Tuesday, 15 August 2023

Figs and Peppers

 The first two figs were ready last week, the others are still green.


It's a treat to have them so soon after bringing the 18'' tall fig  here in a pot  when I moved in in May 2021. It's now more than 6 feet tall with lots of side branches and about a dozen more figs - hopefully they will grow and ripen.

I've got a problem with the Peppers in the greenhouse - something - and I'm not sure what, is making holes in them and turning them rotten from the point upwards. Yet there doesn't seem to be anything inside when I look. I cut most of the the remaining green peppers and froze before anymore are damaged. There's just one plant that still seems OK. When I first noticed some of the leaves being eaten  thought it was birds getting in and biting bits, should have investigated more thoroughly. 
Last year a lovely mix of red, orange and green peppers went into the freezer and lasted me through to May so it's a disappointment.

Then there was a bit of luck at Sunday's boot sale as there was a market stall there that that hasn't been there often and he had some bowls of fruit/veg for £1 each including  odd shaped red peppers. They are now sliced  and frozen to add to all my green ones.




Back Tomorrow
Sue

36 comments:

  1. A great shame about the peppers. I've never had any luck with them but it sounds as if yours is just a blip really. How lovely to have your own figs. xx

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    1. I've only ever grown them in greenhouse or polytunnel and this is the only year I've had this problem - a mystery.
      I keep planting fig trees and then moving!

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  2. Shame about the peppers but those ones you scored at the boot sale look like the lovely sweet kind. Congratulations on the fig being successful -very envious if that.

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    1. That's how the few I have left should look sometime - if nothing damages them

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  3. Well done with your fig - mine has borne no fruit at all since we moved it here from Leicester. Do you feed yours? If so, what with, please?

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    1. I've never fed it - just plenty of water.

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    2. I feed Alan's Fig tree about once a fortnight while it is fruiting just with tomato feed. He's had about 20 figs this year up to now, he's a very happy chappy. :-)

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  4. I grew peppers fairly successfully a few years ago, you have reminded me I should try again. Your car boot buys look delicious.

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    1. They made a big tray full to add to my green so will last me several months

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  5. Sorry to hear about the peppers. That's so annoying when you can't find out what's causing the problem. By the way, with eight known to you, that's four more than I know of the Strictly contestants this year. Once more, I'm saying I'm not going to bother watching, but you wait, after the launch show, I'll be sucked in once again.

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    1. I think Strictly is a happy programme for dark evenings

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  6. I've got to the point of emptying the greenhouse for the summer. We've had wonderful cucumbers, peppers, aubergines, and so on over the years, but more often than not something gets them and it's so disheartening.

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    1. I've still got tomatoes, 1 cucumber and 1 pepper in there - gradually clearing out pots as they finish

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  7. I am glad that you found some replacements. Isn't it annoying when something nobbles your carefully tended plants just when you are about to get your harvest.

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    1. I'm hoping that nothing damages the one remaining pepper plant now I've taken the other pots out

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  8. Such is the grower’s lot, swings and roundabouts and always the triumph of hope over experience and it would be no fun if it was easy!

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  9. We have been buying peppers recently and cooking them in our Ninja airfyer after cutting up and tossing in olive oil. I’ve just eaten some with cream cheese on a small seeded bagel for my lunch-delicious. Catriona

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    1. That sounds rather tasty. Mine are just used for stir fries after freezing as they go a bit limp

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  10. We had a very productive fig tree for years and then it just upped and died. I love the shape of fig leaves.

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    1. How odd - I thought they were like Olive trees and went on forever

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  11. Marvelous to have your own fig tree. My favorite fruit, but the season here is literally one week in September, and if nobody at the farmer's market has them, out of luck!

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    1. This is the third home where I have planted a small fig tree and then I keep moving

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  12. Shame about the pepper pests but good idea to buy some and freeze after slicing, very handy. I've got to keep an eye on our little bit of sweet corn, one year mice ate the lot!
    Alison in Wales x

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    1. It was good to spot them at the boot sale. The vegetable market stall in Stowmarket is more expensive. I might look out for bargain bags of mixed in the supermarket for a bit more colour for winter stir frying

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  13. It is so disheartening when one has sown seeds and a appears to be going well until suddenly one day things go wrong. I no longer grow veg but my dearest friends do and they have had the same failure with their peas this year. Their broad beans have been wonderful - I have enjoyed several boilings - so delicious with parsley sauce and they have provided my tea for several nights - just beans, parsley sauce and bread and butter. Plant to mouth in about a couple of hours - you can't bear it.

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    1. The damaged peppers are a mystery - never had the same problem before. I don't grow broad beans they are not my favourite although I do like them when very tiny and yours sound delicious

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  14. Your fig tree is producing well and you can expect more bounty each coming year. It is disappointing when something unknown attacks a veg growing in the greenhouse. I wonder what this could be. During the night something recently attacked one of my pear trees and broke a 9 ft.tall, 3 inch diameter branch off the tree. The branch was filled with small thumb sized pears. I've installed a trail camera with night vision to try and determine what attacked my tree. I think it might be a bear.

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    1. Yikes - about the possible bear - worrying too I should think and annoying to lose so many pears

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  15. I've never grown peppers in a greenhouse so I can't be of any help, sorry. I used to grow some in the polytunnel and they were always very hit and miss, but it was usually much cooler at night in North Wales so they didn't have consistent temperatures.

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    1. I never had such good plants in the polytunnel at the smallholding as I've had in the greenhouse - last year was outstanding because of the heat

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  16. I love to roast red peppers, they are great in sandwiches or as a dip. Don't know if fig trees would grow here but I would love to try!

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  17. Earwigs? That's what do that to my peppers! xx Jen.

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  18. So sorry that your peppers are not growing properly.

    I hope you get many more figs from your tree.

    God bless.

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  19. Oh no! Sorry about your peppers. Hope you work out what's wrong with them.

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  20. That's exactly what I do with green peppers. I buy them in bulk when the store puts them out as reduced produce. Last year I got 3 bags of them at 99 cents each, easily a dozen peppers in a bag and chopped them up, removing the bad bits. I froze them and used them all winter long.

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