State of the Garden - December 9, 2008

Well, it's December and the garden is still going.

Fog comes in regularly, and the temperatures don't usually go above 60, but the basil still has a few green leaves. The bell pepper plant looks like it did in summer, and I just harvested a large crop of 'Thai Hot Dragon' chile peppers. The morning glories are putting out 1 or 2 flowers a week, a little bit of a change from the 50 or so they put out every day during the summer.

The lettuce is growing quite well, as are the cool-weather herbs like parsley and chervil.

To the other gardeners out there: how are your gardens doing? Under the snow, or still creeping along?

October Garden Update

I have not been taking many pictures of my garden lately. Here's what it's looking like right now. Most plants are doing well.

Giant lemongrass:






















Rose blooming by the morning glories.



































Mesclun and lettuce in a cage. The cage keeps the squirrels, raccoons, and birds out 100%, plus the snails and slugs can't find the plants because they're 3 feet off the ground. The plants are finally taking off because of the cooler temperatures, rain, and lack of animal attacks.

Ready for Ignition

These 'Thai Hot Dragon' chile peppers are great. After turning from green to orange to red, they take on a heat that is 8 times more intense than a Jalapeno.

Some of the peppers are crinkly, and have almost no flavor or heat. They seem to die on the plant and dry before getting any flavor. Any suggestions as to why this is happening?

Thai Dragons

'Thai Hot Dragon' chile peppers on my single plant. This plant has grown fast and produced many peppers.

There was a bit of a mystery concerning this plant: some of the peppers had absolutely no heat at all (they're supposed to be 8 times hotter than a Jalapeño). I discovered it was because those peppers were drying on the plant and not ripening.

The other day, I tried a plump, juicy red pepper. After chewing for a few seconds, I was running back into the house hollering.

The heat lasted about 1 hour.