This will be my third year growing things in hopes of eating them. My first in spring ('09, pictured above) was a couple pots with a tomato plant, a jalapeno plant, and a bell pepper plant in a couple pots. Gave me a couple peppers, and only one tomato. Well, there were a few tomatoes, but they were stolen by bums. Hey, that's Savannah fer ya!
Last year was much more fruitful. I shared a backyard and my neighbor very kindly built raised beds for the both of us. I grew tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants in the bed, as well as in pots, with lots of herbs as well. We had a TON of tomatoes! In the end, they were rotting on the vine before we could even use them, and in no time I had tomato jungle on my hands. It was a sweltering summer here in Savannah so the peppers didn't do do well. I got one bell pepper and a few Jalapenoes before the plants just gave out to the heat and humidity. But my banana pepper plants kept producing until the frosts came, even after I had stopped caring for the garden at all.
This year, I wanted to jump on things early, try to get a harvest of peppers in before the crushing heat comes. So I am doing something I have never really done successfully before: growing from seeds.
And so far so good! I am actually surprised at how easy starting seeds really is. I've heard and read starting peppers can be challenging, but I just put them under a heat lamp and I have had quite a few sprouts already!
I want to experiment with growing heirlooms, and try to steer clear of hybrid varieties this year. Because of my current location and my interest in urban gardening, I am going to grow all of my garden in containers this year. I've already made many mistakes I've learned from, and I'm sure I will continue to "learn" some more!
So yeah. Thanks for letting me nerd out.
