One of the books suggested by Carol for this month's Garden Bloggers' Book Club is "People with Dirty Hands: The Passion for Gardening" by Robin Chotzinoff. While I enjoyed all the stories of the people profiled therein, the ones that most struck a chord with me were the stories about the hot pepper growers and sellers. I read with fascination about large scale pepper production and how it has changed from the old days of drying the peppers on the flat adobe roofs. The reason these stories resonated with me is because, for the first time ever, I'm growing my own hot peppers, 'Mucho Nacho' Jalapenos.I've grown sweet peppers before, although my first effort at container growing them was a dismal failure, with only 1 pepper harvested, and that in November. I have to grow my veggies in pots because I don't have enough full sun space in the back yard, so they go in containers on the mostly sunny patio. This year's crops are looking to be successes.
Lots of lovely, spicy hot peppers.
I and my Very Indulgent Spouse (VIS) love hot peppers. We love them in burritos, in Nachos, in gardinera. VIS loves them so much, he would eat them straight. When I asked him what we should do with the peppers, eat them raw and fresh or pickle them, he said both. Now I just have to figure out the best time to harvest them. I harvested two a couple of weeks ago, and we discovered that they weren't hot enough yet. And so we wait, we know not how long, for the peppers to ripen. Someday soon I'll harvest another. They're starting to smell spicy already.*This is a saying of one of the girl's favorite literary characters, Skippyjon Jones, a Siamese kitten who thinks he's a Chihuahua. See "Skippyjon Jones" by Judith Byron Schachner.
26 comments:
My goodness those peppers are so pretty! Not that I like hot or spicy, but the plants themselves are just gorgeous. Hope you and VIS enjoy our HOT! HOT! HOT! Peppers.
Those are some mighty fine lookin' peppers, Miss MMD! Whether you and VIS are getting fresh, or getting pickled, enjoy! (BTW, Skippyjon is one of my favorite children's book characters EVER.)
Hi MMD,
Your peppers look much better than ours do ... ours are so behind and still small and I only have a few jalapeños so far. Try letting a few of them turn to red before picking, because they actually get sweeter, not hotter, and have a nice balance between sweet and hot. We'll see how ours turn out, but they haven't liked us the last few years.
BTW, if you get too many, I can send you a recipe for pepper jelly that's really easy to make. The only intense part is chopping them up in the food processor ... you have to turn away when you open it or you'll be coughing and crying!
I want to get that book as I've heard lots of good things about it. I think peppers must need a lot of water-is this true? I'm asking you cause yours look really good and mine are just hanging on.
Beautiful peppers...and a nice review for the Book Club selection, which I haven't finished reading!
I might have to check out the Skippyjon book...my kid never read that one and I was pretty sure we had one of every kid book, maybe it seemed like that!
I keep learning about vegetable gardening and I am growing a wonderful virtual garden!
I am beginning to feel the heat just looking at the pictures.
Your Jalapenos are ahead of mine by a couple of weeks, it appears, but mine have grown really well and are about to bloom. I put 3 plants in one large pot (silly girl) and I didn't think they'd do well after I saw how large the plants were getting, but I guess they like company. :)
Beckie - peppers are beautiful fruits. They don't seem as delicate as tomatoes, that always seem to have some problem, cracking or ugly spots.
Cindy - VIS & I enjoyed getting fresh while getting pickled. ;^D The girl is Chihuahua crazy, so she loves the Skippyjon Jones books with all those Chihuahuas, especially Poquito Tito.
IVG - thanks for the tips! I don't think VIS will let me allow them to get at all sweet. His motto is "the hotter the better." I've actually watched him eat a straight sample of super hot Habanero sauce. The pepper jelly sounds yummy.
Anna - I don't think it's water that helps the peppers, or IVG's peppers would be outstanding. What I did differently this year (and will do from now on), is that I added cotton burr compost to the containers as mulch & to replace some of the soil the squirrels knocked out digging in the pot.
Gail - Skippyjon Jones is a new book series, which is why you aren't familiar with it. It's getting very popular.
Lisa - I'm starting to feel the heat too, but it's not because of the peppers. I'm hoping our current heatwave will help the peppers get spicier.
Nancy Bond - peppers must like company, I've got 2 plants in that little pot. I was a little concerned about them when I planted them, but I'm glad I did it this way. More peppers per square inch!
I'm one of the few who doesn't like hot peppers. I have to admit they are a decorative plant, especially when the fruit start to show color.
Enjoy
Marnie
As a faithful reader of your blog, mostoftentimes lurker and sometime commenter, and obsessed (weekend)gardener, I have to out myself as the editor of the SkippyjonJones books. I never expected such off- the-book-page (as we say) publicity, but thanks for the ringing endorsement. We go around the office (and home) spouting Skippy-isms: not only holy jalepenos, but Holy Frijoles!, Holy Guacamole!, and Yippy-Yippito!, to quote a few. I'm happy that the little crumb cake is loved by readers in Chicagoland. And I urge anyone with youngsters to drop their trowels and head to their nearest INDEPENDENT bookstore and pick up a Skippito book (or two or three). Poquito Tito is also pleased that he got a special callout.
lucia
I don't grow peppers (don't eat'm, as they don't like me), but I have heard from those that do...
