Great podcast Dave and Trish. So much useful information, and yes you both are entertaining.

Fun podcast! And Ms Bug-Slayer Trish got the name right on the first try! (sa-REE-ta) In English we might call John Johnny and in Spanish, we might call Sara Sarita. The more you know

I can confirm that pineapples do grow in Florida. My dad stuck the top of one in a pot (we're from West Texas, so my parents get excited about tropical plants) last summer and it's now sprouting a pineapple! But like Trish said, it is a big, spiny thing (that stabs you when you mow, my mom tells me), so I think I'll pass in my own garden.

And I have a question about the epsom salt trick: are you watering with a solution or are you spraying it on the leaves?

Kudos to Trish for the pinterest comments and congrats to Sarita.

Sarita said:
And I have a question about the epsom salt trick: are you watering with a solution or are you spraying it on the leaves?

Yes, a solution. I'm not being very precise with it, kind of the same as I cook
I'm using about half a cup to about a gallon of (warm) water. After it has dissolved and cooled, I spray the leaves with my handy-dandy garden sprayer.

I knew a Sarita once, but online I'm never confident that usernames are even real words!

dormantsrule said:Kudos to Trish for the pinterest comments and congrats to Sarita.

Like I said on the podcast, I really hate to think of gardeners getting discouraged. I know I absolutely would try some of these things if I didn't know any better from experience.

Trish said:

Yes, a solution. I'm not being very precise with it, kind of the same as I cook
I'm using about half a cup to about a gallon of (warm) water. After it has dissolved and cooled, I spray the leaves with my handy-dandy garden sprayer.

The very best way to cook!

I'm going to have to try the epsom trick. I have my very first tomatoes (ever!) growing right now. I'm only mildly optimistic that any will make it past the birds, the squirrels, the hurricanes, and the husband to make it to my kitchen, but here's hoping. And next year, I'm going to plant more than 2 plants Gotta start somewhere, right? But whoever - or whatever - gets to those tomatoes first should have a big, juicy feast, I think.

I so enjoyed this podcast!
FYI, I don't know if you have tried the Big Bertha sweet peppers but I have grown them in the past quite successfully in zone 10a & they are named so aptly! Big Bertha! They certainly are. And I found them to hold up well to the intense heat & humidity we had down there. They didn't complain a bit.

I loved when Dave talked about looking at others plant lists to ID plants. I do that on a regular basis when I need to ID something. It works! I start with the gardeners close to me such as Gingin & Plantladylin & then move on to the Texas gardeners as so much that is in Texas is also here. I have found quite a number of plants that I otherwise would have had to post on the ID forum. And sometimes I just go browse those same lists to see things I don't have & might want or things I am not familiar with & may want to try.

Oh! I forgot to mention..... the planting pineapple tops. I agree with what you said but would like to elucidate. It IS true that pineapples will grow from those & not just teeny pineapples BUT & that's a big BUT ~~~~ that is IF you are in the right locale for it. I know this from many people & our best friends growing them & I have even eaten the produce. I will state that this is in southeastern coastal Fl. zone 10a & south. Martin county & sometimes even there one has to be alert for those once in a while hard frosts or freezes. Really it is best from Palm Beach County southward. In those places it will take 2 to 3 years for the pineapple to produce a nice big pineapple like you get from the stores but with a much better flavor. Just thought I would mention that. I wouldn't try growing them anywhere else.

Sarita said:

The very best way to cook!

I'm going to have to try the epsom trick. I have my very first tomatoes (ever!) growing right now. I'm only mildly optimistic that any will make it past the birds, the squirrels, the hurricanes, and the husband to make it to my kitchen, but here's hoping. And next year, I'm going to plant more than 2 plants Gotta start somewhere, right? But whoever - or whatever - gets to those tomatoes first should have a big, juicy feast, I think.

How exciting to have your first tomato plant!! Yes, indeed, you have to start somewhere! I bet you'll get at least one delicious fruit, and I can't wait to hear about it! Of course, then we'll have you hooked for life

Ann- no, we haven't grown the Big Bertha - wow, they are huge!

Traditionally, we've only grown heirloom or OP varieties of all of our plants, with scarce few exceptions. One year we did get a Big Zack to plant just to win the biggest tomato contest. We did win, but that was the nastiest tomato I've ever eaten. After the contest, I promptly yanked up the rest of the plants and disposed of them. No use in wasting good garden space

We are discussing the possibility of adding in some hybrids, but we'll see.

Trish said: One year we did get a Big Zack to plant just to win the biggest tomato contest. We did win, but that was the nastiest tomato I've ever eaten. After the contest, I promptly yanked up the rest of the plants and disposed of them. No use in wasting good garden space

Laughed about the mason jar Pinterest one, I saw those.
Best thing I saw that you can do with celery stalks:
http://media-cache-ak2.pinimg....

Yay, another fine podcast! My habit is to now begin listening each Saturday morning while getting ready for mkt and if I run out of time I get to look forward to finishing it when I get home in the afternoon. What a nice Saturday treat for me. Thanks, Dave and Trish.

And yes, it was chock full of nice info and wonderful front porch conversation, udderly facinating. (Sorry, Dave, I couldn't resist...and got a nice laugh out of the memory!)

As a quick aside, I'm one of those pineapple growers and have gotten one in 2 years BUT have to agree, w/out the greenhouse it would be next to impossible for folks to grow their own in most zones. I've even tried growing a new onion from the root start (actually they were leeks) and was disappointed in the results. And lastly, I've even saved the tops off carrots to regrow them into a "new" carrot. The result was an extremely tasteless carrot with a core so hard, tough and stringy it would no doubt yank the teeth out of a corn-fed mule, and trust me, that would take some doing!

Again, great info, great podcast.
Best to all.

Shoe

How rewarding to learn that you're listening while getting ready for market! I'm honored.

Horseshoe said:so hard, tough and stringy it would no doubt yank the teeth out of a corn-fed mule

That was the funniest thing I've read all week!! I love it! You're the best.

Always aiming to please!

Looking forward to next weeks podcast!
Happy Day to All!

Any chance of getting the name of the variety of peppers that is doing so well for you? I'm in Lafayette, LA - either in zone 8b or 9 - depending upon which map you check, so I'm betting they will do well for me too. I

to ATP Kandy477!

Good question.

Yes, I looked it up and the pepper we are growing this year is 'Revolution' and we bought the seeds from Fedco.

http://www.fedcoseeds.com/seed...