My Daughter Plants Peppers

One day my daughter was eating a pepper and asked me if she could plant the seeds. Having dealt with her already planting a peach tree and another unknown tree seed, I was glad to tell her that she could plant an annual (or possibly slightly perennial) plant.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

She grew her little seedlings and nourished them. Then, before our trip in June, I told her that she could plant some on the edge of my garden. After our summer trip, she was horrified to see that my cucumber plants had shaded out her pepper plants. I did my best to trim around the plants and keep them alive. By late October, the pepper plants had the remaining light throughout the day.

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Based on how the plants grew and that fact that we had purchased them from a big-chain grocery store, I would infer that the seeds were hybrid and that the large variation in size had something to do with the fact that the peppers had different parents. But that being said, the peppers were still pretty good.

Sam's Garden

Occasionally, as I take a walk around the neighborhood I notice things that pique my gardening interests. One was a beautiful raised garden area that a neighbor had been cultivating for a while. A couple days ago I went to find out more about his garden and learn more about what he is growing and how he does it.

Sam is a retired marine with some time on his hands. So, he decided to do some gardening. Good thing too. He first took me out back to his greenhouse, where he keeps his peppers. His 2-year-old pepper plants were looking pretty good. Though I am a definite wimp in terms of spicy food, I can admire those who grow hot peppers. I believe he said that he has to wear gloves for some of them, including the ghost peppers.

Sam notes that he tries all sort of methods for growing in pots, just to see what works well. He says that he learns a lot online - then goes and tries something to see if it works. A lot of what he had consisted of drip systems, soaker hoses, and pot reservoirs. Many of his pepper plants look better than what is pictured here, so I may have to come back for another snapshot session.

In the front yard he keeps two finger lime trees. They are very productive and he swears by them, because of the amount of vitamin C. They are quite good and do taste a lot like limes, but - in my opinion - better.

The remainder of the garden is pretty standard fare. The zucchini is at the end of its life and is being finished off by powdery mildew. His wife is the big bush bean fan. It seems that the beans are thriving in the morning sun, as are the tomatoes.

I am still amazed at how productive Sam’s tomatoes are, even when only receiving morning sun and having plenty of shade throughout the day. He definitely keeps everything well-watered, as his plants look fantastic.

Although Sam was unsure about the tomato variety in the pot, he was pretty sure that the tomatoes next to the fence were Heritage tomatoes. From looking online, I'm not sure if that refers to a variety with the name Heritage in it or if he was simply referring to some heirloom tomato variety.

 

All I can think of when looking at these tomatoes is "Tomato Sandwiches!"

 

My Italian Friend

Ever since discovering the Armenian cucumber, I knew that there was something more exciting and interesting in the world of cucumbers. After a while, I read up about cucumber varieties called “Carosello”, but knew very little about how to purchase the carosello varieties that I wanted. Then, back in March 2012, an Italian gardener contacted me saying that he grew some Italian cucumbers on his balcony by the name of carosello. Over time, he and I have been able to share our love of the carosello cucumbers with one another. 


My friend, Giuseppe is very modest. Though he has been growing carosello cucumbers on his balcony for some time, he quickly admits that this is just his first time at blogging. His Carosello Pugliese blog is named after the region where many of the carosello cucumber-melons come from. Though I only write my blog posts in English, he writes them in both Italian and English, which I greatly appreciate! 

Giuseppe's balcony is very nicely kept!

To get a better idea of the kind of area that Giuseppe has to work with, you would have to get to know his garden better. In reading his balcony post, I still marvel at how much he is able to produce given the limited space he has allotted for growing. He does a good job detailing how much he is able to grow within the area he has.


Giuseppe grows peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, cucumbers and yes – the carosello. I highly recommend that you check out his posts on these incredible fuzzy cucumbers that deserve not only a spot on the balcony, but on the dinner plate!

This was some of Giuseppe's harvest from last July

Visiting the U of A Pima County Extension Garden

The Pima County Master Gardeners are hosting free tours on select mornings.

So - I read that the Pima County Master Gardeners were hosting a tour of the U of A Extension Gardens on Campbell Avenue this fall. Though I knew that the times included every Saturday at 9:00 am I did not check to make sure that they were hosting the event  when I visited on August 30^th.

 

So – my daughter and I had a little self-guided tour of the garden.

 

Browsing the All-American Selections (AAS) Winners



Mascotte Bean - An AAS Bush Bean (with no beans on it)



An AAS Winning Flower



A Cayennetta F1 Pepper, as the sign states.

My daughter enjoyed walking around, but like me – she was not very impressed that no one was there. Hopefully, in the future, I will read things more carefully before I jump in the car to go across town.

Egg Plants grow very well in warm Arizona.

A few long Eggplants.

 

Some Okra Plants

My kids love most veggies - except Eggplant and Okra



A few of the Peppers at the County Extension Garden



Ordono Peppers - the healthiest pepper variety I saw.

Bell Peppers

 

Some form of Sorghum

Sweet Potato Vines



The tomato varieties.

I cannot leave my tomatoes un-kept like this.

For those of you who would like to see the gardens, they are in Tucson on Campbell Avenue on the east side between River and Ft. Lowell. When I traveled there, I parked in the community parking lot just north of the gardens. For a schedule of the dates when the garden is doing tours, see below.



My daughter posing as a carrot. (=

 

 

A healthy Artichoke plant that will surely produce plenty of spring chokes.

 

 





Some feathery Asparagus stalks

 

 





 

Immature Grapes

 

A Little Bunch of Grapes

 



 

A Row of Bush Beans

 

 

 

My daughter at Tucson Village Farm

 

 

 



A large Armenian Cucumber - possibly still edible

Armenian Cucumber - Perhaps being grown for seed?

 



This one is definitely for next year!

 

 



Another Large Armenian - At this point the flesh is more like carrots.

 

Mexican Sunflowers

 



Bees on small flowers



Bees Pollinating Mint



 





Bees Pollinating Onions



 

Bees on an onion plant

A red caterpillar.

Another look at this red caterpillar



A black swallowed tail butterfly on a Mexican Sunflower

There were plenty of insects at the U of A gardens

A nice big spiderweb

Spider on Pepper Leaves.

I really like this vermicompost setup.

My daughter came prepared to take notes.



I really liked this little solar oven.

Instead of taking a self-guided tour (as I did) let a Master Gardener provide a tour of the gardens for you. Here are the tour dates for Fall 2014:

September – 9:00am every Wednesday and Saturday.



October - 9:00am every Wednesday and Saturday.

November - 9:00am every Wednesday and Saturday, except the Week of Thanksgiving.

December - 9:00am every Wednesday and Saturday, except the Week of Christmas.

 

I received this information by subscribing to the Pima Master Gardener’s listserve, which can be found at: http://calsmail.arizona.edu/mailman/listinfo/pimamastergardeners

A pair of Zebra-Tailed Lizards. They move their tails like worms! (=

 



My daughter tried catching a smaller one of these. She didn't have a chance!