Highalt 2011

[highalt]

Harvested a handful of Kalocsai V2's, a couple of Santa Fe Grande's, and the couple Czechoslovakian Black's. It was only enough to fill one tray in the dehydrator, but it's a start, and I'm completely out of last year's paprika. Looks like this year's will be a little hotter. The Czechoslovakian Black is very similar in taste to the Black Hungarian, starts sweet, then a slow burn kicks in. Not as hot as the Fresno's or the Santa Fe Grande's though. I like the sweetness of the Santa Fe's. The Kalocsai V2's are about as hot as the Czech. Black's, but definitely hotter than the Alma Paprika's I usually use for paprika.

Oh, and I tasted the mystery pepper. It pretty much tastes like an Alma Paprika, even if it doesn't look right. Very fleshy, only a hint of heat. Maybe not as sweet as Alma's.

Still waiting on the Sandia, and Joe E. Parker to ripen, but they are very large, about the size of an Anaheim, so it may be a while yet. The Serrano Tampiqueno's and Jalapeno's are still green too, but that's okay, since I don't have enough ripe tomatoes to make any salsa yet anyway.

Happy to report that I remembered to wear the gloves this time.

 

[highalt]

One tray was only enough for about 1/2 a jar, which won't last long, but it's enough to keep me going until I have more ripe peppers.

May have to change the name to 'Hot Paprika' as it's got a lot more heat than in previous years .

My other project yesterday

Lemon Basil Jelly.

Feels good to finally get started with the whole canning, freezing, dehydrating season

 

[highalt]

Took a few pictures on the patio this evening. Haven't posted any of the container plants in a while because they have done so poorly this year, mostly because I didn't use a good container mix. Will try to get it right next season.

Earthboxes and containers

Close up of one of the Earthboxes

and the other one

Aji Yellow in a container. Still no flowers or pods. Wondering if I should try overwintering it?

This is my pepper pot ghetto. It's all of the ones that were left over after all the space in the garden, and community garden were filled. Didn't have the heart to throw any of them out, so I held on to them just in case I needed a last minute replacement. I'm sure none of you have ever done that.

Okay, this is not a pepper picture, but if you look at the post in the background in the first picture, this is what's growing there. It is year 3, and covered with bunches of almost ripe Reliance red grapes.

I tried to get some close up shots of some of the pods on the plants in the Earthboxes, but they came out blurry. I'll try again another day.

 

[Pepper-Guru]

Took a few pictures on the patio this evening. Haven't posted any of the container plants in a while because they have done so poorly this year, mostly because I didn't use a good container mix. Will try to get it right next season.

Earthboxes and containers

Close up of one of the Earthboxes

and the other one

Aji Yellow in a container. Still no flowers or pods. Wondering if I should try overwintering it?

This is my pepper pot ghetto. It's all of the ones that were left over after all the space in the garden, and community garden were filled. Didn't have the heart to throw any of them out, so I held on to them just in case I needed a last minute replacement. I'm sure none of you have ever done that.

Okay, this is not a pepper picture, but if you look at the post in the background in the first picture, this is what's growing there. It is year 3, and covered with bunches of almost ripe Reliance red grapes.

I tried to get some close up shots of some of the pods on the plants in the Earthboxes, but they came out blurry. I'll try again another day.

Beautiful grapes man. And don't be so hard on your self about the container peppers. From what I can see, there doesn't seem to be much wrong with the medium. I see a good amount of aerators washed up there, that at least allows me to assume there is fairly decent air exchange near the root zone. If anything man, I would drop the ratio of "bark" and non decomposed material as well as go with bigger pots. Or simply allowing one plant to inhabit those clay like pots. I can almost bet that if you were to check, those clay pots are just root bound my friend. Those plants look darn healthy.

edit: one thing a lot of people don't realize is that root bound doesn't mean in the center as well. So long as the roots have hit a definite barrier of some type and begin the "crawl" down the side of the pot, its over for a while. The roots act differently and stop the "rapid early growth" process; which is what in the end makes big plants. If your roots never have to meet a barrier, the plant will progress much faster than one who has to share that shape of pot with three other plants.

