Where Have I Been? They Asked

Hello everyone, this is what I told them when they asked where had I been. I've been trying to keep warm and busy by remodeling my downstairs bathroom this past winter. I couldn't believe the winter we had this year up and down the East coast. I've spent most of my adult life in CA, HI, or FL. So living on the east coast the last 8 years has been different and cold for me in the winter. Over all I do like the East coast especially here in Williamsburg. I decided to take on a project inside the house during the winter months and what you see is the remodeled downstairs bathroom. I am very pleased with the way it turned out. Now that the winter is over and my bones are warm again, I can resume my outdoor projects and I have a few to post so you can see what I've been doing. But First This

Here's Another Pictures in a Picture

Pictures in a Picture  (PIP)

Wow! the results are in. You liked the last one so much I decided to give you another one. This one is pictures of some of the Hottest peppers of the world also and a row of vine ripened cherry tomatoes. Grown in my very own Memorial Greenhouse in my backyard. It is also shown. I really like the one of all the Ghost peppers inside the bright yellow collender. Yellow is one of my theme colors of the GH as you can see. I think it represents happiness. Sorta like the Sun commercial in the Jimmy Dean sausage commercials. Don't you agree'? That being said... I hope you all have a fantastic week and may the good Lord bless you.

Picture of a Picture

Hi Folks, long time no see, Well I've been very busy doing a little wallpaper removal and painting plus working full time. I've been also maintaining my property and working in the greenhouse. There has been an invasion of whiteflies in there and they have been driving me up the wall. Tried all sorts of removal tactics and nothing seemed to get a handle on them. I have finally figured it out. By using insecticidal soap I have gotten the upper hand on them. A lot of damage has occurred up to this point. Mainly leaf dropping and stunted growth.                                                             I'm starting to see new life emerging though. At least now I know what to use in the future. It's not easy trying to maintain a greenhouse, but I still love it.

Now, about the PIP. This picture is on the wall in my office. I speaks for itself. A collect of the kinds of peppers I grow plus the picture of the Greenhouse. The picture of the greenhouse has become my signature picture of it. I call it "A Hot August Day" and it was very hot that day in August of 2013. I think it's pretty cool. What do you think?

New York Cheese Cake 1st

Hello everyone, Just wanted to share this with you. This is a New York Cheese Cake and it is the second one I ever made. The first one was the day before. My friend Mike retired the other day for the company I work for. He would on occasion bring one of these in and share it with us. His wife Bernadette made it. With him being gone I knew we would be missing these so I asked him for the recipe. He happily sent it to me. Having never made one I was a bit skeptical. But like all challenges I face there is the synergy that is created and I usually succeed, I tried to quit smoking my pipe a couple of months ago and failed to do so. That's what I'm talking about. .But with this challenge it was there. I am happy to report that success reigned. They are absolutely devine. Now we know where the next one will come from. Thank-you Mike and Bernadette and God bless you.

Portsmouth Virginia

Believe it or not I am interested in more things than gardening and building hydroponic grow systems. I am also interested in the beautiful and unbelievable architecture in building churches and the steeples that are part of them, that reach up into the heavens, bringing glory to God. The other day I had the opportunity to see some in the town of Portsmouth Va. I had to go to the Naval Hospital there to get a nuclear stress test. That's a story of it's own. I was headed there and noticed a huge steeple above the other buildings. I made it a point to go there when I was finished with the test.Here is what I was seeing: St. Paul's Catholic Church is a historic Roman Catholic church located in Portsmouth, Virginia. It is a compact Gothic Revival style, cruciform plan church. It is constructed of load-bearing masonry walls clad in quarry-faced granite. The church was designed by John Peebles (1876-1934) in 1897, and dedicated in 1905. (source: Wikipedia). So here you go, a nice picture of it.

Where have You Been?

Man, I didn't mean to be gone so long.I have been very busy lately taking care of some personal business. I think I have it under control now and can spend a little more time doing some of the things I enjoy. This new found entertainment is one of those things. I will try to devote a little bit more time to it. 

I can sense the seasonal change that's about to take place and I for one don't particularly care for cold weather. I do however like the fall season. But the leaves can have it, really hate that part.

Here is a picture of some Bhut Jolokia, better known as Ghost Peppers. I have them in a colander having been washed before I put them in a dehydrator. I love the color contrast.

In 2007, Guinness World Records certified that the ghost pepper was the world's hottest chili pepper, 401.5 times hotter than Tabasco sauce; the ghost chilli is rated at more than 1 million Scoville heat units (SHUs). Classic Tabasco sauce ranges from 2,500 to 5,000 SHUs. However, as of 2012, it was superseded by the Trinidad moruga scorpion

On December 26, 2013, the Guinness World Records rated the "Carolina Reaper" the world's hottest pepper, moving the ghost chili to third place. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhut_Jolokia

Japanese Cucumber

This is a Japanese variety cucumber. I put the seedling in the dutch bucket about 6 weeks ago. As you recall I planted some outside and inside. The ones outside did grow faster than these and i was pretty impressed. however these have caught up with the ones outside and eventho the ones outside are producing Cukes they are not as big as these. Also the environment for the ones outside are extreme as in the temperature, sun, rain, insects. On the other hand these inside are better controlled. The water schedule is much more constant. My vote is going to have to lean toward Hydroponic Dutch Buckets inside the greenhouse.

I will be using this one to make some of the cucumber and tomato salad as shown below by Rachel Ray.

Cucumber Salad

This is a recipe for Cucumber Salad. I got it from The Food Network and Rachael Ray posted it. I subscribe to it and they send me recipes ever so often. I keep the ones I think I can manage and can the rest. I try to keep them simple if you know what I mean. I grow the cucumbers and tomatoes so i might as well make this every once in a while. Sometimes I make it and take it to work for the rest of the crew to munch on.

