This has been a really difficult year for the seedlings and potted vegetables. The beginning of the spring was very cold, which didn’t allow our seedlings to grow as they should. After the cold, came unusually warm months, and we’ve now been in the summer mood for almost 2 months. The seedlings did enjoy the warmth, but now it’s becoming a problem since the normal growing places are just too warm, and we need to find our plants a new spot. I already wrote about the moving of the seedlings to the cooler parts of the yard, and now it’s time to talk about chili peppers.

Chili peppers, like brassica greens and seedlings, are grown in pots. I’ve tried to grow them in the garden, but the summer heat, which we have in the veggie garden, is just too intense for the chili peppers and each time the plants were small with very few fruits. During August we even had intensive flower drop due to the drought and heat. This is why I’m growing them in pots that can be moved to shaded parts and watered when needed, only this year I’m starting to get sick of the pampering.

The past 30 days have been extremely stormy. This is actually nothing surprising. May and June are the stormiest months in northwestern Croatia. The warm African and Mediterranean air collides with cold Alpine air right above us and Slovenia, and as the result, the storms are sudden, frequent, and strong. The intensity of the storms depends on how much warm air we get from the south. Last year we had only a couple of stronger storms, mainly during late summer. The cold spring which we had didn’t have the necessary heat or produce strong storms. This year is completely different. This year the heat is extreme. The temperatures are constantly around 30°C(86°C) and depend only on the number of clouds present. If the sky is clear we jump right over 30°C. In these conditions, any and every cloud formation turns into a powerful storm.

Luckily this area has a microclimate of its own, and we’re somehow protected. The northern parts of Croatia have been ravaged during the past 20 days, and there hasn’t been a single village that didn’t get hailstorms at least once. Yesterday was another episode in which we escaped the worst scenario. The reason for this is that we’re surrounded by very high hills which storms tend to go around. There’s no heat on them to power up the storm. The clouds get stuck on the hills, lose their strength, and what’s left and able to come to us is much milder. Our biggest issue is the wind which does much more damage than in the lower areas, but compared to the hail this is minor damage. There is one way we could get a serious storm, and that’s when the clouds get through the “doorway” between the two hills, alongside the river Sava. All of the damaging storms came from this direction, even the one a week ago that flooded the garden came from that small archway between the hills.

This is why whenever we see something forming on the radar in that area we start hiding the pots and plants. This year this has been almost a routine every couple of days. I’ve moved my peppers so many times to the garage that I’ve already lost count. They have spent more time in the garage or under the house archway than in their designated areas. I’ve been protecting them like a mama bear every single time there’s a possibility of a storm. We don’t even talk about it anymore, if we see a storm approaching we just start grabbing the pots and containers and hiding them. It wouldn’t be a problem if it were only the peppers, but before the storm, we also need to move all the balcony flowers, hide the seedlings and move the yard plants. It’s just starting to become too much.

But honestly, I’m starting to get sick of it. The way things are going most of the potential storms end up being just wind storms, and I have a feeling that if we do get a hailstorm, we won’t have any time to react, like on May 1st, when the hail started falling out of the sunny sky. This is why I decided to find the peppers a permanent spot that is somewhat protected and not move them anymore.

They ended up in front of the sugar peas. This spot is fairly protected. It doesn’t get boiling sun, and it is protected from 3 sides from the rain and hail. The only problem is the northern side, which is open, and north wind and rain can do much damage. So for now, until the anti-hail netting arrives, in case of the storm I push all the terrace furniture in front of the peppers to protect them, and once the danger passes I move everything back. If we do get a storm this should protect them, and if they get destroyed behind the tables and chairs, then everything will be gone anyway, and no matter where I place them it will be the same. Strong hail and wind can enter the garage and the house archway.

Even with all the moving around, the peppers are still growing well, and already have lots of fruits. I have no idea which variety is in which pot since the same non-waterproof pen mistake that happened on the tomatoes happened also here. I know roughly which varieties I’ve sown, and I can guess the variety by the shape of the little peppers, but to know exactly until they are ripe is a bit hard. It doesn’t even really matter which variety they are since all of them are similar heat and I’ll dry them to use as a spice.

I have another issue with the potted peppers beside the storm and that’s water. They require lots of watering, and I can’t keep carrying large amounts of water around the yard. I have two possible places to fill the watering cans, but both require carrying the cans up and down the stairs. This would not be a problem if it were one or two cans, but other things need to be watered and a couple of watering cans quickly turns into 20 or 30 trips up or down the stairs with full watering cans. We do have a hose, but the hose is used in the garden, and I can’t pull it back up every day just to return it back down after a couple of minutes. I’ve ordered a shrinkable watering hose together with the netting, but until it arrives I’ve switched from watering cans to multiple bottles and containers all around the yard. It looks a bit dumb, but at least I don’t have to carry all the water at once. I’ve placed bottles next to the things that require the most water, and water the plants along the way while doing other jobs. I leave the bottles somewhere to collect them while I go to the house, and again leave full bottles on top of the stairs to carry every time I go down the stairs. So, now I basically carry bottles all day long, but at least I do this while doing other stuff, I don’t carry only the water and walk in vain.

Hopefully, the netting and the hose will arrive soon and all my storm worries are finally put to rest.