 

[highalt]

Thanks, Pepper Guru! The way those Earthboxes are designed to work is you pour water down the black plastic tube, and the roots reach down in to the water reservoir to drink what they need. The top of the container is supposed to be covered in a black plastic "mulch". The problem I had was that the soil was staying so wet that the leaves all started turning yellow and falling off. Once I realized the problem and removed the plastic covers things improved, but it set the plants back quite a bit. In the past, I just used the mix that came with the boxes, and never had this problem, but I tried to save money this year, and just bought whatever local potting mix I could find. Lesson learned! I still want to try and make my own mix next year, but I'll put it together myself instead of using a premade mix.

Harvested my fist couple of Serrano peppers yesterday, and am hoping to make my first batch of Cranberry Jalapeno Jelly tomorrow.

 

[highalt]

Got a couple of pictures at the community garden this afternoon.

Aji Yellow. The one at the house isn't even flowering yet, but the one at the community garden has several pods on it.

Joe E. Parker. This picture does NOT do it justice. The pods are ginormous ... at least 10" long.

Took a couple of Puya, but they both came out blurry.

This evening, I took a few more here at the house.

Alma Paprika (in Earthbox). This is what it's supposed to look like ...

This is the mystery pepper that was supposed to be Alma Paprika. I went back and looked at last year's growlist to see if I could figure out what this pepper is, and the only one that I grew that is shaped like this, and starts out green not cream, is Lipstick. Lipstick is a sweet pepper, and this one has a teeny bit of heat, so not certain that is what it is.

Didn't grow many sweet peppers this year, but here is another one, Giant Szegedi in an Earthbox.

I have two Serrano Tampiqueno plants, one at the community garden, which has maybe 15 pods on it, and one in the garden here at the house, which has over 30 pods. This baby is loaded!

Santa Fe Grande. I love the way it looks with pods at different stages and colors.

Fresno, ready for pickin'

Chilhaucle Rojo. They are about the same size as an Ancho, but ripen much quicker.

Last but not least, Georgia Flame. They are pretty large pods, and there is probably close to a dozen on the plant. I had to stake it because the pods were so heavy it was toppling over.

I sure wish I had enough ripe tomatoes to can some salsa, but I may just have to load the dehydrator up tomorrow!

 

[PIC 1]

Highalt, Love the "Pod Close-ups" nothing compares in perspective to that kind of shot, that's where the photo impact is,....well unless ...there's photos of a 10ft. plant, Ha...but how bout those Serrano's, holy smoke...I can see some "Giardiniere" in the making...and finally I gave up after years of growing the "Melrose" sweet pepper in lieu of the "Georgia Flame"....better taste and producer...good luck with your season

 

[highalt]

Thanks, Pic 1! Your suggestion got me to thinking about what else I could make, other than salsa. The tomatillos are starting to come in, but there's not enough yet for some Salsa Verde. What I do have plenty of is zucchini, so I'm thinking I might start a batch of Zucchini Relish.

Here's what I've made so far today

Cranberry Jalapeno Jelly

I used several Serranos, a couple of Jalapenos, a couple of Fresnos, an a Santa Fe Grande. That's too long a name to write on a jar lable though, so guess I'll still call it Jalapeno jelly

Just taking the lid off of the food processor was enough to make me cough, and licking the scraps left in the jelly pan made my nose run, so I'm thinking it will be a good batch.

 

[wayright]

Yumm!!!!! Cranberry Jalapeno jelly sounds and looks wonderful Bonnie!!

Your peppers are looking great too!
Your Serrano Tampiqueno is really loaded up and looks wonderful!!

Kevin

 

[highalt]

Today, I turned these

... into this

Zucchini Relish. Last year's wasn't hot enough, so I'm hoping I got the spice right this time. Will know in about a month.

 

[Dot Com]

The Fresnos look real nice. Gives me something to look forward too as I have one growing but its early-on.

 

[romy6]

Bonnie your plants and pods are ginormous. And that jelly makes my mouth salivate

 

[roper2008]

I am a fan of earthboxes. I have 7. Your pepper jelly looks good. I make some also, but
only with jalapeno's. Below is a picture of my alma paprika in an earthbox.

