Blog Archives

Hot Peppers

6/24/2012

Typical Daily Pepper Harvest

I know that most people don't think of chiles when they think of fruit, but technically they are fruits, and delicious ones at that. Only, instead of being sweet, they can burn you with the searing intensity of molten lava. I love hot peppers, and even make my own hot sauce every year. This year I planted several hot peppers in the strawberry beds: Poblano, Habanero, Jalapeno, Cheyenne, Hot Wax Banana, Tabasco, 'Salsarific' (I have no idea what it really is), and the Bhut Jolokia (aka 'Ghost Chile).

I planted the peppers in the strawberry beds with the thought that once the strawberries had finished fruiting, the pepper plants would have grown large and would shade them, protecting them from the intense summer sun. I figured that I would have a much better chance of keeping the strawberry plants alive through the summer if I could shade them a little bit, and I could still get a crop of botanical fireballs at the same time. So far its been working out really well. The strawberry plants look much better this year than they did at this time last year, and I've been picking a bunch of peppers everyday. In particular, the habaneros and the hot wax banana peppers have been very productive.

I only got three ghost chiles, and to be honest, I'm not sure what I'm going to with them. I'm too afraid of their insane heat to just eat one, and I'm not even sure I can make a hot sauce or a pot of chili with them that would still be edible. I'll probably have to make a special batch of hot sauce with them, and use it very sparingly until I build up enough tolerance. I know I'm not ready for that kind of heat yet I ate one of the Tabasco peppers right off the plant the other day, and learned my lesson: You play with fire, you get burned!

Fully-ripe Jalapeno

Cayennes and 'Salsarific' Peppers

Plant full of Tabasco peppers

Plant loaded with habaneros

Habaneros

Bhut Jolokia - Reported to be the hottest pepper on Earth

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Grapes on the Play Fort

6/17/2012

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Kid's Play Fort

For a long time I said that once we built the kids a play fort, I was going to plant grapevine at the base and train them up over the structure. I thought it would be great for my boys to be able to pick and eat grapes while they were up there playing. Initially Dr. Wife poo-pooed the idea, saying that it would turn into a big mess and look terrible, but I think she's come around now. We built the play fort this winter, and as soon as it was finished I began plotting and planning.

I decided to plant three colors of muscadines: Supreme (black), Florida Fry (bronze), and Darlene (red). Special thanks to Danny Gabb for the Supreme and the Florida Fry. I ordered the Darlene muscadine from Ison's in Georgia. They've got everything muscadine at Ison's, and I recommend them highly. I also order strawberry plants from them every year, and have ordered fruit trees from them also. I planted the vines at the base of the corner posts, and have been training them to the structure using 14-gauge wire recycled from an electric fence. Every time I'm out there with the kids I pinch back any side shoots to encourage the vigorous growing tips to follow the wires.

All of the vines have grown very well, and I fully expect them to reach the ends of the trellis wires by the end of the growing season. I rigged up a drip irrigation system to keep them well watered, and so far the kids haven't been too rough with the vines or the drip lines. This spring, only the Florida Fry flowered and set fruit. Of the varieties I planted, it's also the only self-fertile one. It has around 7 or 8 clusters of grapes, each with 5 to 7 grapes, which I can't wait to ripen so the kids can pick them. If the birds don't find the grapes, I'll be posting a follow-up blog entry in August when they do.

Play Fort = Grape Arbor

Supreme muscadine trained on play fort.

Florida Fry muscadine trained above the slide.

Darlene muscadine climbing up wire by swings.

Cluster of Florida Fry muscadine grapes

Cluster of Florida Fry muscadine grapes.

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Pineapples

6/10/2012

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Pineapple Top

I love fresh pineapple, and I had once read that you could grow your own by planting the top of a fresh fruit. Pineapples are tropical and very cold-sensitive, so I never bothered to trying it, but now that I have a greenhouse I'm going to give it a shot. I bought a ripe yellow pineapple from HEB, brought it home, and twisted off the top. While the boys were happily eating the delicious fruit, I was examining the tough leaves. I peeled off several layers of leaves to expose about an inch of the stalk, and found several little brown bumps. These are the root initials, which will develop into the root system of the new pineapple plant. One website I read suggested leaving the top out to dry for a few days, but I didn't. I just planted it in some plain potting soil and watered it in well.

After a few weeks I noticed the old leaves seemed to be drying and dying back, but there was new growth coming from the center. Success! I immediately drove to the store and picked up another pineapple, and repeated the process. My original plan was to get a pineapple every week or two until I had 8-10 plants. However, today when I was at HEB getting something else in the produce section, I noticed several pineapple tops and skins in a trash box behind the counter where they chop, juice, and package fresh fruit. I asked if I could have some of the tops. Even though they thought I was crazy at first, they gave me six pineapple tops for free! One person's trash is another person's treasure. I brought them home, and while preparing and planting them, found that almost all had really well developed root initials. I'll move them all to the greenhouse just as soon as I get the drip irrigation system installed. I can't wait to taste a homegrown pineapple!

Peeling off the leaves to expose the root initials

Root initials

New growth from the center.

Free pineapple tops from HEB.

Root initials

Beginnings of my Northwest Houston pineapple plantation.

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Field Trip - Callaham Orchard, Belton, South Carolina

6/3/2012

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Callaham Orchard, Belton, South Carolina

I've been traveling all this week, so this post is going to be short. We went out to South Carolina and Georgia this week to visit family and go to a wedding. While we were out there, we had the opportunity to visit the Callaham Orchard outside of Belton, South Carolina. They have a wonderful 120-acre operation growing peaches, blackberries, muscadines, and strawberries, along with a petting zoo and other fun activities for the kids. I could have stayed there all day talking fruit with the owners. The boys picked strawberries, and I walked through the peach trees. The early clingstone peaches were coming in at the time of our visit, and they were fantastic. There are few things as tasty as a tree-ripened peach. I only wish we had bought more and had been able to bring them home with us.