Topped hot peppers (the bigger ones) and accidentally one hungarian sweet pepper; and pruned biggest stevia

Started some peppers, and more celery and stevia

Peppers started:

- Witch Stick (bought last year but I can't remember if it gave the too-hot little ones or the decent long ones or if it gave nothing at all)

- Jalapeno

- Hungarian Yellow Sweet (oops, forgot to not start the sweet peppers until later)

Also started more celery and stevia to fill in the gaps.

Started stevia round 2 and New York onions round ~3 or 4

(To fill in gaps.)

Started stevia

Indoor stevia flopped due to many small flying insects! Moved outside

Yikes, tons of small flying insects!!  I had noticed one a week or two ago, didn't think anything of it.  Came back from camping and now there are so many!

So, moved all three indoor stevia outside permanently.

I wonder if they came in on the stevia that I bought -- that's my theory.  (Two of the indoors stevia were mine, one was from the store.)

The plants look happy, but no way in heck do I want to risk insects for the winter, so putting a stop to this now.

Stevia from last year all gone (except for the two small jars of un-inspected)

Alas!  Used up the last of the aphid-inspected stevia today.  Have been having 1/2 tsp per workday (though used to use only 1/4 tsp) in my tea.  I don't think I can stomach using the un-inspected stuff, so will use the store powdered stevia until I get some of my own this year.

Stevias were rootbound!! Potted up.

I had noticed the stevias weren't looking great.  Uppotted them today and saw lots of big strong roots.  Hoping they were just sad in the small starter pots.

Next year I should either remember to uppot the stevia early, or just put them in a good-sized pot to begin with.

Two of the stevias went into the decorative containers that I plan to keep inside all year (using my indoor homemade mix, no outside materials), probably one on the kitchen table and one upstairs under lights after all the other seedlings have gone or freed up space.

Stevia round 2 started today bec most of round 1 shriveled after putting into soil

^^^

Stevia started in PT

Used up the rest of the seeds from last year.

Stevia is still going strong despite several frosts!!!

Wow!  I thought it was a really tender plant, but apparently not!  They look perfectly fine, whereas the basil, tomatoes, beans, and begonia are all clearly kaput given the frosts.

First frost was last night

It has been a mild fall until now -- got some cooler nights at the 0 +1 range, but no frost in the yard until last night when it went down to -4.  The tenders are now done.  --> Edited to add that actually the stevias are still looking fine even after several cold nights!!

Stevia harvest a-plenty; grow it only in containers in future bec avoids slug damage; wee green insects

The stevias in containers not only look overall happier than the in-ground ones, they're also free from slug damage which the in-ground ones are suffering from a little bit.

Also, there are itty bitty green insects on some of the leaves.  I'm not worried about the plants, but of course don't want to eat them, so am inspecting the leaves closely when harvesting.

Stevia: Putting away the commercial stuff; will see how long backyard supply will last

The stevia I pruned/harvested ~3 to 4 weeks ago is totally dry now, so ground it up.

Big planting day!! Only remaining are the zukes, cukes, zinnias, and basil

The 14 day weather forecast looks good, with nights no colder than 10 (fingers crossed) and days in the 20s.  So, planted a bunch of stuff that was finished hardening:  tomatoes (several Mortgage Lifter (which were my best-looking seedlings, nice and sturdy), Big Tofu Plus (leggy seedlings), and one Jasper (leggy seedling)), stevia (in-ground and in pots), store-bought peppers (jalapeno in a pot; hot banana pepper in-ground; and several sweet banana peppers in-ground and in pots) callaloo, and coreopsis.

And, sowed pre-soaked pole bean seeds:  Scarlet Emperor (beautiful big beans) northmost (south of the peas); Kentucky Wonder Wax (brown seeds) southmost.  Covered with clear plastic after watering.

Now I have to finish hardening the zukes and cukes; and wait for more zinnias to flower so I know which colours they are; and I need to start hardening the basil, no rush there since nights are still too cool for them.

Allotment: Planted most things!

Here's what I did/planted today at the allotment, roughly from the north end to the south:

- 5 zinnias (tall) along the north end)

- 4 peppers (yellow sweet banana, from Ritchie's)

- 4 squares of bush beans with 9 per square (Taylor Horticultural in the north two squares (brown spotted beans), Carson in the south two squares (white beans)) -- pre-soaked seeds, and placed clear plastic on top after watering, to keep in water while germinating and hopefully keep out squirrels

- 2.5ish squares of yellow onion (sets, from Ritchie's)

- 16ish potatoes (Superior, from Ritchie's), nicely spaced out so I'm excited to see what kind of harvest might result.

- 1 stevia in SW corner (my seedling)

Amended with kelp, mrp, and azomite (won't use alfalfa here).

Still have 4 squares remaining.  Planning to put a ground cherry, though my veryyyy late-start seedlings are itty bitty, still at home under the lights to get a good start.

Hardening off tomatoes (many are very leggy, too tall for lights) and stevias

Weather forecast is very nice -- warm daytimes, lots of sun.  So, today started hardening the tomatoes and stevias.

Whatever imbalance in my homemade potting mix that affected the dill (leggy with poor roots) seems to be affecting several of the tomatoes too.  Not sure what their roots look like yet, but several are so leggy.  I'm assuming too much nitrogen, not enough of the other stuff.

The leggy tomatoes have outgrown the space under the lights, so I'm grateful for the warm weather to start getting them outside.

Up-potted stevias and other small-potted plants

^^^

First stevia harvest! (a few leaves, for pruning)

Delicious!

Stevia round 4 started in PT -- first batch of new seeds

West Coast, 2023 year.  Packet says only 68% germination rate!  

Stevia round 3 started in PT bec others not growing well

Oh my, the stevias aren't doing well so far this year... after germinating they're either crisping up, or seemingly alive but not growing...  so, started more seeds today...