 

[highalt]

I am a fan of earthboxes. I have 7. Your pepper jelly looks good. I make some also, but
only with jalapeno's. Below is a picture of my alma paprika in an earthbox.

Wow, those look way better than mine this year! I didn't see the black plastic cover in your photo. Do you use them at all? Also, do you buy the refill kits, make your own mix, or just use a local premade mix of some sort? Also, I believe you were one of the people that had Chilhaucle Rojo on your grow list. If so, what do you think of it?

 

[PIC 1]

Those Italian striped zucchini are a wonderful producer, the relish looks great, did you "waterbath" the jars and if so how long?

 

[highalt]

Those Italian striped zucchini are a wonderful producer, the relish looks great, did you "waterbath" the jars and if so how long?

Thanks, Pic! Yes, I waterbath canned them. The recipe called for 15 minutes, but I live at an altitude of over 5500', so I have to add an extra 10 minutes to the processing time. I'm growing three different types of zucchini this year, and the Cocozelle, and Costata Romanesca are much better producers than the Black Beauty. I'm beginning to run out of ideas for using them!

 

[roper2008]

Wow, those look way better than mine this year! I didn't see the black plastic cover in your photo. Do you use them at all? Also, do you buy the refill kits, make your own mix, or just use a local premade mix of some sort? Also, I believe you were one of the people that had Chilhaucle Rojo on your grow list. If so, what do you think of it?

I normally put the plastic on top, but decided not too on some to see if it made a difference. They seem to still do well without it. It
gets hot and humid rather quickly here.

I usually just use potting mix from the garden centers. I added some leftover vermiculite and pro-mix to some, and of course I added a fertilzer
on top. When potting mix is on sale, I buy a lot because it can get expensive. Have you seen how Alabama Jack recycles his potting mix?

 

[megamoo]

Whats the basic recipe for that zucchini relish? I want to try making some of that.

 

[highalt]

The recipe I used came from Lindsey's Luscious blogspot. Here it is from her website:

Zucchini Relish
(an homage to Muriel and Linda Lou)

10 cups zucchini, peeled or not, cored, seeded and either ground (who has a grinder anymore?) or shredded (which I much prefer)
3 cups onions, peeled, ends removed and grated or finely chopped
2 cups carrots, ground or shredded
1 red pepper, seeded, cored and finely chopped
1 cup mixed hot peppers, seeded, cored and finely chopped (or one green pepper if you're a wuss)
4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
5 tablespoons canning/pickling salt
2 1/2 cups cider vinegar
3 cups sugar*
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 teaspoons mustard seeds (I used yellow--brown would be spicier)
2 teaspoons celery seeds
3/4 teaspoon tumeric

Combine all of the shredded/chopped vegetables with the salt in a large, non-metallic bowl. Cover and refrigerate overnight. The next day, drain very well. (Some people choose to rinse the mixture to remove more of the salt, but I like my pickled relishes a little on the salty side!)

Bring the vinegar, sugar, and spices to a boil in a large stock pot. Add the drained zucchini mixture, stir well, and bring back to a vigorous boil. Some recipes call for up to 30 minutes of simmering the relish, but I think it gets too mushy and colorless if you cook it that long. I would opt for 10-15 minutes until much of the liquid evaporates and the mixture just starts to thicken. Pack in hot, sterilized jars (using that plastic stick thing that came with your canning kit, or any non-metallic spatula, to remove air bubbles from the thick relish). Process in a boiling water bath, 10 minutes for half-pints, and 15 minutes for pints. As with all pickled products, let the flavors develop for at least a month before opening and consuming.

Yield: 5 pints

*This still makes a pretty sweet relish. In subsequent batches, I cut the sugar by half again (= 1 1/2 cups), and that was perfect for my tastes. So take that under advisement...
Posted by JoyBugaloo at 12:54 AM


Last year, I made the recipe exactly as written, but it didn't have enough spice to it, so this time I used all hot peppers instead of the "1 red pepper + 1 cup of mixed hot peppers" the recipe calls for.

 

[megamoo]

Thanks I will give that a try

I have seen a lot of pickle recipes call for celery seeds but I have looked and never seen them anywhere? I might have to try a specialist spice shop.