Spicy sauces on the horizon

It's starting to look like there will be a definite glut of tomatoes, chillies, garlic and coriander this year.

So I've been looking at different storage options. Freezing or drying are always good options for chillies, and garlic stores well. But what about the tomatoes? Sure you can freeze some, and most people make pasta sauces, but we don't really eat that much Italian food, or tomato-based pasta sauces.

What we do however eat mountains of is spicy food. Not necessarily country-specific, although we eat a lot of Asian cuisine. Basically anything with chillies in it is popular in our house. 

Today I started looking for spicy sauce recipes with these ingredients and came across this wonderful website & blog:

Jalapeño cilantro salsa from
Laylita's Recipes

...can't wait for this lot to grow so I can get saucing...

Chillies - Ají Colorado, Trinidad Scorpion, Ají Límon, Padron

Tomatoes - Yellow Pear, Flavorino, Super Sweet, Tigrella, Black Cherry, Green Zebra

Garlic - Cledor

Coriander - bought in bulk from Olssons

And although there isn't a single flower on any of the toms yet, things are looking promising on the chilli front...

Ají Límon

Padron

Jalastar

 :)

Chilli chaos again...

Oops.

The house has turned into a chilli jungle again. I guess I should have realised that 35 little seedlings would turn into monster plants and take over the place.

These are the survivors:

Lombardo 6
Aji Colorado 6
Trinidad Scorpion 5
Hot Lemon 4
Early Jalapeno 4
Jalastar 3
Purple Serrano 3
Padron 2
Bailey Piquin 2

So... I have to 'get rid' of a few. I want to keep at least two of each, just in case.... But any takers on any of the others?

Jalastar and Lombardo (capsicum annums) neck and neck

Of this year's chillies, the Jalastar and Lombardo capsicum annums are currently leading the race to fruition:

Now aged 3 weeks and 5 days (sown 28 January), these are my two strongest plants (Lombardo front left, Jalastar back left) at the moment:

All sown on the same date, not only is there a fair difference in development between the varieties, as you can see from the lanky Aji Colorado twig at the back right of the picture, but even within the same variety, as you can see from the two Lombardo plants at the front.

I think this is normal even when seeds and plants are grown in exactly the same conditions, but in my case it's probably more likely due to slight differences in light, heat, water and potting compost. Everything basically... Hmmmm need to be more consistent...

:)

Holidays & gardening

...aren't particularly compatible.

I hate leaving my flowerbeds, kitchen garden and greenhouse at this time of year. Not only do I miss out on the wonder of seeing the garden change by the day, but everything's so tiny and fragile, the slightest drought/drench/heatwave/chill can really mess with my plans.

Luckily though everything survived, thanks to a few milder days and a very helpful friend.

The south-facing flowerbed was completely transformed into a vibrant jungle of tulips & perennials.

Lots of colour! Note the lime & calmondin trees out for a much-
needed dose of sunshine after almost two weeks of shady living.

Growth in the kitchen garden wasn't quite as overwhelming, probably due to the warm, dry weather. But it was all in need of a jolly good drink!

My lettuce babies have survived the slugs, but are looking a little parched!

The peas are looking nice and solid.

The yellow onions are doing really well... as are the weeds! Can you spot any
carrots in there??! Carrot fly has been a major problem, so this year I've planted
onions AND marigolds around them.

Potatoes! :D But still no sign of life in the asparagus bed.
I thought they would show first...?

There was a problem with the watering system in the greenhouse, but thanks to our friend Johan's determination (and stupidity - he stuck the v. v. grimy hose in his mouth to get the flow going again... bläääää!) it's all looking fabulous.

Beautiful blue (?) parrot tulips living in harmony with Jalastar capsicum annums.

It's time to plant the toms into the ground, but there's too much
going on, so they'll have to wait just a little longer.

First harvest! :D

Chicken salad (with shop-bought toms, of course).

This year's chillies

I'm really late with my chillies and tomatoes this year, having sowed the majority of them just last week (13th March).

Slow progress....

There is however some sign of life :) Look what popped up during the night.

Maskotka bush tomato babies.

Luckily I had the foresight to at least sow a few chillies in January.

Two Jalastar & One (surviving of two sowed) Chiluacle Negro capsicum annums.

My list of chillies and toms sown this year is:

2 Jalastar capsicum annum - after the heat of last year, I'm opting for milder varieties this year
2 Chiluacle Negro capsicum annum - only one germinated
2 Aji Colorado capsicum baccatum - our absolute favourite to date
1 Cayenne capsicum annum - after the heat of last year, I'm opting for milder varieties this year
1 Trinidad Scorpion capsicum chinense - sown for a curious family member - hope it survives the postal journey :/

2 Maskotka bush tomatoes
2 Supersweet 100 F1 cherry tomatoes
2 'supermarket' baby plum tomatoes - shop-bought favourite that I saved some seeds from - experiment