I think you’re doing perfect with the chick integration. Let them get used to eachother separately for a bit but then you’ve gotta let them sort it out. There is only so much we can do as non-chickens to manage their social lives, they know how to be chickens better than we do!
@@christinacooper8731 exactly the chicks are big enough and they probably are faster than the big mamas right now. It’s called the “pecking” order for a reason, let the birds establish their own hierarchy 😆
Pepper-gate got my husband and I in Zone 6. We were going for jalapeños but ended up with banana peppers. It all worked out for the best as our neighbor had given us two jalapeño starts and we canned some great deli peppers! Thanks for the great videos and insight on our pepper mystery!
I don't know what it is about you two but I could probably watch you talk about the most mundane garden tasks and still be entertained. As it gets close to winter for me and I don't have any of my own gardening to do, you can be sure I'll be tuning in to any content you post. Love your channels!
Love you guys. Regarding the mice: you need two things. One, hire a professional to eradicate them in the house and to let you know where they are entering the house. Two, if the exterminator can’t plug the entry points, make sure you do it. Also, ask about other plants or structures outside that may allow them to climb. Mice and rats are creatures of habits and they have marked their paths and will continue to use them (even the next generation).
Springs started here in Australia and my plants that I overwintered already have fruit growing on them. Started seedlings for a couple more and yeh, they're like a third a quarter the size of my tomatoes haha
The pests: last year was my first gardening year in Vista, after moving from Fallbrook where I barely had any pests. The new garden had all kinds of pests (a ton of grubs that literally ate all the plant roots in the large raised beds, a ton of hornworms that devastated my tomato plants. They were also helped by mice or squirrels that took a bite each of the few to,Aries that made it. That is not to mention rabbits, gophers, etc. good news: this year is much better.
I was also having a mice problem for a while. It's truly so unsettling, I'm sorry you're dealing with that!! Honestly so glad I have a cat, because I think just the scent of her is keeping them from coming back now
I think I am going to try wintering over peppers in zone 6. I had an amazing pepper year and plenty are still on the plants. THANK YOU JACQUES. I have probably 10 or 15, many already in containers. I'm going to try half in the unheated garage grouped together under a frost blanket like how I winter over other containers and the other half inside in a spare room. It's pretty exciting! Thanks guys!
I'm overwintering my peppers for the first time after I saw you guys talk about it 😊 Also the coop within coop method worked for my hens and baby birds!! They are mixed now, and a hen will occasionally peck at a baby if it's nearby, but not like before, or harmfully! Love your videos
Mice like jelly. Put that on the traps. It works better than peanut butter. They like sweet stuff. I had mice after an 18-day business trip. My biggest problem was that my mice were only playing and lounging in my apartment since I didn't have any food out. The exterminator told me, "They think it's nice here. They play here." It was a nightmare. It's easier to get rid of mice that eat in your home than ones that just hang out. Eventually the mice will leave. Block all their entrances with steel wool. Good luck.
Love the banter between Kevin & Jacques - totally the best! Love that you share everything - with the size of your garden I totally am not surprised by the mice and OMG are they are insane. We live on 5 acres and those dang things are always finding a way in. Didn't have any for years and then here they were. Upside - we got kittens and our girls do find them / etc. when they get in. First few times they got in I was SOOO upset - hubby was way better, but not me - complete understand. Also have to say how much I enjoy and learn when you do these videos - I've learned how much to prune, take care of the chickens, etc. and greatly appreciate it!!!
I knew it! I planted purple beauty three different times and they weren’t what the package said, obviously. My boyfriend told me I probably mislabeled something…sad I didn’t get any of the peppers I wanted, but vindicated that I’m not crazy. Lol.
The two of you make even the rougher garden issues just fun and a learning experience. I'm a solo gardener without any gardening friends (I do have a distance-friend that is fascinated with my hobby, lol!), so you guys kind fill that void (I'm sure I'm not alone in that). I also love the friendship! Thanks for sharing so much!
Suggest if you're introducing over night you have a bit of a schedule where you wake up and check them. That way you can intervene if anything is going wrong. Bonus points if you buy a baby monitor
Have heard of the Marquette mouse trap? It’s something we named because we have a cabin in Marquette. Super simple- get a 5 gallon bucket, take a clothes hanger and weave a pop/beer can through it. Fill the bucket with about 2 or so inches of water. Put a little peanut butter on top of can and you’re done. The mice go along the wire to get to the peanut butter and they fall in the water and die. Hope it helps!
I grow a lot of peppers but Peppergate got me and I ended up with hybrid peppers. Next year I want to do what I wanted to do this year and that was to grow mostly jalapeños because of their versatility.
Mice are the worst. We had an invasion last winter, and they came in where my two babies were sleeping and where my kids play. I was so freaked out. We also placed bait traps outside to help prevent them from coming in. Hope your mouse issue is resolved and stays resolved!
I have experienced so many pests this year! Last year almost none. My neighbors on both sides have cemented spaces instead of vegetation, so my raised beds are like a pest oasis buffet in the desert. I couldn’t decide if they just discovered my garden or if the rainy spring we had here in SD made the difference… I am resorting to an electric fence!
