Highalt's 2012 Grow Log

stickman · Oct 6, 2012

highalt said:
Here is my biggest disappointment of the season - LOTS of green tomatoes. Yeah, yeah, I know about fried green tomatoes, but what I really want is to can some salsa with RIPE tomatoes!

Hi Bonnie, A couple of nice pulls in your last posts! If you're interested, I can get you my Mom's recipes for Green Tomato/Apple mock mincemeat and Green Tomato/Cabbage relish. Both have been family favorites for many years, and would help ease the sting I hope. It might be that you need to start your Tomatoes sooner to get more to ripen... I started mine almost as soon as I did the chiles and Eggplant, and I planted them outside under the hoophouse at the same time.

What was interesting about the tomatoes is how much better the ones here at the house did. I had 6 here and around 12 down at the community garden. I got more than twice as many from the 6 plants here, as I did from the dozen down there. LOTS of BER over there, and the tomatoes were a lot smaller in size too. Not sure what to do different next time.

I got a lot of BER at the end of the season too. It was in the new plot that I just broke in for the peppers this year. I knew that the soil was deficient in Phosphate and Magnesium when I started, so I spaded in bonemeal and epsom salts before I planted. I think the Magnesium was depleted by the middle of August. Next year I'll have to add more as a side dressing at mid-season to keep that from happening. You had your Tomatoes up against your house didn't you? It could be that they were getting the heat radiating from the side of the house, so they were warmer than the ones in the community garden. Something to check anyway...

roper2008 · Oct 6, 2012

Bonnie, pm me your address so I can send you the Zapotec Jalapeno seeds.

highalt · Oct 12, 2012

Sorry guys, didn't mean to go MIA after that final harvest, but as Dave accurately assessed, I'm in that cup runneth over stage at the moment! That plus still trying to adjust to working again, and this was a big sports week for us. Two weeknight football games, and a soccer game. Have to brag for just a minute on my oldest son. One of my friends was sitting on the other side of the field before the game last night, and over heard one of the players for the other team say, "The only one I'm afraid of is the one with the big, red afro!" :rofl:

Not my words, and he doesn't exactly have an afro, just a lot of curly red hair. But he is one big dude for an eighth grader, and he loves to tackle! The game was at the high school he'll attend next year, and the football coaches were there to check out next year's freshman. Very exciting game too! Score was 13 - 14 with like 45 seconds left in the 4th quarter, and his team ran a touchdown. It was a beautiful thing! :dance:

Okay, back to pepper talk. Managed to put a few trays in the dehydrator this week, but that was about it.

Today is my day off, so I finally made a batch of Peach Habanero Jam. It would have been better with some fresh, local peaches, but that season has come and gone, so I had to use grocery store peaches.

Puree of peaches and Habaneros

Finished Product Peach Habanero Jam

I started with the recipe at the link below, but left out the turmeric, and used regular powdered pectin, not the no sugar kind, so I increased the sugar to around 6 1/2 cups. Probably could have used a little more to balance out the heat, but was worried it wouldn't set if I did. I believe this to be the hottest jam/jelly I've ever made. :fireball:

http://www.food.com/...nero-Jam-324849

Hoping to puree some peppers and freeze them a little later this afternoon, but have to get some housework done first. :mope:

Pulpiteer · Oct 12, 2012

yummm... love that combination of peaches and peach habs. NIcely done! Hot jams are a delightful way to raise your heat tolerance! Cool to hear that about your son - you must be proud! Beware of the big red afro :rofl:

stickman · Oct 12, 2012

Nice looking jellies Bonnie! If you were using the entire pile of Habaneros shown with the peaches in your pic, that's gonna be some spicy jelly!

highalt · Oct 12, 2012

stickman said:
Nice looking jellies Bonnie! If you were using the entire pile of Habaneros shown with the peaches in your pic, that's gonna be some spicy jelly!

No, the recipe called for a cup of pepper puree, so it worked out to be about 2/3 of the pile in the photo. Trust me, there is still plenty of heat there!

Sanarda · Oct 12, 2012

Delicious looking jellies. I dont like sweet foods, but I would give that a go. Afro's and football just go hand in hand :rofl:

. Does your son play offense or defense?

highalt · Oct 12, 2012

Sanarda said:
Delicious looking jellies. I dont like sweet foods, but I would give that a go. Afro's and football just go hand in hand . Does your son play offense or defense?

Pia, if you stick a jar of pepper jelly in the microwave for 30 second or so, and pour it over a brick of cream cheese and serve with a decent cracker, it makes a divine appetizer.

My son plays ironman footbal, both offense and defense. He played the entire game last night!

Sanarda · Oct 12, 2012

I will definitely try it. Your jellies have peeked my interest because they look so delicious. Wow at playing the entire game. Thats awesome. Tell him to James Harrison the other team till they all have to sit out :rofl:

highalt · Oct 12, 2012

I've never cared anything about football, or soccer either for that matter, until my sons were playing. It's amazing how much more interesting the game becomes when you actually know someone that's out on the field!

