I had a long chat with the termite exterminator this afternoon. It seems he went to a seminar about his product this morning and was advised there to NOT use the underground toxic chemical near any edible plantings, such as my organic herb and pepper garden! Imagine that. If the chemical was injected, the poison would spread to cover at least half of my side yard....and would poison my entire garden patch. The poison does break down, but it would be probably a year or two before I could safely plant near that fence again.
He asked to come and see my garden area so that he could figure out an alternative way to kill the termites without injecting the soil with the chemical. He would probably drill holes into the wood posts and put the chemicals in there. That does sound better to me, but I still think that I'm going to dig up all my pepper plants and transport them to the opposite side of the yard during the spraying.
I definitely am going to fight this if the neighbor insists on injecting poisons into my yard.
February 09, 2007
February 08, 2007
Termites!
I've been informed today that the neighbors are going to spray our common fence for termites. This common fence is inches away from my organic vegetable garden. I've been reading up on the chemical Termidor to see what I'm dealing with. Evidently it is considered one of the leading poisons to kill termites, so the fact that this company is using it is not anything out of the ordinary. It is not that I don't want the termites gone, after all if they are in the fence they can spread to my house, but dealing with all that poison is an issue. When I read more about the product at the manufactor's website, it stated that the chemical should not be injected into the ground where edible plants were growing.
Hmm.
My chiles have been successfully overwintering in my side yard. They survived the brief bout we had with frost conditions and seem quite happy. A few even have pods on them, although there are no new flowers to be seen. I don't want them sprayed with poisons or growing where poison has been injected into the ground inches away, so I'm considering digging them up and placing them into pots as I continue to deal with the termite situation.
Will I even have a garden after all this? I simply don't have enough information to judge this yet.
Hmm.
My chiles have been successfully overwintering in my side yard. They survived the brief bout we had with frost conditions and seem quite happy. A few even have pods on them, although there are no new flowers to be seen. I don't want them sprayed with poisons or growing where poison has been injected into the ground inches away, so I'm considering digging them up and placing them into pots as I continue to deal with the termite situation.
Will I even have a garden after all this? I simply don't have enough information to judge this yet.
January 14, 2007
Frost Conditions Arrive
It seldoms dips below freezing here in Southern California. Snow is more a myth than a reality. Yet, last night the temperatures dipped down around 25 degrees. I was worried about my wintering chile plants since I don't have anything to cover the plants with.
I looked out the window this morning and so far, so good. The plants are still green and looking healthy enough. My pepper garden is in a narrow yard between two houses and I think that not only are they sheltered from the wind, but being so close to the house the micro-climate there might be a bit warmer. I think that it helps that although it very cold, it is a dry cold. So far, we have not been touched by snow.
I'll keep my finger's crossed that the plants will make it. Who knew that overwintering a few chile plants would prove to be so nervewracking?
I looked out the window this morning and so far, so good. The plants are still green and looking healthy enough. My pepper garden is in a narrow yard between two houses and I think that not only are they sheltered from the wind, but being so close to the house the micro-climate there might be a bit warmer. I think that it helps that although it very cold, it is a dry cold. So far, we have not been touched by snow.
I'll keep my finger's crossed that the plants will make it. Who knew that overwintering a few chile plants would prove to be so nervewracking?
January 04, 2007
Overwintering Begins
The temperatures outside have been steadily growing cooler as our brief "winter" here in Southern California begins. We seldom experience frost conditions, but our eight week winter has a great deal of rain, wind and cool temperatures. Sometime in March, it will all reverse and the warmth with return again.
Most of my chiles have stopped producing pods, the exception being the red scotch bonnet. It still has a number of red pods on it that are ready for harvest. Otherwise, my garden is entering its dormant period where little is being produced.
I've never overwintered chiles before, but I just got an email from a fellow chilehead who told me that his plants would generally live anywhere from three to eight years here in Southern California and all he did was leave them outside in the garden! I'm very interested in this since it is often hard to find the more exotic chiles as starts in my area. If I have a plant, I'd like to keep it! I'm a little uncertain about the techniques involved, but I will simply try and cut them back a little and hope that in the spring they put out new stalks and leaves.
