Gardening: My Tomatoe and Pepper Progress

Yakima 728
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Jalapenos can be picked green or red. If you wait till they are red they are more like Fresnos. Pawn is dead on about habs. You have to let them color or you lose that fruity taste that makes them so damn good!! Yours look almost like a banana pepper of some kind. I would leave a couple on the plant just to see what they do.
 
Somebody help me. Whose the guy that built the raised beds from huge cedar planks he milled himself from a tree he cut down? Oregon I think. I'm looking for the picture with the mill and the tree.
 
Ya it might be me.. Is this kind of what your looking for or have questions about ?

This is a 36" mill...way to small for me..I sent it back and got a 60"...you loose about a foot in actual cutting width..The bar I use for the new one is 54" so I can cut about 44" max. I will eventually finish building my band saw mill but I was in a hurry so just used this for the raised bed project.

Attached below the picture is a link to a short video switching to the new bar but still the old mill in the back ground...I will have to see if I have a picture of the new mill all together.

Or if it was just the hot chick you really wanted to see again I can repost the original...lol :D

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View attachment MVI_1407.MOV
 
Sausage? Peppers? Hmm... Pizza!!!!!
I think you could put sausage in a Ratatouille. You would want to par cook it no? I like the idea of cooking the sausage (main course) and have the Ratatouille as a side for it.
 
passedpawn said:
Hot chicks always welcome. It's a general rule around here.

Does that saw attach to the ladder somehow? I'm trying to figure out what's going on in the pic.
Click to expand...

Hmm... Not sure about that PP, I just had a thread pinched due to hot chicks me thinks...bikini clad ones even. It was a dumb thread anyway so no matter.

Re the mill: The rig just slides on top of the ladder for the first cut just to get a true surface. The chain bar is cutting the wood under it. After the first cut you ditch the ladder and use the freshly cut flat face you just made as your sliding surface. And the chain bar now cuts a new kerf below that...about 1/2" is the thinnest board you can cut with one of these rigs. I cut all my raised bed boards 2".

I found a picture of the big mill. In order to use its full potential you'd have to have about a 76" chain bar and remove the saws spike bars. I can cut about 1/4" per second at 30+ inches wide. So just over 11 min to cut a 14' slab..... if you can last that long!.

Beauty of these mills is you can cut the log right where you fell it....as I did

The last picture here is the same log as the first picture..but with the small mill ..It maxed out way before getting even really started on the log. The first picture is the first cut with the bigger mill on that same log.

So Travis I hope this helps you? FWIW they are called Alaska Mills...easy to toss in a plane and head out into the bush.

PS I'm in Washington not Oregon.. way better sailing up here...:)

Now to return to our regularly scheduled programing....I'm excited about the sausage Ratatouille!

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Stillraining said:
Hmm... Not sure about that PP, I just had a thread pinched due to hot chicks me thinks...bikini clad ones even. It was a dumb thread anyway so no matter.

Re the mill: The rig just slides on top of the ladder for the first cut just to get a true surface. The chain bar is cutting the wood under it. After the first cut you ditch the ladder and use the freshly cut flat face you just made as your sliding surface. And the chain bar now cuts a new kerf below that...about 1/2" is the thinnest board you can cut with one of these rigs. I cut all my raised bed boards 2".

I found a picture of the big mill. In order to use its full potential you'd have to have about a 76" chain bar and remove the saws spike bars. I can cut about 1/4" per second at 30+ inches wide. So just over 11 min to cut a 14' slab..... if you can last that long!.

Beauty of these mills is you can cut the log right where you fell it....as I did

The last picture here is the same log as the first picture..but with the small mill ..It maxed out way before getting even really started on the log. The first picture is the first cut with the bigger mill on that same log.

So Travis I hope this helps you? FWIW they are called Alaska Mills...easy to toss in a plane and head out into the bush.

PS I'm in Washington not Oregon.. way better sailing up here...:)

Now to return to our regularly scheduled programing....I'm excited about the sausage Ratatouille!
Click to expand...

That's perfect! I was talking to a guy that has a little mill yesterday and wanted to show him the pictures, but could not remember your nickname and could not find the picture on the phone! He will drool at your big mill :) Thanks!
 
That mill is really cool and those beds should hold up well. Nice and thick. I have to rebuild some of mine because they were too thin and are falling apart.

I had to pull out a cucumber vine and a canary melon because of wilt disease from cucumber beetles. I have a couple of other wilted leaves on other cucumber plants , so we'll see what happens.

