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Old September 5, 2018   #121
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August 28th

I have been working on the Koi Pond rebuilding the Faux bricks on the sides, trimmed back a lot of the mints and basil plants.



My new rain barrel came in and I played with that a bit, more on that later in the season when its finished.



  • Making some mulch





  • A couple peppers for my Sausage Peppers and onion I am canning.





  • Ruby King center, the others are store bought.



  • For the 2019 season, I think I'm gonna replace my Corno di Toro Giallo's and Rosso's with the Red Marconi.




  • First Batch





  • Canned 21 quart jars and only had one that did not seal, that was lunch yesterday and today, half the jars have whole sausage links for sandwiches and half are sliced. My wife doesn't care for the hots but they are my favorite, but for her, I done a 25% hot, 75% sweet ratio. The sweets are cut on a diagonal and the hots are cross cut. The "Links" jars have 2 sweets and 2 hots in each. The last batch of links (4 jars) I added a few poblanos, a can of RO*TELL to the existing peppers and onions and blended with an immersion blender for a smooth sauce.







  • Saving some seeds.













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Old September 5, 2018   #122
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September 4th, 2018



  • The compost is doing well, these are Bio-degradable packing peanuts.





Critters

  • I have seen a few more yellow finches here and there, they really love the sunflowers. Sorry no picture, they're just too dam skittish.



  • These are probably the only insect that really bother me, for some reason they like to get in your face and buzz all around you. They seem really attracted to alcohol, these pineapple chunks were sitting in grain for quite a while.





Garden

  • I really haven't noticed any difference between the Giant Marconi and Red Marconi, both plants are doing equally well. The seeds were graciously sent from a forum member.













Canning

  • Picked 3.5 pounds of Jalapenos for a batch of cowboy candy, the reds that were not crisp are set aside to dry and make chili powder. Roasted and canned some poblanos a few of the reds that weren't firm were set aside for chili powder.





  • Got 8 jars and canned the remaining syrup for another 4 batches of Jalapenos


  • Roasted and peeled the poblanos, used trimming and simmered for a broth to use as a canning liquid.





  • In retrospect, I wish I would have canned in 8 oz. jars.


  • Chili powder. These will be dried and placed in the refrigerator in a mason jar unsealed then processed in a coffee mill. I'll continue to add Jalapenos and Poblanos til the end of the season.





Food

  • Red Marconi and Buratta cheese. We usually make this with Jimmy Nardello peppers, these are Red Marconi and just needed to be cooked twice as long. The family liked these just as much as the Jimmy Nardellos.



  • Basil, mozzarella, grape tomatoes (store bought tomatoes)


  • Nachos






  • Fried garden peppers, chives and cheese omelet with fried butter, garlic, crushed red pepper toast and a side of fried hard salami. Apple juice and coffee.


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Old September 5, 2018   #123
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Where to start?! SQWIBB, I want you to adopt me.
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Old September 5, 2018   #124
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Everything looks awesome!!!

We need a like button.
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Old September 5, 2018   #125
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YUM YUM!
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Old September 5, 2018   #126
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That's a tiny mantis for September. They are an easy 5" up here by this time.

Cowboy Candy...is this the first year you have made it? First year with canner? Did you try any yet or does it need to rest a month to develop flavor? I've heard of it but never made it. I have a bunch of Jalapenos ready for something.

I've been waiting for my Habs to ripen and finally saw some color yesterday. They seem very late this year. I wanted to make some pear/hab hot sauce like a I did a few years back, but the pears are about all and the habs aren't ready yet.
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Old September 6, 2018   #127
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Thanks for the Kind words folks.


Yes, first year for cowboy candy and I couldn't resist when making it and tried one right away, man was that hot I mean real hot, especially for a Jalapeno, I hope they mellow a bit.
From what I have read the wait time should be 6 weeks for best results, I cant wait, I got my cream cheese and crackers on standby.


