Bearded Iris Update. 26 Oct 2023.

 These are the bearded irises that I planted early to mid Sept. in containers.  I've kept the containers on the walls of the cement block raised beds, where they get the most sunlight and also are very easy to pick out tiny weed seedlings before they establish.

These are the rhizomes that I cleaned up from my old iris plantings, which had become weedy and I could not care for the last couple of years.  So far, I think they look excellent.

I don't know if it's good they are putting on so much growth before hard winter begins.  Just have to wait and see.  Irises are rugged.  I don't know that they are even as prone to rot as some writers state.  My main challenge has been fungal and bacterial leaf diseases.  I hope that growing them in a well draining, fresh, potting soil helps with that.  

A couple of those rhizomes are quite large.  Fingers crossed for blooms next Spring.

These are the new varieties that I bought, which I planted in mid Sept.

They haven't grown quite as much as the old rhizomes that I cleaned up, but they seem to be establishing nicely too.

I've also been removing all of the old leaves as they turn brown and soften.  Maybe that will help with disease prevention.

Red Hot Pepper Pepper Sauce. 26 Oct 2023.

 Here's the hot peppers sauce.  I filtered it through a sieve for liquid hot sauce, like Tabasco sauce.  I like this better,  It's hotter and richer due to the added garlic and fermentation.  Fermented hot sauce contains lactic acid (like yogurt and sauerkraut), whereas the commercial version has acetic acid (like vinegar).  

This time it was mostly Serrano peppers (especially the hybrid variety, Altiplano) with some Thai and Tabasco peppers for extra heat.

The pulp is also good for cooking, so I saved that too.

This is a really rewarding project, from starting seeds to making sauce.

Progress On Renovated Raised Bed. 26 Oct 2023.

 Today I installed about 90% of the plastic lining for the renovated raised bed.

My helper poured two buckets of good garden soil in the trench on one side.  I smoothed it.  That will get some trench composting of kitchen scraps for a few weeks, before fully covering.

If one is going to use this type of slotted cornerstone / 2x6 structure, the higher rebar with drilled 2x4s for strengthening are necessary.  I learned the hard lesson, without those strengtheners it will gradually splay outward and fall apart.  Then it's a LOT of work renovating it.

I do want to stain the 2x4s and maybe the sides, but that has to wait for dry season, maybe April or May.

Winterizing The Music and Lorz Garlic Bed. 26 Oct 2026.

 Today I raked red maple leaves and spread them on the Music and Lorz garlic bed.

Before spreading the leaves, I scattered coffee grounds on the surface.  I usually throw the paper filters into the compost, but why?  They are just wood cellulose, which is most of what is in the leaves.  So I laid the coffee filters on the ground before spreading leaves on top, so they would not look untidy.

This year, I kept the leaf mulch on the garlic bed until harvest.  That meant, zero weeds.  Great garlic crop, too.

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.