Gardening: My Tomatoe and Pepper Progress

[jrgtr42]

I was hoping to get my second round of tomatoes in the ground today, but a tropical storm has other ideas. Guess I have to wait till things dry back out a bit. I do have one plant from a friend that has had a couple flowers, and I think one little 'mater just starting.
None of my peppers survived, but I did get a couple melon plants from our farm share that are doing ok so far.

 

[corkybstewart]

Another season of battling the local rodents for garden supremacy. I now have chicken wire buried up to 3 feet out from my fence and I may have won. In 2 weeks my tomatoe plants have doubled in size and are once again covered in fruit-squirrels burrowing under the fence ate all my green tomatoes while we were out of town for a funeral. The same squirrels and rabbits kept my jalapeno and bell pepper plants from growing, the rat basttards kept eating the leaves, but now I have one ripe jalapeno and dozens of little ones. The cabbage plants that the rodents kept gnawed to ground level are thriving again, but I've had to replant squash, cucumbers, zukes, beets and spinach. The eggplants finally just gave up. We live at the end of a dirt road, surrounded by high desert forest, and the rodents have always had control of this area, but I'm making progress.

 

[catdaddy66]

Getting peppers now...

I just picked my first tomato that wasn't of the cherry variety! Yay

 

[Deadalus]

Brassicas took a hard hit from the slugs after transplanting so I went out and waged war. Picked slugs are pretty small but they still do a lot of damage. Most everything had a slow start because I had plastic down to solarize multiple beds. Slow start to my peppers and moderate slug damage but they are recovering. Harvesting lettuce of all kinds, got a decent amount of spinach for once, some mustard greens, and a regular supply of swiss chard. I think some good cleaning techniques along with growing my tomatoes from seed is producing a very vibrantly green set of tomato plants this year. No diseases present. Grew a nice amount of peas too. Planted a variety of other vegetables just recently, we'll just have to see how they do. Something nipped both leaves off multiple emerging beans, but they are starting to flourish. Had good success so far with seeds from Park Seeds vs. the usual suspects at the big box stores.

 

[Miller4]

Peppers are finally starting to make a nice comeback. The sweet peppers are really starting to come on. Tomatoes are still fairly stunted but we are starting to get alot of green tomatoes. One of the most prolific producers right now is a ton of volunteer tomatillo plants all over the garden.

 

[Staestc]

I have three measly chili plants this year, but all of them are producing like crazy! I fermented two quarts of seranos for hot sauce and it turned out great. I now have 4 quarts of habaneros, 2 with mango and 2 with pineapple. The mango version has been going for almost 2 weeks and just smells incredible. The pineapple I just started yesterday. Still have about 40 more habs on the plant still green!

 

[corkybstewart]

I picked my first 2 non-cherry tomatoes today, 2 Early Girls. And a couple of jalapenos that my wife used in tacos for dinner. Bell peppers by next week, I hope. I should be able to start canning tomato sauce by next weekend, my 18 Roma plants are loaded with 4 inch fruit. And my hops plants are doing great for the first time since we mved here.

 

[Dog House Brew]

Garden is full go! Canned 38 quarts of green beans this past weekend. Love having the hombrew burners and a huge canner. I made them in only 2 runs. Picked a bushel of cucumbers and a half of tomatoes. Dug all the garlic a few weeks ago. Jalapeño plants are going crazy this year. I guess the peppers love the hot and dry conditions. Taking a day off to ferment and can pickles today. I’ll be making salsa this weekend. Starting my Chinese cabbage this morning. Kimchi in November will close out the garden season.

 

[Staestc]

I've got caterpillars eating my Anaheim chiles! Some Monterrey B.t. just arrived. I will give it a try. May be too late. Anybody use this before?

 

[Deadalus]

I've got caterpillars eating my Anaheim chiles! Some Monterrey B.t. just arrived. I will give it a try. May be too late. Anybody use this before?

Only used it on mosquito larva, which it does work for. Helps to identify the culprit completely. I'm working on identifying a couple of caterpillars I noticed recently too. If you can get a good id, other control methods may present. Careful with other pesticides, even organic, as they can also kill bees and other pollinators. Handpicking the buggers can be decently effective you just have to know when and where to find them. This is part of my slug semi-control program.