I'll be chopping and roasting some Red Marconi's this week and canning for that Pepper and Buratta cheese dish that everyone loves. Next year I'm gonna grow a bunch more Jimmy Nardello's


Habs...hmmm, try a "Roasted Pineaple Habanero sauce, you wont be disappointed.


Pineapple Habanero Sauce
Ingredients:
4 cups sugar
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup pineapple juice
3 Tbsp lemon juice
3 Tbsp cornstarch (mixed with a bit of water to create slurry)
1 medium to large pineapple, roasted, finely chopped
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 red pepper, finely chopped
1 yellow pepper, finely chopped
1 mango, finely chopped
5-6 habanero peppers, roasted, finely chopped
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Old September 10, 2018   #128
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September 10th

  • Played in the garden a bit. I had this piece of bark that I decided to cover up one of my 4x4 posts.






  • the Garden is still producing, the eggplant on the hill exploded.





Breakfast

  • Mac n' Cheese omelet with fried sweet peppers







Canning
  • Working on my canning stuff, Canned some Roasted Red Marconi peppers and a few Ruby Red Bell's then made some Turkey Taco Meat and canned that. Tweaking the pantry for more goodies.











  • Stopped at Bowman's Hill Wildflower Preserve and Bowman's Hill Tower. Picked up some plants for my Butterfly Garden - Butterfly Weed, Swamp Milkweed, New England Aster, Purple Cone Flower and some Black eyed Susan's. Got everything planted right away.


  • I saw this Aphid Eater Block House for sale but they didn't have any, I may research this and make one from a piece of log and keep in a few of my gardens.



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Old September 10, 2018   #129
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Great pictures and what a stone tower!!!
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Old September 10, 2018   #130
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Looking for Rapunzel?
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Old September 17, 2018   #131
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September 10th - 16th

  • I started planting my cover crops






  • The garden is starting to get a bit out of control, everything is growing out of their cages and flopping over. I was up on the hill trying to support the poblanos and eggplant plants. The eggplant plant ripped the cage out of the ground. The poblanos are growing out sideways about 2' past the cage. The tomatoes grew out of the TTC's and are growing anywhere they can. I may need to start cutting some stuff back and tying things up a bit.




  • Tabascos are starting to come in, a lot of my pepper plants really start producing in September.


  • This will give you an idea on how wet it has been, I haven't seen the sun in nearly a week. Needless to say, I turned my water off September 6th.





The excessive rain has pretty much destroyed my heirloom tomatoes as they are splitting like crazy, usually I can scavenge a few split ones and either eat them right away or, core, cut out the split and freeze, I always smell the cut area because sometime they start rotting underneath the split. Between sight, smell and feel I can pretty much perform a successful surgery. My unaffected tomatoes has been my "so-called" Rutgers tomato plant, not one split at all.

  • The water lettuce in the pond has done real well this year and I have been harvesting a lot of the lettuce during the growing season as a mulch. Here I am gathering some water lettuce to top portions of my beds for a cover crop.






  • The drip line is pulled up, this can be a chore with the roots entwined in the drip line, especially the roots from the oregano. The drip line is turned off by the small valve in the line, each bed section has its own valve. I will handwater from the Rain Barrel at this point. Everything is cut back to the soil level and chopped up and placed back in the bed, this is so much easier now that I have a pair of Felco pruners. The next step is to cover everything with some water lettuce.




  • A bucket of My compost is dumped on top.




  • Oats are added and lightly tapped in.






  • Another layer of Oats is added and a handful of Crimson Clover, then I tap over the whole area with my Hori Hori, followed by a good watering. The area is then covered until I get some sprouts.




  • Another bed done the same way but using the potting soil from my retired Vertical Tower.










Its been 8 days and every day is has rained to some extent, the Sun still hasn't made an appearance.
I've been slowly going through sections of my beds, pulling up the drip lines, chop and dropping weeds, some veggie plants and early season cover crops then adding compost and planting a fall cover crop (Oats and Crimson Clover).





  • I dont know what the heck is going on with this zucchini plant, no fruit yet but a ton of mushrooms. This soil with the mushrooms will be spread out over a few of the beds.








