Today's harvest

blissful said:

@larry_stewart I remember that story you told way back then and your wife wasn't all that happy about you going around in the middle of the night. Reminds me of mr bliss getting up at 4 am to metal detect with a head lamp so he could see. 'You What?'

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Yeah, I kinda got yelled at when I told her what I did and when I did it. But it all paid off ( 1 1/2 years later).

Harvested the last of our potato beds, the Yukon gold. They did very well. There ones in my ' over flow' garden, where I just plant whatever I have extra of didn't do that well. I dont have any wire mesh to protect from moles and voles, so many had bites out of them.

Also finally boiled down the 2 1/2 quarts of maple sap I collected in February for my whopping 2 Tbs of syrup. tasted good though. Also harvested a few large peppers and the dwindling tomatoes. A few turban squashes ( miniature ones) in the back.,

Went to get some snippers to pick a few okra. I have my garden gloves , snippers and a bunch of other garden stuff stored in a large mailbox behind my garden. I also have a few discarded logs and stuff that im too lazy to clean up, and they are out of site, so Ill get to it when I get to it. I looked down at one of the logs and saw it loaded with shiitake. Turns out it was a log that I inoculated 4 years ago. Usually they have a lifespan of 3 years so I assumed it wasnt productive anymore. Whatever weather conditions we've had this week kicked off all my logs old and new. Picked at least 10 from that log, and that log will now be returned to its log brothers and sisters to continue to produce. Feeling mushroom lucky, I decided to check my Maitake bed ( which I checked yesterday and there was nothing) to find they are starting to fruit. Im pretty excited cause they said it could take up to a year , this is about 3 or 4 months).

I bet the almost discarded log is happy to be back with it's siblings.
All this moist weather is really doing your mushrooms a favor.

Yesterday I only harvested some peppers, and a few things I hadn't really gone out for. That bottle gourd vine had dropped from the trellis - didn't break loose, but I picked it and clipped the vine back up on the trellis (those things usually hold themselves on!). The cukes I was trimming the worst parts of the vines from, and this one was on a dead section. I have 2 new plants that are just starting to blossom, but the old ones still have a few on them, plus some new growth, triggered by pulling all that bad growth from, I assume. Those 2 winter melons have produced that powdery look on them, but still not quite mature. In fact, my friend visiting last week, when she saw them hanging there, thought that it was some sort of powdery mildew, but I explained to her what they were, and that this was normal.
Not a lot today, besides the peppers. Just this one bottle gourd and one cuke, and a few beans. 8-26 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Those red habanero peppers I'm growing this year are some generic habaneros, which I had to buy at a local nursery, due to the old seeds not germination well. This plant grew well, but the peppers are relatively mild, compared to the chocolate habs I usually grow - probably only about 200k, vs. 400k. The chocolate habaneros I originally grew (that I wish I've saved seeds from now, as the company is out of business, and others I've tried aren't the same) were my favorites. For next year, I got some seeds for an old variety I grew back in the early 90s (maybe before?), that has an intense flavor, like the chocolate, a huge number from one plant, and about the same heat, around 400k - Fatalii. That was the second hottest back then (tells you how long ago!), but also had an incredibly intense habanero flavor, like my favorite chocolate habs. Hopefully they are still the same.
Red habaneros, left until very ripe, before picking. I'll see if they get hotter than the first time I picked some. 8-26 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Thai Vesuvius, all picked from one plant, since it was on its way out, and these were almost all green yesterday, 8-26 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

And I forgot to post a couple of days ago - I harvested almost 3 more quarts of these smaller tomatoes, and here they are, in a tray next to the ones from 4 days earlier, showing how much those others darkened, esp. the Bronze Torch Hybrids.
Almost as many of the smaller tomatoes, next to the ones from 4 days ago, showing the Bronze Torches mostly darker. 8-26 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Those eggplants are really producing well now, but I only picked 2 of those Ichibans, because there are a bunch of smaller fruits, almost like they set too many fruits on the 2 plants, and they just aren't growing very big.
Large number of eggplants now, the Ichiban sort of smaller, because there are so many. 8-29 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The beans are starting to grow more now - the fortex, the small green ones, The Thai Long Red beans are getting loaded with beans, and the first Long White bean showed today, on I think only one plant - don't know what happened to be others.
The long beans starting to produce more now, and the first one of those white long today. 8-29 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Harvested my Maitake yesterday . Close to 1000 grams. Saw this in the store today .

@larry_stewart that's like $30+/lb.
There is a place local to us that sells them for $22/lb....well beyond what I can afford to spend. You are doing it the only way that makes sense. Grow them. Your's are gorgeous.

This is the first year Im growing them outside . So far, so good. I dont like growing mushrooms outside cause of slugs , fruit flies and other insects, but I didd a few things that seemed to prevent a lot of the insect other than 2 crickets ( which are easy to remove).

larry_stewart said:

Harvested my Maitake yesterday . Close to 1000 grams. Saw this in the store today .

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What's the price supposed to be? I can't imagine that they actually cost $999.- for 99 grams of mushrooms.

Not surprised at the price at all - but I think you are misunderstanding the sticker. It is just a typo with the sticker machine. $9.99 meaning- nine dollars and ninety-nine cents.
Certainly expensive but, again, not surprised. Shiitake, enoki, oyster mushrooms, etc are double to triple the cost of crimini.

