Growing – Page 9 – Use That Herb

Cayenne Peppers Explode in Super Soil

October 21, 2013 by herbie

Well, not explode as in Ka-Boom!, but explode in numbers. Take a look at our harvest of peppers from two plants. Two bowls or colanders full from each plant made for a healthy harvest, wouldn’t you say?

Two bowls of peppers harvested from each cayenne pepper plant.

On one plant I started counting the peppers and lost track after 180. The plants grew to 5 feet tall and that’s certainly the biggest I’ve ever seen them. Probably won’t be planting any cayenne peppers next year as we’ll have enough dried peppers for the next five years!

large pepper plant stem — Girth of this pepper plant stem is over an inch in diameter.

These bountiful plants grew in a brand new section of the vegetable garden where we had a truck load of super soil dumped. In the mountains we definitely have to amend the soil as it’s mostly clay and rock. And I mean there are LOTS of rocks in that dirt.

cayenne pepper plant in front of garage door — Harvested cayenne pepper plant laid in front of garage door.

I’m going to find out exactly how the super soil was made so we can replicate that for next year’s growing season. Compost is one component for sure, but what other ‘ingredients’ and in what combination is unknown at this point. Next year we’ll have to pick up a tumbler composter and make our own compost to amend the soil that’s already in the garden. So far, the Compost Wizard Dueling Tumbler and the Envirocycle Original Composter look very promising. I really like the idea of capturing compost tea with these tumblers.

We already use compost in the garden and flower beds, but since we have the room we just dump everything in a couple of piles near the edge of the yard and let nature take its course. Some ‘black dirt’ can be shoveled from the bottom of the piles, but the roots of nearby plants tend to grow up into the compost piles. Not the best solution for getting enough compost, but the price is right. However, if we could do away with pouring on fertilizers, like MiracleGro, then the cost of a composter would be insignificant.

Here’s to making our own Super Soil next year! BTW, tomatoes did awesome in the super soil, too!

Will Perennial Herbs Return in Spring?

May 14, 2013 by herbie

For the last two weeks the herb and flower beds have been calling to me. I’ve been wanting to clear them out of the leaves that were allowed to accumulate there for protection from winter weather. Perennial herbs may or may not survive in our location in the mountains. It all depends on the severity of the Winter and whether the plants were protected long enough into Spring from freezing temperatures.

Leaves cover the herbs horehound, lemon-thyme, thyme and tarragon. — Peeking out from leaf cover from the top moving counter-clockwise are the herbs horehound, lemon-thyme, thyme and tarragon (surprise!).

Here in Central Pennsylvania we have a frost-free date in the middle of May so we try not to plant anything but cold crops until after that date. It’s just not worth the risk of forgetting to bring in pots on a cold night that might erase all the time and energy spent on planting those pretty posies. Instead, we turn our attention to prepping the garden for receiving its first plants and picking up sticks in the yards so the lawn mower will be happy.

Historically, we’ve had record freezing temperatures well into the month of May but the forecast for the next 10 days shows lows only getting down into the 50s. Now that it seems warm enough outside we can rake out the flower and herb beds. The leaves were purposefully kept there covering up the herbs that are supposed to be perennial. Once they’re uncovered we’ll be able to figure out which plants survived and which ones need to be replaced this year.

I’m curious what other people do to overwinter their perennial herbs. We are surrounded by a forest so it’s simple for us to rake leaves over the plants to hold in the earth’s warmth.

A couple of hardy perennial herbs return each year in the garden where they receive no protection from Winter’s icy grip. Lemon balm and anise hyssop roots bring back these fast-growing herbs in early Spring. Their numerous seeds are sought after by goldfinches and dark-eyed juncos who visit us in the cold months, but the leftover seeds will produce many small plants in the vicinity of the mother plants.

We use leaves as a kind of mulch in our flower and herb beds, so some of the leaves will stay around the base of the plants when we rake out the beds.