Anybody growing heirloom vegetables?

[Odysseus1911]

Got into growing heirloom hot chilis a few years ago and decided to do additional veggies this year. I live in the suburbs and have a tiny yard, so I'm doing container gardening in 5 gallon buckets. Also thinking my timing could not have been more fortunate considering all that's going on right now. This is my garden this year:

Cherokee Purple -red beefsteak tomato
Hillbilly -yellow beefsteak tomato

Fairytale eggplant

Big Red -red bell pepper
Sunbright -yellow bell pepper

Chupetinho chili -15,000 scoville
Aji Lemon Drop chili -30,000 scoville
Cumari do Para chili -100,000 scoville
Datil chili -300,000 scoville

and a row of blackberry bushes for good measure ?

Anyone else growing any heirlooms or doing container gardening?

 

[acudaowner]

we had a modest green house that produced a decent amount of fresh vegetables shame we did not get any seeds the last few years it could have been useful . did find a neat planter idea from old 2 liter soda bottles for tomato's for indoor growing in an apartment to save space you could plant almost any thing this way .

 

[Nik H]

Got into growing heirloom hot chilis a few years ago and decided to do additional veggies this year. I live in the suburbs and have a tiny yard, so I'm doing container gardening in 5 gallon buckets. Also thinking my timing could not have been more fortunate considering all that's going on right now. This is my garden this year:

Cherokee Purple -red beefsteak tomato
Hillbilly -yellow beefsteak tomato

Fairytale eggplant

Big Red -red bell pepper
Sunbright -yellow bell pepper

Chupetinho chili -15,000 scoville
Aji Lemon Drop chili -30,000 scoville
Cumari do Para chili -100,000 scoville
Datil chili -300,000 scoville

and a row of blackberry bushes for good measure ?

Anyone else growing any heirlooms or doing container gardening?

I do heirloom tomatoes including the ones you mention. They taste awesome with a bit of salt and EVOO. I have never heard of heirloom chilis. I grow normal chilis but this sounds like something I want to know more about

 

[Odysseus1911]

I do heirloom tomatoes including the ones you mention. They taste awesome with a bit of salt and EVOO. I have never heard of heirloom chilis. I grow normal chilis but this sounds like something I want to know more about

Most of the hot chilis I've grown are heirlooms from other parts of the world.

The Chupetinho is from Brazil. They're the size of pearl onions and the name means "little nipples", lol. It's my favorite. They're very sweet, juicy, and smoky. I eat them fresh by themselves.

The Aji Lemon Drop is from Peru. 2.5" long. Tastes mildly like lemons (but not sour) with a clean heat about the level of a cayenne. Love it in stir fries, curries, and on burgers.

The Cumari do Para is from Brazil. Grows wild in the jungle. Locals don't grow it, they just go find it growing wild and pick what they want. I haven't grown or tasted this one yet.

The Datil is from St. Augustine Florida, supposedly brought there a few hundred years ago by eitherAfrican slaves or Minorcans. Haven't tried this one yet, either.

 

[Nik H]

That is very cool

I will have to look into this big time

 

[Odysseus1911]

You know anything about when to pick em for making fried green tomatoes?

 

[jinxx4ever]

usually good luck with their seeds, but planted some peas that not one damn seed came up

 

[Sean the Nailer]

Each year, I grow some "heirloom tomatoes" and I keep seeds from some of the pickings. We will be planting them in the 'peat pucks' here before too long. This year we are completely changing our 'growing procedure' with moving from 'split barrels' to 'split totes'. Gotta get a bunch more dirt.

In the past it's always been tomatoes, peppers, and herbs. One issue though, we have way too much 'blossom end rot' and over the years we've spoken to a number of 'experts' and they've given/suggested a number of 'products' that will 'cure' the problem. Guaranteed.

And yet each year we STILL have blossom end rot. Pisses me right off, to be throwing away 20 tomatoes at a time, all summer, when things start out so very nicely. Each year we hope, and each year we question whether we'll bother again, next year.

We've even done the home 'acidic/alkaline' soil test, and found out that our soil is on the acidic side. So we've turned in a crapload of eggshells to bring it down. This year, with having to purchase more soil to start over, we're truly wanting to know "what to buy THAT ACTUALLY WORKS" so that we can have bountiful crops that are harvestable, as opposed to compostable.

At the same time, one particular pepper plant (Hungarian) put out more peppers than any plant I've ever had. AND, something about that particular plant created an allergy with My Lady. No kidding, first time picking peppers, her hands and lips started feeling funny. Then her tongue and throat. Very quickly. All while we're standing outside, and she's cutting the peppers off the plant/bush. She had to stay away from it all year, and she can't have any of my hot-sauce that I make.

This never happened to her before, with anything, ever. And that plant/bush put out at least 3 times as much as any other contender. It was insane.

So, we're learning.

 

[Nik H]

You know anything about when to pick em for making fried green tomatoes?

