An old onion gets a new life!

I had a piece of yellow onion that was in a container for a couple of weeks that began to sprout. I took it and transferred it to a pot with soil. That was on Feb 25, 2019. I wanted to see what might grow. I plan to update this post one a week with new photos!

Update: Two months of growth!

So, in a pretty short amount of time, I ended up with three decent little onions. I planned to harvest
the tops for salads and then used the small bulbs cut up in hamburgers etc.

May 14 - I harvested 5 little onions that are ready to eat!

Late fall 2018 and I had one last harvest!

Forsyth Mo. - After retiring to the condo lifestyle, my growing opportunities had become more restricted. The past summer did allow me the opportunity to grow a few pepper plants in pots which turned out quite nicely. The banana peppers that all came from one plant, represented my last harvest of the season. I use these slightly hot peppers in both chili's and in beef stirfry's as they add just the right amount of bite!

Celebrity tomatoes!

Forsyth MO - It was mid April and so I went don to a local nursery and purchased a few celebrity tomatoes - They are an 'all-purpose variety with superb flavor, disease resistance and heavy yield on determinate plants. Crack-resistant fruits average 7 oz.' I figured that would be about all I'll do in this 2017 spring season. I already was harvest tasty cherry tomatoes, cayenne pepper and even had a small crop of red kidney beans growing on my small balcony!

Two of the tomatoes were planted in a medium sized plastic container using Miracle Gro potting mix. I'll have to be careful, later on the make sure the sun doesn't boil them as the western exposure can get quite hot!

Red kidney bean growing test!

Forsyth MO - It was the later part of March and while it was early spring and I already had some good pepper and tomato plants a growing, I thought to extend my luck a bit. that took the form of trying to grow me some red kidney beans - beans I took from a commercial package purchased from a grocery store!

I planted four in a medium sized pot with some old Miracle Grow potting soil from the previous season. That was on March 18th and by the 28th, I had two that had germinated. I plan to update this post as the time passes to see how well they do!

Bean plants grown in old beer cans!

Forsyth Mo - Just for grins I planted a Great Northern bean in a discarded 16 ounce bean can just to see if it would come to anything at all. Surprisingly, the young plant that sprouted did very well, situated as it was, in a south facing kitchen window. After sowing the seed in late January, I had pods that were close to being mature by mid March. Wow!

March 30th - Wow! Seed to new seed in two months!


















April 3, 2017 - I harvested a total of 23 beans from my little experiment!

Fresh salad with home grown cherry tomatoes!

Late last summer, I started a cherry tomato from seed. Summer faded into fall with no results. It wasn't until November that my plant began producing some of the best cherry tomatoes I've ever eaten. It was now mid December and I was still enjoying them in fresh romaine salads!

Cayenne pepper seeds started!

Forsyth MO - Sure, it was the 18th of November and a cold front was on the way! But, what better time than that day to start my 2017 crop of hot peppers!

I took seed harvested from this season and placed 2 seeds each into a four cell tray. The soil used was Miracle Gro potting mix which has done well for me in previous years. I was guessing that it would take about four weeks before I could expect germination. If I wasn't successful, I still had plenty of time to do that again!

Update: November 28 and I had 100% germination!

Update: Dec 2 - All the seeds germinated and showed good vigor!

 Update: Dec 13, 2016 - I transplanted the seedlings into larger quarters. They were developing first true leaves, at that point!

Update: Jan 4, 2017 - My little plants were healthy and strong!

Waiting for the spring!

Forsyth MO - Summer is now over and the air over southwest Missouri has taken on the distinct feel of autumn. And, while my brave little cherry tomato plant is still cranking out tomatoes, I can see the writing on the wall...

So, here comes what I call the 'dark months'. December through March have little to offer a man who like his veggies fresh off the vine. I'll have to content myself with produce grown in far off countries who may or may not have banned such fun pesticides as DDT. Were my country not constantly engaged in war, we perhaps could have constructed 'Megagreen Domes' under which hundreds of acres of fertile soil grow organic vegetables using the light from millions of LED's! Air would be circulated by giant fans powered by solar arrays with water coming from super condensers. Such a self-contained environment could even support select insects like bees that could help with pollination. You see, if you could divert the flow of trillions of dollars from a war machine, you'd have the ability to do such wonderful things.

