Waiting for the Peppers

The plants are beautiful.  I planted several different types of peppers this season:

Jalapenos because they are my favorite peppers with heat.  Habaneros are too hot and I don't enjoy the flavor.

Bell peppers in three varieties.  California Wonder, Chocolate Bell and an orange variety whose name I've forgotten.

Pimento peppers are my favorite of the sweet bell type.  They have a lovely pointy shape and are heavy walled with few seeds.

Red hot chilis.  I enjoy growing them because they are easy to manage, prolific and drying them is a cinch.  They turn my winter time stir fry suppers into something wonderful.

So far, I've not harvested a single pepper other than a few little bitty chilis.  There are a couple jalapenos on the plants and I've seen one little bell that will probably be orange if it gets to maturity.  It has been frustrating me a bit.

I did a little digging around online and I discovered that not too many people are doing very well with their peppers this summer.  The super-heated summer we've been 'enjoying' in the Midwest is notorious for inhibiting bell pepper fruit set.  So we get lots of flowers but zero peppers.

Darn.

Those that are doing well with their peppers are doing so with heroic efforts. Providing shade and cooling water spray for the plants during the hot parts of the day can improve yields.  Unfortunately, this sort of intensive pepper care is beyond the scope of my current capabilities.

Darn.

The good news is that all is not yet lost for this year.  As the summer draws to a close and the weather starts to cool, the peppers will wake back up and begin to set more fruit.  I remain hopeful that Mother Nature will cool things down again.

I'll be ready and waiting.

Garden Update!

Here are some of the things that are currently growing in my little slice of heaven:

Purple...verbena I think.  Nice color.

I decided to start with a flower.  Although I'm very proud of my veggie garden, this flower caught my eye this evening as I was taking these pictures.  It is growing in a hanging planter near the garage and flourishing there.  I'm not exactly sure what this one is but I think it's a verbena.  It came in the mixed planter that I bought at the garden center this spring.  Very pretty.

Red hot chili peppers!

The chili peppers are doing great!  They seem to love the heat we've been having.  I like to add a chili pepper to the dilly beans when I make them to give them an extra kick.

My first eggplant from seed.

This is, in fact, my first eggplant grown entirely from seed.  For the last few years, I've tried transplants and seedlings from various garden centers to no avail.  No eggplants ever appear.  Lots of flowers, but no fruits.  This one is beautiful!  I'm super proud of it even if it is tiny.

Got any good recipes?  I don't really like to eat them.  I just think they're pretty.

The first zinnia to flower this year.

For a number of years I have grown zinnias in my yard.  The last couple years I did not plant any.  This year, I decided I was going to have my zinnias again so I planted them in a cast off garden center pot that came from a shrub we planted last year.  The variety is 'Thumbelina' and they are adorable. There are purple and brighter pink and orange blossoms coming.  This is the only one that is open now.

Sugar Baby watermelon...baby.

Sugar Baby watermelons have been on my 'must plant' list for a long, long time.  They come out just the right size for two, or just for me if I've just finished mowing.  Sweet and juicy and I can hardly wait until this one is ready so I can dig in.  Nothing finer on a hot summer day than sitting in the shade munching on a melon.

Greenies!  Come on, I'm starving!

I am so impatiently waiting the ripening of the tomatoes! I'm tempted to 'photoshop' a little blush on these guys.

Bitty, baby cucumbers are so cute!

One of my garden favorites is pickling cucumbers.  Extra cruchy and tasty in salads as well as pickles, these little beauties never fail to satisfy.  I'll probably have more of these than I'll ever know what to do with if today's harvest is any indication.