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Harvesting Time - What are you growing?

#61
j-raj said:
Sorry, I must be late to the thread, I have been doing a bunch of peppers this summer: (Hybrids from the Univ of NM) Primavera, Heritage, Vaqueros, Espandas, (some regular varieties) Kung Pao, Serano, Thai Hotties, Habaneros, little red chillies, Banana peppers... I know there must be some that I'm forgetting.
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Nice! Now I know who got all the crop we're not getting here this year. Coldest summer in the 20+ years I've lived here.
 
#62
Passinwind said:
Nice! Now I know who got all the crop we're not getting here this year. Coldest summer in the 20+ years I've lived here.
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I'm currently in Lex, KY and it has been in the 90's for most of the summer, with little to no rain. The Habs and Chilis are rocking like a hurricane and the other varieties are chugging along.

I forgot to mention I also have basil, catnip (gotta throw some in for the fuzz's), some head plant my girl is growing, chives, pole beans (some of them are 18 inches long!!!) and okra.

Has any one frozen peppers for later use?
 
#63
I haven't frozen hot peppers, but we freeze bell peppers after we cut them up. I am most jealous of your collection by the way. I really, really like hot peppers, but our garden has produced none for us this year.

-Mike
 
#64
j-raj said:
Has any one frozen peppers for later use?
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Sure. Roast 'em first and they keep much better. I had killer Jalapenos from the freezer all winter last year.

I am also very fond of rum infusions with fresh peppers. Habanero rum will keep for years if you decant off the liquid after a few months. This is the bomb for jerk sauces and fruit-based salsas.
 
#65
Passinwind said:
Sure. Roast 'em first and they keep much better. I had killer Jalapenos from the freezer all winter last year.

I am also very fond of rum infusions with fresh peppers. Habanero rum will keep for years if you decant off the liquid after a few months. This is the bomb for jerk sauces and fruit-based salsas.
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Please explain the rum infusions... :)
 
#66
fmoore200 said:
Please explain the rum infusions... :)
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yeah, do tell more.... I'm interested in trying this.

In ATL there is a restaurant does 'devils water' with 10 different hot peppers in a vat of tequila. It's really hot and will knock you on yer ass!


One thing that I saw online on askville.com when thawing out frozen peppers, they turn to mush which isn't a big deal to me with the Habs, Ghosts and Chillis that will be used for hot sauce.... but, not great for me in salsa.

How about pickling?
 
#67
fmoore200 said:
Please explain the rum infusions... :)
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Link Removed a decent overview. I take a fork to my Habaneros several times over per pepper. I also infuse for a few months, not just a week or two. After decanting, you have a standardized way of gauging heat added to your sauces or salsas (for as long as that batch lasts anyway). I have found Cockspur amber rum to work especially well with Scotch Bonnets or Habaneros. Most of the booze cooks off in hot dishes, BTW.

Jai: I used my frozen Jalapenos mostly for chile or stir fries, so texture wasn't too much of an issue. Pickling works great (try apple cider vinegar), and I also like pepper jelly a lot, but it's easy to go overboard on that. And of course drying is fine for the thinner walled varieties and gives a different dimension as well.

Last year I finally got around to trying DIY fermented hot sauce, a la Tabasco Sauce. I'll see if I can dig up the recipe I started off of -- it is unreal on steak or eggs.
 
#70
.... our landlord had a yard crew destroy my beds because he thought my herbs were weeds :mad: At least it was near the end of the season and I'd already harvested all my veggies that hadn't been crisped from the heat.
 
#72
So this afternoon Amy and I bought a dehydrator:

0821201172dpi007.jpg


Other than what you see in this picture (espandas, pinata, lil'red chilies, habanero, some banana peppers and seranos) we are doing 2 racks of chives and one of basil. Should be fun.

Anyone have any experience with drying machines?
 
#73
j-raj said:
Anyone have any experience with drying machines?
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Yep. My wife just did a killer batch of figs in ours. With peppers we get a little bit of the roasted thing going in the end result, compared to just air drying them. Makes for a nice change of pace. I'll have to give Basil a try, we just have way to much to use it all fresh of frozen this year.
 
#76
Living in a new part of the country, we weren't positive what to expect, so we went small this year. Tomatos, jalapenos, cilantro, and cucumbers. The tomatos are plump and green, so those aren't far away. Nothing on the pepper plants yet, or cucumber. We've been eating cilantro for a few weeks now.

We also have our AeroGarden in full bloom with basil, thyme, and a few other herbs.

-Mike
 
#78
Blueszilla said:
Resurrecting from last year. Anybody got the garden in high gear this year?
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Figs again, hundreds of them from just one tree. The dehydrator's been running all week. Peas, beans, lettuce, mostly done. Purple Basil, Thai Basil, tomatoes, potatoes, garlic, cukes, just coming on strong. Peppers on, but at least a few weeks out. Tons of pears and apples a month or so out.
 
#80
Seems like everyone loves to grow peppers, and that's about it.

I have peppers too ;) bananas, jalapeno, bell.

But I also have eggplant growing this year, a first for my garden. Then my essentials, cucumber, carrots, tomatos.... radish, beets and turnips when the temperature is down below 80 during the day.

I didn't know what to expect from the eggplants, so I grew 7 of them and babied them. So now i've got monster plants with a gazillion fruits on each one. Next year I'm only growing 2. :D
 

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