Chemical (synthetic) fertilizers aren't unavoidable in containers, I think many of us just see no point to them (though many of us do use organics for our in ground gardens). You described the problem of using organic solids such as manure/compost in that it will clog up the spaces between particles as it breaks down. This isn't a huge issue if you already have a mix with superior drainage and the amount of organic matter is kept low (let's say 10% of the total volume), BUT, the nutrient benefit isn't going to be reliable or significant. The soil food web is definitely another potential problem in a container. It isn't that you can't have bacteria, worms etc, it is that it is difficult for most to maintain a working population due to rapid environmental fluctuations in containers. pH, moisture, temperature all swing wildly in containers. If you think about how the soil food web are built up in soil we add organic matter and often mulch the area to make the environmental fluctuations less drastic. Many have hopped on to the no till bandwagon so as to not disturb the critters in the soil. Even if you did build a potent soil food web in the container, think about what they are going to do. They will attack every organic component of the mix including the bark and peat and thus the soil will structurally collapse before it needs to. There are those who grow organicly in containers, some post here from time to time. I have not read any of them to say it's particularly easy to do well and I recall one person who assembles a mind boggling number of ingredients to make a good mix and then tosses it in the garden each year due to it's collapsing too much to reuse. You certainly can do containers organic if you wish though. Blood meal isn't something I would use in a container because a little goes a very long way and it all becomes active nearly immediately. The risk of over fertilization would be high. Bone meal I also wouldn't use because it takes a long time to release nutrients and would likely have been flushed out of the container before that happens. If you wish to use teas I see no problem with that, but if you are willing to use diluted urea why not just use Miracle Grow or any other liquid fert with urea in it? I don't see the difference between organic/synthetic in this case. Just my thoughts. You can always do a few containers in a purely 'synthetic' way and some others in a purely organic way and see which you prefer. No harm in a little experimentation ;)

Welcome, Matt. Peppers need a fair amount of heat to germinate. You might not have time to get fruit in your growing season. I admit I've never tried wintersowing them though, for that reason. If you have the ability and place to grow them under lights, that might be preferable for the peppers. But it never hurts to try. Everything else should be good I think. Karen

Isn't a growbag is an old bagpipe filled with dirt? :) I'm surprised Scotland is zone 8, but I guess that's what happens when gardening zones are defined by minimum winter temperatures. I'm in western Canada, zone 3, so winters would be a heck of lot colder than Scotland, but summers maybe warmer. Anyway, I'm at 53.5 degrees North, so probably have similar long summer daylight as Scotland. Your greenhouse and temperate climate should give you a long growing season, but light may play a factor too, with growth slowing as the days get shorter even if you can keep the temperature up. I get shut down here by late September regardless as frost threatens. As someone above mentioned, varieties of C. annum will probably work best for you as they grow and ripen the fastest. In my experience, I find getting fruit set on hot peppers a lot easier than on bell peppers. You might do okay with bells in your greenhouse. Watch for insect pests, they can multiply quickly in a greenhouse, though you certainly wouldn't have any natural pepper pests in Scotland. That's all I can think of off the top of my head... oh, I'm growing "Matchbox" this year, a hot pepper, going to start hardening them off tomorrow in preparation for planting into pots and maybe directly in the garden too, in another week or two.

I have never been able to afford to take any classes in art painting. So I've had to teach myself. I started out probably 20 plus years ago with some books put out by Leisure Arts. I have no idea if these books, or any like them, are still available or not. But you might check out Hobby Lobby or Michaels if you have one near you. I haven't picked up a brush in a number of years because somehow or another, life got in the way. But the desire has struck again. I've gotten really interested in Bob Ross's method, it looks like it's really fast and easy, and fun. And at this stage in my life I just want to enjoy the process, not try to make any profound statements. So you might want to Google "Bob Ross Painting" to take a look. Michaels here has a number of his books, also most of the supplies he recommends. Hobby Lobby might carry them, too. Also, check out Ebay for his books, I got a couple of the older ones quite reasonable there. It's been quite awhile since you posted your request, I hope you have been busy learning to paint. Please come back and let us know how you are doing! Good luck! Rusty