Would love to see some more garden content. Doesn't have to even be informative, Just you and Jacque strolling in the garden trimming and doing whatever
About the mole: it’s probably vole. We live in NE Ohio and started seeing voles run across the garden, hit my shoe, end up trapping total of 23 voles from June 17-July 9, and 23rd one Sept 9. Took pictures of each one. Trapped 4 chipmunks when trying to trap voles. Those nasty varmints ate 95% of my seed potatoes and this when I started seeing voles running around which my husband killed 3 above ground. Unknown at the time, I was feeding them buried bokashi compost. So that’s why I’ve invested in birdies metal raised beds with hardware cloth and landscape fabric underneath the beds. Voles are poor climbers but they were able to climb our wood raised bed and ate almost all strawberries.
When you are thinking about removing branches always remember your never want inward/crossing branches. Always think ahead and remember that with air flow throughout the plant prevents/or cuts down on the chance of pests. I'm learning about this with crops as well as trees. Specializing in Bonsai.
A great snacking pepper are Cajun Bell peppers. 1/3 the size of bells, but same shape, and good spice that's around an Anaheim or so. I can eat them off the plant or mix in salads...and since they are small, you dont have the problem of using 1/2 of a bell pepper and trying to store/save the rest. Use 2 cajuns instead.
You may have already, but I'd love to see you test the jiffy cornmeal and baking soda hack for rodents and moles. The end of the garden season is probably an ideal time.
Hello from Zone 8b! Thanks for the epic laughs and spectacular gardening advice! 14:15 On the topic of mice & rat problems, I totally feel for you! It comes with having such a bountiful garden. I had to hire a pest service to help us and now they come our house twice a year to inspect traps and clean up. I'm sorry to say, rodents come in seasonal waves and its a neverending battle.
Kevin, if you're not adverse to unaliving said rodents, the trap that seems to work wonders is the 5 gallon bucket, half filled with water, throw some peanuts in the water with some sugar, place a ramp to the water that rodents can climb, they drop in the bucket and Bob's your uncle.
Nice call with the app, definitely an awesome app. Waiting for payday to check my cart out lol. Also the mole, mouse, rat problem…I know about Vodka the cat, but something that help me with this same problem was adding a terrier schnauzer mix dog. They are breed to hunt these rodents and do a good job and they love it. They also don’t shed, are very loving, and are pretty intelligent. Idk just an option. An Epic Dog might be cool.
As soon as my new chickens have their big girl feathers and don't need the extra heat (but still babies) I move them out into a brooding coop inside the main one to get used to each other. I'll let them out with the big girls to roam the yard for about an hour and then put them all back in the big coop for another hour each day. After a month of doing that, I can leave them alone with the big girls all day (but they have the safety of being able to hide in the little house if the others get too aggressive). That way when the babies are too big for the brooding house they are fully integrated and ready to be with the big girls.
My favorite way to cook millet is to toast it in a little oil until it's golden brown and pops like popcorn, then add water or broth and cook it up like rice. LOADS of umami and a good comfort food.
This was such an entertaining episode. I love your camaraderie. If you want to use more millet in your cooking, try toasting your grain in a little oil. Then add a half teaspoon of whole cumin and some onions and sauté a bit, finally adding water or some broth at about the same proportions as you would rice. Add about a cup of green bean cut to 1/2 inch pieces. Turn it down to low and simmer until the water is absorbed. I think this came from a Madhur Jeffrey cookbook.
I saw this video a month ago, watched another video first, went back to try and find this on the Epic Gardening channel and couldn't find it, thought I'd gone mad or dreamt it, and NOW I see that there is a second channel... Wow.
i guess there is a benefit to living in San Diego, you get to garden year round. I have already pulled all my garden and only have some cover crops to look at right now. In a week or less there will be snow......I am already looking forward to the spring seed catalogs....lol. In the mean time i will enjoy your antics and banter with Jacques.
"... thing for pruning trees." As an ex-pat Kiwi, I grew up with Murry Ball's "Footroot Flats (movie = A Dog's Life)" and 1 cartoon had Wal (Wallace) Footrot "pruning" a tree at ground level because the fruit tree 'had supposedly died'. The next cartoon had Wal lamenting because the limbs were "budding" Jacques is "Couche Windgrass" to your "Wal Footrot". As "the Dog" would say "Hehehe", though I'm not sure who would play "Horse" (the cat and only real character) on your channel.
During the pandemic, I knew we had a mouse problem but we never caught any in mouse traps. After an excessive amount of ignoring the problem, I finally mouse-proofed everything in my pantry, in the process I discovered the mice had eaten a 15 pound bag of dog food. That day I caught 28 mice in the traps. It was bonkers. I ran into my neighbor and she said her mouse problem was also bonkers. After the initial day of mouse carnage, I hired a pest control company. Totally worth the $50 a month.
