Glow In The Dark Bowling

We love backyard games here at Back Home on the Farm! Especially in the summertime when the air is filled with the sweet scent of hay and dirt and the sun shines down on our faces. Well, the fun doesn’t have to stop just because the sun goes down. Here is a fun game you can make and enjoy in your OWN backyard! Glow-in-the-Dark Bowling!

What you’ll need:

6 clear 2-liter soda bottles with lids
1 hamster ball
package of glow sticks

To make:

Remove the label from the soda bottles and rinse.
Add 2-3 glow sticks to each bottle.
Add 2-3 glow sticks to the hamster ball

Wait for the sun to go down, spray on some bug spray, and have a BALL!

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Sweet Bell Peppers

Sweet Bell Peppers are lovely for stuffing, grilling and making delicious salsas. Here are a few of our favorite varieties (HPS) offered here at the Greenhouse.

Big Bertha 70 days. Extra large, elongated 7”x4” across. Mature from deep green to red. Great for grilling.
California Wonder 75 days. One of the most popular and best for stuffing. Sweet flavor 4×4” blocky fruit.
Early Summer Hybrid 68-73 days. Extra large 4-5” fruits mature from dark green to yellow. Strong plants with impressive yield potential. Excellent disease resistance.
Goliath Goldrush Hybrid 72-75 days. Sweet, flavorful and crispy. Compact plants and high disease resistance.
Keystone Giant Resistant III 80 days. Large 3-4 lobed fruit with heavy yields. Excellent for home gardens.
King Arthur 65-70 days. Formerly known as Fat n Sassy. Heavy yields, highly resistant to bacterial leaf spot. One of the earliest to turn bright red.
Purple Beauty 70 days. Sweet bell that matures to a beautiful purple color. Flesh is tender, crisp and sweet.
Orange Blaze 65-70 days. 2011 AAS Winner. Early and easy. Gourmet, 2-3 lobed intense orange fruit that is crunch and sweet. Flavor and color peak at the same time.
Giant Marconi 72 days. Large sweet, yet smoky floored fruits can be eaten green, red, fresh or grilled. Heavy yielder.
Sweet Banana 66 days. One of our most popular open pollinated varieties. Looks like hot bananas except that these thick walled fruits are sweet. Fruit is green 6” long x 1.5-2” in diameter.

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Hot Peppers

We’ve got all kinds of hot pepper varieties (HPS) here at the greenhouse. Check ’em out!

Early Jalapeno. 60-65 days. Deep green. 3.5×1.5” fruits Excellent for pickling, Scoville rating of 3500-4500. Ideal for fresh in Mexican dishes. Plants are 26-36” tall.
Emerald Fire 90 days. 2015 AAS Winner. 3.5” 2500 Scoville units. Great for stuffing, grilling, canning or in Salsas. Thick walled, very little cracking. Works well in containers.
Golden Greek Peperoncino – 72 days. Seed imported from Milan, Abundant yields of thin walled slightly wrinkled, yellowish green, mildly hot. Harvest when green.
Habanero Orange 90-100 days. Caribbean variety with Scoville rating of 200,000 to 300,000. Tapered lantern-shaped golden orange fruits have a fruity/citrus undertones.
Holy Mole Hybrid. 85 days. 2007 AAS winner. Gourmet quality, chocolate brown fruits are distinctive, not overly spicy pepper used in Mole sauce and many other dishes.
Wicked Ghost 90 days. 800,000 Scoville. Seriously brings the heat. Super Chili 75 days. One of the hottest chili peppers with Scoville rating of 35,000o to 40,000. Ideal for patio container planting. High yielding plants are pretty, semi compact, and grow up to 24”.

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Best Slicing Cucumbers

There are all kinds of cucumber varieties offered here at the Greenhouse. Here are our favorite varieties of slicing cucumbers (HPS).

Spacemaster 60 days. Ideal for small gardens. Plants have short vines that do not run. Fruits are 7.5” and dark green. Good disease resistance and heavy yielder.
Straight Eight 58 days. 1935 AAS Sinner. Old timer that doesn’t disappoint. A best yielding early slicer. 6-8” long with small seed cities and mild flavor. Vigorous vines. You will want to give this variety some space.
Sweet Slice 62 days. Sweet, burpless and never bitter. 10-12”. Slim, dark green fruits have tender skins. Moderately vigorous vines and extremely productive; highly disease resistant.

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Pickling Cukes

Folks ask me what HPS seed cuke varieties are best for pickling. Here are our choices (bush varieties):

Pick a Bushel. 50 days. 2014 AAS winner. Sweet, firm, and crisp. Harvest at 3” gherkin size for great pickles or mature at 6” for eating fresh. Compact, semi bush type plants only spread about 24”. Well suited for patio growing.
Bush crop 62 days. Compact bushy plants produce 6-8” fruits. 3 ft. vines perfect for containers or small garden spaces. Dependable yielder.
Bush Pickle 50 days. Compact 3-4” fruits. Prolific tasty crisp, whole pickles.
Homemade Pickle. 55 days. Medium green fruits Harvest when 1.5” for tiny sweets, 5-6 inches for robust dills and spears. Flesh is solid and crisp with superb sweet flair. Vigorous vines and heavy yielders.

Pick yours up today at the Greenhouse! Visit our blog for tasty recipes and gardening tidbits!