 

[Apple_Jacker]

Made some hot sauce over the weekend with my cayenne and habanero peppers

 

[Deadalus]

Made some hot sauce over the weekend with my cayenne and habanero peppers

That last one on the right is the weirdest sized canning jar I have ever seen.

 

[Apple_Jacker]

That last one on the right is the weirdest sized canning jar I have ever seen.

Lol yeah last year Ball jars were hard to find so I bought whatever was available.

 

[Deadalus]

Lol yeah last year Ball jars were hard to find so I bought whatever was available.

The wide-mouths especially were yes. I had a hard time finding the 1/2 gallon size. They're not really meant to can in it's considered too big but I wanted to use them for fermenting. I finally tracked some down.

Any idea what it is intended for? They made it wide-mouth so you can big stuff in then they made it an inch deep. Dipping or powders or something not actually canned?

 

[Apple_Jacker]

The wide-mouths especially were yes. I had a hard time finding the 1/2 gallon size. They're not really meant to can in it's considered too big but I wanted to use them for fermenting. I finally tracked some down.

Any idea what it is intended for? They made it wide-mouth so you can big stuff in then they made it an inch deep. Dipping or powders or something not actually canned?

I'm not entirely sure. I put pesto in it too.

 

[Apple_Jacker]

Canned 9 pints of tomatoes this morning

 

[Hanglow]

Picked my first ripe tomato, a tiddler of an ailsa craig. Also an 8lb cauliflower

 

[Evilgrin]

Been getting tons of mater and finally got my first ripe ghost pick. These are some of the hottest bhuts i have ever sampled too.

 

[Staestc]

Bottled my first habanero mango hot sauce after a little over 3 weeks of fermenting. Could use some recipe tweeks, but have gotten rave reviews from the 3 I have given away so far Pretty happy, cause I am new to this! I have another week or two before I bottle the habanero pineapple.

 

[Dog House Brew]

38qts 5 hrs to pick, 7 hrs to wash and snap, and a double run in the canner. Hombrew burner to the rescue! Did 15 pints of salsa and only pizza sauce to go. Chinese cabbage is about 2” high. If your not growing it you should. Start in cow pots and harvest well after frost.

 

[Abrayton]

Last year was my first attempt at fermenting peppers. I used quart mason jars with a built in bung and 3 piece airlock. I used weights to try and keep the peppers submerged but every jar had mold on the surface. Any advice out there for mold free pepper fermentation?

 

[Staestc]

Last year was my first attempt at fermenting peppers. I used quart mason jars with a built in bung and 3 piece airlock. I used weights to try and keep the peppers submerged but every jar had mold on the surface. Any advice out there for mold free pepper fermentation?

I'm new at it too. I have done two batches and have a third in progress. I sterilize the jars, the glass weights that I use to hold the fruit under the brine, the tops/airlocks, etc. I leave very little air space in the jars at all, even if my peppers don't come all the way up I fill it with brine. I'm using unchlorinated water to make the brine. I have not had mold, but did get yeast on this last batch. Not much, but there was a thin layer on top. Make sure what you have is actually mold and not yeast if you have not already. Post pictures if you have them.

 

[Evilgrin]

My CARDI x Naglah Brown cross. Even milk aint gunna help much.

 

[Apple_Jacker]

Made some jalafuego hot sauce. Some of the peppers already turned red so the color isn't as green as the last time I made it. Also through in some habaneros for good measure.

 

[Evilgrin]

Made some jalafuego hot sauce. Some of the peppers already turned red so the color isn't as green as the last time I made it.

Let them turn red. Jalapeno rojo is wonderful. Adjust the heat with 1-2 super hots. Jalapeno can get quite sweet when ripe. Lola and 312 both use ripe as the base pepper for their sauce. Checkout a bottle of Lola's Original. Its pretty mild but the flavor is great. HomeDepot now carries it if you cant find it at your grocery store.
https://www.lolasfinehotsauce.com/product/lolas-original-10-oz/
I love the stuff.

