Josh Mayfield

Whether building with wood is better or not depends entirely on whether there are idiots in the forest.

Thanks! I’ve been meaning to make a post or thread about this. I’m roasting up a couple later tonight, I’ll see if I can post about it then.

I haven’t yet, I’ll probably wait until I’ve made selections and refinements in future years before naming them.

🌱 The best day? Sources say ‘Yes’.

Yep, really not bad!

It’s somewhat dependent on temperature and latitude. With days too long these tropical pumpkins may not produce female flowers. Zone 5 seems feasible, not sure about any lower tho!

Two halves of a pumpkin sitting on a table outdoors.

🌱 Here’s one of the tropical pumpkin hybrids I bred last year. It was easy to grow, productive and very early. I harvested this one just 78 days after transplanting. It’s also delicious – incredibly sweet and nice balance of floral and savory notes.

*There were 2-3 exceptions, like the Seminole pumpkin, where OP squash about matched the hybrids. I’ll def be giving them more attention next year in my hybridization work.

One lesson I learned this year that I didn’t want to be true: hybrid squash always* out-perform OP squash when significant stress is applied. I want to develop OP squash that thrive here, but it really seems like F1 hybrids or genetically diverse “landraces” are the most resilient.

Love the idea, but I wonder how they’re dealing with formaldehyde.

If they’re consistently small in stores it’s more likely that they’re just buying the cheaper, smaller grades. Even in a short season, some plants will produce large and jumbo tubers.

We grow our green onions the same way without issue, so hopefully this works equally as well. That being said, these are new permanent beds and have higher weed pressure than our established beds.

Looking forward to seeing how they do for you! Beginning of October our average highs are 25C, average low about 13C. I know if soil temps drop below 13C it can be bad for taste/storage quality.

Sweet potatoes of various sizes laying on the ground.

🌱 Sweet potatoes still averaging small thanks to our groundhogs and rabbit (our tabby got the rabbit). They grow slower with cooler temps, but I’ll push them another week or so.

I’m trying that with my short-day onions! Hoping to skip the fleece, will just depend on how harsh temps are when I transplant. Our leased land is in a floodplain, that’s why I’m only trialing onions there this winter. Everything else will be cover cropped.

Small onion sprouts just starting to pop up.

Onions
- Direct-sown
- Overwintered
- Open field
Research suggests this is very possible here, though it goes against local convention. Spring flooding is a risk too. Now I just need to wait until next June to find out if this will work.

Same here, cool and dry at the moment. Absolutely perfect!

Pancho and Lefty Hot Pepper | Tiny Monster Garden Bred here at Tiny Monster Garden, Pancho and Lefty's parentage includes Chimayo, Jimmy Nardello, Matan, Aleppo, and possibly more. This is a genetically diverse swarm, slightly shifting from year ...

Tiny Monster Seeds has a short-season hot pepper. I haven’t grown it myself, but it looks good!
www.tinymonstergarden.com?item=57

Holding a handful of red peppers, 1 inch wide and 8 to 9 inches long.

🌱 Rounding out my favorite hot peppers this year, I love the flavor of these Syrian Goat Horn peppers from Commonwealth Seeds. They’re very sweet with a nice kick of heat. Well-suited to dry climates, but tends to wilt in rainy weather like most other hot peppers this year. Another breeding project?

🌱 looking so good!

Fall planting. I’ve been planting early October, but I’m changing to early November this year. I’m hoping it will result in thinner stems that dry down more quickly.

I think so! I meant for it to be millet, but I grabbed the wrong bucket.
This soil has had a few seasons of winter cover crops and gotten some good compost, so it’s some of the best soil in our garden.

Growing a quick cover crop that will serve as a mulch for our garlic. Either the frost will kill it or we’ll tarp it in one month. 

These ones I’ll likely dry and turn into red pepper flakes and maybe a chili crisp if I find the time.

I was going to suggest roasting your own so you can buy the green beans for $5/lb. They’re up to $7/lb now.

October baby here, and yes, definitely the best month 😂

Not generally a fan of 3D printing houses, but this is where it starts to make sense. From artist Ronald Rael, this building has 12" thick adobe walls. Temperature passively modulated quite effectively in a climate with wild diurnal temperature swings.

It’s worth a shot ;)

Holding a pepper plant

🌱 This was the only hot pepper that didn’t need trellising this year. Stayed healthy even after the alternating drought/deluges. They’re pretty easy to pick, but I’m making it easier by taking out the whole plants. Variety is Showman.

I remember being obsessed with these ones.