Eggplants are really putting on fruit, I'll be cooking plenty of eggplant dishes and giving some eggplant away, I wont be freezing any eggplant dishes this year.


Tomatoes have me totally dissapointed, I have a lot of fruit that has set but most of the fruit that is somewhat red is split, half ripe and infested with gnats and ants, some I can save and some I can't. I definitely will be trying some Hybrids next year, the weather this year has been really rough on my heirlooms.

  • The "True Black Brandywine" and the "Cherokee Purple" really produced this year but more than half was not worth saving. The Brandywine Red tomatoes are not producing near as much but have had more salvageable fruit.



  • Volunteer Bok Choy.




  • Artichoke that will probably be removed and used as mulch.






  • Oats sprouted after 4 dayss





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Old September 17, 2018   #132
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  • My rain barrel came in Friday the 14th, so I played with that a bit. Full post coming soon.



This weekend I got some yard work done, cut the grass, while I was cutting the grass I found a little surprise.


Let me tell you the whole story, anyone that reads my threads know that we rescue box turtles and have a few full timers in the yard.
Last season my daughter had a few she was rehabbing in the yard that wintered over then were released.
Well Speedy (full timer) was digging a few months ago and I figured she was going to lay some eggs, I didn't think much of it because the eggs are never viable.




June 20th
  • Speedy digging a nest





September 13th

  • Anyhow last week, I noticed a hole where she was digging and the hole looked like it was made from the inside out, sorta looked like a cave. When I peered inside I saw an egg that was broken open. I told the family that their may be a baby in the yard but there would be no way we would ever find it.




  • They all thought I was nuts, because both turtles in the yard are female. Well...this morning armed with a weed whacker I was cutting the lawn an noticed this little brown spot, I thought it was a leaf when I went over it with the weed wacker but then it started to move.



  • My daughter was working on her essays for vet school when I walked in and plopped it in front of her and with a smile on my face I said, "so ya'll thought I was nuts". She couldn't be happier. She went into care taker mode and made sure he/she was hydrated. Her assumption is it's at least two weeks old because the egg sack is completely absorbed, however she is worried that it may have been born too late in the season to survive.







OK back to the garden,
  • Made some more mulch.





Trimmed and cut back more plants in the veggie garden and have been adding compost and planting cover crops in the beds. Battled some Aphids and Ants on my Concord Grape vine with neem and dish soap.


  • Drying some herbs and making some infused Olive oil.









Garden pics

  • Chopped and dropped around the tree then mulched.




  • Mulched the grapes with coffee grounds and shredded cardboard mulch



  • My compromise pot, she wanted flowers and I wanted veggies.



  • Oats are coming up nicely.



  • I forgot all about the Okra seeds that I tossed in here a while back.





  • Maypops are going nuts in the back yard.






  • I had my buddy over and loaded him up with some veggies to take to his moms, she was thrilled. I'm now trying to get him into gardening, we'll see!






  • This poblano plant is so loaded with peppers that branches were snapping off.



  • This is from one branch that snapped.



  • My first year with yacon



  • I have no idea what this is.







  • Finally got a chance to work on a few stumps, I got tired of tripping over them.





Garden Breakfast
  • Sour Cream and Chive scramble with sweet peppers and a side of Garlic toast with Olive oil and crushed red pepper.

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Old September 17, 2018   #133
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Neat on the turtles. If you're sure there was no male in the yard, it was probably a stored sperm type deal. Pretty sure I've read of that in fish and reptiles.
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Old September 17, 2018   #134
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ddsack View Post
Looking for Rapunzel?
Lol... That's funny, I like that
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Old September 17, 2018   #135
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JRinPA View Post
Neat on the turtles. If you're sure there was no male in the yard, it was probably a stored sperm type deal. Pretty sure I've read of that in fish and reptiles.
Pretty sure it was the turtles in the yard being rehabbed last season
But you are correct in the fact about reptiles.
I think I read somewhere that turtles can be fertile for up to 3 years after doing the deed.
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