How to "Jalapeño"...organically!

In South Africa we should have great weather for jalapeno plants. I started planting from seeds in November 2013. I didn't have much luck at first, even with organic pesticide. I stopped making pesticide and again just let nature take its course. The plants were attacked by snails and worms during winter and only one small jalapeno on each plant. By the middle of spring the plants started blooming again and they looked healthy with no pesticide aid. I also noticed the peppers grew fast and bigger. Now I just leave them to see how big they will get before I harvest them. 

I definitely would suggest adding some jalapenos to your garden. They are great help for your immune system. I started by planting them into pots then after 2 months I transplanted them in different locations throughout the garden. In the shade the plants will not grow much so I focused on the plants that were doing better in full sun. In all cases I would always water the plants a lot especially if it hasn't rained in 2 days. So with efficient sunlight and water, you would be good to go.

Jalapeno it up in your garden.I will post pictures if I find different pepper seeds to grow. Have a good day people.

Beetroot - To Love or Not?

Here are some pictures of my beetroot plants. I decided to try beetroot for its nutritional value. This is info  I found on some articles that I read online. Once again, went through many sites to see how to grow them.

When I bought the seeds I  just had a look at whether it needed sun or shade. I went on trying both and planted them in 2 different locations in the garden, full sun and semi-shade. They grew bigger in full sun with plenty of watering. I don't believe mine grew as big as they could, but I am currently busy growing more because they are easy to grow, and it's a vegetable that I would always want in my kitchen. You can decide on what you want to start with by considering, for example, what it is you always buy in stores, or which would be easy to grow. Just a simple thing as searching for ideas on what was easy to grow made me search for superfoods. I then tried to find the biggest list for both of them. From those two lists I looked at vegetables, fruits and herbs that I would like to eat. Also knowing where to find the seeds the seeds.Yes, it was something like that and I just went for it. 

On the other hand, I did have a pest problem.The leaves were always chewed on, and I just got over making organic pesticide. So I looked at companion gardening. I grew marigolds around them thinking that, if many sites talk about how marigolds are a great repellent, it might stand a better chance.Other sites also mentions herbs. The marigolds lured to many snails but also other beneficial bugs. So for me the best thing was to plant herbs all over the garden. After I harvested the beetroot I realised that I didn't even need the beetroot leaves. Even though some people do. I stopped worrying about the bugs. I just kept on planting and tried to find the most efficient ways to grow food and save seeds without any pesticides. If you like to spend money then go for it, but I bet there is a great chance that you would not use it.

 Some people get very technical, and it might seem like too much effort for most people, but we could save so much just by trying to be a little bit greener, and encourage others, if they are the slightest interested, to try the same. If you love it plant it, if you don't, try something else.Ok, enough about my ideas. Start creating your own ideas.Whatever they are. Beetroot for the win. They're easy to grow, and great for you. . Have an awesome day.

Celery - Taking Its Time

Hello people. Today I thought I would talk about the celery that I planted and the little success I had.

At first I planted the seeds in trays, but you are welcome to plant them directly. In general, I really have more success with seeds planted in trays first than planting them directly into the garden. They take long to germinate and a lot of water, but my duration of the germination might have been affected by my lack of watering. Nevertheless, as I started watering them regularly, they still came up. By the time they were about 7 weeks old I decided to transplant them. They didn't grow as big as I would buy them from the supermarket, but I just kept pruning the tops at about 7cm from the ground or just above the new heads, if I saw any. I find that they grow great in full sun, semi-shade or even full shade.The most important thing was watering as often as I could. Some days I would let 4 days pass before I watered again. What I liked about it was the fact that it grows fast enough to use in two meals per week. I suggest you can grow as much as you think you'll need per week.

 After 7 months some of the plants started blooming, and I'm still hoping to see some seeds showing, but it's taking long. So I encourage you to try some celery, and you can check out this Germination Timetables from www.growgreatvegetables.com. I found most of my info(on growing greens) on various sites online and would go with what works better and more efficient for my own garden. I hope you guys get some great ideas out there and start your own. Stay awesome.

Celery seedlings @24 days

Celery seedling @24 days

Transplanted celery plants just after one month

Celery plants @2months

Celery just after 2 months

Celery after 3 months

Borage - Superfood? Apparently so and easy to grow.

 Today I'm posting pictures of borage plants. Some sites talk about borage as superfood, so I tried to grow them and save seeds. I was unable to save seeds but the plants grew wild and more borage plants came up all over the garden.They grew great in full sun and full shade, and you don't have to water them too much. Like basil, I recommend cutting the leaves and dry them and use it for spicy foods. Also trim  the tops before it flowers to have the plant last longer and the leaves will also grow bigger. My borage plants took a lot of water but also survived on little water. I also planted most of them in full sun. You are more then welcome to go research more information on borage or try your own thing. Either way you will most likely succeed with borage and need very little effort. So go for it and plant some borage. It's easy to grow and doesn't take a long until you can harvest.

More basil and pest control ideas.

 Here are some more pictures of my basil plants. I planted some in the shade and others in full sun and both spots seem to work great as long as you water a lot. I also found that if you keep cutting leaves and trimming the top so that it doesn't flower, the leaves grow slightly bigger and the plant lasts longer. Since I decided not to use pesticides I have been hoping for lizards to take over and I placed huge rocks together in different locations and also bushy herbs like lemon thyme for them to hide in. It took some time but they eventually came. I also read that frogs could help so I will try getting in some frogs and ponds later. Have an awesome day people and start growing your own food.

Basil Plants

I thought I would start with basil plants. The seedling that you see are the green basil plants but they never matured because pests, like grasshoppers, kept eating them. At first I tried homemade organic pesticide but that did not help me much. I have decided to try permaculture in my garden and not use any kind of pesticide. Let nature take its course. I do use organic fertiliser called Seagro and only that.So you could say not permacultured yet. You would be able to get more information regarding Seagro on the internet.  I will post more pictures of all the other plants that I'm growing and seeds that I'm harvesting. Have a good day people, and try to start planting your own food.