The Compost Bin

Looks like tonight we'll finally drop down into the 40ies and that means the first frost can't be too far away. So I made a mad dash out to my garden tonight and picked the last of my peppers. And you know what? There was a ton of them. I guess having 80 degree weather in September will do that.

This late season bounty was enough to get me to break out the Food Dehydrator. I'm the king of seldom used kitchen appliances and I have a whole closet full of them. Ice Cream Maker, Fondue Pot, Kitchen Aid Mixer, Panini Press, Hand Mixers, Vacuum Sealer, Vegetable Juicer and some more that don't even remember buying. You name it and I probably have it. And I probably don't use it as much as I thought I would when I bought it. Funny how that works.

The Dehydrator was a gift from my parents that I specifically asked for. I had visions of home made beef jerky, fruit leather and sun dried tomatoes. I would be ready in case I ever had to stock up a bomb shelter so that my entire neighborhood could live underground during a nuclear war. I watched Jericho last season, I knew the deal.

The reality was that there was no nuclear war in New Jersey and I haven't used my Dehydrator in the two years that I've owned it.

But that's not true anymore! I'm talking about the Dehydrator part, not the war. With all these extra peppers sitting around, I decided that it was time. I sliced up some poblanos and some jalapenos and I was ready to dehydrate. Well actually, I was ready to sit down and read the manual because I'd never used the thing but shortly after that I was ready to dehydrate.

To finally start drying some peppers was a big accomplishment for me. I was so happy I could cry. Well, I was actually crying because after about an hour my kitchen was filled with pepper fumes, but it was still a happy moment.

I had to move the Dehydrator outside to my BBQ area. But in 30 hours, I'll have dried peppers. And I may even break out the vacuum sealer so that I can store these peppers in my bomb shelter. Hey, you never know.

True pepper people fight often fight over which peppers are the hottest in the world. They hang out in hot pepper forums and they can give you the Scoville Units for just about any pepper that you can name. And every year there's always a new hot pepper tale about some guy living in an exotic location such as India, Thailand or Hoboken who grew the hottest peppers ever. He was off the charts on the Scoville Scale but is still in the process of getting it certified or some other excuse that makes the tale sound more like an urban legend than a world record.

I am not one of those people.

I tried habaneros and thai dragons and they were good but they were just too hot. I'm not making pepper spray for self defense, I just want a good tasting spicy pepper. So every year I grow jalepenos. Jalepeno Peppers are delicious but they aren't known for being hot. In fact, compared to other peppers they're pretty mild.

So I've figured out how to grow Jalepenos that are hotter than usual. Not killer heat but just enough of a nice kick. First thing you need to do is leave the peppers on the plants as long as possible. Here it is in October and I've still got plenty of peppers in the garden. Some of these peppers have been on the plants for weeks. They get all red and black and full of cracks and these seem to be the qualities that are related to the heat content of a pepper.

Another way to make my peppers hotter is to stress the plants. Usually in the 2nd or 3rd week of August when the plants are well established, I stop watering them. However much it rains is the amount of water they get. This summer was great because there were a few dry spells that really stressed the plants. Now if they started wilting or looking sickly, I would give them a quick blast with the hose but I didn't have to do that this year.

So how hot are my jalepenos? Let's just say that they're won't be any tales of the hottest pepper ever coming out of New Jersey this year, but they're hot enough to make my Mother-In-Law start yelling and running for the kitchen to get some water. And who needs Scoville Units when you get your peppers to do that?

These poblano peppers are turning into one of my new favorite peppers. I never grew them before but I'm definitely going to grow them again.

Last year I tried Thai Dragon Peppers and they were awesome too, but my wife couldn't eat anything I made with them because of the heat. I found a great recipe for a Thai basil sauce over chicken and made a effort to cook her a nice meal. We used to go out for Thai all the time before we had the kids so I thought this would be a treat. She tried a few bites and then ordered a pizza.

Poblano peppers are only slightly spicier than a regular bell pepper. But just to be on the safe side, when I cook up my first batch of poblano pesto, I'm going to hide the take out menus.

Qdoba had better watch out. My homemade poblano pesto is on it's way!

The poblano pepper plants that I started from seed are doing well. They're about 2 feet tall at this point and I'm very happy to report that they are starting to flower. Seems a little early for peppers to be doing anything but I'm not complaining.

All of my peppers plants like to fall over. I don't know if anyone else has this problem but I always have to stake my peppers to keep them off of the ground. A small 3 foot stake is usually plenty.

I've read a lot of garden blogs this season and it seems like all of us have a hard time waiting for that very first red tomato to show up. And when they finally do ripen, it's like a holiday and cause for celebration. This year I planted some Early Girl Tomatoes and was able to celebrate First Tomato Day in mid July. No, I didn't have a big party or anything, just a delicious tomato sandwich. Definitely worth the wait.

There are other milestones in the garden that are important to gardeners but the first tomato seems to be highly anticipated by everyone. The 2nd biggest event for me would be watching my hot peppers turn red. Sure you can eat them when they're still green but they lack the punch of the red ones.

This year I planted Thai Dragons amongst others. Here's what Burpee has to say about Thai Dragon Hybrids:
Pungent, and five times hotter than Jalapeno. 70 days. Fruits are 3-1/2" long by 1/2" wide at the shoulder with thin walls. 26" tall plants, well-branched to support a heavy load.

So now you understand why this red pepper that I discovered this morning, is such a treat for me. Happy First Red Pepper Day!