AMKuska's 2023 Garden

[flowerbug]

THE FIRST APOCALYPSE SCORPION IS UP!!!

@baymule I don't even like black pepper very much. My mother used to love cooking, and love heavily seasoning everything. Her favorite thing to do was to cook something that smelled delicious, wiggle her eyebrows, and then drop an entire bottle of seasoning over the top while yelling "BAM!!!"

she watched Emeril?

Mom here has gotten wimpier and wimpier each year in what spices she can tolerate. the last time i made chili she said she wanted it wimpy so i put in very little chili powder but what she actually wanted and meant was no chili powder at all. so i had to eat and we froze even more chili than i expected to have.

so now what it is for her is more like vegetable ground beef stew.

I love gardening though, and my husband loves hot peppers, so growing him hot peppers makes sense!

Also @Branching Out that sounds awesome!! I actually wonder if my Christmas gift might be a lighted shelving unit for my grow tent. Imagine how many more plants I could stuff in there if I was able to go vertical with it. I can't wait for Sunday.

good luck!

 

[Branching Out]

Let me know how the strawberries get on.

Just checked on the Rainbow Treasure strawberry seeds that I started six days ago, and two of them are up! This is a very encouraging start to my morning. Apparently germination can be erratic taking from 1-6 weeks, so I will have to be patient with the rest. The propagation tray is domed and under grow lights, and the temperature there is 18C (65F) which should be perfect for the young seedlings. Once they have 3 leaves I will need to bump them up. December and January are the recommended months for starting strawberry seeds if you want a crop the first year.

 

[Branching Out]

By the way I am still waiting for my hot pepper seeds, which are on a heat mat, to germinate. After referencing this chart on how long it takes various vegetable seeds to germinate at different temperatures I decided to cover the propagation chamber with a small fleece blanket in the hopes of gaining a few extra degrees of warmth. Apparently this small gain in temperature could shave 4-5 days off of the germination time.
From UC Sacramento Extension (see the second page) https://sacmg.ucanr.edu/files/164220.pdf

 

[AMKuska]

she watched Emeril?

Yes! >.< That is indeed the show where she got that from. She also liked to watch iron chef and do multiple dishes featuring the same ingredient. My dad would see squid desserts coming though and be prepared with ordering pizza.

Just checked on the Rainbow Treasure strawberry seeds that I started six days ago, and two of them are up! This is a very encouraging start to my morning. Apparently germination can be erratic taking from 1-6 weeks, so I will have to be patient with the rest. The propagation tray is domed and under grow lights, and the temperature there is 18C (65F) which should be perfect for the young seedlings. Once they have 3 leaves I will need to bump them up. December and January are the recommended months for starting strawberry seeds if you want a crop the first year.

I'm excited for you!! I gave up on strawberries because all the wildlife get them before I can even have one.

By the way I am still waiting for my hot pepper seeds, which are on a heat mat, to germinate. After referencing this chart on how long it takes various vegetable seeds to germinate at different temperatures I decided to cover the propagation chamber with a small fleece blanket in the hopes of gaining a few extra degrees of warmth. Apparently this small gain in temperature could shave 4-5 days off of the germination time.
From UC Sacramento Extension (see the second page) https://sacmg.ucanr.edu/files/164220.pdf

I think soaking them in chamomile tea made the biggest difference for me. Last year it took over a month for my seeds to emerge, and the plants were very weak. This year I tried weakening the shell wall with a weak chamomile tea before planting, and they popped up in about a week.

 

[AMKuska]

I just got a wonderful gift from @heirloomgal! I'm so excited to get growing. Thank you for the new varieties!

 

[heirloomgal]

My pleasure @AMKuska! I always love for OP & heritage seeds to find new homes!

 

[AMKuska]

These lovelies are getting ready for planting!!

 

[heirloomgal]

That bowl at the top with the dragon is very nice!

 

[Branching Out]

I think soaking them in chamomile tea made the biggest difference for me. Last year it took over a month for my seeds to emerge, and the plants were very weak. This year I tried weakening the shell wall with a weak chamomile tea before planting, and they popped up in about a week.

After covering the propagation dome with a small fleece blanket to keep the heat in, the temperature rose from 22C to 28C-- and even when we turned the heat down in the house overnight it was still 21C inside the dome. Now two of the Piazinho hot pepper seeds are popping. That's just 6 days from sowing to germination. I think Christmas just came early for me. Time for a happy dance!

 

[AMKuska]

Congrats @Branching Out ! Sounds like the new season is off to a very promising start. All my new seeds are planted now. I'm looking forward to watching them grow! This is such an exciting season already!