Credit- Rachael Ray

5 medium plum tomatoes, halved lengthwise, seeded, and thinly sliced
1/4 red onion, peeled, halved lengthwise, and thinly sliced
1 Kirby cucumber, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
A generous drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil, about 2 tablespoons
2 splashes red wine vinegar
Coarse salt and black pepper

Directions
Dress the tomatoes, onions, and cucumber with olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt, and pepper.
Let stand while you prepare dinner, about 20 minutes. Re-toss and serve salad with crusty bread for mopping up juices and oil.

Tomato Stalk

I took these this afternoon as I was finishing up for the day. After the picture was taken I harvested about 8 of them and put them in a salad we had with our dinner. They were very sweet. These are the last of the tomatoes this growing cycle in the Hydroponic NFT system. I plan on taking the channels out of the system this week and give them a good cleaning and prepare them for the next growing cycle. Have a good week everyone.

Scorpion Pepper

You will have to agree on this one for sure. This is about the most beautiful looking piece of fruit I have ever seen and it has a powerful punch. This is a Trinidad Scorpion Pepper. For those of you who know about the Scoville Unit it measures over 2 million. I have seen videos of people eating one of these as you see it now. It is amazing to watch them struggle as the heat builds up in their mouth and throats. Sometimes I take a small piece about the size of a pencil eraser and chew it up and swallow it. I'm here to tell you that it's very very hot and I cannot see how they do it. Bravo for them I say.

Mailbox Garden, Curb Appeal

Sorry I haven't posted in a little while. I have been so busy with my summer projects I can't find the time to get everything done, there is so much to do. Of course most of it is not a must be done project. I just put it on myself. No worries though, Sooner or later I'll get to it. I have made the time to add some to my curb appeal project by planting some flowers inside the mailbox garden project. So far so good.

Mail Box Garden

I've been thinking about this for a while now and am finally taking some action on it. When I first moved in it had some dreadful looking bushes around it with parts of it dying out. That lasted about 6 months and I hated it. So like any good bush hater I ripped them out. It remained bare for about 3 years until last weekend.. I hope I am picking out the right bushes for this. I plan on placing some flowers and a Clematis vine around the mail box post. I'm excited about how it will look in a few years.

Grown Up Clones

Hey, remember these? These are the grown up clones from the small ones in one of the posts near the bottom of this. I think it's pretty neat that I took some suckers off the plants in the greenhouse and cloned them. This way I know where the fruit will be coming from instead of wondering where the starter plants one would buy from Home Depot or Lowe's garden center. I also know that these are chemical free because they are growing right under my nose. Not like the ones at the store or farmers market. Grow your own tastes so good. Don't you agree?

Well, What do you know!

Well, What do you know. I entered the tab Dutch Buckets in a contest called Gardening and Homesteading sponsored by Instructables.com. There were 271 entries and I managed to win the Grand Prize for Gardening. What a surprise. The prize was a Samsung tablet. Yeah!

She Said "They are Wonderful"

I can't wait to pop one of these jewels in my mouth. Maybe in a couple of days. Over the weekend I planted some more cucumbers. They have been in the seeding trays and it was past time to put them in their new home. I put about 8 of them in the Buckets and the other 8 in the soil inside Mother's garden. I'm going to do a comparison of the two from planting to harvest. I already know what the outcome will be but I want to analyze it just the same. I think i will do a photo essay. Any input is appreciated

Hot Tamales

No they are not tamales. I'm just kidding you. Take a look at these. They are growing on Rachael's side and they look great. Don't you agree. I love giving them away. If you get up this way stop by and get yourself one. They won't last long.

*** Cucumbers Keep Raining on My Head ***

Cucumbers keep raining on my head, but that doesn't mean my eyes will soon be turning red. Crying's not for me. Cause I ain't gonna stop the cucumbers raining by complaining. Because I'm free, Nothing's bothering me.

Here's a couple of Cukes hanging from the roof and I'm just goofing around with that old song "Raindrops keep falling on my head" by B J Thomas. Remember that song? Anyway, I thought this would be a good addition to my blog. There are more up there hanging out. Tomorrow I'm going to make a pickled cucumber, onion, hot pepper flakes, and brown sugar recipe. It tastes awesome. 

Cool as a Cucumber

I was telling you earlier that the cucumbers were growing in the roof and there were cucumbers hanging from it. Here's one of them I picked today. Pretty cool huh? There are more of them that will be ready in about a week with more on the way.
Last weekend I planted more cucumber seeds in a grow tray with a dome on it. It was placed on a heating matt. today I removed them from under the dome and put them under a grow light because they have already sprouted. I hope my timing is right so I can take out the old plants and put these in their place.

Dutch Bucket System

I've just completed the tab on Dutch Bucket Hydroponic System. This system has exceeded my expectations. It has turned out to be very rewarding as I have already started harvesting the cucumbers in about 6 weeks. It is three times faster the the garden outside. I will try to keep it current so you can see.

NO NUKES - JUST CUKES

This is a picture of one of my cucumber plants inside my Greenhouse. This will be part of the tab I am working on now. The Dutch Bucket Hydroponic System. This is a little hard for me to believe so I can imagine what you are thinking. Especially when I tell you this has only been in the bucket for less than 30 days. This is what happens when you use the fertilizers described in the video I posted. Or maybe it's the Angel force field that's surrounding it. So, seeing is believing. Now they are sprawling out across the roof with cukes hanging down from the ceiling, really freaky. Have a Nice Week.