They tend to get hotter in hot, dry weather. The capsacin tends to concentrate when there is less rain.
That chapter in the book stuck with me, too - and fire-eating, pepper-roasting Philo loved reading about other capsaicin addicts.
Nancy's comment addresses what I was going to say - it seems that peppers sometimes don't heat up if the weather is cooler or wetter than normal.
¡Buen provecho!
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
Thanks for joining in for the book club. I liked reading about those hot pepper gardeners, too. I've always get several kinds of hot peppers in the garden. I chop up the jalapenos and then freeze them to use in chilis in the winter-time. Makes me very warm when I eat it. I also give a lot away!
Carol, May Dreams Gardens
(I need to check out those children's books!)
Hi MMD, peppers are such great patio plants since they're so pretty. We love jalepenos at our house, but even the patio doesn't get enough sun for them.
Jalapenos is about as hot as I like. It seems for the husband though, no hot is too hot.
Getting fresh while getting pickled sounds like lots of fun.
Your pepper plants are looking great, MMD. For some reason, my one lonely bell pepper plant is not doing so well this year; I should have potted it like you!
Love the jalepeno. Love your review, MMD. You need heat to get your peppers hot. I'll send you some. :) ~~Dee
Roses & Lilacs - not only are peppers beautiful, they're a lot easier to grow than plants such as tomatoes.
Hi, Lucia - that is so cool! The girl was very excited to learn that you were connected to her favorite books. She wants to read only about Chihuahuas, & there are so many Chihuahuas in the Skippyjon books. Please tell the author thank you for writing them from my daughter.
Hi, Nancy - hot & dry for peppers? No wonder my container patio peppers are doing so well. They get plenty of both.
Annie - I think there is an addictive quality to capsacin. There's something about that burning sensation that makes me want more.
Carol - I think we're going to be slicing & freezing some too. I harvested a couple last night & they were just right. VIS said they were hot enough, & he sets the standard around here. They were yummy.
Garden Girl - I've thought about growing some of the ornamental peppers too, especially after the container performance of these plants this year.
Rose - give it some Cotton Burr Compost & maybe it will rally. It's probably too much rain in your area that's dampening it's performance. (Sorry, couldn't resist the bad pun.)
Dee - according to the meteorologists, your package is on its way, just in time for the weekend. At least the peppers will be happy.
I have a Jalapeno plant doing really well in my garden here in London. We've had some good hot weather in the last few weeks and it's loving it.
Thanks for visiting, Matron. Well, there's one good result of global warming - Londoners can grow Jalapenos.
Those look perfect for patio pots MMD :)
Our local Garden Centre has a Chilli Festival next week - my blogging buddy Threadspider and I will be in attendance - who knows we might report back as well?
I like a little hot and spicy, but it sounds like you and VIS are well beyond my comfort zone in the heat department! :)
What is gardinera, if you don't mind me asking? Rarely is there a food term that I don't recognize, so I have to ask...
VP - Somehow, I've never associated Wiltshire with Chili. I hope you both report on it, I'm sure it's bound to be different from Chili festivals around here.
Blackswamp Girl - VIS has informed me that jalapenos are not used & should not be used in giardinera, which is an Italian relish made with peppers & other veggies such as celery & carrots. It can be sweet or hot & is best enjoyed over Italian beef. I hope that clears it up.
Hi MMD, your peppers look pretty, but not too pretty to eat! If you really want hot, have you tried growing some other types, like habaneros? My mailman Claude gave me a baggie of them. We like hot stuff, but I will not eat those. I wonder if they would make good slug repellent? I hope to slice and pickle our jalapenos, also add some to the cucumber pickles as some recipes have suggested. Sometimes our fresh ones are very hot, sometimes not, it is hard to know which ones will be hotter. We have the hot dry temps here but there still is a variation in the heat, even from the same plant.
Frances - I think I'd have to be very careful with Habaneros. Those would have to be made into a sauce & I'm so clumsy in the kitchen I'd probably get it in my eye! The last couple of Jalapenos that I harvest were good & hot. We ate some raw in burritos & I threw some into a half-empty jar of pickled hot Jalapenos. I think I just didn't let the 1st ones get fully ripe. I guess I was too excited.
The jalapeno peppers have been the only veggie to survive our unusually hot summer this year. One way people eat them in Austin is to slice one open and scoop out the seeds. (The real heat is in the seeds.) Stuff them with cream cheese. Wrap some bacon around it. Grill it. The fats in the cheese and bacon help mask the heat.
A warning though about eating peppers...if it burns going in, it's going to burn coming out.
Thanks for the suggestion, MSS! That sounds really good & much easier to make than Jalapeno poppers.
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