I'm definitely growing this sugar rush cherry tomato again. It's totally unaffected by any diseases and is loaded with tomatoes.
 
jsguitar said:
I'm definitely growing this sugar rush cherry tomato again. It's totally unaffected by any diseases and is loaded with tomatoes.
Click to expand...

Thanks!....and good to know about the Sugar rush tomato...I will tell my wife about it for next year if she doesn't already have it.
 
Getting some nice cucumbers and squash still. I am red green colorblind and today I accidentally picked green habs (according to SWMBO). So not a total loss I guess they seem to still taste ok. Green peppers actually have a mild poison in them. Some varieties actually won't turn colors if I'm not mistaken.

Anyway I take lots of fruit and veggies to work every day (lost 50 lbs so far) and I was getting everything ready for in the morning. Thought I would take the time to share. I picked this up while I was in Mexico. People eat it, and they sell it on the sides of the road and stuff dirt cheap. I think they actually smoke or char the peppers first though, not sure. Anyway I diced the peppers into a paste, added some lime juice, salt and cilantro, then rubbed it all over the pineapple. I just think the world of it for a snack, hell a person could even put some on the grill, maybe make a nice twisted Hawaiian-Mexican burger.

I love the heat from the habs, but to me they have a smokey, sort of earthy flavor that is sometimes too much. I wish I could get the heat of a hab in the flavor or a Tabasco or Serrano.

Before you start any project with peppers, I recommend gloves, I also recommend a nice Arkansas Red from Core Brewing company.

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HarborTownBrewing said:
Here's a not so great pic of my two tomato plants and two hop plants. Also seen:bourbon and a cigar.

I don't really ever just sit and relax so I'm going to give it a try tonight. So far, all is good.
Click to expand...

What a moment, cool. The bourbon, the scotch, and stuff growing. I only smoke cigars when I golf now because I'll just smoke them all the time. The tomatoes look really good. I can't tell by the pic but that looks like a small pot. I think that's all the larger they will get in that little pot, me thinks. Jealous of the hops nice work
 
Checked the garden. Currently in the lull between Zucchini. Some nice Roma tomatoes are forming. The cherry tomatoes are popping out now too. A few small beans are showing, but I doubt with two plants I'll get enough to cook. I usually pick a few at a time to nibble while tending the garden.

The Romas are growing in cages and are almost up to my nipples in height now. I don't recall our tomatoes getting that big when I was a kid.
 
applescrap said:
I can't tell by the pic but that looks like a small pot. I think that's all the larger they will get in that little pot, me thinks. Jealous of the hops nice work
Click to expand...

You know, you are right. I believe you mentioned the pot size/effect a few weeks ago as well, but I didn't think about it much at the time. I used a couple pots which were left on property from the previous owner, but they weren't very big. Currently we have 4 very green tomatoes which just do not want to turn color, get bigger, or anything. I believe blight has affected both, but one of the plants is beginning to flower again.

Maybe with weather below 90 again the plants will start doing their thing?
 
estricklin said:
Getting some nice cucumbers and squash still. I am red green colorblind and today I accidentally picked green habs (according to SWMBO). So not a total loss I guess they seem to still taste ok. Green peppers actually have a mild poison in them. Some varieties actually won't turn colors if I'm not mistaken.

Anyway I take lots of fruit and veggies to work every day (lost 50 lbs so far) and I was getting everything ready for in the morning. Thought I would take the time to share. I picked this up while I was in Mexico. People eat it, and they sell it on the sides of the road and stuff dirt cheap. I think they actually smoke or char the peppers first though, not sure. Anyway I diced the peppers into a paste, added some lime juice, salt and cilantro, then rubbed it all over the pineapple. I just think the world of it for a snack, hell a person could even put some on the grill, maybe make a nice twisted Hawaiian-Mexican burger.

I love the heat from the habs, but to me they have a smokey, sort of earthy flavor that is sometimes too much. I wish I could get the heat of a hab in the flavor or a Tabasco or Serrano.

Before you start any project with peppers, I recommend gloves, I also recommend a nice Arkansas Red from Core Brewing company.
Click to expand...

