September 14, 2006
Snap, Crackle, Pop
I was giving my pepper patch a good watering this morning, when I heard a loud snap. When I went over to check my blushing beauty bells, I saw that half of one of the plants simply snapped in half and fell over! I've never seen this happen with my bells before. The blushing beauties are forming several large pods and I'm looking forward to harvesting them once they ripen, but the pods seem to be sinking down to the ground. The plant simply can not support the weight of the fruit. I had not put up cages around my peppers this year and I regret this action now. Next year, everything is going to get a cage!
September 05, 2006
Scotch Bonnet Pods Form
One of the things about a garden is that you can step away from them for a time and then return in a week and find all sorts of surprises waiting for you. My big surprise was the discovery of a large number of scotch bonnet pods forming in my garden. It seems like I've been waiting forever and a day for this plant to start producing pods. Now, it finally is!
The latest heat wave combined with my watering the chile patch less often seems to have hit pay dirt. All of my peppers are doing quite well in my little side yard. I can't wait to see what forms next!
August 15, 2006
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.
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.
July 07, 2006
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.
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.
July 05, 2006
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.
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.
June 24, 2006
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.
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.
June 12, 2006
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.
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.
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