2016 NJ urban tomato garden

[efisakov]

Fermenting hot and sweet peppers. Orange is habanero and green is sweet pepper (6 oz to 10 oz ratio). Added garlic, cilantro, vinegar and salt. All cut and will be on the countertop until I see fermentation in progress (10 days or so). Than will be stored in refrigerator, fermentation continue for another 3 months at least. Supposedly will be best at 6 months. Can't wait.

[efisakov]

Originally Posted by efisakov

I decided to experiment and have second (Fall) zucchini seeded directly on August 2. Cucumbers seeded directly on August 6. They are growing fine. Will we get to taste them, who knows.

I have picked few small cucumbers already couple of days ago and ate them right there (not patient at all). Here is todays pick.

[efisakov]

Will be fermenting more...

[Barb_FL]

Nice harvest Ella!

Since early August, have the tomatoes set fruit again?

At that time, your dwarfs were producing approximately 75% compared to full size.

What is your poundage now?

[Fiishergurl]

Yes, beautiful!

Ginny

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[efisakov]

Originally Posted by Barb_FL

Nice harvest Ella!

Since early August, have the tomatoes set fruit again?

At that time, your dwarfs were producing approximately 75% compared to full size.

What is your poundage now?

Sweet Sue is still setting fruits, have few green tomatoes. I picked from one plant 10.6 pounds. Excellent for the dwarf variety. The plant is NOT as small as other dwarfs. More like a medium size plant.
Rosella Purple was pulled. 2.7 pounds only.
I have one more that is from Robin, that is not released yet. The plant gave 5.7 pounds. I would say that each dwarf is different.

[efisakov]

Originally Posted by Fiishergurl

Yes, beautiful!

Ginny

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Thank you, Ginny.

[ginger2778]

Beautiful peppers, nice job, Ella.

[efisakov]

Thank you, Marsha. Most of the habanero peppers we cleaned from seeds, cut in half and frozen.
Just breathing while cleaning them became not easy, had to cover my face with breathing mask.
Working with just few is fine, that many was not. We used gloves, of cause.
I made small batch of fermented peppers. Used ratio of 2 sweet pepper parts to 1 hot part by weight.

[efisakov]

My BIL and his wife were mushroom picking. They shared with us this great mushrooms. I made soup, fried some, pickled some and now dehydrating 2 trays. And along with mushrooms I am dehydrating some fruits (apples, peaches, and mangoes) as well. House smell so good.

[Fiishergurl]

Oh NICE!! Love me some mushrooms. We went to Kennett Square in PA when the in laws visited. Its the mushroom capital of the world. So neat that you made all those different things with them. Looks like several different kinds there.

Ginny

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[efisakov]

There are mostly boletus.

Pickled/marinated recipe is so easy (my aunts recipe):
water
vinegar
salt
black pepper
1 clove (per approximately 1-2 pounds)---secret ingredient


Boil for 20 minutes and either refrigerate or use glass jars to store.
I make baby portobello mushrooms the same way.

[efisakov]

I have picked green tomatoes before the last frost (more than a month ago). Some ripen nicely and some rotten. I noticed that pink and orange has better shelf life than black. Maybe it is not absolutely correct, just my observation.
Cherry tomatoes were picked green on the vine, mostly. All tomatoes were kept at about 62-65 degrees.
They are almost gone (and No, they do not look as good as tomatoes picked in Florida by my friends, but they are here on my table and my sandwich still taste like summer to me, hehe). I bought few times tomatoes from the store for salad, they do not compare with the ripening once that we have on occasion.
I am considering to grow few plants on purpose late so they would be mostly green during the fall months. Considering determinate variety, will see.

P.S. Tomatoes picked green during the summer months did ripen within a week for me. The temperature play big role, I guess.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by efisakov

Will be fermenting more...

Ella How is the fermenting coming along.
Somehow I lost this thread.
Worth

[efisakov]

We ate all fermented tomatoes long time ago. We use fermented peppers few times a week. I like them on my sandwich and mix it into burgers. Still have few jars of them refrigerated. Will be making more fermented/pickled sweet/hot peppers next year. I will be experimenting even more. Next year I am planning to make my own adjica. That is peppers mixed with garlic, salt, vinegar and more spices. I am not sure the spelling is correct. Are you starting seeds this year?