re: 2019 Garden Thread

You may want to wait on your hot pepper plants. I got some habanero and ghost peoper seeds in. I’ll prob plant the seeds indoors at the end of February. The ones I planted around the same time last year did really well especially my Cayenne plants

Of you want blackberries go the levee along the miss river. All you want around Mother’s Day

You can make hot sauce with those peppers in moderation. I have a buddy that loves growing ghost peppers and made some hot sauce last year that was pretty damn good. I made some this past summer with cayenne peppers. It was pretty damn hot and that was without the seeds. Just depends on the recipe I guess

I did something different. Took cayenne peppers whole and laid flat on a tray and placed in oven at 175 degrees and left overnight. Took out over and pulled the charred skin and seeds off. Remaining peppers about 40 in a food processor with 3 cloves of garlic, white vinegar, black pepper, salt, and olive oil. Run it until a liquid paste. Didn’t strain it. Placed straight to jar and didn’t last long so I didn’t boil the jars. Best hot sauce I’ve tasted, but hot!

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Might but looking to buy in bulk somewhere

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Give local landscapers a call if you can't find a source for bulk purchases of garden soil. I get mine from a place in Kenner called Reliable Soil Co. that sells it bulk and a pickup load is about $35 if I remember right. It's been a couple years since I got some so it is probably a few dollar more now.

I got enough in 1 pickup load to almost fill a 4 x 12 x 1 ft. deep raised bed. It did pack down over the growing season and I picked up another load to top it off and spread some in other areas of my garden.

I'm sure there's plenty of such companies on the N. Shore.

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What do you do with all those hot peppers, anyway?

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I lacto-fermented half of my yield and made mango-habanero hot sauce. the other half I dehydrated and make habanero powder that I use while cooking the same way you'd use cayenne powder. It's spicier and more fruity than cayenne.

I plan to do the same thing with the fataliis.

Did mine the hard way. Top Soil, Compost, and Peat Moss. All bags from Stine and HD.

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Building raised beds this weekend. Recommendations for soil? Live in Madisonville if that helps. Not sure I want to spend a lot of $ buying dirt in bags in HD. Might but looking to buy in bulk somewhere

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My raised bed is 1/3 compost, 1/3 peat moss, and 1/3 coarse grade vermiculite. It's a little more expensive than getting a truckload of garden soil, but the drainage is great and it's almost impossible to over water. Last year was my first year doing it, and prior to plant out in the spring, I'm just going to top the beds off with compost and mix it in well.

eta: I'm also on the northshore. Marsolan's and O'Keefe's in Covington are good sources.

I can share some of the things that I do. I garden for the family and to make a little extra cash. I sell to a few grocery stores and go to the market when the stores don't need any more vegetables but I can sell about 50 cucumbers and 40 pounds of tomatoes a day at just one small store.
The thing I always stress when people ask me what I do is plant early as you can and the variety you plant is real important. I grow some different things but to sell its mostly tomatoes and cucumbers and have been doing this for probably 15 years.
Hands down the best tomato I have ever grown is called Sunstart.....it is determinate, matures in 60 days and makes a tomato near a pound sometimes. They bush is about 4 or 5 feet and the 60 days lets you beat the summer heat which is the most important thing to do. I get from a commercial company called Rupp Seeds.
For cherry tomatoes I grow a lot of the Sunsugar which is a indeterminate yellow cherry tomato. The sweetness and strong tomato flavor is great. Also grow Sweet Million for red cherries just to mix in my containers I sell.
Grape tomatoes the best I have grown is called Cupid which is red and indeterminate. It grew so many last year at one point they made to many to pick it was unreal I thought my wife would kill me having to pick all those grape tomatoes. They made so many I had a store order 42 pounds of grapes and I picked it all in one day.
As far as cucumbers Marketmore 76 and Darlington have outperformed everything else. I have done trials and the Straight Eights, Dasher and the other common ones have the died a month before Marketmore and Darlington. Disease Resistance is key in tomatoes and cucumbers.
I also do a lot of composting and have totally quit tilling my garden which eases up weed growth because you never bring fresh seeds up to the surface. If you have a minute youtube videos by Charles Dowding he has great ideas. with no tilling it reduces weeds and I don't have to wait for garden to dry before I make rows. The rows stay made, I burn weeds with a torn to kill off weed seeds and top the row only with compost. I put oak leaves in walking path between rows.
Also a great tool is a wheel hoe sold by HOSS Tools they also have a website. I use this a lot instead of a regular hoe and go down top of my row with it before I apply fresh compost.
All may not agree but I have done a lot of screw ups over the years and I find the things I do help reduce time which I don't have enough of and I usually grow a good bit of vegetables. I make between 6 and 8k each year on a very small garden. I plant my tomato seeds 1st week of January most of the time and have mine growing in a little makeshift greenhouse now.

Paul Robeson is a very good tomato.