Awesome! I am smiling and happy right along with you. I hope I can post something soon. :D ♥ Congratulations!

bon

Susan, congratulations on the pepper.

I noticed a small pepper yesterday, but it was on a one of the bells, my peppers have only been planted a short time.

Larry

Congrats, Susan! Isn't it fun? There's nothing better than raising some of your own produce.

Some of my jalapenos have blooms and a few have fruit, but our first jalapeno pepper wasn't a little green one. It was a little purple one. Purple Jalapeno is usually about as early for me as Early Jalapeno, and this year it set fruit before Early Jalapeno did.

Larry, I haven't seen any bells yet, but some of the sweets are just starting to flower. My peppers have only been in the ground a short time too. In fact, I likely will finish planting them tomorrow. It has taken me forever because I decided to build two new raised beds for them to ensure good drainage if the heavy rain continued. Since I started the new raised beds, the rain has avoided falling. It just figures!

I planted some bells a couple of days ago, and don't even have the hot peppers in the ground yet, so all of you are ahead of me. I noted when I was planting peppers, that the ground still felt pretty cool. The warm days this week have made my Blue Lake bush beans come up, but the Roma's still haven't made it. Talk about backward....I have two inch tall bush beans, but the pole beans are already climbing. That is backward from what I usually have.

My snow peas are just starting to bloom heavily, but the Sugar Snaps haven't bloomed, but my peas all still look good.

That is great Susan! Our peppers still small, I saw few flower buds on Banana peppers. This time I planted pepper in the holes of cardboard layed over raised beds.

-Chandra

Chandra - that is so cool looking! If I were growing in raised beds or ground, I would be for sure copying your method cuz I bet it keeps them nice and toasty warm, huh?

Dawn, the little Jalapeno was on an Early Jalapeno plant, that has blooms all over it. Mucho Nacho is running close behind it, I should have a pepper or two on it today. Nothing on the sweets side yet.

That little Jalapeno is now 3Xs the size it was 2 days ago. They must grow really fast once they appear????

You guys just can't believe how thrilled I am! I mean, I CAN do this, I really can! I didn't think I could, but I CAN! Whoohoo!

Susan

P.S. - That Purple Jalapeno definitely sounds intriguing!

Carol, I haven't even sowed seeds for okra, southern peas, or pole beans yet. I've been working so hard getting all the pepper, tomato, herb and flower plants into the ground that I've just pushed those other crops into the far recesses of my mind. I figure I'll finish up the planting of the current plants I have in flats either today or tomorrow, then will take the back-up plants to the Spring Fling on Saturday, and will start with a clean slate next week, sowing seeds of the hot weather crops. With the cool nights we've continued to have once or twice a week, I haven't gotten in any hurry with them.

Chandra, The peppers look great and you'll be harvesting peppers before you know it. Even when I put pepper plants into the ground the first week in May, I'm usually harvesting something by the first or second week of June.

Susan, Jalapenos do grow very fast once the fruit forms and they also grow very fast in the kinds of temperatures we've had this week. I usually get my first Jalapenos in late May or early June, and my first big canning-sized harvest right around Father's Day. The monumentally large harvests that require endless days of roasting, freezing and canning don't usually hit until July though. If the weather stays pretty warm and we don't have many more cool nights, I think a lot of us will have big pepper harvests earlier than usual.

There was never any doubt in my mind you could and would do this. You're a great gardener and anyone who can grow trees, vines, shrubs and ornamentals isn't going to have trouble growing veggies. You did your research and did your soil prep well and chose good varieties for our climate---all steps that lead to success.

Purple Jalapeno is both tasty and highly ornamental as the plants have a purple tinge to them. It also is really early. I think in my garden that Purple Jalapeno, Early Jalapeno and Biker Billy usually are the first to set fruit and produce ripe ones, but Mucho Nacho is always just a few days behind them.

I love the way pepper plants look--that glossy green foliage stays pretty all summer and the brightly colored fruit add a lot of color. I grow some ornamental peppers just because they are so pretty. This year my ornamental ones are Tri-fetti Variegated Pepper and Royal Black.

Now, be careful because growing your own food is addicting!