I feel for you with mice problems because we deal with them too in NE Ohio. They come in through rotted garage door threshold when I saw a shrew mole go under the threshold (eating potatoes in garage) so that hole was sealed with caulking. Mice came in on pipes if there are gaps around that so caulked that. Squeezed through attic ceiling door opening-the mouse was actually flat 🙂. Mice come in when overhead garage door opens so have mouse traps set continuously by that door. Mice lived in lower level bedroom. Made comforter their bathroom so urine and feces on the bed. Eating sunflower seeds which head was stored down there.Ugh
dang, I feel the rodent pain. our new house under construction, nonstop in the garage, also infiltrated camping trailer we were staying in. the nastiest most violating thing. doesnt help we are on 6 acres. about to get a couple cats
OMG I never heard about pepper-gate, but I think I was affected too! I tried growing purple beauty, and some rando hot pepper sprouted so honestly I thought I grabbed the wrong seeds. Wow that's good to know that my purple beauty seeds are not actually purple beauty lmaooo
I am considering the same. Overwintering peppers. I have a greenhouse. May as well use it lol. I have a mole that’s running rampant in the garden but I plant in raised beds so it really can’t reach much. Also using hugelkulture has barred it from going underneath the soil in the beds for the most part I think. Construction around my area drives them to the garden.
Meanwhile, a few hours drive north in eastern Washington....it's snowing 1-3 inches tonight.❄️☃️ Straight from late summer garden to winter, I guess! Only time to harvest my green tomatoes and hope they mature indoors!
I’m glad your chicken was okay. I love probiotics it helps with gut health so much. I give it to my dog as well. The pest pressure has been real this year. I didn’t get any okra due to some armyworm or caterpillar pest and drought issues.
Guys, but specifically Jacques… After looking at your video of last year’s of overwintering of peppers and eggplants, what temperatures will eggplants left in the garden be able to tolerate? I’m in 8b, so the chances of a hard freeze is always possible. There have been winters where it hardly dipped below 32°, but the last couple of years, we’ve had extreme freezes. We just had a hellish summer of 78 days of over 100°, so it’s been tough getting seedlings to grow; I’m thinking established plants like the peppers and eggplants may have a better chance in the spring, than starting again with seedlings….IF they make it through winter. Thanks for sharing all yours and (Eric’s ..JUST KIDDING!) Kevin’s knowledge. 😊
I do same thing when letting new chickens in. After a few days I pick up cage about 6” so the new hens can get out and if bullied they can squeeze under their cage and get away. I usually only integrate younger hens though so cage doesn’t have to be very high and big ones can get in with them
I purchased what I thought were jalapeño pepper plants and got what I think are Hungarian hot peppers. Even my boys who love hot and spicy foods can't handle them. I have a ton of those peppers I have to harvest soon. I wo Der if I pickle them, if it will cut the heat. Anyone know?
One year we had Wolf rats 🐀 (over a foot long) that ate into our walls! We could hear them all the time… they chewed through the dishwasher cords! We put out poison but had to call an exterminator because they had to set traps.
No tsunamis in San Diego, please! My niece lives there! I live in a 140 year-old farmhouse, and it seems like every varmit possible finds it’s way into my house. I’ve dealt with mice, chipmunks, squirrels, bats, frogs, snakes, birds, raccoons, and the latest, a woodchuck, who tunneled under my front porch. When I still lived on my parents’ farm, we had rats in our house, which my mother would shoot with a b.b. gun. Thankfully, our barn cats were excellent hunters, and eventually the rat population on our farm was extirpated.
Kevin, I went to Europe for 3 weeks this summer. Came home at 4am after a 30 hour travel day to a flea infestation in my entire house. Flea larvae (worms) everywhere. Blood everywhere. Poop everywhere. It was traumatic and I was a wreck. I feel your pain! There's nothing worse. I had flashbacks as you were telling your story 😂
I have a weird suggestion but what if you could graft a pepper plant to a tree. I figured it could maybe work because peppers and trees are both perennials and they both have a woody structure when they reach a certain level of maturity. You could maybe end up having a pepper tree.
It has been an insect voracious year for sure. We have darn Pocket Gophers who take out anything in-ground. We are getting more raised beds for next year ! The Leaf-legged bugs are terrible as they lay eggs on egg-plants and tomatoes and the young keep on hatching and growing . We have way too many awful Cabbage white butterflies laying eggs on my young Brassicas and the caterpillars grow fast and are ravenous. I try to hand pick them off and destroy them. The Cut-worm is even worse as it rises out of the soil at night and decapitates everything ! I heard that sprinkling corn meal with blow them up .... hopefully it works. Thanks for the awesome pepper -saving video, fun.
Over here in Tennessee we call them willy worms. They dont do damages here. They actually have "Willy Worm Festival's" here and have them race 😂. It also means the bigger the orange color the longer the winter. God bless 🙏
I grew Jalapeno M this year and now ALL of my pepper plants are producing horrifically hot peppers. It wouldn't even bother me if they were just Jalapeno hot, but they are stupid hot.
Millet use idea.. bird feeder! Birds keep tick and mosquito populations down. I was getting multiple ticks a day in March and April. In May I added bird feeders and I find a tick a month and half as many mosquitos.