I am going to overwinter the following: Blushing Beauty Bell, Red Corno de Toro, Gypsy, Ariane, Fresno, Bulgarian Carrot, Cherry Bomb Hybred, Fatali, Fish, Red Scotch Bonnet and Chocolate Habanero. By overwintering, I'm hoping to have fresh chiles for my cooking far sooner than the late fall. Only time will tell....
Most of my chiles have stopped producing pods, the exception being the red scotch bonnet. It still has a number of red pods on it that are ready for harvest. Otherwise, my garden is entering its dormant period where little is being produced.
I've never overwintered chiles before, but I just got an email from a fellow chilehead who told me that his plants would generally live anywhere from three to eight years here in Southern California and all he did was leave them outside in the garden! I'm very interested in this since it is often hard to find the more exotic chiles as starts in my area. If I have a plant, I'd like to keep it! I'm a little uncertain about the techniques involved, but I will simply try and cut them back a little and hope that in the spring they put out new stalks and leaves.
I am going to overwinter the following: Blushing Beauty Bell, Red Corno de Toro, Gypsy, Ariane, Fresno, Bulgarian Carrot, Cherry Bomb Hybred, Fatali, Fish, Red Scotch Bonnet and Chocolate Habanero. By overwintering, I'm hoping to have fresh chiles for my cooking far sooner than the late fall. Only time will tell....
December 15, 2006
Harvesting Chiles
It is the busy season for my business, so my little chile garden has been somewhat neglected while I've been away at work. The cooler temperatures and the occasional rain has been helpful in keeping all my plants healthy and productive while I've been gone. I always have chiles through Christmas and this year is no exception.
My chocolate habanero turned out to be the most productive chile of them all. I have a gallon ziplock bag in the freeze full of the dark pods. I also found a couple of yellow fatalis, red bird peppers and more red scotch bonnets. There will be plenty of fruit to experiment with this winter and I hope for yet more pods before January.
I have pulled out a few of the plants to clean up the bed. The hungarian wax, the pepperonci's, the salsa garden and the thick cayenne plants are now gone. I've been pleased with the production of my plants in my tiny pepper patch, but I think that next year I will grow fewer plants and make sure that all of them are caged properly.
I hope to overwinter the more exotic peppers, such as the habanero, the fatali and the bird pepper. I understand that the second year they can get even hotter and more flavorful. I will need to get through christmas first, attend to the family and then perhaps, there will be time to play out in my garden.
Merry Christmas everyone! Happy chile growing.
My chocolate habanero turned out to be the most productive chile of them all. I have a gallon ziplock bag in the freeze full of the dark pods. I also found a couple of yellow fatalis, red bird peppers and more red scotch bonnets. There will be plenty of fruit to experiment with this winter and I hope for yet more pods before January.
I have pulled out a few of the plants to clean up the bed. The hungarian wax, the pepperonci's, the salsa garden and the thick cayenne plants are now gone. I've been pleased with the production of my plants in my tiny pepper patch, but I think that next year I will grow fewer plants and make sure that all of them are caged properly.
I hope to overwinter the more exotic peppers, such as the habanero, the fatali and the bird pepper. I understand that the second year they can get even hotter and more flavorful. I will need to get through christmas first, attend to the family and then perhaps, there will be time to play out in my garden.
Merry Christmas everyone! Happy chile growing.
September 14, 2006
Snap, Crackle, Pop
I was giving my pepper patch a good watering this morning, when I heard a loud snap. When I went over to check my blushing beauty bells, I saw that half of one of the plants simply snapped in half and fell over! I've never seen this happen with my bells before. The blushing beauties are forming several large pods and I'm looking forward to harvesting them once they ripen, but the pods seem to be sinking down to the ground. The plant simply can not support the weight of the fruit. I had not put up cages around my peppers this year and I regret this action now. Next year, everything is going to get a cage!
September 05, 2006
Scotch Bonnet Pods Form
One of the things about a garden is that you can step away from them for a time and then return in a week and find all sorts of surprises waiting for you. My big surprise was the discovery of a large number of scotch bonnet pods forming in my garden. It seems like I've been waiting forever and a day for this plant to start producing pods. Now, it finally is!
The latest heat wave combined with my watering the chile patch less often seems to have hit pay dirt. All of my peppers are doing quite well in my little side yard. I can't wait to see what forms next!
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