I pick them when they have reached full size and are firm but not hard.

I grasp the tomato between my thumb and forefinger and press gently. I'm looking for a slight “give” when pressed. Not as much give as when a tomato is ripe. It took me a couple tries to get the feeling right

 

[Odysseus1911]

My understanding about blossom end rot is that it's a calcium deficiency, not a pH issue. Eggshells have calcium but it takes a long time to become bioavailable. Does anybody else have any info on this?

 

[Maggot]

usually good luck with their seeds, but planted some peas that not one damn seed came up

Thats becuse...."Its going down Sunday night."

 

[Maggot]

Ummmmmm Cherokee Purple!,

Organic Russet potatoes.

NOt heirloom but I raise a bunch of Silver Queen corn.

Watermelons.

Herbs like cilantro and basil, just got into Thai basil. I really prefer it to sweet basil, a bit of a tang.

 

[Crang]

Actually finally finished planting 4 raised beds of all heirloom vegetables today. Waaay too many to list but been working on getting everything to go to seed at the end of the year and not have to buy any new seeds each season. I almost succeeded this year but none of my Purple Velvet Okra seeds sprouted so I had to start over with them.

 

[MtnCreek]

Agreed. Cherokee purple is a great mator. German queen is another great slicing mator. I still like open pollinated corn as roastin ears and for meal.

 

[MtnCreek]

Love them too. They tend to make a pertier mator, slick on top. Rutgers and beefsteak are good too.

 

[rjacobs]

I grew 3 varieties of Aji's for a few years:
Lemon
Sugar Rush Peach
and one other... cant remember.

They are PROLIFIC once they start to set pods...

Tomato cage them.

I also grew Jays Peach Ghost Scorpions, Chocolate Borg 9, Reapers, and at least one or two other variety of super hots.

Im not hardly growing anything this year with my house on the market. Just planted some okra and green beans for the hell of it. I dont even care if they come up.

 

[Odysseus1911]

I grew 3 varieties of Aji's for a few years:
Lemon
Sugar Rush Peach
and one other... cant remember.

They are PROLIFIC once they start to set pods...

Tomato cage them.

I also grew Jays Peach Ghost Scorpions, Chocolate Borg 9, Reapers, and at least one or two other variety of super hots.

Im not hardly growing anything this year with my house on the market. Just planted some okra and green beans for the hell of it. I dont even care if they come up.

What did the Sugar Rush Peach taste like? And how hot are they?

 

[ewoaf]

I'm a public historian with an 18th c garden with some precolumbian cultivars goin.

 

[rjacobs]

What did the Sugar Rush Peach taste like? And how hot are they?

very sweet, then the heat. I would say maybe serrano level. I think they are claimed at like 100k scoville. Hab's are 300k for comparison. Easy to eat whole. I used to give them to a friend who would throw them in salads like pepperoncinis.

I liked them a lot more than the lemon drop or the other variety I grew(a red variety)... They also get bigger than the Aji Lemon.

 

[Jjviperzar1]

We have a large community garden every year. There is a cayenne pepper grown that has been grown from saved seeds for 30 plus years. It is a a lot hotter and smaller than most commercially available variety’s. The Amish community is said to have many heirloom seeds.

 

[supercorndogs]

Cherokee purple is a top notch tomato. I have some seeds for Giant Pink Belgium, and Orange Roussollini. I like the pink brandy wine, but I always have blight problems with it. I might try it one more year. My neighbor is going to stop spraying the irrigation ditch. I usually have to watch him and stop using it on my garden and fruit trees once he does.

I picked a jalpeno called "Ring Leader" that is supposed to produce 4"+ peppers in 55 days. Picked up a new jalpeno called "Biker Billy' [75 days] to try out as well. I have been growing the New Mexico Joe Parker hot chili for a few years now. Top them when they are young and I have had very good yields of hot sweet peppers.

I picked up some giant lilies. They are supposed to get up to 8 feet tall, one variety with 10" blooms and one with 12" blooms. We put in a bunch of stargazer lilies, 5 more fruit trees, I have four honey berries, and honeysuckle on the way, along with 2 goose berries. I have killed 3 or 4 hardy kiwi berries now. but I will be looking for a couple more this year.

I don't get really hung up one the heirloom thing. It just means its an older hybrid for the most part. I bought a bunch of heirloom chill seeds from around the world last year and ended up not planting them. I have a pretty good stash of seeds. I have a huge card board box full of sun flower seeds from last year. They are "Mammoth" I had a bunch of 12' and one 15' last year. World record is like 30' though.

I have been peeking at my asparagus patch with anticipation also. I am chitin out my potatoes and getting ready to put some sweat potatoes from last year in cups of water.

I am working to get my fruit curve set so that we have something coming ripe all summer.

 

[Zeroit]

 

[Zeroit]

I think that's official heirloom.
I borrowed from someone here on the hide.