Baby Bells
This year I grew baby bell peppers from seed thinking they’d ripen before the big one, I was correct in my line of thought. When I checked on the garden after being away for 10 days, there were beautiful red baby bell peppers.
Look how cute they are, I’m thinking I might use them to make stuffed peppers because I always though big green peppers were way to big when stuffed. I have to admit, I didn’t used to be a pepper fan. The problem is more peppers from the store, I think it’s actually the preservative they put on them. When I eat store bought peppers I get indigestion, not so with homegrown ones. Now we eat them in the fall when they’re in season.
Did you like pepper?
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Planting Winter Herbs
I love fresh Italian parsley and like to have it around all year if possible. That means I grow it in the garden throughout the spring/summer/fall and in containers in the house during the winter. Parsley seeds are notorious for taking a LONG time to germinate and get going. After a few years of starting seed in October and have them reach maturity too many months later, I decided to start them in late summer.
A few days ago I started a container of Italian parsley and one of seasoning celery. In a month I’ll start a few containers of cilantro, which is another herb I like to have fresh all year long if possible. I have found that all these herbs do well in containers in a sunny windowsill. I can certainly save a lot of money growing a few containers of herbs in the winter, fresh organic herbs can cost $3-$4 a bunch. These augment my other potted perennial herbs that live outside in the summer and inside during the winter. I have a few different varieties of thyme and a bay laurel tree as well. Hopefully these containers will be lush enough to harvest when the snow starts to fly outside.
Do you grow any potted herbs indoors during the off season?
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You Say Potato
I’ve been slowly harvesting my potatoes. This year I didn’t plant as many as I did last year, only enough for us to eat throughout the winter. There are a few varieties, most are ready to be dug. The ‘Purple Majesty’ and ‘Mountain Rose’ are all out of the ground, both produced quite prolifically this year. I’m very pleased with the results.
The ‘Purple Viking’ never cease to impress me with their yield. The photo below is the yield from one single seed potato – one. This variety is well known for being highly productive, in fact, it’s so productive that you have to space them close at planting time or you will end up with giant potatoes the size of footballs. I’m not kidding either, every now and then one gets planted farther away from the rest, or the ones on the ends of the rows are gigantic.
If I could only grow one variety of potato it would be ‘Purple Viking’. It’s a great potato for steaming, boiling, baking or mashing, and it fries up like a dream with a crispy exterior and a soft middle. It will store long into the spring without losing crispness. Overall it’s a winner if you only have a small space for growing spuds.
What’s your favorite way to eat potatoes?
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Skunked
Last Friday I went out to feed the pigs and noticed a skunky smell, which isn’t unusual. We have lots of birds and the skunks like to come around looking for the guinea eggs. Tara has scared a skunk away twice in the past month and the skunk smell sticks around for a few days then fades. I petted Tara as I walked by and didn’t think anything of it, until I came back inside…then I realized I was still smelling skunk, because I smelled like skunk. It was then I knew that Tara had been sprayed – UGH.
I still haven’t had the time or energy to give her a bath, hopefully that will happen today. My go-to recipe is: peroxide, baking soda and dish soap all mixed up and worked into the coat. Let it sit 10-15 minutes, then rinse and repeat if necessary. Luckily, it doesn’t seem that Tara was hit too much, she doesn’t smell nearly as bad as Lucy did when she got sprayed. I feel bad for her though, no one wants to go near her and pet her with her new perfume. I can’t blame her, she was protecting a guinea nest that is behind where she sleeps. She’s already scared the skunk away twice this month, I guess the third time is a charm.
Do you have a great skunk smell remover recipe?
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Welcome Back
Way back in the spring of 2008, Mr Chiots and I visited Longwood Gardens. While there I spotted the most beautiful ivy growing on a rock wall. This is the photo we snapped so I could identify it.
After being unsuccessful at identifying and finding this plant at my local garden centers, I found it in a garden we were visiting. I pinched off a tiny piece and was able to start it for my garden in Ohio.
Another year or so passed and I spotted the plant at a botanical garden, lucky for me there was a label ‘Kenilworth Ivy’ (cymbalaria muralis). This is such a graceful little plant and the blooms are understated yet stunning. It will grow in the tiniest cracks of rock walls and looks lush all season long, no matter how little rain has fallen. I also found that it wasn’t invasive as creeping plants can be at times.
Earlier this spring I went to my local garden center and found this beauty once again. I’m happy to have it back in my garden.
I do not yet have it growing on any rock walls as I’m trying to eradicate couch grass from all the existing walls. At the moment it’s planted in a spot in the potager and I’m hoping it will spread nicely. When I want to add it to my rock walls I should have a nice patch to divide.
Do you have a favorite plant that you searched high and low for after seeing it somewhere?
