Things are going OK now, no major problems anywhere in the beds or containers. The liquid feeding every day or so has been a huge help...you can really see the difference in my seedling trays. I've got tiny little pots with great big plants climbing out of them.
Up till recently I've been unconvinced about liquid feeding of nutrients to crops. I knew that's the way commercial agriculture has been practiced here for a long time, but logically it seemed as though the improvement of the soil would take care of nutrient supply more efficiently.
But a gardener is nothing if not a pragmatist. I can see the difference in my crops no matter what they are. About a month or so ago, I set some leggy eggplant seedlings into 34 cm pots and hoped for the best. Now they have side shoots coming out of every node. Bushy plants are a sure sign of health in vegetables like eggplant aka aubergine.
I've re-evalulated my methods for containers too. From now on, I'm mixing the potting soil from older pots with compost before fallowing, not after. This gives time for the soil microflora to become reactivated and disease organisms like plant-parasitic nematodes to die off or get consumed by predatory fungi. Yes there are predator fungi...they ensnare nematodes, kill them, and consume them. It's a jungle down there in the ground.
I can't decide which is better...containers or planting beds...so I'm doing both again. If my health holds up, maybe I'll be awash in produce soon...LOL. But no tomatoes this year. Last year I had a huge crop of cherry tomatoes and they made me sick. So I'm certain now that I'm definitely allergic to tomatoes and to sunflower plants...roots and seeds. Got to be careful, they use pulverized Jerusalem artichoke in things like pasta...cramps for sure if I eat that. Jerusalem artichokes are sunflower roots, in case you didn't know.
Lots of radishes ready to pull in the container garden. That was a good choice for planting. They grew like weeds and the cool weather has made nice crisp roots. Not too fond of them in soups, but for fresh eating as a garnish, in salads, or in stir fries they're very good. As I've said before, radishes used to be very popular as a main dish at American dinner tables, but for some reason they fell out of fashion. They're a mainstay of Asian cuisine, and also very popular in Eastern Europe. I'm growing Miyashige, Hattorikun, and China Rose.
My Jwala peppers are starting to mature now too. The plants do very well in containers, I strongly recommend them for subtropical gardeners. They're a good hot pepper for seasoning stir fries and soups, and they get absolutely covered in fruit any time of the year. You can find the seeds at rareseeds.com. I've found the plants to be much tougher and more reliable than other hot peppers like Cayenne. That could be a regional issue, my climate and soil is probably similar to the places in India where Jwala comes from. I understand that they're a very popular pepper in India.
If Cuba opens for tourists, I would love to go there and find local varieties for my garden. First place I'd go is a street market in a rural area. Where I'd get the money I have no idea, but it's only 104.91 miles from Key West to Havana...how tough could it be?...something to dream about. They have tropical jungles in Cuba...always wanted to see one.
The embargo was a failure, obviously. But if there's one thing our Congress believes, it's that failure is not an acceptable reason for abandoning something after only a half a century. You have to give things time to work...LOL.
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