Hey! I am moving soonish and I’d love some tips/suggestions for garden uses of cardboard! What tape has to be pulled? Can it be shredded and composted or used as mulch? What’s the deal with ink and adhesive on boxes? Epic has become an addiction! Keep it up!
Time for a couple indoor cats Kevin, with tested mouser genetics. I have a Maine farmhouse which should be loaded with mice, it is not a safe space for them with the cats in the house. Most mice are killed within 20 seconds of entering the living spaces.
I harvested, which seemed like 100's of Reapers on 4 plants and dried for 2 weeks, than dehydrated for 6 hours and made Reaper flakes/powder. My Reapers were about an inch or higher and 20 Reapers made about 3 tablespoons of powder.
Yep...I have several purple pepper plants..didn't plant purpler ones...and they're prolific. still producing and we're tip-toeing into the high 40's just before dawn. I'm loving all of October this year.. mostly 50's- mid 70s..it's glorious. I'd have asked this earlier but I was in youtube comment jail. I don't even know which comment wrongfully got tagged by their AI. Are grow bags fair game for overwintering? That's where I grew this year;in bags
Confession: Pepper gate: When I go to the nursery to buy my peppers, I don't want 6 of one kind, so I pluck out different peppers and make a mixed 6 pack. Other customers get 1 surprise pepper in their 6 pack each year!
we are Houston, and it was too hot for the chilis too fruit most of the time, so I will over winter- I agree- the time we had a mild winter, our chilis came back en force! it was great. we throw them in a bag, and freeze them when we have too many for sauce or other uses. it works great.
I think I grew enough serranos last year to last me for 2 more years. Fortunately I did more Italian and Spanish sweet roasting peppers this year. Definitely will try again this year to overwinter them...sometimes the magic works! Sometimes we get a freeze 🥶
I’m not saying I’m happy little critters have been hassling you and your garden, I’m just saying finally something super relatable because I always wonder how you guys avoid them.
Mice are probably living underneath the kitchen sink cabinet and mice can enter there through the area of the dishwasher. We found a large mouse nest under the kitchen cabinet during kitchen remodel
I live where it doesn’t really get warm enough for peppers even in summer so I grew my peppers inside under grow lights and they are still producing even with snow on the ground. Should I cut them back for overwintering or just let them continue? I don’t plan on changing their setup until spring when they will be up potted…
I've had good luck integrating new hens by temporarily putting the dominant and agressive hen in time-out and letting the rest of the flock get used to each other. When the top cluck gets back in with the rest of them she will have to deal with everyone including the familiar hens near her dominance and the new girls are left alone.
I start preemptively fake-laughing in time with y’all before I hit play. Thanks for continuing the silly bit. 💜
The funny thing with a relatively new garden is that it takes time for bugs and critters to notice. But once they do...Urgh.
Tell me about it!
This is so true! First year had a big garden in the yard, then the deer came... We're balcony gardeners now 😂
Sounds like the Epic indoor/outdoor cat is the next addition to the Epic homestead! 🐈
I think you’re doing perfect with the chick integration. Let them get used to eachother separately for a bit but then you’ve gotta let them sort it out. There is only so much we can do as non-chickens to manage their social lives, they know how to be chickens better than we do!
"as non chickens" 😂
True! They just have to set their own pecking order. Just give the little ones some space to hide that the bigger ones cannot get into.
@@christinacooper8731 exactly the chicks are big enough and they probably are faster than the big mamas right now. It’s called the “pecking” order for a reason, let the birds establish their own hierarchy 😆
You need a “Mouser” cat. Omg i’d have lost my mind too!😅
Pepper-gate got my husband and I in Zone 6. We were going for jalapeños but ended up with banana peppers. It all worked out for the best as our neighbor had given us two jalapeño starts and we canned some great deli peppers! Thanks for the great videos and insight on our pepper mystery!
I don't know what it is about you two but I could probably watch you talk about the most mundane garden tasks and still be entertained. As it gets close to winter for me and I don't have any of my own gardening to do, you can be sure I'll be tuning in to any content you post. Love your channels!
Love you guys. Regarding the mice: you need two things. One, hire a professional to eradicate them in the house and to let you know where they are entering the house. Two, if the exterminator can’t plug the entry points, make sure you do it. Also, ask about other plants or structures outside that may allow them to climb. Mice and rats are creatures of habits and they have marked their paths and will continue to use them (even the next generation).
Maybe ake a black light at night n inspect around house 4 a pee trail from mice n rats?
I love how the two of you walk toward each other laughing. Best way to start your videos!
I think Babka was keeping a lot of vermin away! Every garden needs a kitty!!!! New addition soon maybe?!!! Thanks for the great content as always!
