What did you do in your garden today?

[BigC]

Well my newly acquired Chilli Fetish grew again today with the purchase of 2 new varieties from the garden centre, namely Trinidad Moruga Scorpion and Apache....No sign of my Prairie Fire seeds germinating yet, perhaps its just a little too soon. here's hoping... ...I also potted out my sweet peppers which I grew from seed I kept 8 of the strongest and plan to only keep 2-4 for myself and let my son/daughter take the rest to grow on.
The Cucumbers have got their second set of leaves and are comming along nicely. I'm losing a few leaves from the grapevine so I'm a little concerned about that, hopefully it will be OK...Tomatoes are really doing well with lots of green marble sized spheres already appearing and tons of flowers...seems it might be a bumper crop this year fingers crossed..Lettuce has exploded and we cant keep up with it, all our meals include leaves nowadays...whats more it tastes really good....so all is bright and green at the moment including the newly rejuvenated grass....feeling content at this moment in time......

 

[Beverly]

Well, some bulbs i ordered came in the mail yesterday with roots, so i got them planted. The lilies are generally called "African Blood Lilies" but i think that is a creepy name for a lily so i refer to mine as "Powder Puff Lilies" which is also an accepted common name. The scientific name is Scadoxus/Haemanthus multiflorus. I bagged up some really ready home compost, transplanted a Kerpis palm. Also pulled up Plumbago from its current location. This plant is a juvenile delinquent if there ever was one, but i am keeping it because i like it very much, and now it transplanted and contained. In its place i'll plant an Ixora casei (white with a touch of pink) that is more neighborly. In the process i disturbed a family of 5 millipedes that were enormous and they came out running in all directions

. I don't know, i think they can kill a person but are generally considered beneficial to the garden unless they become too numerous. Any way, they ran away. Then i was pleased to find cockroaches of all sizes. These are not beneficial to the garden. They can really move and my only option was to hand squish, egad, but i did have on gloves. I think there must have been between 20-30 and i was kept busy for awhile (well, at least 15). It was disgusting. I also started to dig in some of the dry season leaf mulch now that the rainy season is upon us which will be replaced for the next dry season. And i cleaned up the considerable mess. Now i will do yoga otherwise i will not be able to move tomorrow.

 

[BigC]

Its late and I'm sitting here doodling between Photoshop and what I plan for the future in regards to Chilli production.....I really have been smitten by this bug...I know I wont be eating many beyond the odd DARE so the natural course of progression would be towards Sauce's (simplistic or otherwise)..I have even gone so far as to try and design a basic yet simplistic frontage label for a 142ml square sided bottle (mad I know lol)...Hypothetically speaking here is what I have produced so far for the front. (not perfect but you can see the direction on which I want to travel).... Machaire Lainne Original "Widow Maker" HOT Chilli Sauce...( Machaire Lainne is the old Irish name for Magheralin the village where I presently reside)....hahahahaha...all in good fun..now for the ingredients and boring stuff for the anterior design

 

[Beverly]

looks great, nice design. are the ingredients on a back label? Or you could put them on the front label?

 

[BigC]

looks great, nice design. are the ingredients on a back label? Or you could put them on the front label?

I'm going to put all those details on the back Beverly alongside a quirky quote or descriptive history, weights and measures and a cautionary notice ..I might even produce a range of 3 blended sauces spanning the Scoville Scale...all for the future, and it will really give the greenhouse a complete sense of functionality

 

[Beverly]

Perfect! I think you should take it international

 

[DeborahJane]

Very enterprising BigC. Looks good and best of luck

 

[Rajesh Sethi]

You meant centipedes, but they are not that much poisonous, still larger the insect more powerful are it's pincer.

Millipedes is also not so poisonous still, oil from their body if crushed accidentally may result in itchiness.

Thank God, I don't have to worry much about grasshoppers, cockroaches as my cat kills anything that crawling

Will like to see some red Lilly.

Btw hot pepper /chili pepper are toxic in nature except sweet ones, but can't imagine cooking without it.

 

[Beverly]

Thank you @Rajesh Sethi, yes i looked them up on the internet and was surprised to discover they are centipedes. They were so big and "milli" sounds a lot bigger than "centi" i guess i assumed they must be "millis". I am happy to hear they will not kill me If they were there to eat the cockroaches, they were doing a terrible job of it. Also, the birds should be eating them, shouldn't they? But they probably prefer the worms.

In what way are chilis toxic in nature? I have never heard this. I have heard that they are very good for humans with a high level of Vit C and good at cleansing the blood (whatever that means). Maybe you are referring to the heat that deters any number of bugs and other animals. I suppose the heat would also burn plants if sprayed on the leaves.

The red lilies bloom one time a year and i don't know for how long. @Dinu has them growing by his pond as well.
Impossible to say when they might come up, but if leaves come up first then it will be at least a year before the flowers appear.

 

[JBtheExplorer]

I added a hummingbird feeder to the garden yesterday and it's been busy with hummingbirds ever since. I'm planning on adding native plants that are popular with hummingbirds all around it, including Wild Columbine, Foxglove Beardtongue, Bee Balm, and Indian Pink.

 

[ploverson]

I visited my planted broccoli and check its leaves.

 

[vette-kid]

Put a drip irrigation system in for my fruits and veggies to get them off the reclaimed water system. Burried supply line from the faucet on the house so it's semi permanent. I still need to redirect the lawn irrigation so it doesn't hit my plants and finish a few details.

 

[BigC]

Put a drip irrigation system in for my fruits and veggies to get them off the reclaimed water system. Burried supply line from the faucet on the house so it's semi permanent. I still need to redirect the lawn irrigation so it doesn't hit my plants and finish a few details.

Got any pics @vette-kid

 

[vette-kid]

Got any pics @vette-kid

I'll get some today. Nothing fancy. I'll have about $100 and 2 or 3 hours into it.

 

[vette-kid]

Also finally "finished" this little area. Actually still needs another half dozen cubic feet of mulch...took way more than I figured!