Coffee Grounds Great for Pineapples but not good for the Peppers

After wondering why the Habenero Pepper plants were not blooming, a little research turned up vital information on my habit of tossing the coffee grounds around. Coffee grounds are rich in Nitrogen. Pineapples love them. But Peppers and Tomatoes in the same family, do not. The additional Nitrogen inhibits blooming.
I stopped sprinkling the grounds, added a little manure mixture, plenty of water (it's been dry lately.) and the pepper plants bloomed accordingly. We've already harvested 2 fine looking peppers. I can't stand the heat, but the pepper lover in the family said they were perfectly hot and extra tasty.

Gardening around the world

This article isn't directly connected to gardening but I just had to share it as I seek to understand what gardening means in other parts of the world. How would our lives be changed if we had to deal with the implications of gardening where cluster bombs are present? This is the reality for many in Laos, Cambodia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, and Vietnam.

http://www.themennonite.org/issues/12-18/articles/Battle_zones_lethal_harvest

May we think beyond ourselves and realize the implications our individual and countries actions have on those in our neighborhood as well as across the ocean.

snakes....community....neighborhoods

a plan has been made...the layout has been measured...the land has been stirred...the grass has arrived...the community gathers...grass is laid...a knock on the door...a neighbor stops by...there are snakes coming out of your grass...the snakes are entering my yard...

Snakes...should we be alarmed? Little black ones (garden snakes) are crossing into the neighbors yard. We appreciate the neighbors concern for the children of the school as well as the neighborhood but what do you do? After a wonderful discussion with the creator of the Outdoor Living Lab project I see with new eyes how this project could impact the community.

It brings people to the school. It is action and new movement. Stirring up the dirt to lay sod probably stirred up the snakes habitat. Maybe we're stirring up the neighborhood too. The snakes could have been there all along but seeing change and new things can be scary, seeing snakes even though they've probably been there all along might have come with the new grass. Are they harmful? Where does the fear come from? from change? from culture?

It is wonderful to see the good neighbors concern for the neighborhood and the school. While at the same time how do we learn about and teach about good snakes? How do we bring a sense of security and comfort with the change? it will take time, education and dialogue.... Snakes can be helpful in the environment. If snakes are good we should leave them be and if they're harmful we should leave them alone because we could be severely injured....

May conversations continue as we learn from each other and grow in community through a changing environment. A change for the better...for sustainability...for the future of mother earth and our livelihood!

Productive Compost Again

It's happened again. A perfectly good plant has risen from the compost. I don't compost like folks do 'up north.' I simply go out and dig a hole for the kitchen scraps. It never fails. A few days will pass and it has all been turned back into lovely unrecognizable, organic matter.
I now have three beautiful baby Mango trees. They are just striving to be the biggest best sweetest mangoes ever. I've gotten the "go" to replant these tree-wannabes elsewhere. Another 5-6 years and we'll see some blooms hopefully.

Garden Fatigue- or on-going program

A while back, Glenn, the national director for DOOR, likened the running of the DOOR program to growing a garden not building a building. It's not something we build and it's done. Instead it's the kind of thing that takes constant care.
In the case of my garden, it's time to remove the seeds atop the old lettuce stalks, dig under the unproductive tomato vines, keep spraying the pepper plant leaves, plant the new mint and start new seeds. Florida is supposed to have 3 growing seasons. Let's try to get as many as we can. Square foot gardening should indicate we can keep growing all year.
But the warning comes in the example of my mother. She planted much too big of a garden. She's 74 this year and honestly she does not need the production of the 20 or so tomato plants she has. She and my dad cannot eat the remaining 24 watermelons. She canned as many of the green beans as she could and they keep coming. She's been at this since April and she's pooped.
If we run programs in a way that we're overworked, we'll wear out before the harvest is finished for the season.

Basil Plants per Pesto recipe

It takes 8 basil plants to produce enough leaves for the 2 cups called for in the recipe I have for Pesto. I am totally blessed that I happened to have planted enough seeds for 8 plants. I'll mark that up to God for the help. Of course I should note that my basil variety produces broad leaves about 2 inches wide and 3 1/2 long approximately. I'll make more this weekend.

Unidentified egg sacks under leaves

The habenero plants I started in May are getting along fine and a few flowers starting to appear. However, this month they're being invaded by white eggs sacks. I haven't been able to identify them yet but they maybe aphids. We'll figure that out later. Until then, a simple home remedy is working great. I've sprayed them with a solution of about 40% white vinegar and 60% water. it is the same solution we used to spray wayward trails of ants when they've come in the house. The ants are to lay down the fearful hormone trail and never come back. That has only been somewhat helpful at best. But the egg sacks respond as hoped. The sacks shrivel and go away. The white flying pests that hang around also go away. And that's all I want. Leave my peppers alone so they can bloom and grow and produce some peppers.