Tomato Sauce Success

We've been suffering through a long heatwave and most of my gardening has come to a stop. Fortunately, the pepper plants in my garden are still thriving. I have lots of fresnos, hungarian wax, bulgarian carrot, kung pao and cherry bomb pods out there now. I've been harvesting most of these for various breakfast dishes. Putting them into omelet or making them into fresh salsa. I'm now keeping avocados and cilantro in my kitchen on a regular basis for cooking. Now that the heat wave is over, I've been noticing that my peppers are starting to set more pods and seem to be flowers more.

My blushing beauty bells are starting to flower at long last. The plants are about 2.5 feet high now. I've had no bells at all this year in the garden and I'm hoping that at long last, the bells are going to start setting pods.

The scotch bonnet and the chocolate habanero plants are growing like weeds. They are now the tallest peppers in my garden, but so far there are still no flowers or pods on them.

The two tomato plants have exceeded my expectations. I made my very first batch of homemade marinara sauce and it turned out wonderfully. I've never had to peel tomatoes before, but I found it easy enough to do via the instructions that came with the recipe in the cookbook I used. The magic bullet made pureeing the tomatoes very easy. I used my smaller crockpot to slow simmer the sauce for a full day and the flavors of herbs, red wine and tomato blended beautifully. I added in a bit of ground beef the second time around and it was a hearty summer meal. Between the fresh salsa and the marinara sauce, growing tomatoes is more than worthwhile. Next year, I think that I better cage them though. My two plants overtook my tiny plot and I'd like to contain them better the next time.

Weeding Time and Chile Update

I can't remember the last time that I weeded my salsa garden. It was time. A few weeds had taken hold inside the cinderblocks. They all came out easily due to the weed barrier under my cinders and the bed. I pulled out most of the wandering jew vines coming through the fence. Now that my garden is two cinders high, the vines are having a tougher time getting into my patch. I don't think that anything will stop those blasted vines short of a nuclear attack, but at least the double high cinderblocks makes it easier to keep them at bay. I got them out of my rose garden too.

I checked over the chile plants. I'm concerned that I haven't had a single full sized bell as yet. It is July, I should be having bells by now! I also do not remember having so many insect chewed pods before. I am starting to get healthy and tasty pods from the plants this past week, so at least I'm starting to see some production in my garden.

The "pepperoncini" that had the strange colored pods got a closer look. I have now determined that the plant simply was not a pepperoncini pepper, but a strange dark jalapeño type chile. I removed the entire plant from the bed. I also noted that one of my cherry bomb plants is sporting jalapeño style pods. It is definitely not a cherry bomb. I didn't plant any jalapeños this year and am starting to regret that I didn't...so that one can remain. For now.

Something that was a pleasant surprise was my fish pepper. The leaves are starting to turn a molted white. At first I thought that the plant was sick, but then I remember reading that both the leaves and the peppers have white markings. This one is going to be very interesting to see. I can't wait to try one of the pods in my cooking.

On the tomato front, the two plants are setting MANY tomatoes. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with them all. I'm hoping that I will have enough ripe ones to serve at our BBQ next week. I always like to include some of my garden produce at my parties so that our friends can enjoy some of the organic food that we grow. Next year, I think that one tomato plant might be more than enough to feed my family.

Bulgarian Carrot

I got a good harvest from my pepper plants yesterday. A few of the large thick cayennes, more hungarian wax, a few fresnos and one bulgarian carrot. They are in a basket in my refrigerator waiting to go into my dishes.

I have never had a bulgarian carrot chile before. It is a cheerful orange hue, reminding me of an orange habanero, but it is long and pointy like a serrano chile. I found the texture to be crisp and the heat level a comfortable medium, rather like my favorite fresnos. I think that this is going to be a chile that I continue to grow in my salsa garden. I can see many uses for it in my cooking due to its pleasant heat level and color.

First Tomatoes

Although I only planted two tomato plants this year, both are producing fruit like there is no tomorrow. Most of the tomatoes are still green, but this afternoon, I spotted a pair of ripe ones in the bed. I am happy to say that I have my first ripe tomatoes from my garden! They are small Celebrity Tomatoes of a beefsteak style. I'm not sure what I will make with them yet, but I'm looking forward to using them.

Meanwhile, the pods are still forming on the chile peppers. Most of the plants have pods now, although few are ripe enough to eat. I'm growing concerned about a few of my chile plants. The chiles are turning black. I'm not sure if this is some sort of fungus or if my pepperoncini peppers are NOT pepperoncinis. The one replacement pepperoncini seems to be perfectly normal and it is beside the others in the bed. I will have to ask a few questions of the MSN Chile forum and see if the experts there can figure out what is wrong with my pods.

My garden paths were cleared of weeds today and all the juniper needles that had fallen on my gravel paths has been raked up and hauled away. The area is looking quite neat and tidy and I'm well content with that. I still need to pull out the wandering jew vines on the far side of the cinderblocks, but at least most of the work is now completed.

First Batch of Homemade Salsa of the Year

Last week, my husband and I bought a "Magic Bullet" blender/food processor system. We wanted it for blended drinks, but I was hoping that it would be an easy way to make salsa as well. It is! This morning I harvested the first chile pod from my garden, one of the salsa garden variety, intending to make homemade salsa.

I followed the seven second salsa recipe that came in the book with the machine. I threw in a quarter red onion, 10 grape tomatoes, most of the garden salsa pepper minus the seeds, two cloves of garlic and a couple of sprigs of fresh parsley. The Magic Bullet whirled this into fresh salsa in an eye blink and I found that the portion was perfect for one serving. One great thing about the Magic Bullet is that the clean up is just as fast as the processing. Just a quick rinse and you are done.

The salsa garden pepper was a bit more crisp than a jalapeño, but the heat was definitely there and it had a decent flavor. I'm glad that I included one of the plants in my garden.

Summer Heat Arrives

At last, the summertime heat has arrived. Bright sunshine and warm to hot temperatures are making my gardens sing in delight. The peppers have been growing taller and most of them are starting to put forth pods! My husband and I go out and view their progress each evening with delight.

The tomatoes are spreading out and taking over the entire 3'x3' bed. Two plants was more than enough for my limited garden space. If I start to grow tomatoes on a regular basis, I think that I will look into a vertical growing method for next year. I hate to lose what little growing space I have in my small backyard.

While it is not salsa related, I wanted to note that my roses are flourishing their colors in a grand manner. I don't believe that I've ever had such a major showing of blooms from the majority of my roses bushes before. It is quite pleasant!

The Garden Grows

I was out in my salsa garden to give the peppers and tomatoes a good watering and was pleased to see the plants progress. The weather has taken a turn toward more normal heat and sunshine and I'm glad to see it! There has been far too much rain this spring for my comfort. The beds do not need weeding, however some of the pathways are being over run with grass and vines. I might use an organic solution to get rid of them and to encourage no further weed growth. I want to be careful to not do anything that would upset the organic balance of my vegetable beds.

I have many new pepper pods forming out on the plants. Many fresnos, hungarian wax, salsa garden, and cayenne to name a few. None of the pods have matured, but it is still very early in the game. The two tomatoe plants are overrunning the 3'x 3' bed and I am seeing more green tomatoes in there. Again, no sign of a ripe fruit as yet.

I have been researching a machine to help me process the peppers and tomatoes. I'm thinking about getting a "magic bullet" to chop and create salsa and guacamole....or simply to mix cold drinks for the summer. I will need to get my canning equipment together as well. I am planning on doing a great deal of pepper pickling this fall and creating sandwich relishes and salad goodies for our winter and perhaps some new varieties of hot sauce to enjoy.