I've never gardened before. I love to cook and love hot peppers so a thought popped into my head -- instead of buying peppers, I could make them! From scratch. It'll be an adventure.
I'm choosing to grow two types of hot peppers -- jalapenos and habaneros. Jalapenos have moderate heat and delicious flavor. Habaneros are extremely hot. I use both in my dishes and, last year, even made my own hot sauce which was delicious. I plan to do that again.
The first step is to get seeds. You take existing peppers, cut them open, scrape out some seeds and dry them for a few weeks on a paper plate. You can't use them before they dry out or they'll rot.
Once they're dry, you need to start them indoors. I'll plant them in small pots until they germinate. Once they're two inches tall, I'll transfer them out to my backyard. I've already picked out a space for them to grow. My first garden!
Well, that's the plan anyway. Lots can go wrong, but failure is the price of learning. Maybe I'll have peppers to eat this year or maybe I'll just get an education to use in 2016.
Have you ever grown food? Any advice or suggestions?
i wish i could offer advice, but it's my mom who has the green thumb. she plants everything, and everything grows! we've enjoyed green beans, carrots, lettuce, pineapples, potatoes (although we have no idea where they came from (birds?), collard greens, green onions, basil, etc...
ReplyDeleteit's rewarding to reap what you sow. good luck with yours!! keep us posted.
Yay Ally ! Yes, I DO grow my own little super ultra hot peppers. SO very hot that I cut one open and touched it to chop it and spent 5 hours with my fingers in ice (you're not supposed to touch them when cutting them).
ReplyDeleteI'm also growing a papaya tree and have already produce about 6 of them. Its super exciting !
Wow, that's cool. Your country's climate is much better than mine for growing things.
DeleteBravo! I have friends who eat and grow their own hot peppers. From what I can tell, they're a snap to cultivate. As for my own gardening attempts, I've been fascinated by terrariums lately. Just purchased a beautiful, big glass container with a bit of etching on it at a thrift store for $3.99. Now...off to buy the soil, mosses, plants etc...
ReplyDeleteI tried gardening once. Once. And just about the only thing that was successful was a jalapeno plant. I grew it in a container and it was just gorgeous. I got LOTS of peppers from it, and some I let turn red and then dried them in the sun. Every year I say I'm going to do it again...
ReplyDeleteHow 'bout this year? Good to hear jalapenos are easy.
DeleteOMG this is so exciting! I love gardening, and I think you are going to be a pro at this! You can even have indoor pepper plants in the colder season, but I haven't been so lucky with them. I hope that you post recipes to all of the spicy foods that you are going to make. Much excite!
ReplyDeletefantastic idea!
ReplyDeletegrowing food is so rewarding, even if it´s "only" peppers or herbs. or salad. i started last year with it and still live on the dried herbs for seasoning and teas. just use a good soil - ask someone for compost - and plant the peppers at a sunny place with a bit of wind. very still air makes for mold. use "natural" breathing planters if. no plastic. peppers don´t like wet feet.
and then - there are lots of gardening sides with tips for every problem :-)
have fun! xx
Thanks for the tips! If successful, I'll try other foods next year.
DeleteWe had a pretty large vegetable garden last year for the first time. It was about 15X10 and I loved it all!! We didn't start from scratch (we bought seeds or small plants), but you have inspired me to try!!
ReplyDeleteWe had a garden at our last house, but haven't had time to get one started at our new place. It's not terribly hard, but I cheated a bit and grew mostly from starts, not seeds. So I just popped a bunch of plants in the ground and tried to keep them from dying! We ended up with some zucchini, a couple of tiny peppers, a few strawberries that the birds didn't get, and a good amount of lettuce, spinach and kale. Sadly, the carrots I planted from seeds produced just two of the tiniest, mini baby carrots you've ever seen, haha.
ReplyDeleteHey, great idea Ally!x
ReplyDeleteMy inlaws plant every year. Sometimes a bug or birds will get at something, but usually we do alright with yellow squash, tomatoes (which I don't eat), herbs, and this year poblano and jalapenos.
ReplyDeleteIn the past we've also done zukes, cukes, cabbage and strawberries. My inlaws didn't keep out the birds and weeds on the strawberries after the second year, which is when strawberries really start to produce. Usually takes about 4 years to get your plants producing. Zukes do well, but I'm the only one who loves them in the house. Weedles or whatever destroyed our cucumber plant. We got one measly thumb sized cucumber before all the plants died.
Very exciting! I've never grown food myself, so I'm afraid I'm of minimal help there. If you'd like some ideas for cute vintage/vintage styled gardening tools and clothes, I may be more assistance though. :)
ReplyDeleteWishing you great success with your first crops (and all that follow),
♥ Jessica
We have a garden every year. We grow peppers, cabbage, tomatoes, and more. Also, herbs and onions an stuff. We had orange, lemon, and grapefruit trees in Florida. One of the first things we did when we moved to NC was plant an apple, peach, and pear tree. Oh, and a blackberry bush! Btw my favorite hot sauce of all time was a small batch of a pumpkin habanero hot sauce made by a local breakfast place. Amazing over beans and rice! Good luck!
ReplyDeleteThe only thing I've ever grown successfully was cilantro. After it grew up, it died after about a week. I'm no good at that kind of stuff.
ReplyDelete