Eggplants and Peppers
Remember my eggplant flea beetle infestation and how I used Sevin Dust to kill and prevent more of them? Well, we saw a few more! My gardening partner & I decided to spray them this time with Sevin and then crossed our fingers. It looks like it worked! We have two Chinese Long eggplants and a few Black Beauty eggplants. We even have a lot of flowers! Thank goodness that we didn’t give up. I bought three eggplants from my local vegetable stand to make eggplant parmesan (with homemade tomato sauce of course) and am happy that I will now be self-sufficient!
Well…I can’t report that my peppers have bounced back. I started six different varieties. We harvested several jalapenos and poblanos but only two purple peppers. I was so hopeful about the peppers (even though I never started any from seed before) that I planted 24. My peppers (other than the jalapenos and poblanos) have only had a few flowers and then they disappeared. At first I thought that critters were eating them; nothing I could do about that. Then I thought that they needed more water than my other vegetables so I watered them some more. Then I thought that they needed a boost of nutrients so I gave them Miracle Grow (one tablespoon for one gallon). Miracle Grow is a mixture of nitrogen, ammonium, iron, copper, manganese, molybdenum and boron which plants directly absorb (yes, I looked this up for the first time despite using it regularly). Sadly, none of these strategies worked. So the other day my gardening partner & I decided that they weren’t going to produce and so I took them out and tossed them lovingly into my composter.
But what am I going to do next year? Should I give up and not grow any? Heck no! My gardening partner decided that because The Victory Garden has been successful for so many years and crops rotated each year, the entire garden needs a nutrient boost. This fall we are going to fertilize using 15-15-15 fertilizer. Fertilizer comes in different combinations of different nutrients. 15-15-15 is a combination of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. This should help add the right amount of nutrients to augment the soil. After we apply the fertilizer we are going to rototill. We are going to do it again in the spring a few weeks before planting. I totally believe my gardening partner; he is a gentleman farmer for goodness sake and we are definitely going to do it. But because I am a little bit geeky, I did some research to compare Miracle Grow to 15-15-15 fertilizer. Miracle grow has worked great with my other vegetables but not my peppers. Apparently peppers need more phosphorus and potassium that other vegetables. Ta-da! This seems to be the secret. So, this is our plan and we should be “off to the races”. As I have said before, challenges and figuring out what to do about them is one of the things I love about gardening. There is always something new to learn whether it is from other gardeners, hobby farmers, seminars, books and the Internet.
Whose peppers are these? These beauties are from one of my neighbors who planted some of my seedlings. They are ABSOLUTELY gorgeous and ABSOLUTELY delicious. Yes, she has a green thumb and she also graciously shared some with me. She grew them in pots because they would be chomped by all kinds of animals. As you can see, she also planted them in Miracle Grow soil so that they would have the perfect amount of nutrients. Hopefully, the ones we are going to grow in the soil enhanced Victory Garden next year will yield the same results she had. If not, I am sure she will continue to graciously give me some of hers. Yeah for good friends!
I hope you enjoy September in all its beauty and glory. Luckily there will still be more gardening and its bounty during the waning days of summer. I am hoping for an Indian Summer (is this politically correct anymore? Who knows.) Enjoy the sunshine and your surroundings. Enjoy your gardens and the bounty that they bring. Enjoy the fact that there are still hobby farmers and farmers who sell their vegetables and produce to you directly and that you help support this important livelihood. Enjoy the fact that you can live wherever you want and live the way you want. Enjoy the fact that you live in America and please pray for peace.