I learned that you can grow sweet peppers and hot peppers together without worrying that your sweet peppers might turn hot. I have always taken great care with separating them, and it’s good to know I don’t have to worry about that.

Hot peppers and sweet peppers can indeed cross pollinate, but it will affect plants grown from those seeds. So don’t save seeds if you mix peppers. Otherwise go ahead and mix and match as you please.

There is still more to harvest. The hot peppers are continuing to ripen, though they are also late, and we are getting quite a small harvest as compared to usual.

Hot peppers grown in Earth Boxes -- Mix of Rocotillo, Kung Pao, Sport, Big Bomb, Pepperoncini and somewhere a single Pimento de Padron.

Bell pepper from my Square Foot garden

Weighed in at 505 grams. (Almost 1 pound 2 ounces)

This year, I put one plant per box, right in the middle of the box.

What a difference that made!

As you’ll see in the picture, you can’t even see the box – you’ll have to trust me, there’s an Earthbox under that foliage.

So I took the opportunity to plant out 8 lettuce seedlings to this spring’s first earthbox.

Lettuce seedlings

Indoors, the pepper and eggplant seedlings were moved from under lights in the garage, but kept on their heatmat, since the garage is still pretty cool at night, and they do love their heat.

Pepper and Eggplant Seedlings

The empty cells contained sponges were either the plants had not germinated and were replanted, or they were JUST emerging. I moved those sponges over to another cell block, and left them under the dome for a little bit longer.

I need to get my spring onion seeds planted quite soon, so that is the driving force behind getting this order placed right now.

I have quite a few onions in the ground already, planted last fall.

For the spring season, I am going with tried and true Yellow of Parma, a superb keeper onion, along with a new (for me) variety called Stuttgarter, which is also supposed to be a good keeper.

Among my fall planted onions I have quite a few Walla Wallas, as well as Candy, Red Wing, White Wing, Red Torpedo, Red Crimson, Stockton Yellow, Solano White.  I also got some leeks in the ground in the fall and they are coming along very nicely.

Some of the fall planted onions are in the ground, in my raised square foot garden beds, some are in earthboxes. Below are a couple of photos of the ones in Earthboxes.

Jan 2011 Earthbox onions (planted fall 2010)

Jan 2011 Earthbox onions (planted fall 2010)

I also ordered a few other things from Baker Creek.

The pepper Piemento De Padron, a hot pepper I purchased as a seedling last season, and absolutely loved, so it is more than likely on my “must grow every year” from now on.

I also ordered up an eggplant I have never tried before, called Ping Tung, and a spinach I have never tried called Merlo Nero.

Lastly, I decided to add to my Nasturtium collection with King Theodore and Jewel Peach Melba.

The side yard gets lots of sun, and the concrete gets hot and creates a little micro-climate of perfect growing conditions.

So, the other day I harvested my first watermelon of the year, and it wasn’t bad!

Watermelon 2010

Pimento de Padron
Delicious to pronounce, wonderful to eat,
with perfect piquancy, depth and many nuanced notes

Pimento de Padron

Lebanese Bush White Summer Squash

Basil from Earthbox

Long Green Thai and Japanese Long

A single predatory wasp will consume more aphids and other leaf eaters than a squadron of lady bugs. Best of all: they have a live-and-let live attitude towards humans. This is a good reason to provide them with watering stations like the one below.

Wasp watering station

Wasps drinking

Predatory Wasp Drinking

Bee on sunflower

Bee on sunflower II

In the Three Sisters Planting, corn, beans and squash thrive together and all benefit each other. Here Scarlet Runner Beans are climbing on the corn. Humming birds love the Scarlet Runner Beans.

"Three Sisters Planting"

Accidental, no-effort sunflower patch: We spilled blackoil sunflower seeds onto a 3 inch deep patch of fine barkdust that was on our lawn. In no time there was a small, thriving sunflower thicket.

Small sunflower patch

Every garden has a Sky Harbor view.

Early September 2010 Harvest

Cucumbers are finally coming into their own. These were grown in an Earthbox – this is the first year for me growing cucumbers in an earthbox, and clearly, they are thriving.

Any ideas on how to use them are welcome! Wish they could be kept for winter!

Even at this size, 53 cm long and weighing in at 950 grams, it was very tasty and crisp

And another plant that absolutely thrives in the Earthbox is Eggplant. Here is one example of Hansel in an Earthbox:

Hansel Eggplant in Earthbox 2010

Below is a photo of the result. Not enough garlic planted this year, I can clearly see that now! And no really long storing varieties. There will be tears and gnashing of teeth when we run out and have to buy them!

I will have to do better this year with my planting. Just ordered up 8 new varieties today.

Vostani, Tzan, Simoneti, Russian Red, Romanian Red, Red Janice, Italian Late & Brown Tempest. I have never ordered from this supplier, Keene Organic before, so I am hoping they have good quality stock. I really liked that they allow you to order a customized sample pack!

Garlic Harvest 2010

Last year I grew fennel for the first time ever, in containers, not in earthboxes, but I let it go to far and it bolted and flowered before I got to them, so I just let them be for the bees to enjoy, and the bees did LOVE the fennel blooms.

This year, I’d like to actually get to eat some fennel!

Fennel harvested from Earthbox

Yesterday I harvested some more earthbox garlic, and here is the yield from one single box of Italian Easy Peel garlic. I am happy with the results!

Italian Easy Peel from earthbox

Italian Easy Peel Garlic harvest from one earthbox

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