How Does Your Garden Grow?

By: Mr. Wilson on July 28, 2008
If your garden is like mine, you're probably seeing the fruits of your labors by now. What's coming up in your garden? We have had some really nice cucumbers so far, a bunch of Hungarian yellow wax peppers, and a few cayenne and serrano chiles. My anaheim chiles are close to being ready, as are several varieties of sweet peppers. But the items I'm really concerned about? My three plants worth of habaneros. There are dozens of fruits on the plants. What the heck am I going to do with dozens of habaneros?

Comments

See what your friends and neighbors have to say about this.

Fletch
July 28, 2008 at 2:28PM

Don’t get salmonella.

beerorkid
July 28, 2008 at 3:09PM

First garden ever and have enjoyed cucumbers, tomatoes, and peppers already.  The corn is just about ready too.

Boomer
July 29, 2008 at 2:35AM

We’ve had several nice cucumbers, bell peppers, peas, and now our tomatoes are coming in. 

One question - what do you guys do with all of your cucumbers.  This is our first ever garden and we are getting overrun with the cucumbers.  Any good recipes on how to use them all?

beerorkid
July 29, 2008 at 2:38AM

My wife slices them really thin with a box shredder, puts dried onions, salt, pepper, and a bit of garlic on them.  Lets the salt leech the water out and then adds a bit of vinegar to them about 30 minutes later.  The cukes soak up the vinegar and they make a nice little side dish.

Or pawn them off on the peep at work who brought you the 10 zucchini 😉

jake rhymes with cake
July 29, 2008 at 6:07AM

i should snap a few pictures of my porch garden. today i accidentally knocked off one of my green peppers—it wasn’t quite ready yet, about half way there, but it was sure delicious in my southwestern scramble this morning for breakfast!

right now im harvesting 100’s of Thai chiles (from ONE plant); i have three habaneros that are increasing in size (1 plant); a few jalapenos (1 plant); about 20 cayennes (1 plant); then i have two tomato plants, one is an heirloom w/ medium sized fruits, only 3 tomatoes on that huge plant; and the other ‘mater plant is a cherry tomato, with about 5 tomatoes on it—that plant is about 4 foot tall.

sadly, my porch garden doesn’t seem to get enough light, even with the shelving units i created—all the plants get about 4-5 hours of direct sunlight.

the rest of my plants are herbs (basil, sage, parsley, mint, oregano, and catnip) and i can’t keep up with those plants. im literally pruning and not using the herbs… i love cooking w/ fresh herbs, that’s for sure!

im looking forward to canning lots of hot sauce this fall. so Mr. T, if you need to pitch a few of those habaneros, you can throw them at me :D

beerorkid
July 29, 2008 at 12:46PM

how do I know when my corn is ready?

meatball
July 29, 2008 at 2:39PM

Growing up on a farm, I’ve picked tons of sweet corn. It’s mostly a visual evaluation. Kernels should appear full. Silks exposed on the tip above the husks will be starting to dry. As long as it’s a yellow variety, pick it when kernels are light yellow. If you wait until they become a deeper yellow, the corn can be tough and probably won’t be quite as flavorful. I sometimes like it at that stage, though. If it’s a white candy corn variety, I’d mostly go by when the kernels look full and juicy.

beerorkid
July 29, 2008 at 4:25PM

Kandy corn it is.  Looked around and something that scares me is they say you have 72 hours to get it picked when it is ready.  I really need to check it over lunch.

Thanks for the tips.

Mr. Wilson
July 29, 2008 at 4:34PM

Live dangerously, beerorkid. Wait 72.5 hours. And take photos.

😊

Fletch
July 29, 2008 at 6:08PM

If he waits 72.5 hours, next thing you know, he’ll be swimming right after he eats and drinking milk right out of the carton. You’re leading him on a path of destruction…

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