ok to use. You know how quickly the water goes, so at some point it's getting refreshed fairly rapidly no? Happy gardening

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Lol. According to the web site you can use mosquito dunks and guppies and the fish will be fine.

I went with pipe approach to avoid mosquito concerns and to minimize water usage.

I have another answer to the question regarding what the advantage of my bucket is over a direct hose connection. Actually two. The bucket will allow the water to off gas chlorine, though it won't help chloramines. Also, if I want to feed, I can mix up water soluble fertilizer and just dump the solution in the bucket and feed the roots.
 
Trying to finalize my 6 bag planter thing tonight. Got the bucket off the fence and on to a stable platform of cinder blocks and bricks, since it is working and needed a final resting place. Also putting together a surround out of scrap cedar fence cut offs that I have had for longer than you want to know to cover up the view of the Walmart bags and the bucket. SWMBO insisted. I have blooms on the tomatoes now and tiny peppers on most everything else. If this thing works well during the heat of the Texas summer I will pronounce it a roaring success!
 
@staestc you're a good guy! Oh it will work well. There is a video of a guy I'm pretty sure in Texas who used a system where he filled little bins with Walmart bags, because of some sort of seven-year rest rule. (You know me ill find video). They went nuts but he feels he has to plant in the ground because he has so much ground. My stuff is going nuts. Check this out the seeds are already coming out. I'm seeing little buds already and stuff is shooting up. Pretty sure it's the slow release fertilizer. Also they never want for water they are always taken care of. It hasn't even been sunny. Check out the red lettuce

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Wow! Looking great! I've read somewhere that Osmocote is a great plant food. I will give it a try when I get to a point I need some. And the red lettuce really does look fantastic!!
Travis
 
estricklin said:
Have you considered making salsa out of them? You can freeze them too, although they aren't as crunchy when they thaw.

One thing that I've done with extra peppers, (not that I have many these days) is to make chili powder. Pickling them is always good too. I actually have a video of me eating a whole pickled hab, but I don't think I should share that haha.
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We freeze habs and jalapenos, they come in handy through the cold months.
Especially like to pull a half dozen out, let them thaw, stuff them with cheddar, wrap with foil and cook them on the grill with steaks. Yummy heat!

One year we had a killer harvest, way too much to freeze (would have displaced too many hops! :D) so I tried making some chili powder.
Dried them, rough chopped them and fed them into the Cuisinart.

Result: weapon grade chili powder. Emphasis on powder. And weapons grade.
The nuclear dust was everywhere and I damned near swelled up and died transferring it into mason jars :eek:

Still using it, though ;)

Cheers!
 
I weeded my garden some more today, and I planted a couple more squash seeds since it looks like we will have extra space. It looks like I'm going to have okra really soon, which is good because I love okra.

The gadget I cannot take credit for, a good friend of mine who has a degree in forestry and is generally really good at things like gardening built a bunch of them one year, he then rented a trencher and buried some water lines going to his garden in order to "maximize his beer drinking time". In other words, no more holding the hose and getting ate up my mosquitos. I have the legs kind of scissored apart in the photo so that you can see they are adjustable, the threaded piece is glued on one side, so that one end of the connection can move and the other one can't. It's adjustable so that you can level it on a hill or change the direction of the spray. He made them to be connected in series as you can see. Of coarse it can just be connected to a water hose as well.

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Looks good @estricklin, you can see how much care you put into the dirt and soil as stuff seems growing well. I had the same thoughts, basically my kids sprinkler designed for gardening. I have a spot where I plant squash and the sprinkler sprays them. Every year I had powder mildew there and it kills the plants. I don't claim to know a whole lot, but I think wetting the leaves too much can be problematic. Have you had success with this in the past ? Maybe it's just the big squash leaves.

Something is diggin around in my seeded pots. I am about ready to open a can of whoop a.. on the squirrels? They are leaving the plants alone but are digging up the seeded pots. Did you see the movie Caddyshack? Im going to be like carl in a few days. I kind of wonder if it's my daughter as she has a real enjoyment for digging stuff up. Perhaps it's a bird getting in to look for worms? I dont care, i need a super soaker.
 
Well here in AR, in the summer it's really hot, and that's when the squash grows it's best. Only time I have any problems with powdery mildew on squash and cucumbers, is in the spring, and they usually over come it without any help. In the summer here, the garden has to be watered every day basically or it will burn up quickly. There is a chemical called Captan that you can use to control powdery mildew, it's really cheap and basically harmless to humans. Comes in a powder, mix a bout 1 tbsp/gal.

Stray cats love to dig in potted plants, coarse it could be anything really.
 
We have had rain for days, so the benefits of my self watering planter have been hard to see. We are supposed to get another 3-5" over the next two days!! But it's not raining right now, so I went and checked the plants. I have fruit in every chili plant and blooms on both tomatoes!!
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Lol. I'm just stoked that they are doing so well!!
 
What I don't have growing that I usually do are Poblanos. Probably ( definitely) too late to start from seed this year, but if I find a couple of plants I will set up a couple of double buckets like yours and see how the do. I love Poblanos!!
 
I really like those self watering garden set ups you guys have, look like they work great. I'm going to have to try that next year, been doing mine in straw bales the last few years. We've been getting a lot of rain here which helps but nothing like you guys in Texas have been getting. Here's a couple picks of my tomatoes and peppers.

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