That, as they say, ain't gonna happen. So, I find myself already in the planning stages of growing a future spring crop of peppers and tomatoes on my condo balcony. Last summer and fall, I did not have to buy any of these at the store and my pots produced just enough to keep me supplied.

See you all in the spring!

Red cayenne pepper, year after year!

Forsyth MO. – I have been growing cayenne peppers for some years now, all from one original plant I purchased from a commercial seed company years ago. Just one or two plants supply me with all the peppers I need during the course of a summer and fall! Then, sometime around mid to late November, I will germinate few seeds to grow over the wintertime and which will then be transplanted to large pots in the following spring. It's nice having the greenery during the dark days of winter when the reduced light allows for slow growth. By the time April comes around, I have some great starter plants ready and raring to go!

Banana peppers generation III!

About two seasons ago, I ordered a packet of Banana peppers from some outlet and successfully grew them to maturity. I found the slight heat to be a welcome addition to many of the dishes I like to prepare, not the least of which is as a spicy addition to my hot dogs!

And, being a frugal sort of fellow, I decided to try and use the seeds from these for a new generation. I planted them in the fall into a small dish with potting soil and surprisingly they germinated and then produced a crop of similar peppers the next summer. Wait a minute! Fall? Yes, I like to start peppers from seed in November under a modest grow light and then will repot them in the spring to go outdoors on my balcony. Doing things this way gives me some greenery to look at in the winter months which is nice. The plants grow slowly and haven't seemed to be held back in any way!

That was two years ago and here I am planting Generation III. After harvesting a bright red pepper, I let the seeds dry out for about a week or so and then will plant them in a soil medium to germinate. And thus far, they've reproduced plants and peppers that are just like the originals!

Condo living garden!

Well, living in a condo is a far cry from those days when I had myself a few raised beds in the back yard! However, it ain't all that bad as people I know who do have large garden are more than willing to give some produce to an old poor sot such as myself!

With such small growing quarters, I decided to focus on producing just a few varieties of peppers this year; a standard bell pepper, a few cayenne and a Bananarama style pepper grown from seed from a plant the year before! All them guys seem to really enjoy a balcony with western exposure!

Update: It's the end of July and my small pots of long red cayenne are bearing great looking peppers! What I love about peppers like Bananarama and Cayenne is that the seeds breed true from year to year!

Broken pepper plant rises up from the ashes!

Have you ever bought a plant at a nursery and then on the trip home, the little pot fell over in the back seat breaking the young plants main stem?

That happened to one of my bell pepper plants a couple of week ago and my first instinct was to toss it into the trash. But, for some reason, I didn't and instead keep watering it as though nothing was wrong.

Amazingly,that hard little rascal came back and now has some good top growth! It was almost like it was when I first purchased it! So, I'm thinking there's a moral in there someplace..... I'll track this little guy over the summer and report, from time to time, on how it fairs.

Update: July 1, 2016 - Wow! A full grown pepper plant!

Grilled cheese and soup. Perfect!

One of my friends mentioned that she was going to make vegetable beef soup and then have that with a grilled cheese sandwich. Gee, I thought, that sounded like the perfect lunch time meal for an otherwise chilly and icky Friday. And, so it was... Now, if it would just warm up outside....

Miracle Gro's AeroGarden!

What a wild idea! Miracle Gro's AeroGarden is supposedly a whole new way to grow herbs, flowers and veggies in a controlled environment using their patented Liquid Plant food with timed LED lights that turn on and off automatically.

I took advantage of a special offer to obtain one of their 6 pod units a week or so ago to see how well they would perform. I selected the 'herb collection' from among a group of different mixes of plants like peppers and cherry tomatoes! Over the next couple of months, I'll try and report on how this product works out!

It's December the 27th and I had my first harvest!

A pepper seed germination experiment! Nov 2015 style!

November 5, 2015 - For lack of anything else constructive to do, I took a small Styrofoam container that had coleslaw in it from a meal I'd purchased at a local restaurant, add some potting mix along with four seeds from a pepper I'd harvest just a week earlier. Since eat fruit had so many seeds, I though I could save myself a little bit of money latter this year when I had planned to start some plants for the 2016 season. I had had great luck with a couple of container grown versions over the past summer and was anxious to see if this little experiment would work out.