Springs started here in Australia and my plants that I overwintered already have fruit growing on them. Started seedlings for a couple more and yeh, they're like a third a quarter the size of my tomatoes haha
The pests: last year was my first gardening year in Vista, after moving from Fallbrook where I barely had any pests. The new garden had all kinds of pests (a ton of grubs that literally ate all the plant roots in the large raised beds, a ton of hornworms that devastated my tomato plants. They were also helped by mice or squirrels that took a bite each of the few to,Aries that made it. That is not to mention rabbits, gophers, etc. good news: this year is much better.
Love the laugh entrance always makes my day!😊
Hello, from zone 5b! Already had our first light frost
Do you make the Santa Fe pepper wreaths? They are beautiful
@@st2778no, but thanks for the idea! now I have a idea for next year!
Morning!
I was also having a mice problem for a while. It's truly so unsettling, I'm sorry you're dealing with that!! Honestly so glad I have a cat, because I think just the scent of her is keeping them from coming back now
I think I am going to try wintering over peppers in zone 6. I had an amazing pepper year and plenty are still on the plants. THANK YOU JACQUES. I have probably 10 or 15, many already in containers. I'm going to try half in the unheated garage grouped together under a frost blanket like how I winter over other containers and the other half inside in a spare room. It's pretty exciting! Thanks guys!
I like your idea of using a frost blanket over the peppers in the garage. I too am in zone 6. 😊
I’m in zone 7 and my peppers have come back each year. I’m in my 7th year.
@@YelloLibra83 7 years! Wow! You overwinter your peppers in the ground? Or do you go through the whole digging up process?
Thank you for bringing so much amazing content into our lives. I have truly grown a greener thumb. Thanks to you guys in the team.
Our pleasure!
I'm overwintering my peppers for the first time after I saw you guys talk about it 😊
Also the coop within coop method worked for my hens and baby birds!! They are mixed now, and a hen will occasionally peck at a baby if it's nearby, but not like before, or harmfully!
Love your videos
Mice like jelly. Put that on the traps. It works better than peanut butter. They like sweet stuff. I had mice after an 18-day business trip. My biggest problem was that my mice were only playing and lounging in my apartment since I didn't have any food out. The exterminator told me, "They think it's nice here. They play here." It was a nightmare. It's easier to get rid of mice that eat in your home than ones that just hang out. Eventually the mice will leave. Block all their entrances with steel wool. Good luck.
Love the banter between Kevin & Jacques - totally the best!
Love that you share everything - with the size of your garden I totally am not surprised by the mice and OMG are they are insane. We live on 5 acres and those dang things are always finding a way in. Didn't have any for years and then here they were. Upside - we got kittens and our girls do find them / etc. when they get in. First few times they got in I was SOOO upset - hubby was way better, but not me - complete understand.
Also have to say how much I enjoy and learn when you do these videos - I've learned how much to prune, take care of the chickens, etc. and greatly appreciate it!!!
I knew it! I planted purple beauty three different times and they weren’t what the package said, obviously. My boyfriend told me I probably mislabeled something…sad I didn’t get any of the peppers I wanted, but vindicated that I’m not crazy. Lol.
Yes, integrate at night is the best. As long as they're all healthy, the integration will be minimally stressful for you😅.
The two of you make even the rougher garden issues just fun and a learning experience. I'm a solo gardener without any gardening friends (I do have a distance-friend that is fascinated with my hobby, lol!), so you guys kind fill that void (I'm sure I'm not alone in that). I also love the friendship! Thanks for sharing so much!
I think we need to talk about a future Epic terrier.. they have skills.
Those are Arctiids -- Tiger moth caterpillars that Jacques was showing. Commonly called "wooly bear" caterpillars.
Suggest if you're introducing over night you have a bit of a schedule where you wake up and check them. That way you can intervene if anything is going wrong. Bonus points if you buy a baby monitor
Have heard of the Marquette mouse trap? It’s something we named because we have a cabin in Marquette. Super simple- get a 5 gallon bucket, take a clothes hanger and weave a pop/beer can through it. Fill the bucket with about 2 or so inches of water. Put a little peanut butter on top of can and you’re done. The mice go along the wire to get to the peanut butter and they fall in the water and die. Hope it helps!
I have! I have some traps that work really well though
Shawn of mousetrap monday recently is selling a better bucket mousetrap ( from all his years of testing other traps).
@3:45 this method is essentially how I socialized a new dog with the dogs I already had. cool to see it in action again.
I grow a lot of peppers but Peppergate got me and I ended up with hybrid peppers. Next year I want to do what I wanted to do this year and that was to grow mostly jalapeños because of their versatility.
Leaf footed bugs LOVE sunflowers! When they go to the large blooms, get a bowl of soapy water and shake them in!
Mice are the worst. We had an invasion last winter, and they came in where my two babies were sleeping and where my kids play. I was so freaked out. We also placed bait traps outside to help prevent them from coming in. Hope your mouse issue is resolved and stays resolved!
I have experienced so many pests this year! Last year almost none. My neighbors on both sides have cemented spaces instead of vegetation, so my raised beds are like a pest oasis buffet in the desert. I couldn’t decide if they just discovered my garden or if the rainy spring we had here in SD made the difference… I am resorting to an electric fence!
