Archive for the “peppers” Category
Posted by: Rose in peppers
 Peppers DO cross pollinate, so separate varieties by about 500 feet, unless you can plant them in insect proof cages that are covered with window screen.
Pick ripe, fully colored fruits that show no sign of disease to save seeds from. Remove the seed core and place on a paper plate or thick paper sheet to dry.
Useful things to note when you label your seeds:
- the name of the pepper variety
- how long the fruits need to ripen from transplant
- how hot the pepper variety is
- the color of the ripe fruit
- seed saving instructions
- basic planting instructions
- the year in which the seed was saved
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You might think it’s weird to think about the gardening season now, but it isn’t. Even though your garden patch might be buried in snow right now, depending on where you are, you still need to get off your hindquarters and start planning now.
2009 might very well be the year when, for the first time in a long time, many people will have to rely on their own crops or go hungry, so plan well, and order early, and order heirloom seed that you can save so you won’t have to spend money again next year. When I went through our seed catalogs earlier this week, I noticed just how many crop failures are mentioned, and how much more expensive seed has become compared to last year.
I suggest looking at Fedco’s, or Seed Savers Exchange, to get an idea. Both places let you order online or via snail mail. Fedco’s is a little less pricey, but they have hybrids too, so make sure you don’t get a hybrid accidentally.
In addition, buying a little seed dispenser might help you not to waste seed, and a germination mat, for example Hydrofarm MT10008 Seedling Heat Mat, 20 By 20 Inches , will make sure that the seeds you start indoors will grow nicely even if you start early. Hydrofarm even sells a Hydrofarm CK64050 Germination Station with Heat Mat which gives you the seedling pots and the heat mat all in one go. If you are new to the whole idea of growing your own food and don’t have a basement full of little seedling pots already, this might be the way to go.
If you have difficulties deciding what you want to grow, consider this:
- What do you like to eat ? (Don’t grow what you won’t wish to eat.)
- What will fill your family’s belly well ? (You might like radishes a lot, but they are hardly satisfying if that’s all you have to eat.)
- What stores well ? (What can nourish your family well through the next winter.)
- What can you process ? (Will you can, freeze, dehydrate, or store in a root cellar.)
Tomatoes and peppers are tasty and wonderful additions, but you will want to have beans, potatoes and corn too.
Be wise, and don’t go hungry !
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The canning season has begun, quite obviously… We started this year with hot peppers in oil, about 6 pints of them. We used green chili peppers, Hungarian Wax peppers, and a few Romance and Bell Peppers too. Here is the recipe:
 HOT PEPPERS IN OIL
Mix and boil together:
- 1/2 water and
- 1/2 vinegar
- 1/4 cup salt
As for the amount of water and vinegar, you need enough to cover the amount of peppers you have.
Cut peppers into rings, and it helps a lot to wear gloves when cutting up the hot varieties. Put the pepper rings in a large sauce pan or a Turkey roaster. When the mixture boils, it over the peppers, and let the peppers stand in the liquid for 24 hours.
The next day, drain well, but do not rinse. Put the peppers in canning jars, squeeze surplus liquid out, tamp peppers down and layer with garlic, oregano and basil. Then add oil to rim, and insert a wooden spoon handle between peppers and jar to release trapped air, moving the spoon around the jar. Add more oil if needed. We used olive oil fro one half of our jars and vegetable oil for the other.
The peppers will keep without processing. Enjoy 
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We just wanted to share a picture from our garden
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Via: Countryside & Small Stock Journal
(…) If you’ve got a garden plot rolling already you’re in good stead. While we normally have a long growing season here in southwest Missouri, we are about a month behind schedule because of the massive flooding and late frosts—but we’ll still give it the old college try.
If you don’t have a garden, help out the folks who do this for a living (CSAs, produce farms, etc.) and buy some of their stuff on bulk sale. You’ll be happy with your bargain and they’ll be happy to sell their perishable stuff while it’s still fresh.
Over the past decade, Jimmie and I at Timberlakes Farm grew veggies to supply upscale restaurants plus our own household’s yearly needs. But, as many of you already know, when that flush of zucchini, other squash, peppers and tomatoes ripens, you’ll feel there’s enough fresh produce to serve the entire armed forces! Most growers, like us, prefer to sell it at a “fresh” bulk-discount price to someone who can take advantage of it and feed a family, than to let it spoil and get dumped onto a compost pile or go to waste.
In either instance, the biggest question that always raises its ugly head is: how much do I have to grow (or purchase) to supply my family’s food needs throughout the year? Since I’ve done this for so long (first to feed me and the two kids [as little tykes] and eventually just the two of us seniors—Jimmie and me), I’ll give you the best average to yield a year’s supply of stocked food for a household of four. (I am saying “average” because of the varying ages, appetites, and menu preferences that come into play.)
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