Four seeds are just visible

As I had just moved from a stick built house with land to a condo with just west facing balcony, my choices for veggies that I can grow have become more limited. No problem, really, I'd been in a similar situation before and did quite well. And, at my advanced age, it will be a relief to have to tend to just a few containers this go around. Note that each seed was planted at a depth of about a quarter inch.

Still producing in Nov!

This little 'seed incubator' was placed on a south facing window where it will get a little sun. Holes in both the bottom and the top will insure a good supply of water and air respectively. I'll be sure and update this post in a week or so with the results!

Dec 11, 2015 - A quick update. All the seeds germinated and I am now looking for a small pot to transfer the little guys to....

Jan 3, 2016 - Three of the little guys have made it through the transplant process and are doing well.

The lost summer of 2015!

I never got things in gear in 2015 as I was heavily involved in selling my home of many years and replacing it with a condo in the same town of Forsyth MO! Both processes lasted from June until September and so, other than a few token pepper plants, not very much got done.

Now, I find myself in a new location, three stories up with a western facing balcony that has a nice view. Of course, my planting situation has changed as I will now have to address container gardening, and that's really not a bad thing for someone of my age!

This coming winter, I'll make some plans, get some equipment and seeds and will be raring to go come the spring of 2016!

November frost puts the kabosh on my SW MO garden!

As November the 1^st 2014 rolled on in at midnight the temperatures were well on their way in a plunge into the mid 20's! Outside, my veggies which had bravely survived some cold spells thus far, gave up the ghost. The next morning, all was limp carnage with just a few small peppers that could still be salvaged.

Well, there's always next spring to look forward to!

Growing carrots in 5 inches of soil!

If you select the correct variety for shallow soils like Burpee's Short and Sweet – carrots can be easily grown just about anywhere! This 70 gram specimen was harvested on this posting date for steaming as part of a mix of carrots and broccoli for my dinner.

Carrots are extremely nutritious to eat as one 10 year study revealed the effects of eating this vegetable on heart disease;

“We are fortunate to have the results of a new 10-year study from the Netherlands about carrot intake and risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD)—and those results are fascinating. Intake of fruits and vegetables in the study was categorized by color and focused on four color categories: green, orange/yellow, red/purple, and white. Out of these four categories, orange/yellow (and in particular, foods with deeper shades of orange and yellow) emerged as most protective against CVD. And even more striking, carrots were determined to be the most prominent member of this dark orange/yellow food category. Participants who had the least carrot intake had the least amount of CVD risk reduction, even though they still received risk-reducing benefits from their carrot intake. However, participants who ate at least 25 more grams of carrots (with 25 grams being less than one-quarter of a cup) had a significantly lower risk of CVD. And the groups of participants who ate 50- or 75-grams more had an even more greatly reduced risk of CVD! We're not sure how any study could better demonstrate how easy it can be to lower disease risk by making a food like carrot part of the everyday diet in such achievable amounts.”

Of course, some of the carrot went into a nice romaine salad creation....

First day of Autumn coming!

Well, Summer is pretty much over, even though we can expect some 90 days to sneak in now and again. The meteorological beginning of fall began on Labor Day while calendar-wise it is September 23^rd. So, the small raised bed areas that grew some terrific veggies this spring and summer are now in decline. That said, I'm hoping for a few more peppers and even a tomato or two before it's time to pull the plants and prepare the soil for the coming winter.

Speaking of winter – this graph from Firsthand Weather, seems to have a pretty good handle on what to expect over the nation! It looks like some folks might have quite a wild ride coming.

Lima beans – a costly item to purchase at the store.

Some people like Lima beans and some don't. I'm cool with that. I happen to like the taste and the fact that eating them brings a load of natural fiber with each forkful. But, at $1.25 for a small 8.5 ounce can, I've been given pause when buying them at the local grocery. What with all sorts of grocery items going up, I make the purchase only once in a long while.

So, what to do.... Well, I guess I could just grow them myself next year. Burpee Seed offers a Fordhook Lima bean that I've successfully grown before. So, that item will go into my 'bucket list' for 2015. They will be added to bell peppers and onions, both which I grew this season and which saved me quite a bit of money at the mart as I used seed from the year before.And, yes! That is an Estes rocket in the background!