Dawn

I can see that, Dawn. In the recesses of my mind, I am already planning what I might plant next year.......oh, my, I'm hopeless. Thank you for the nice compliments. Gardening is pretty much self-rewarding, too.

I went to Lowe's this morning and came back with 8 2.5 cf of soil. Just didn't get around to making my own this year, but I add a few things to make it better. Came home and got my 5 pepper plants potted up, watered part of the garden, and the off to p/u Kenna from school to take her to her new school for next year. She is doing what they call "shadowing" 5th grade students to see what the school is like. Then stop at Sonic, eat, and check the forums. I'll be back out potting up things. Don't know if I will tackle the big huge pots today, but will do some of the others.

The garden is so full of butterflies right now, I can barely walk around. I have never seen so many in my life, not even in 2007 when we had a ton. Driving down the street, you can't look in one spot without seeing a butterfly. It is amazing. Yes, there will be and are a lot of caterpillars this year! The butterflies' fruit feeders are so crowded, I need to run to Braum's and p/u some more ripe bananas for them!

Here goes round #2!

Susam

You're ahead of me! All of my peppers are blooming, but I don't have any peppers yet.

Milestones in gardening always make me really happy. Blooms, fruit, even just new growth after transplanting. Especially when it's a plant that I started from seed. It makes me feel so accomplished. I don't know why more people don't do it. Most people don't need much of a push, though. I sent out an email at work a few days ago offering my extra pepper plants and they were claimed about two minutes later.

There are butterflies everywhere here, too. I drove to Hot Springs, AR last weekend and there was Chinese privet blooming everywhere. I have one in my backyard and the butterflies and bees love it. Seeing how much it's taken over everywhere makes me want to give it a very serious pruning, though. It's a very pretty weed.

Leslie

Susan,

It is hard to believe Kenna is such a grown-up young lady already. How the years fly by.

Ditto on the masses of butterflies. We need air traffic controllers out there directing their flight. Today one almost flew into my mouth and I've had them landing on me all week. Today I saw a couple hanging on the side of a 20-gallon molasses feed tub. It was roasting hot and I would have chosen a cooler spot to hang out myself. It probably helps that every square inch of our pastures is in bloom with masses of yellow clover blooming down lower to the ground, and wildflowers of all kinds, including green milkweed, blooming up above the clover. At times it seems like every flower has a butterfly on it. At night, the moths are just as heavy. I love having them around except for the cutworm moths and the SVB moths (which I haven't seen yet).

Leslie, I don't know why more people don't garden either. Maybe the pepper plants you gave away will inspire some folks to try gardening for the first time or to grow more than they've grown before.

I know Chinese privet is highly invasive but I like looking at it. We don't have any on our property, and I won't plant any since we have enough invasive stuff as it is. It is a prettier weed than many other weeds!

Dawn

I love it when I hear gardeners excited about their crops.
Here is a pic of my peppers-

Gardenrod - those are very attractive pepper plants! Will you be growing them in those blue containers? I potted all of mine up yesterday into their "forever homes". It was a good day for potting and planting. The cloud cover helps them transition better with less transplant shock. I plan to do tomatos, squash, cukes, and Okra this weekend. I need to go get my inoculant to start the bean seeds. I'm just going to direct sow these in their forever pots.

Then I need to plant my Morning Glory plants and seeds. Some I've started in paper cups, and others will be direct sown.

Then in an area near the sidewalk, I am going to plant my white 4 o'clocks I grew from seed, and I need to either pot up my Miami Sunrise Tecoma, Hamelia patens, and Lavender Porterweed, or put them in the ground, haven't decided yet.

I am hoping by June I will be thru with all this plant and potting up, and be harvesting and all that will entail.

Yes, Dawn, Kenna is 10 years old. She is our sweet-natured, lovely, willowy, gracious, beauty. Charlotte, OTOH, is more of our outgoing, strong-willed, determined, precocious, tomboy....so far. She will be 2 years old June 9th. That I find hard to believe, too. Charlotte goes at everything hard and fast. If she falls or hurts herself, she gets right back up and goes at it again, no muss, no fuss. She loves bugs. She and Kenna have that in common. Kenna adores her baby sister, and in turn, Charlotte is crazy about Kenna.

