Planting German Red Garlic. 26 Oct 2023.

 This year's supply of garlic is already getting low.  I decided to plant another four rows for next year.

German Red is described as pungent and highly flavored, which we would like.  The bulbs in the package had about 9 cloves each, so four bulbs made almost exactly four rows of nine cloves each.  

German Red is a hard neck, Rocambole type.

This being German garlic, maybe it should be called  "Knoblauch",  but I'll probably forget that.

This half of this raised bed had tomato plants until I cleared them out today.

I gave them organic vegetable fertilizer, but no other soil improvement.  I'll save coffee grounds and eggshells for a surface treatment, before covering with tree leaves for the winter.

Fig Harvest. 21 Oct 2023.

 The fig trees have produced a lot of figs to dry, over the past two or three weeks.  Oven the Brunswick and Smith varieties.  The Brunswick figs are larger and have tan centers.  The Smith are richer flavor, red centers, but both are very sweet.

I'm dehydrating most of them for use this winter.

Final Post, Overwintering Chili Pepper Plants. 21 Oct 2023.

 The pepper plants that survived the winter, did go on to produce peppers.  There was "good" and "not-so-good".

The Thai peppers did the best of all.  They were much larger and much more productive than my first year Thai peppers.

The Tabasco peppers also did well. Also better than first year plants.

The Serrano did not do well at all.  First year Serranos did better  (No photo).  Similar for the Jalapeño, below.  Not bad, in the end, but no really better than new plants.

I'll have to see if the Cayenne labels are legible.  I'm not sure which is which.

In the end, it was fun seeing if the pepper plants would overwinter.  More than half survived.  Some did really well, and others just "OK".  I wont do it this winter, opting instead for new plants.  

Also, one first year plant that was unlabeled looks like it might be another Tabasco.  Or maybe, Thai.  It was a very pretty plant, and made lots of tiny peppers.

The large growing bag containers, contained in a planter and with drip irrigation, worked out nicely for the peppers.  I think the really small ones - Thai and Tabasco - might do equally well in a container flower garden.  

Fermenting Hot Peppers for Pepper Sauce. 21 Oct 2023

 I harvested enough hot peppers to make a couple of batches of hot sauce.

That's good, because that's the main reason I grew them.  Most are a hybrid Serrano type called "Altiplano" but there are also some non-hybrid Serranos, Thai, and Tabasco peppers for more hotness.  Also some red-ripe Jalapeños, which sweeten when red.  The hybrid Serranos are much larger and more productive, than the non-hybrids, and have good flavor and hotness.

These are in a brine, with some crushed garlic, a touch of sugar to feed the fermentation, and a sauerkraut juice inoculum (1 tbsp) for lots of lactic acid bacteria.  After three days, there are lots of bubbles.

Soon I will process them and filter for liquid hot sauce and save the solids for cooking. 

Raised Bed Repairs. 21 Oct 2023

 This is another of the raised beds built with tinker-toy-like method.  I think the corner stones are a product called "Old Castle" stone planter blocks.  The center has a hole, for rebar to make them stay in place.  The sides have slots for the boards.

Unfortunately, the blocks tend to settle.  I think moles undermine them.  I don't think they are intended to be stacked three-high, but that's the height I want.  After a few years, the sides were sloping outwardand soon at risk of falling over.

Above photo is after repair.    Below photo is before repair.  I dug out the soil on one side, so I could move the blocks and boards.  Unfortunately, I wound up having to dig out and move all four sides and corner stones.

Here is a corner after digging it out.   I flattened and raised the soil a bit, pulled out the 2 foot rebar and replaced with three foot rebar.

The longer rebar goes a little deeper, but also sticks out the top.  I cut 2x4, preserved boards (upcycled from fencing) to make braces.  After drilling holes for the rebar, they look like the top photo.  They won't let the corner blocks lean outwards, and wont allow sideways movement either.

Next, I'll replace the plastic liner so wood is not against soil, to delay / reduce rotting.  Then add a few buckets of soil to replenish settling effect.  Finally, I want to stain the 2x4 braces so they last longer, and because I like the look better, lime the bed in the foreground of the top photo. 

The 2x4's give a nicer finished look, and I can also sit on them for so e garden tasks.