all sorts of peppers, from plain bell peppers to those ridiculous "world's hottest" from India, are members of three very closely related species. they will all cheerfully interbreed, resulting in peppers of random degrees of heat. (for that matter, the beans will probably crossbreed amongst themselves in similar fashion. and all of the squash family - cucumbers, zucchini, pumpkins - will do the same as well.) i predict that your late-summer salads will be ...interesting ;-)
my hydroponic watercress is still growing, although i wish it would grow faster (and leafier), and i wish the flavor were more intense.
i started it from seed - and it was nearly impossible to find anybody who even sells watercress seed; i had to mail-order it from a place i found online. i'm beginning to think i might have been better off trying to get store-bought watercress to grow roots. the stuff i've got propagates nicely (everywhere a leaf branches off, there's a little white fiber that will turn into a root if it gets in the water), if rather too slowly, but there's way too much stem in proportion to leaves, and it doesn't have the flavor "bite" of the commercial stuff. i may start over with a bunch from the Asian grocery.
just my luck - one of the two or three vegetables i can actually stand to eat, and i can't manage to grow it correctly :-(
Pictures, Ed. Garden descriptions must always be accompanied by pictures!
As for your peppers, you shouldn't notice any effects of cross pollination in the fruit for this year, but if you save seeds for next year, you might have some surprises. The fruit from the plants you have now are the parent plants -- it's their seeds that will be the F1 generation and could show mixture of heat into your sweet peppers. But if you're like most home gardeners, you're buying plants, so saving seed isn't an issue.
My green thumb endeavors this year include more herbs than you can shake a stick at: dark opal and thai basil, oregano, chives, chocolate and mojito mint, marjoram, thyme, purple sage, french tarragon, curry plant (first time with this, it smells incredible!), rosemary, cilantro, dill, italian parsley, lemon balm, lemon grass... I'm likely forgetting something:) All above in planters.
In the garden go cayenne, thai and jalepeno chilies, 3 types of heirloom tomatoes 2 plants each, garlic, arugula, mesclun mix salad greens and a hybrid swiss chard called 'bright lights' that I'm very excited about as it has mixed colors of orange, yellow and red. Going back to the garden centre today to see if they have anything else interesting to fill the rest of the space. I'm open to suggestions!
Oh and I'm trying out strawberries in one of those multi-tiered clay planters.
I nearly drooled reading about all those herbs. I hope everything grows well for you and you get a bountiful harvest. My suggestion would be to get yourself a dehydrator so you can fill your spice rack with those herbs.
most home ovens don't go down that low. but you can dry herbs in a microwave oven (i can't be bothered to Google the method right now, but IIRC it involves using something like 10% power). or, if it's not ridiculously humid where you are, you can just air-dry them the old-fashioned way, head down to concentrate the oils in the leaves.
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my hydroponic watercress is still growing, although i wish it would grow faster (and leafier), and i wish the flavor were more intense.
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just my luck - one of the two or three vegetables i can actually stand to eat, and i can't manage to grow it correctly :-(
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As for your peppers, you shouldn't notice any effects of cross pollination in the fruit for this year, but if you save seeds for next year, you might have some surprises. The fruit from the plants you have now are the parent plants -- it's their seeds that will be the F1 generation and could show mixture of heat into your sweet peppers. But if you're like most home gardeners, you're buying plants, so saving seed isn't an issue.
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You need a few sheep, then, too. You know, for company.
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In the garden go cayenne, thai and jalepeno chilies, 3 types of heirloom tomatoes 2 plants each, garlic, arugula, mesclun mix salad greens and a hybrid swiss chard called 'bright lights' that I'm very excited about as it has mixed colors of orange, yellow and red. Going back to the garden centre today to see if they have anything else interesting to fill the rest of the space. I'm open to suggestions!
Oh and I'm trying out strawberries in one of those multi-tiered clay planters.
Good luck:D
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