Would love to see some more garden content. Doesn't have to even be informative, Just you and Jacque strolling in the garden trimming and doing whatever
What are you talking about? Most of this video WAS garden content.
As a person of a pretty big garden myself, I mean showing more of the mundane tasks that's all@@daisyblooms4813
About the mole: it’s probably vole. We live in NE Ohio and started seeing voles run across the garden, hit my shoe, end up trapping total of 23 voles from June 17-July 9, and 23rd one Sept 9. Took pictures of each one. Trapped 4 chipmunks when trying to trap voles. Those nasty varmints ate 95% of my seed potatoes and this when I started seeing voles running around which my husband killed 3 above ground. Unknown at the time, I was feeding them buried bokashi compost. So that’s why I’ve invested in birdies metal raised beds with hardware cloth and landscape fabric underneath the beds. Voles are poor climbers but they were able to climb our wood raised bed and ate almost all strawberries.
I just turned the goats into my garden to take it all down for me
So smart
When you are thinking about removing branches always remember your never want inward/crossing branches. Always think ahead and remember that with air flow throughout the plant prevents/or cuts down on the chance of pests. I'm learning about this with crops as well as trees. Specializing in Bonsai.
My Casper eggplant got super woody and thick at its base, I’m gonna try overwintering it here in zone 5b and hopefully get a bumper crop next year!
A great snacking pepper are Cajun Bell peppers. 1/3 the size of bells, but same shape, and good spice that's around an Anaheim or so. I can eat them off the plant or mix in salads...and since they are small, you dont have the problem of using 1/2 of a bell pepper and trying to store/save the rest. Use 2 cajuns instead.
You may have already, but I'd love to see you test the jiffy cornmeal and baking soda hack for rodents and moles. The end of the garden season is probably an ideal time.
Hello from Zone 8b! Thanks for the epic laughs and spectacular gardening advice!
14:15 On the topic of mice & rat problems, I totally feel for you! It comes with having such a bountiful garden. I had to hire a pest service to help us and now they come our house twice a year to inspect traps and clean up. I'm sorry to say, rodents come in seasonal waves and its a neverending battle.
My mini poodle watched the whole segment intently. I've never seen anything like it
The chickens look healthy. Good job.
Kevin, if you're not adverse to unaliving said rodents, the trap that seems to work wonders is the 5 gallon bucket, half filled with water, throw some peanuts in the water with some sugar, place a ramp to the water that rodents can climb, they drop in the bucket and Bob's your uncle.
I love to trim mine to look like a tree. Helps so I don't bend over as much. Ha!! So enjoy you guys! And Jaques does a great job! HAHAHA!!!
Nice call with the app, definitely an awesome app. Waiting for payday to check my cart out lol.
Also the mole, mouse, rat problem…I know about Vodka the cat, but something that help me with this same problem was adding a terrier schnauzer mix dog. They are breed to hunt these rodents and do a good job and they love it. They also don’t shed, are very loving, and are pretty intelligent.
Idk just an option. An Epic Dog might be cool.
As soon as my new chickens have their big girl feathers and don't need the extra heat (but still babies) I move them out into a brooding coop inside the main one to get used to each other. I'll let them out with the big girls to roam the yard for about an hour and then put them all back in the big coop for another hour each day. After a month of doing that, I can leave them alone with the big girls all day (but they have the safety of being able to hide in the little house if the others get too aggressive). That way when the babies are too big for the brooding house they are fully integrated and ready to be with the big girls.
My favorite way to cook millet is to toast it in a little oil until it's golden brown and pops like popcorn, then add water or broth and cook it up like rice. LOADS of umami and a good comfort food.
This was such an entertaining episode. I love your camaraderie. If you want to use more millet in your cooking, try toasting your grain in a little oil. Then add a half teaspoon of whole cumin and some onions and sauté a bit, finally adding water or some broth at about the same proportions as you would rice. Add about a cup of green bean cut to 1/2 inch pieces. Turn it down to low and simmer until the water is absorbed. I think this came from a Madhur Jeffrey cookbook.
I saw this video a month ago, watched another video first, went back to try and find this on the Epic Gardening channel and couldn't find it, thought I'd gone mad or dreamt it, and NOW I see that there is a second channel... Wow.
i guess there is a benefit to living in San Diego, you get to garden year round. I have already pulled all my garden and only have some cover crops to look at right now. In a week or less there will be snow......I am already looking forward to the spring seed catalogs....lol. In the mean time i will enjoy your antics and banter with Jacques.
"... thing for pruning trees."
As an ex-pat Kiwi, I grew up with Murry Ball's "Footroot Flats (movie = A Dog's Life)" and 1 cartoon had Wal (Wallace) Footrot "pruning" a tree at ground level because the fruit tree 'had supposedly died'. The next cartoon had Wal lamenting because the limbs were "budding"
Jacques is "Couche Windgrass" to your "Wal Footrot".
As "the Dog" would say "Hehehe", though I'm not sure who would play "Horse" (the cat and only real character) on your channel.