 

[Evilgrin]

This year i grew 5 Numex Suave reds. Its a heatless habanero. Great for a sofrito where you want that "hab funk" for your beans with virtually no heat.
https://cpi.nmsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2016/07/Suave.pdf
These also have another great use........HOT SAUCE. Use them as your base then add something like ghosts, Reaper or scorpions for the kick. This year i also grew ghost, 7 Pot MadBallz and Trinidad Scorpions. All are pretty hot used alone in a sauce. Adding other veggies like carrot to tame it down also tames down the flavor. Adding other peppers like annuums also changes the flavor. The heatless habs keep it all peppers from the same family..."chinense"

 

[corkybstewart]

My early girls were not very early but they are producing ripe tomatoes now. But my Romas are really producing. I blanch a half gallon every day. I've been freezing them but early next week I will turn all of them into tomato sauce for canning. I've got 3 weeks before we leave town for the rest of the year and I want a lot of sauce made before we leave.

 

[bleme]

 

[Miller4]

Peppers have finally started to go crazy. Picked a bunch of jalapeños and tried a recipe for “cowboy candy” or candied jalapeños. Tomatoes are coming on too, will hopefully be making salsa soon.

 

[Oldskewl]

I never heard of cowboy candy til last week. Curious to see how it turns out for you.

 

[Evilgrin]

Trinidad Scorpions. Quite a bit different than the CARDI scorpions i usually grow

This ghost seedling i got keeps pumping out the biggest hottest bhuts i ever tried too

 

[Evilgrin]

Numex Suave reds. A heatless habanero. Best "dulce" variety ive tried yet. Heavy production of larger pods.

 

[jrgtr42]

Numex Suave reds. A heatless habanero. Best "dulce" variety ive tried yet. Heavy production of larger pods.

Heatless habs? That sounds interesting. I do like the flavor of the habs, but as much as I like spicy, they add up real quick on the scoville scale. And the next morning I'm singing Johnny Cash on the can.
Do these still have that taste of the habs?

 

[Evilgrin]

You can order the seeds directly from them. They have almost no heat at all but a pretty strong hab flavor. Ive grown several "dulce" type peppers. None impressed me as much. My plants are pretty big and loaded with large pods. Last year i grew habanada which is also pretty good. That bag is a gallon ziplock not a quart. Habanada are ok size but these are larger and you can get orange or red.

I wanted reds this year to mix with much smaller amounts of bhuts, scorpions or Madballz for a milder "super hot sauce".
https://chilepepperinstitute.ecwid.com/Seeds-c85441005

 

[Hanglow]

First small harvest of san marzanos. Not exactly earth shattering Does anyone have good recommendations for next year for tomatoes that grow well outside at northern latitudes? Was thinking of sub arctic plenty.

 

[applescrap]

Another season of battling the local rodents for garden supremacy. I now have chicken wire buried up to 3 feet out from my fence and I may have won. In 2 weeks my tomatoe plants have doubled in size and are once again covered in fruit-squirrels burrowing under the fence ate all my green tomatoes while we were out of town for a funeral. The same squirrels and rabbits kept my jalapeno and bell pepper plants from growing, the rat basttards kept eating the leaves, but now I have one ripe jalapeno and dozens of little ones. The cabbage plants that the rodents kept gnawed to ground level are thriving again, but I've had to replant squash, cucumbers, zukes, beets and spinach. The eggplants finally just gave up. We live at the end of a dirt road, surrounded by high desert forest, and the rodents have always had control of this area, but I'm making progress.

Same problem, they make a sprinkle that is safe and I use and I think it works! It's like McCormick seasoning it smells and effs with them. I think it's called repel all and I sprinkle a layer around my house.

 

[applescrap]

View attachment 740355

Lmfao

 

[applescrap]

Effin aphids or whatever, just need to wash those turds off. They are eaten the flowers. Loving the scallions! Lots of herbs, not cooking enough with them!

 

[bobtheUKbrewer2]

Tomato blight here in UK, so picking, cooking and freezing...........

 

[crazyjake19]

First small harvest of san marzanos. Not exactly earth shattering Does anyone have good recommendations for next year for tomatoes that grow well outside at northern latitudes? Was thinking of sub arctic plenty.

Oddly enough, of the five tomato varieties I grew this year (NY, zone 4-5ish) my San Marzano tomatoes did the best, with Romas a close second. They were doing great until July when we had rain 6 days a week almost every week. I didn't prune my tomato plants well enough and I think the lower leaves picked up a soil borne issue from heavy rains. Next year I plan to either mulch or (ideally) build a small hoop house just over my tomatoes and finish my drip irrigation setup to better control the watering levels.

My worst performing tomato this year was sadly Get Stuffed tomatoes from Baker Creek. First time I've grown them and was looking forward to a decent harvest.