I kept thinking our new sweet peppers were from baker's creek but they are burpee Thunderbolt hybrid sweet peppers. We grew these along with the different colors of sweet bell peppers. The longest thunderbolt so far is 9 inches, the longest sweet bell is 4 inches.

They are so pretty turning colors.

Only got a coupld of peppers, cost of plant was hardly worth it. But the jalapeno is going crazy and one is starting to turn red! Love it!

blissful said:

I kept thinking our new sweet peppers were from baker's creek but they are burpee Thunderbolt hybrid sweet peppers. We grew these along with the different colors of sweet bell peppers. The longest thunderbolt so far is 9 inches, the longest sweet bell is 4 inches.

They are so pretty turning colors.

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Thunderbolt has been my go to pepper for the past few years. There sweet and thick skinned. I think I had one get 12 inches. Mine came in waves. I had a bunch a few weeks ago, then nothing, and now kicking in again. I roasted a bunch on the grill, and will make a pepper paste for future use in some Turkish recipes I make that require the pepper paste.

larry_stewart said:

Thunderbolt has been my go to pepper for the past few years. There sweet and thick skinned. I think I had one get 12 inches. Mine came in waves. I had a bunch a few weeks ago, then nothing, and now kicking in again. I roasted a bunch on the grill, and will make a pepper paste for future use in some Turkish recipes I make that require the pepper paste.

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I do not remember ever buying the thunderbolt seeds. Any chance you sent me some seed? Or did I find them based on your recommendations, maybe last year..... They are really nice and thick fleshed. That is awesome that they'll get to 12 inches. Have you saved seeds from them? I know they are a hybrid and we're not supposed to save those kinds of seeds, but it's not that uncommon to try.

blissful said:

I do not remember ever buying the thunderbolt seeds. Any chance you sent me some seed? Or did I find them based on your recommendations, maybe last year..... They are really nice and thick fleshed. That is awesome that they'll get to 12 inches. Have you saved seeds from them? I know they are a hybrid and we're not supposed to save those kinds of seeds, but it's not that uncommon to try.

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Ii probably did send them to you. I meant to order 3 plants, but they sent me 3 packs of seeds instead ( I think it was my fault). So my guess is I sent them along with the other stuff. Glad you like them. They've been my go to for a few years. This past year II got it right and ordered the plants, but having the seeds II decided to plant them too ( II never have luck germinating peppers) , but this year they all did well, so I have twice as many pepper plants as usual . I ve never saved the seeds.

Thank you so much! @larry_stewart
I was in the kitchen washing dishes and the question hit me again, where the heck did those seeds come from? It was you.
Would you mind sharing your method to making pepper paste?

I'm still getting a lot of ripening tomatoes, and more of those Sunsugars than any! Those Negro Azteka that had been doing so well, seemed to lag off when it got cooler, and many fruits split, as I picked them, or even if they weren't split yet. The other ones doing this after picking were the Rosellas, so even though they were tasty, and productive, I won't be planting those again. I have to use those split ones the day I picked them, which is sort of a PITA.

Surprisingly, I still have 3 cucumber plants still producing, yet the 2 new plants, I started in mid-July, came down with that bacterial wilt, that the only variety I grow is supposed to be resistant to. But these old ones are still alive!
More of the smaller tomatoes, in addition to the Sunsugar, from earlier, and a couple of cukes. 9-5 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Close to 2 quarts of just the Sunsugar, 9-5 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Mostly tomatoes, but a few beans on the bottom, and the 3 eggplants one the top. 9-5 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The only peppers picked today were a few habs.
A few more ripe habaneros. 9-5 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

blissful said:

Thank you so much! @larry_stewart
I was in the kitchen washing dishes and the question hit me again, where the heck did those seeds come from? It was you.
Would you mind sharing your method to making pepper paste?

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haven't made it in a year ( probably will make it this weekend). This is a link to the recipe I've used in the past. Pretty basic. Im sure there are other recipes that may be hotter, but my wife doesnt like spicy foods. was cooking a Turkish recipe and it required this paste. I bought it and it was like $20 for a small jar. Thats when I decided to make my own. I usually grill the peppers and freeze them until I have enough to make the paste. Once made, I freeze the paste in those silicone ice trays and use them as I need them. Probably making tomato paste this weekend too. I have more than enough tomatoes / tomato products in the freezer taking up way too much space. Combination of still growing enough for 4 people ( even though the kids moved out years ago), and being paranoid that my plants will fail, so planting double of everything just to find out that everything survived.

Biber Salcasi
I like that Red Pepper Paste recipe, larry and have saved it. As I've never seen peppers on special (like as a Farmer's Market price) so will probably use jarred.
Question: Anybody familiar with the sizes of jars and how many would constitute 1 kg of fresh?
Lately I've been buying slightly larger jars and although I've never counted the peppers inside, imagine that there would be about 4 or 5 peppers.

Obe Ata, Nigerian Red Pepper Stew
from the same site, this sounds great too. Won't be using the Scotch Bonnet though! I'll find something milder (which would be just about any pepper! LOL) Have also saved it!
Thanks again Larry

@larry_stewart thanks, I love that it is a simple paste. I've blackened peppers over the gas stove before. I find it amazing how the skin peels off.

@dragnlaw 1 kg is 2.2 lbs. A pint jar is 16 oz or 1 lb, a quart jar is 2 lbs.