We had absolutely gorgeous weather this weekend in Chicago. Maybe a bit blustery, but I’ll take some wind if it means I get clear skies and temperatures in the seventies. We gave into temptation and even put a few seeds in the ground, mostly cold hardy plants like beets and radishes, filling in a few rows of our freshly prepared raised garden beds (more on those later this week). The weather was so great this weekend that it made us forget we were still only in mid-April and were getting ahead of ourselves thinking about where to place our prized pepper seedlings. One look at the forecast later this weekend, back into the fifties with lots of clouds and rain, brought us back to reality though. This was a wonderful taste of summer though and a reminder of just how close we are to gardening season getting into full swing. Tonight was spent transplanting a few dozen seedlings from their starter pods into solo cups for the next stage of their maturation and their gradual introduction to the elements. It was hard going, as evidenced by the need to keep a beer on hand.
Seeing our pepper seedlings take flight in this weather awoke a bit of a frenzy in me. Last night we were very close to ordering another half dozen varieties despite the fact we are probably too late in the year to have much success with many of the hotter varieties, as we would be talking about mid-June by the time they were ready to go into the ground. I was a bit let down by this realization and may yet give in and buy a seedling (serranos are a favorite of mine and I’ve had my eye on Trinidad Scorpions) and maybe a few more varieties we’ll plan to grow in pots, at least for this year. A bit unfortunate to realize this now but these growing pains are to be expected as this is my first season of true dedication to horticultural pursuits. ‘
I hope wherever you are you were all lucky enough to get outside the house and into the garden this weekend. I’m sure you’re all as excited for spring as we are. Until next time!
Hot Pepper in the City 
When it comes to peppers, we’re kindred spirits here at gallivance. We have a south-facing sunroom which is the perfect place to germinate our pepper seedlings, and they’re making progress. It’s interesting to see the different rates of germination. Best of luck with your peppers. ~James
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There’s definitely been some trial and error trying to find the best germination method and even though we’re a little late where we are to put some of those insights into practice yet this year, I’m hoping we’ll be able to take what we learned this year and do even better the next. Best of luck to you as well! Thanks for commenting.
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I say go ahead and pick up a few more varieties! This summer is supposed to be hot, dry and long so you could have a staggered harvest with that mid June planting ready for harvest in a warm October. And if the last harvest is a bit rugged – then pickle ’em! It sounds like you’re an adventurous lot so throw caution to the wind and go for it.
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Nice! Thank you for the advice! It enabled me to order some more serrano pepper seedlings today that Capt.Capsicum has been pining for. That and starting a few more Ostry Ckylons incase my recovery experiment fails.
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A wonderful job. Super helpful innramotiof.
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Hey hey hey, take a ganedr at what’ you’ve done
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