Peppers

[flowerbug]

@Crazy Gardner great pics and wonderful memories. keepy burying those fish innards deep in the garden and you'll have such nice topsoil eventually.

 

[Crazy Gardner]

Just wandering through the garden today, and noticed some of my banana peppers are getting pretty big. They are supposed to be sweet banana peppers, and some of my green bell peppers are getting big. Just how long should I leave them on? I did try the banana's a week or more ago, but noticed they weren't very sweet.

 

[flowerbug]

for the colored peppers i go by color and size, for the green peppers and those that have thicker walls i go by size and heft.

 

[seedcorn]

I go by, do I need a pepper? Usually the redder they are the sweeter. Mine very seldom get that chance.

This year, my gypsy peppers have let me down. Picked a few early, then they quit blooming. For once, the bells are making up for them. I lost stick identifier so I’m not sure which bell variety is doing better as there is a difference in them.

 

[Crazy Gardner]

I was hoping that the ingredients for my salsa would all ripen at once, but I am learning that that will be very unlikely to happen as far as the timing between the peppers and tomatoes. I did learn also recently that peppers and tomatoes apparently freeze well enough that if there were a big enough gap between the two, that would be the way to go. My onions are already ready enough size wise, a couple more weeks in the ground will allow me to better overwinter them.
If anyone has ideas or opinions about freezing tomatoes or peppers, I'd love to hear another potential workaround.

 

[Dirtmechanic]

In favor of a fried hushpuppy style dish made with a cowhorn pepper and 1 lb of fried black eyed peas I planted 2 plants. They are on the high side of spicy when cooked in a dish, and I would not eat them raw. Oh-my, those things are prolific! And they get real red when mature. I hope that softens the heat profile though I doubt it. Of course many heat lovers will scoff, but my wife and I live way down the scoville scale near the green bottom.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Freeze them.

Of course many heat lovers will scoff, but my wife and I live way down the scoville scale near the green bottom.

You are not alone. My wife has IBS so even sweet peppers can cause her problems if she has much at all. Any heat at all and she suffers, even a tiny bite. I like the flavor of hot peppers but don't like the pain of it hurting. Enjoying food doesn't have to be painful.

 

[Pulsegleaner]

Wait a sec, don't ALL peppers turn color eventually?

I ask seriously. My Amazonian Muskmelon peppers are all now rather close to full size (or what I think is full size) but I can't help but notice they are being REALLY slow to turn color (some of them have purple shoulders, but I assume that is sun related). Are there peppers that stay green FOREVER?

https://www.snapfish.com/library/sh...DopduRRy1dONKR6zg/AUS/27950481690070/SNAPFISH

 

[Ridgerunner]

I was hoping that the ingredients for my salsa would all ripen at once, but I am learning that that will be very unlikely to happen as far as the timing between the peppers and tomatoes.

Herbs can be a problem too, especially cilantro if you use that. I dehydrate my herbs, including cilantro, basil, oregano, thyme, sage, parsley, dill, rosemary, even chives occasionally. It's not the same as fresh but I'd rather use my dried than buy stuff at the store.

I freeze tomatoes and peppers all the time. I don't get enough tomatoes at a time to make my spaghetti sauce, puree, or anything else to make a good canning batch, so I rinse and freeze them in gallon zip-loc bags until I have enough and the time to do it. That's usually when I need the freezer space to butcher chickens. If the tomatoes are perfect, I just rinse and freeze. When these come out let them thaw. The skin peels off easily. I find it easier to core them before I freeze them if i want to core them. They are so mushy when they thaw I find it a pain, but you can manage.

If the tomatoes need trimming I trim and freeze chunks. You can blanch them in boiling water first so the skin peels off, but this gets them a bit mushy which makes them harder to trim the bad parts off but you can do it. Sharpen your knife first. Since mine will go through a strainer the skin gets removed anyway so I don't bother.

For peppers I just cut them into chunks and freeze, no blanching. What size chunks depends on how I'm going to use them. Some I peel, some I don't. I've also been known to grill the peppers like @ninnymary and peel them. I find it a pain in the butt to peel them but those grilled peppers are great on a pizza. They can add a grilled taste to your salsa too.

 

[flowerbug]

Freeze them.


You are not alone. My wife has IBS so even sweet peppers can cause her problems if she has much at all. Any heat at all and she suffers, even a tiny bite. I like the flavor of hot peppers but don't like the pain of it hurting. Enjoying food doesn't have to be painful.

yeah, i like a bit of heat, like the sriracha sauce level or the hatch green chili level of heat is plenty good enough for me. the problem i have with a lot of the other hotter peppers is that they taste like rotting fruit to me so i don't like them at all.

i try not to use the hot sauce too often as then it still keeps being hot enough - but i like it on about everything and use it as my ketchup.