When I went to Rosary School yesterday, I was happy to see they have landscaped the property with lots of flowers, shrubs, and trees. It is very pretty. Lots of butterflies there, too, and well maintained. Kind of a cottage garden look - as much as you can do in Oklahoma anyway.

Susan

Gardenrod, Your plants look great.

Susan, I remember with Kenna was just a little bit older than Charlotte is now--maybe 3 or 4--and really loving the butterfly gardening. I can't believe Charlotte's about to turn two year old already.

It is so nice to have so many flowers in bloom. Last year was so tough on everything that I wondered what sort of spring blooms we would have and it has been just spectacular. I think all the fall and winter rain brought us a bumper crop of wildflowers. I hope enough rain falls all summer that we have lots of flowers of all kinds. The larkspur and poppies at the SW corner of the veggie garden are at their peak now and it is a pleasure to be able to look at them as I'm working nearby.

We'll be near 90 degrees today and with winds gusting up near 30 mph so my poppies likely will lose their petals early today. Some years the poppies last until mid-June as long as I keep deadheading, but in this heat I don't think they'll hang on that long. I do have zinnias and nasturtiums coming into bloom now along with Laura Bush petunias, verbena bonariensis, celosia cristata, marigolds, sweet alyssum, Malva sylvestris 'Zebrina' and 'Mystic Merlin', periwinkles, "Pink Lemonade" honeysuckle, roses and chamomile, so there's a lot in bloom in the garden this week.

Everything in my garden and yard look more like it is late May than late April, so it makes me feel like it is later in the year than it actually is.

Dawn

Mucho Nacho is now producing Jalapenos, and my regular Jalapeno has one baby on it, too. Yippee!

Now, off to find out why there is there is a really weird bloom on my Cherokee Purple tomato........hmmmmmm.

Susan

Susan-
Yes, I grow my peppers in these blue 18
gal containers (see Pic).
They give me room to grow 2 peppers per container, and right now I even have space to store my backup plants (smaller black containers) in them.
In the tomato cage, I grow some tomatoes in the round 18 gal containers and some directly in the ground. That way I get a mix of harvest dates (the container plants usually mature faster than the ground plants).
As you might be able to see, I end up using anything I can get my hands on that will hold container mix.
Ron

Ron, that is a really, really nice set up you've put together there. Mine is much less aesthetically pleasing. I am using some plastic containers (20 gal), a couple of 25 and 30 gal. black pots, and a lot of 10 and 5 gallon gro bags that are white on the outside to reflect the heat away. I could have gotten bigger bags, but I really don't have the room for them. I'm going to be pushing it with what I have.

The only space I really have is my half of a driveway divider (my neighbor has no problems with me using it for my pots and bags). I spent a huge amount (to me) on soil to fill these containers this year as this year I have gone all out to add vegetables to my growing plan. Otherwise, I have always gardened for the wildlife - butterflies, moths, birds, bees, and whatever else comes along. So I do have lots of pollinators. I grow larval host plants for a lot of the butterflies, so I get to see them grow from egg to adult butterfly or moth. No, I don't kill the hornworms, since the adults are fantastic pollinators of many deep throated flowers that other pollinators cannot do. I have huge Datura plants and I just move them to that (same family as Tomatos, Peppers, Eggplant, Potatos).

I really love your garden!

Susan

I had some volunteer pepper plants that sprang within re purposed soil for another during a time a few weeks ago the weather cooled to the exact temperature it liked. I wasn't certain they were peppers until I saw Chandra's pictures (Thanks Chandra!). They looked very similar to my leeks at that age. And everyone's peppers look great! Thanks for sharing the photos. Helps me a lot.

I guess I will go ahead and pot up these seedlings and let come what may. Who knows? they might produce in time.

bon

Susan,
Your excitement over your peppers is contagious! I feel just the same over our little peppers! Our Cajun Belles are the first to have peppers and it's amazing how fast they're growing. I can see changes every day. The Mucho Nachos have blooms but haven't seen any little peppers yet. Only the Habenero seems to be taking its own sweet time and hasn't even bloomed yet. And last night I saw the first little tomatoes, which I got even more excited about! The Big Beef and Black Cherry are the first to set fruit. Fingers crossed that the others get busy now. I'm soooo hoping that we have a better tomato year than last summer, when we only got a couple of handfuls of cherry tomatoes. And of course a good pepper year too!

