Better Tomato Plants

Okay, so last year was the first year, since I had my two oldest children, that I finally started gardening again. I had big plans that fell to the wayside. (How I wish I had taken pictures.) I grew tomatoes and other vegetable plants, but because I didn't amend the dirt, my plants were puny and didn't do well. It didn't help that some of my plants were attacked by local critters (e.g. cutworms and squirrels). 

Fast forward to this year. I was determined, despite the state of my physique (I was seven to eight months pregnant and quite bossy with my Mr. Man). In April and May, I purchased tomato plants and double dug the dirt (yes, while I was seven to eight months pregnant). I made my Mr. Man not only build me two raised beds, but also go get compost from the county's free compost pile. I amended that patch of dirt with compost and other organic matter (e.g. bone meal, blood meal) before planting twelve tomato plants. I also used this method of planting tomato plants.

Now, that patch of dirt doesn't get the most sun, but it does get at least four to five hours of sun and that's the best I can do for the time being (short of cutting down a tree and ripping up my front yard). The only thing I hoped for was that it would do better than last year. As the weeks passed, I discovered some tomato plants that I grew from seed, two surprise volunteer plants from last year's tomato plants, and several self-sprouted tomato plants I found in my compost pile, so I planted them in containers and made room on the other side of my amended patch of dirt.

Well, a month later, I'm so surprised by the results. The tomato plants are huge and already sprouting flowers. I know we've had an early spring and the weather's a great contributor to the plants being so big. At the same time, the soil amendments and fertilizer have worked wonders for the plants. I've been trying to deeply water my plants every few days and continue feeding them organic fertilizers. I know my plants aren't going to grow and be six feet tall (due to the lack of light), but I'm hoping for something better than last year (my expectations are low and I'm hoping for more than a dozen tomatoes from twelve plants). I'm really hoping that my gardening won't fall to the wayside this year. Of course, life gets in the way sometimes. But I'll try really hard to not give up on my tomato plants this year.

How is your garden doing so far?

Dried Chili Pepper Flakes

I love love love hot peppers and pepper condiments. Other than eating pepper as a pepper dip, I try and make some form of pepper condiment for my own personal use (e.g. pickled jalapeno, preserved salsa). This time, I finally gave in and made some dried chili pepper flakes.

I made a batch several years ago, but ran out of it last year. I was going to make some at the end of this last summer, but I was on a trip and didn't get back in time to pick any ripened chili peppers. I hate paying for chili peppers, especially since I or my mother-in-law grow so much of it during the summer. Unfortunately, much of our homegrown peppers are frozen to last through the year. This means I'm usually not able to turn those peppers into some yummy condiment. 

So, while I was at the Asian store, I saw packaged red ripened Thai chili peppers and knew that I just had to do it. I purchased a pack (and even went back and got another pack) with the intent to make my own dried chili pepper flakes. I've also spent too much money on prepackaged dried chili flakes/powder to only discover that they were not spicy. So, the DIY route was the only way for me to go, especially if I wanted something spicy.

I ended drying the peppers in my oven and using my food processor to grind them into coarse flakes. I'd like the flakes to be a bit smaller, but that would require a finer grind that my food processor might not be able to do (and something my nose might not be able to take in). Overall, the end result was great. The peppers I got were spicy hot and I can't wait to use them in my next dish.

General Recipe for Dried Chili Pepper Flakes

Raw peppers (I used thai chili peppers)

1. Wash and cut chili peppers into small pieces (e.g. cut in half or split open the peppers). Use gloves while cutting peppers.
2. Put foil on a baking sheet. Spread chili peppers on the foil.
3. Turn oven to the lowest setting (my oven only went to 170 degrees Fahrenheit). Put chili peppers into middle rack of oven. Close oven door, but not fully. Use a pair of tongs or an oven safe spoon to prop oven door several inches open (this will help remove moisture from the oven). This will release a peppery smell in the house, so open doors/windows, turn of fans and air purifier.
4. Stir peppers every 30 to 45 minutes. Keep chili peppers in the oven for about 2 to 3 hours (depending on how many peppers you have and how low you've set your oven temperature).
5. Once the peppers are dry and papery, turn off oven. You can leave the peppers in the oven to continue to dry with the residual heat or take it out.
6. Cool the peppers. Once cooled, put peppers into a food processor or spice grinder and grind to desired size. (I'd recommend grinding outside because the pepper flakes may escape and fly around the house and cause sneezing and a peppery smell.)
7. Store in a dry container and use as desired.

Hello, Baby!