Just a little update on the jam. I just tried a spoonful of the leftover jam now that it has cooled. It's got heat, but it doesn't seem as bad as it did when it was right off the stove. The hab taste is pretty powerful though. I'd like to see the peach flavor more in balance with it I think. All of the sampling I did while making the jam was enough to give me a nice, warm feeling in my tummy.

highalt · Oct 12, 2012

Doesn't look like much, but it took quite a few peppers to fill this tray. There's four different kinds, sweets on one end, then various jalapenos, then Fresnos, and the yellow are Trinidad Perfumes.

I was going to make poppers, but it's getting late, so think I'll put that off till tomorrow.

Have a great weekend!!!

highalt · Oct 13, 2012

Okay I don't know what happened, but a post I made earlier this afternoon has gone missing ...

Now to see if I can remember what I said! :crazy:

Since it is a cold, drizzly day outside, I wanted to eat some heat, so I decided to do a comparison review between my Hot Lemon Jelly and the Peach Habanero Jam I made yesterday. As you can see from the photo, they look pretty much the same. The Peach Habanero is on the left, the Hot Lemon Jelly is on the right.

I started with the Hot Lemon Jelly side first. The heat was instantaneous, and stayed pretty constant throughout. The flavor was bright and citrusy. The heat lingered for several minutes afterwards.

Then, I tried the Peach Habanero Jam. The first thing I noticed was the sweetness of the peaches. I thought maybe the Hot Lemon Jelly was actually hotter ... until the heat kicked in and started to build It built to a level that was probably a little higher than the Hot Lemon Jelly. The flavor was very "habby." Not in an unpleasant way, but the smell and taste definitely said habanero. I would have liked more of a balance between the peach and habanero flavors, but I enjoyed it. The burn lasted several minutes after I was finished eating.

Neither one caused any sweating, or runny nose. Just a good, hard mouth burn.

Funny thing was, as soon as the mouth burn subsided, I wanted to eat more jelly. Kind of addicting, I'd say.

highalt · Oct 13, 2012

Took advantage of the fact the hubby was gone for the evening, and made a dinner that was all about jalapenos :dance:

A little play by play of some poppers:

Stuffing with cheese mixture (used some of Rick's Chili Powder Blend in there)

Ready to go in the oven

Right out of the oven

My dinner = Jalapeno Poppers, Tilapia (seasoned with Chilhuacle Amarillo powder and other stuff), and Black Eyed Peas with more jalapenos.

Thoroughly enjoyed this meal. My two youngest both ate some poppers, and the best part was I didn't hear "This is too hot!" not once during this meal.

stc3248 · Oct 13, 2012

Mmmmmmmm!!!

stickman · Oct 14, 2012

stc3248 said:
Mmmmmmmm!!!

What he said... Excellent looking meal and jellies. The best part of growing chiles is eating them when the season's over. It's like putting summer sunshine away for the winter months. Believe it or not, I know people who put red pepper powder in their shoes during the winter to keep from getting cold feet.

highalt · Oct 19, 2012

It took a total of 7 hours from the time I started peeling and chopping tomatoes, until the time I pulled the finished jars out of the canner! Here is today's project.

Salsa

It's by far the most time consuming thing I make with my harvest of tomatoes, peppers, and onions, but it's a family favorite, so it's a labor of love.

I ended up with 10 pints, but only 9 would fit in the canner, so the last one will go in the fridge once it cools down.

I used a combination of Jaloro jalapenos, Fresnos, Serrano Huastecos, Aji Yellows, Aji Chinchi Amarillos, and a couple of Trinidad Perfumes and Peach Habaneros. My 9 year old son says the heat level is on the high side of medium. For me, it just depended on which type of pepper I got in that bite, but I'm sure after it has sat for a few weeks the heat will even out as the flavors mingle.

Most of the peppers from the final harvest have ripened that are going to, and they are starting to dry out some, so it looks like most of what is left is going in the dehydrator. I do plan to make one more batch of Peach Habanero Jam, and still have quite a few peppers in the fridge that need to get pureed and frozen, or dehydrated. So things are winding down, but I'm not quite done yet.

PaulG · Oct 20, 2012

Stellar finish to your season, Bonnie. That last harvest is over the top, for sure!
Will you come and live with us and cook wonderful food? You can bring your fam
if you want :drooling:

I really enjoyed visiting your glog this season. It's always good to see growers
overcome the environment and elements and come out with a great harvest.
You were tenacious, to say the least, this summer! Looking forward to see what
you come up with for 2013. Have a relaxing off-season if that is possible with
school, work, family, sports, etc!

Pulpiteer · Oct 21, 2012

That salsa looks great Bonnie! I'll second what Paul said about being tenacious. I've learned a bit about growing in Colorado. Well done!

highalt · Oct 25, 2012

View out my upstairs window just now. Funny thing is the sun was out an hour ago.

Hope to get some more peppers processed tomorrow on my day off. Off to make some Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins for the kids.

PaulG · Oct 25, 2012

Looks like the wind is whipping it up pretty ~~gppd~~ good!