Suzie

Susan,

Did you figure out your odd blooms on your Cherokee Purple? I keep meaning to ask, and then forgetting by the time I read everyone's pepper news.

My best guess is they are fused blossoms, aka mega-blooms, and they are common early in the season. They usually produce larger than average tomatoes, and the more blossoms that are fused together, the larger the fruit.

Dawn

Suzie - it's all very new and exciting to me since this is the first time I am growing anything other than tomatoes and even that still seems new to me. Congrats om your garden, too.

Dawn, how do I know when to harvest my Jalapenos. A couple are about 2.5" to 3" long now.

Yes, I figured out it was a megabloom and that is not that uncommon particularly on Cherokee Purple. I don't know if I got it pollinated or not as the blooms were so tightly fused there wasn't much to work with. I'm leaving it alone for now.

Susan

Susan, Jalapenos will give you several signs that they are ripe. They turn a slilghtly darker green than what they are while still enlarging. Their color looks a little bit more dull, but don't leave them until it is too dull. Some of them have a lot of corking (tan lines that I like to think of as 'stretch marks') as they reach maturity but before they start turning red. Personally, I like them more when they reach that stage, but I usually harvest the earliest ones before they cork so that the plant will go into an additional big flowering/fruiting cycle. With most varieties, jalapeno peppers that are mature are easier to pull off the plant than those that are not mature enough yet. That's not always true though. With some varieties, you really have to give a sharp little tug and sometimes a limb will come off in your hand, so I often cut them instead of risking tugging a limb off the plant.

You also can go by fruit size for any given variety, but in recent years they are breeding jalapenos that are bigger and bigger, so you really have to know the mature size for the type you're growing. Some jalapenos only get about 3" long but a lot of the newer varieties can get 4 to 5" long, and I've seen some in stores that look 6" long.

I usually harvest them green the first half of the season, but by August I am letting some stay on the plant long enough to turn red. However, when you do that, you need to use or preserve (I often roast and freeze them) the peppers pretty fast after they are harvested because they are so mature they'll go bad very quickly.

My suggestion is that you go by both a specific variety's DTMs and also its usual mature fruit size. Also, make sure the fruits have gotten as wide as they should. Inexperienced pepper growers often pick them too early---when they have reached the right length but not yet the right width.

Knowing when to pick your jalapenos is something that improves with experience in growing and harvesting them. Harvest them at different stages this year, and taste them and see how you like them best. We like them best when they're corking, but other people like them best if harvested before they cork. You won't know how you like them best until you've grown them and harvested them and tasted them at different stages.

I have plenty of jalapenos that are 2 to 3" long, but none of them is ever close to their mature width. I expect the first ones will be ready to pick in a couple of weeks, but probably not any sooner. I usually pick only a smidgen of jalapenos in late May but then have a tremendous harvest in June. To me, the ones harvested in June always taste better than the ones harvested in May. I think the first few jalapenos can be a little lacking in flavor because they grew in somewhat cooler conditions. Summer heat really brings out their flavor.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: Image of Jalapenos, Some With Corking

Last year I let a lot of mine turn red, then made pepper jelly using the Hab Gold recipe. I used yellow sweet peppers, red jalapenos, and with the orange apricots, it was a bright pretty color and very good although not as hot as using habs.

Thanks for the great info that I will definitely bookmark for future reference. I don't think they are "wide" enough yet. I don't know how to calculate DTMs on plants I purchased, so will do my best to harvest when I believe they are ready. I think they biggest one I have is Mucho Nacho, which is a larger fruit than Jalapeno or Early Jalapeno. This will be a learning experience for me. I am not a Jalapeno consumer, but want to make Salsa with them. So won't be tasting them like you guys - whoo! Too hot for me!!!

I would never make it with Habaneros or Bhut Jolokias.