During the pandemic, I knew we had a mouse problem but we never caught any in mouse traps. After an excessive amount of ignoring the problem, I finally mouse-proofed everything in my pantry, in the process I discovered the mice had eaten a 15 pound bag of dog food. That day I caught 28 mice in the traps. It was bonkers. I ran into my neighbor and she said her mouse problem was also bonkers. After the initial day of mouse carnage, I hired a pest control company. Totally worth the $50 a month.
I feel for you with mice problems because we deal with them too in NE Ohio. They come in through rotted garage door threshold when I saw a shrew mole go under the threshold (eating potatoes in garage) so that hole was sealed with caulking. Mice came in on pipes if there are gaps around that so caulked that. Squeezed through attic ceiling door opening-the mouse was actually flat 🙂. Mice come in when overhead garage door opens so have mouse traps set continuously by that door. Mice lived in lower level bedroom. Made comforter their bathroom so urine and feces on the bed. Eating sunflower seeds which head was stored down there.Ugh
dang, I feel the rodent pain. our new house under construction, nonstop in the garage, also infiltrated camping trailer we were staying in. the
nastiest most violating thing. doesnt help we are on 6 acres. about to get a couple cats
"We'll put it up on the screen for you guys"
Narrator: The editor did NOT, in fact, put it up on the screen for you guys
OOPS
Love the way you always start all your videos laughing ❤😂
Looks great, the shaping of the fall/winter garden. I wish you had an andriod app as well as I do not have an iPhone. Thanks for bringing us along.
I had that issue with the Purple Beauty's also. Would have been nice if, when I asked Botanical Interest about it, they would have responded.
OMG I never heard about pepper-gate, but I think I was affected too! I tried growing purple beauty, and some rando hot pepper sprouted so honestly I thought I grabbed the wrong seeds. Wow that's good to know that my purple beauty seeds are not actually purple beauty lmaooo
Is it only hot peppers than can be overwintered or can I do it with sweet peppers as well?
Sweet work too!
Just pulled my sweet peppers today for a frost tonight.
Stainless steel mole grow bags. They work for fruit on trees as well.
Super thrilled you mentioned you have an appointment, I got it right away ❤
Time for a cat. :) Also, chickens will eat mice, it's a sight to behold.
I am considering the same. Overwintering peppers. I have a greenhouse. May as well use it lol. I have a mole that’s running rampant in the garden but I plant in raised beds so it really can’t reach much. Also using hugelkulture has barred it from going underneath the soil in the beds for the most part I think. Construction around my area drives them to the garden.
Oh man, that happened to my purple beauties this year too! Thought it was a banana pepper instead, but it was SPICY!
Meanwhile, a few hours drive north in eastern Washington....it's snowing 1-3 inches tonight.❄️☃️ Straight from late summer garden to winter, I guess! Only time to harvest my green tomatoes and hope they mature indoors!
I’m glad your chicken was okay. I love probiotics it helps with gut health so much. I give it to my dog as well. The pest pressure has been real this year. I didn’t get any okra due to some armyworm or caterpillar pest and drought issues.
Guys, but specifically Jacques… After looking at your video of last year’s of overwintering of peppers and eggplants, what temperatures will eggplants left in the garden be able to tolerate? I’m in 8b, so the chances of a hard freeze is always possible. There have been winters where it hardly dipped below 32°, but the last couple of years, we’ve had extreme freezes. We just had a hellish summer of 78 days of over 100°, so it’s been tough getting seedlings to grow; I’m thinking established plants like the peppers and eggplants may have a better chance in the spring, than starting again with seedlings….IF they make it through winter. Thanks for sharing all yours and (Eric’s ..JUST KIDDING!) Kevin’s knowledge. 😊
I have to do the same with my pepper plants Its been crazy that I have been able to pick peppers all the way Into October
I do same thing when letting new chickens in. After a few days I pick up cage about 6” so the new hens can get out and if bullied they can squeeze under their cage and get away. I usually only integrate younger hens though so cage doesn’t have to be very high and big ones can get in with them
I purchased what I thought were jalapeño pepper plants and got what I think are Hungarian hot peppers. Even my boys who love hot and spicy foods can't handle them. I have a ton of those peppers I have to harvest soon. I wo Der if I pickle them, if it will cut the heat. Anyone know?
One year we had Wolf rats 🐀 (over a foot long) that ate into our walls! We could hear them all the time… they chewed through the dishwasher cords! We put out poison but had to call an exterminator because they had to set traps.
No tsunamis in San Diego, please! My niece lives there!
I live in a 140 year-old farmhouse, and it seems like every varmit possible finds it’s way into my house. I’ve dealt with mice, chipmunks, squirrels, bats, frogs, snakes, birds, raccoons, and the latest, a woodchuck, who tunneled under my front porch. When I still lived on my parents’ farm, we had rats in our house, which my mother would shoot with a b.b. gun. Thankfully, our barn cats were excellent hunters, and eventually the rat population on our farm was extirpated.