Thanks for tip. I would like to try that paste some time. Congrats on weight loss. I need to eat more vegetables too
 
HarborTownBrewing said:
You know, you are right. I believe you mentioned the pot size/effect a few weeks ago as well, but I didn't think about it much at the time. I used a couple pots which were left on property from the previous owner, but they weren't very big. Currently we have 4 very green tomatoes which just do not want to turn color, get bigger, or anything. I believe blight has affected both, but one of the plants is beginning to flower again.

Maybe with weather below 90 again the plants will start doing their thing?
Click to expand...

Here it is again 3 gallon, vs 7 gallon. The one gallon pots grow really dinky pepper plants. The 7 gallon pots have pepper plants that are 5 feet tall. The idea being grow lots of little one gallon plants. That's something I want to experiment with. My 3 gallon tomato plant is smaller than yours. Today's pickings. Wife went out and picked. No big deal, but i was trying to let the green peppers grow bigger and its something i really enjoy to do with my 3 y.o. daughter

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There is a whole thread on hot sauces. Look in the Cooking and Pairing forum.

I'm curious to know which plants need deep vs wide planters. The tomatoes in the garden are much bigger than the plants by the front patio in pots. But most of them are different variety and I wonder if they may have been affected by a different amount of watering. Even though the pots were supposed to drain excess water, I found a couple were very soggy, so I had my kid drill holes in the bottom.
 
If your wanting to grow some tomatoes in containers, there are some special varieties that do well in them, one that comes to my mind is a Balcony Hybrid from Burpee.
 
Homercidal said:
There is a whole thread on hot sauces. Look in the Cooking and Pairing forum.

I'm curious to know which plants need deep vs wide planters. The tomatoes in the garden are much bigger than the plants by the front patio in pots. But most of them are different variety and I wonder if they may have been affected by a different amount of watering. Even though the pots were supposed to drain excess water, I found a couple were very soggy, so I had my kid drill holes in the bottom.
Click to expand...


Yes, the plant roots have different needs by variety. I have dug enough up to tell you the pepper plant is more shallow and you can get away with a smaller pot/container for them. I have also seen 12 foot tall green beans coming out of a 1 gallon bag . regardless it seems the plant grows bigger with bigger pots and smaller with smaller pots. And my hypothesis is that the slow-release fertilizer matters above all. A secret with pots is to put rocks in the bottom so you get good drainage. Drilling holes is a good idea no doubt. Apparently the bags I use Air Wick. The thought being that when roots hit the side of a bucket they spiral and spin chocking themselves. Come to think of it, could this have killed passedpawns roma. I saw spiraling roots in my seedlings. Clearly pepper plants will thrive in 5 gallon buckets. I would suspect tomatos too. Water and sunlight play key roles as you said as well.View attachment 1470116344521.jpg
 
Applescrap,
I agree that container size affects plant size AND that a good time released fertilizer is beneficial to uniform growth and, by extension, fruit production on our vegetable plants. But adding gravel or any coarse material to the bottom of a container will not improve the drainage capacity of the "soil profile", and depending on the depth may reduce soil that can be utilized by the actively growing plant roots.

I rarely use any potting soil mixes available from the big box stores. They often lack uniformity from bag to bag and inorganic components such as perlite (white) or vermiculite (gold) that will improve the drainage within the pot. You can find both perlite and vemiculite at garden centers and when incorporated into your container soil mix will be beneficial. I'm lucky and have access to commercial potting mixes used in greenhouse production that are very uniform and have excellent nutrient holding capacity and drainage potential.

The combination of 100 degree heat, a bad back and a healthy crop of weeds has decimated the garden this year, gonna hire some local FFA kids to clear out everything and go for a fall planting!
 
While true that perlite and vermiculite help keep soil from compacting and promote drainage, I have been under the impression that their main benefit was that they held much needed water in the soil. Is that wrong? And I always put a thin layer of broken pots or gravel in the bottom of my pots to keep the soil from compacting around the drain hole(s). Is that wrong too?
 
While perlite and vermiculite add to the water holding capacity of a potting soil, their irregular shape and resistance to compaction, within the overall matrix of the mix, add to the drainage potential. Perlite generally has a greater water holding capacity, but that can be greatly affected by the grade of perlite. I try to buy coarse grade for the drainage benefits versus the fine grade that holds more water. The greatest water holding capacity in a soil mix is from the peat moss or other organic components.

Regarding the gravel in pots to prevent compaction around drainage holes, if you use a well drained professional soil mix and don't over water, then compaction should be minimal at best. In my many years in the nursery and greenhouse industry, I've never seen a professional grower use gravel or other materials in the bottom of a container, nor have I seen any scientific papers detailing the advantages. But, I'm always willing to learn...
 
