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.

Thanks everyone for the feedback. Sounds like most of you would forego the black plastic at this time of year. I think I will do the same. As for the rain, I will keep the hoop cover closed on the rainy days and during cooler nights. I haven't planted yet but have the plants sitting in my window garden box which is partially shaded, with the little ventilation windows open. I will set them out somewhere on the patio and try to get them adjusted before planting. Already the weather is changing and getting cooler (70s). Nice picture of the little one with the green pepper. If I grow a pepper of that size then I'll consider it a success! Also, good to know that Bells grow well in the Portland area. Gives me some confidence.

seysonn - I wasn't talking about pickling meat (though it can and is done), was just discussing buffering capacity. And yes, vegetables have some degree of buffering capacity whereas water doesn't which is where the simple formula breaks down. The denser the vegetable and/or harder the rind the more resistant to change in pH it is. So carrots and beets require more acid (and longer processing times and/or precooking before jarring) than peppers, and whole thick-skinned peppers require more than pepper rings or blanched peeled peppers. Heating the vegetables in the acid bath helps to acidify them, whereas cukes for example are mostly water and don't have as much buffering capacity so just heating the acid solution and pouring it over them is enough (heat processing after closing the jars helps too but in cucumber pickles is mainly done to kill other microbes and extend shelf life by killing mold spores and creating a strong vacuum). I'm sure there must be tables online that have the buffering capacity of various vegetables but I didn't find any the other night and I'm not paying $150 for a food science book to look it up. But just b/c I can't produce such a table doesn't mean I'm making this stuff up. Read paragraph 2, top of 2nd page in the attached PDF where it mentions buffering capacity if you don't believe me that this applies to vegetables. "...some barriers exist in the preparation of acidified foods, including inadequate acid in the cover brine to overcome buffering capacity of the food, the presence of alkaline compounds from peeling or other processing aids, and the peels, waxing, piece size or oil in the product which can cause a barrier to penetration of the acid." You're free to do anything you want in your kitchen, but following "approved" USDA recipes for home canning is smart if you don't want to put family and friends at risk. And following FDA regulations regarding review, testing, and approval of recipes is required for interstate commerce. Within state - that depends on the state's cottage food laws, but it's prudent to at least follow the USDA recommendations even if the laws are pretty lax just to CYA. salsalady sells her stuff refrigerated (and not a strong vacuum b/c it's not BWB'd) - but she's right that you need enough acid. Wrong that BWBing will make up for it if not - in fact, the opposite. As I said on other thread(s), botulism toxin can form in the anaerobic environment if pH is over 4.6, so it's actually safer NOT to seal the jars (either by BWBing or open-kettle - what she calls modified hot pack - and just refrigerate them if you don't know that the pH is below that. madferret - wow, that's strong stuff! Be careful handling it, it's very caustic. In the U.S. I guess we used to be able to buy 20% vinegar and so the recipes called for less water than they do now. You will have to dilute that to use - are you sure it's food-grade? Even if it is, I don't know that I'd want to handle it in the kitchen - or anywhere. Wear gloves and googles! Did you buy it for weed killer? My apologies to Jay for getting sort of OT - I'm sure your sauce is fine if you used straight vinegar. Judo had posted a while ago on Harvest - if you have any questions about the safety of your recipe you can post over there and get some more experienced eyes to look at it - or call your local extension office. I'm not an MFP, have just been pickling a few years and took the FDA's acidified food course last year. Edited to add: there is no such thing as an "acidic" vegetable - though peppers are a fruit (and so are tomatoes), tomatoes are borderline acidic which is why USDA recommends adding acid to jars when canning (though FDA gives an exemption to tomato products under 4.7 - ? - and doesn't consider them "acidified foods"). Anything under 4.6 requires acidification for safe BWBing - that includes peppers, onions, cucumbers, etc. that we consider vegetables as well as borderline or low-acid fruits such as tomatoes, figs, melons and Asian pears. If you don't want to acidify (pickle) them, you have to pressure can, though USDA also recommends acidifying tomatoes before PCing - probably because of the very short processing time. Here is a link that might be useful: Food Safety Considerations - in plain English This post was edited by ajsmama on Fri, Jul 25, 14 at 18:37

I really love your enthusiasm, lilgardenjon - I can't see how you could possibly go wrong with an attitude like that. Violets and clover can make good bedfellows, although I suspect that the clover will limit the violet density for all but the most vigorous species. I'm partial to both (I assume you meant white Dutch clover) - and while there may be some species of Viola that prefer not to be crowded by anything, if you set up a diverse habitat where no one thing is permitted to grow into a total monoculture there should be plenty of spaces for all kinds of violets. You might want to try the Johnny-jump-ups on a limited basis at first, just to see if you really want them covering everything; they can be very aggressive things and you'll soon have no shortage even with a limited initial planting. Perhaps starting with plenty of space between different types is advisable, because you can always change your mind and quickly plant more of what pleases you most after that. Who knows, you might just develop a taste for something too delicate for all the competition! I can't wait to hear how it all turns out for you.