Kevin, I went to Europe for 3 weeks this summer. Came home at 4am after a 30 hour travel day to a flea infestation in my entire house. Flea larvae (worms) everywhere. Blood everywhere. Poop everywhere. It was traumatic and I was a wreck. I feel your pain! There's nothing worse. I had flashbacks as you were telling your story 😂
Kevin: "What you want is these purple balls." 😂
I have a weird suggestion but what if you could graft a pepper plant to a tree. I figured it could maybe work because peppers and trees are both perennials and they both have a woody structure when they reach a certain level of maturity. You could maybe end up having a pepper tree.
It has been an insect voracious year for sure. We have darn Pocket Gophers who take out anything in-ground. We are getting more raised beds for next year ! The Leaf-legged bugs are terrible as they lay eggs on egg-plants and tomatoes and the young keep on hatching and growing . We have way too many awful Cabbage white butterflies laying eggs on my young Brassicas and the caterpillars grow fast and are ravenous. I try to hand pick them off and destroy them. The Cut-worm is even worse as it rises out of the soil at night and decapitates everything ! I heard that sprinkling corn meal with blow them up .... hopefully it works. Thanks for the awesome pepper -saving video, fun.
Over here in Tennessee we call them willy worms. They dont do damages here. They actually have "Willy Worm Festival's" here and have them race 😂.
It also means the bigger the orange color the longer the winter.
God bless 🙏
I grew Jalapeno M this year and now ALL of my pepper plants are producing horrifically hot peppers. It wouldn't even bother me if they were just Jalapeno hot, but they are stupid hot.
Millet use idea.. bird feeder! Birds keep tick and mosquito populations down. I was getting multiple ticks a day in March and April. In May I added bird feeders and I find a tick a month and half as many mosquitos.
Hey! I am moving soonish and I’d love some tips/suggestions for garden uses of cardboard! What tape has to be pulled? Can it be shredded and composted or used as mulch? What’s the deal with ink and adhesive on boxes? Epic has become an addiction! Keep it up!
Time for a couple indoor cats Kevin, with tested mouser genetics. I have a Maine farmhouse which should be loaded with mice, it is not a safe space for them with the cats in the house. Most mice are killed within 20 seconds of entering the living spaces.
I harvested, which seemed like 100's of Reapers on 4 plants and dried for 2 weeks, than dehydrated for 6 hours and made Reaper flakes/powder. My Reapers were about an inch or higher and 20 Reapers made about 3 tablespoons of powder.
"I've been here the whole time" 😂
I feel your pain -- just funny how you said it
For the rats: I’ve seen Laura use Rid-away for her gopher problem. It’s an organic from Bonide
Now I know where that banana pepper came from! I only planted bell peppers and couldn't figure out how that showed up. Oh my goodness.
I have to say, Jacque is the greatest. Keep up the good work.😊
Yep...I have several purple pepper plants..didn't plant purpler ones...and they're prolific. still producing and we're tip-toeing into the high 40's just before dawn.
I'm loving all of October this year.. mostly 50's- mid 70s..it's glorious.
I'd have asked this earlier but I was in youtube comment jail. I don't even know which comment wrongfully got tagged by their AI.
Are grow bags fair game for overwintering? That's where I grew this year;in bags
Confession: Pepper gate: When I go to the nursery to buy my peppers, I don't want 6 of one kind, so I pluck out different peppers and make a mixed 6 pack. Other customers get 1 surprise pepper in their 6 pack each year!
I grew peppers that were random and I even got eggplant.
we are Houston, and it was too hot for the chilis too fruit most of the time, so I will over winter- I agree- the time we had a mild winter, our chilis came back en force! it was great. we throw them in a bag, and freeze them when we have too many for sauce or other uses. it works great.
That happened to me too. I bought jalapeños that turned out to be hot banana peppers. Wrong label in the plant.
Same here!
The laughing intros with you two makes my day
I think I grew enough serranos last year to last me for 2 more years. Fortunately I did more Italian and Spanish sweet roasting peppers this year. Definitely will try again this year to overwinter them...sometimes the magic works! Sometimes we get a freeze 🥶
Thanks for mentioning the Pepper Gate, I was was pulling my hair out trying to figure out why i bought the wrong peppers this year.
I’m not saying I’m happy little critters have been hassling you and your garden, I’m just saying finally something super relatable because I always wonder how you guys avoid them.
Mice are probably living underneath the kitchen sink cabinet and mice can enter there through the area of the dishwasher. We found a large mouse nest under the kitchen cabinet during kitchen remodel
what do you do with the pepper plants after to save them
Chickens ❤ pepper leaves! I throw my pepper plants into the run and they devour them. They can’t taste hot.
I'm doing the same...it's a bit painful
I live where it doesn’t really get warm enough for peppers even in summer so I grew my peppers inside under grow lights and they are still producing even with snow on the ground. Should I cut them back for overwintering or just let them continue? I don’t plan on changing their setup until spring when they will be up potted…
I've had good luck integrating new hens by temporarily putting the dominant and agressive hen in time-out and letting the rest of the flock get used to each other. When the top cluck gets back in with the rest of them she will have to deal with everyone including the familiar hens near her dominance and the new girls are left alone.