I could be wrong but I think the water holding capacity is the only thing that matters in my system. My pots never drain, they only wick water and hold it. I've seen some recipes for making your own potting mix. In general it would seem that for container gardening the main concern should be holding water. Containers tend to lose their water right away which is why they need watered multiple times a day. I'm not sure drainage is something to even worry about unless its soggy at all times, but that could only be due to lack of sun. I've never seen a pot stay soggy in the Sun.
Edit: a quick Google search confirmed that gravel and rocks in the bottom of pots are seen as unnecessary and a myth in planting. However one good idea was to put gravel in the bottom of a decorative pot and then put the Potted Plant inside it on top of it. Still I'm maintaining you don't want it to drain. That's the whole idea behind self watering :). The problems people run into when container gardening I can almost guarantee are due to drying out not lack of drainage.
 
The pots I used had integrated false bottoms that are supposed to allow the water to drain out from the top, but stay kept in the bottom to wick moisture back up into the soil as it dries up there.

For whatever reason, though, the pots seemed to stay mucky with water. After drilling through both bottoms, they seem to drain nicely now.

Actually, I should probably make sure to water everything tonight. It's been dry for a few days now.
 
We are new to the whole green house thing, and I came home one day to find my wife had planted a bunch of stuff in 3" flats lined with a garbage bag. I thought to myself no way will this work, but I held my tongue. So far so good as long as you water every other day min. I'm totally surprised. Everything is putting on fruit so we will see how it all finishes the race. I can only imagine what the root mass looks like though.:eek:

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I love my greenhouse.....about 7-8 months out of the year. Today, not so much. With ventilation system running full blast, a 40% shade cloth over the entire structure and the evaporative cooler running, it is still 96 degrees inside and it is not the hottest part of the day! With a humidity level of 40% and the air temp touching 100, the RH level really limits the cooling potential.

But in February, on a sunny day, with the heater running, seedlings started, a homebrew and my guitar, it is an oasis!
 
I want a greenhouse so bad. I'd love to see yours Littletimmy if you get around to taking some pics.

I pulled my biggest cucumber vines out today because of wilt disease. I still have some others. I don't need too many slicers anyway. Still waiting for the pickling cucumbers to come on.

Yesterday, the squirrel that discovered my tomatoes took another one of my nicest large tomatoes on my patio. I also caught him perched in front of my sugar rush plant chowing down. Every year I get frustrated with this and then when spring rolls around I get all optimistic again, but I think I'm going to have to grow tomatoes in a big cage. Someone down the street has a completely caged in garden. Smart fellow.
 
About 15 yeas ago I paid my crew to dismantle an old Green house on a job site we were turning into a housing development. They spent 3 days taking out all the glass pane by pane and carefully dismantling the wood and metal frame.

The wood pieces were where the glass sit the metal frame held up all the wood. They loaded everything up and brought to our yard and when I asked where the metal frame was they said oh we couldn't get it on the truck this load we will get it on Monday. When they got there on Monday it was gone.

I still have every one of those darn brittle single pane sheets of glass that didn't break on them removing them and every wood stick of that darn green house stored under cover.

Without that metal frame I just never got up the gumption to mess with it.... Come get it pp or jsguitar its yours. :)

My beautiful bride has had a long wait for hers as well. Too Long.

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Here's a few recent pics:

My emergency tomato protection, some purple bell peppers that are coming in, some new banana peppers, and my row of basil.

tomato cage.jpg


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applescrap said:
I have to go back in the thread to find the hot sauce recipe again.
Click to expand...

I found my notes (forgot I made notes :)). This was after a bit of trial an error. Scale according to how much peppers you have. This makes a hot sauce that is about the consistency of Texas Petes.

Ingredients
  • 1 cup of vinegar (I've used cider and distilled, don't remember a diff)
  • 5 oz of cayenne peppers
  • 1/4 tsp salt

Process
  • Puree peppers in food processor. I leave the green caps on the cayennes.
  • Put in pressure cooker with vinegar and salt.
  • Cook at 12psi for 5 minutes. Let cool.
  • Use immersion blender to liquify.
  • Filter through strainer. Use a rubber spatula to push through screen of strainer (it might take forever if you rely on gravity).
  • Put in jars. It is shelf stable (no refrigeration necessary).
  • Eat.
 

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