Susan

How do you know when the jalapenos are ready to pick? Is there a general rule of thumb? For the first time ever (yay!) I have more than 1 pepper,which last year I picked when I felt like it lol!

My first jalapeno is much larger than the other dozen flowers and small fruits that have started. Wondering if I should pick the first one early so the plant has more energy for the others?

My plant is in a box hanging off my front porch next to a dill plant and cilantro plant.

My first jalapeno is much larger than the other dozen flowers and small fruits that have started. Wondering if I should pick the first one early so the plant has more energy for the others?

My plant is in a box hanging off my front porch next to a dill plant and cilantro plant.

I picked my first two jalapenos today from Early Jalapeno. Actually I didn't even eat them, but gave them away. I made up a salsa pack for a friend with two tomatoes, two jalapenos, a bell pepper, an onion and some packs of TrueLime.

I may have to go out and pick another one because as I was typing that sounded really good. LOL

LOL Grandmom! Funny how that works. I'll contribute to the hunger. I've been enjoying tabouli "salad" since my tomatoes are the size of marbles.. I don't actually add the tabouli. I spent a great many years in the company of middle easterners. The recipe can be found online but they often vary by cook and geography.

Tomatoes and Cukes: Ratio is 50:50 unless your preference is otherwise. I prefer to have sufficient juice from ripened fresh tomatoes to drench the entire salad, so to speak.

I use the number of cukes (store-bought large variety) added as the guide:

Tomatoes and cukes are diced very small. The smaller the better but not "mush". Proper size is key (unless you prefer otherwise). I dice them to pencil density or smaller.

Minced garlic - at least one clove per cuke is my guide

Green Onions finely chopped with greens as preferred. One per salad is all I use.

Very very finely chopped fresh parsley. Sufficient parsley is needed to be contained within each bite. It can be left out but adds a certain "tabouli" flavor. Add as much as you prefer. Per cucumber added I generally add 1/2C of finely chopped parsley. Some batches of parsley are stronger than others. Taste to be certain.

Salt to taste.

FRESH lemon. Fresh is key. The fake just won't do it. NEVER add the lemon until you're ready to serve. The brew ferments and becomes strong over time. Indeed, I love the leftover juices. Just like salad dressing. The amount depends on the acidity of the lemon. Try 1/2 lemon per cuke added to be safe. Add more if needed.

MINT (finely chopped) Add to taste right before serving. Mint is key to the original middle-eastern recipe not often found at salad bars because it ferments over time. Only add a pinch per cuke used in the salad.

Cilantro can be added but not too much! Just a dash if fresh.

If you've never had tabouli using home-grown tomatoes and cukes, you've never had real tabouli!

To add tabouli: Some recipes require soaking. When used I soak it for an hour or so and add tabouli by "sight" not putting near as much tabouli in as the salad bars use (they save money doing this). This takes away from the "salad" and is just filler, in my opinion. I like my tabouli not too soft when I do eat it. It's just a preference thing. Original middle eastern tabouli utilizes all the juices in the salad from those home-grown juicy tomatoes to moisten the tabouli instead of prior soaking depending how much tabouli is preferred within the salad versus the natural moisture content of the vegetables. .

Cukes, tomatoes and parsley can be chopped and mixed a day in advance.

Try adding a little chopped lettuce instead of tabouli or romain lettuce. Wonderful stuff.

Bon, I love whole wheat in almost everything, with the exception of tabouli. I will eat it, but it is not a favorite.

I always laugh when I see Greek salad in the USA because the majority of the dish is lettuce. In Greece, it was sliced cucumbers, chunks of tomato, kalamata olives, and occasionally sliced fresh rings of onion. Feta cheese was scattered over the top and the entire thing was drizzled with olive oil. Occasionally they would have some lemon wedges on the side. It is still one of my favorite salads, and was one of the first things we ate this year when the cucumbers and tomatoes started producing. The Greeks would bring that to your table with a free form loaf of rustic bread usually with a knife stuck in the top, and your drink. It was a good thing my meat was already cooking because I could just about do without it after the bread and salad.

hehe You know, grandmom. I've yet to break open my jar of Kalamata olives and my feta is in the freezer. Now, I just may need to make some today. hahaha