Tomatoes, Peppers & Eggplants...Oh My!

 Whenever I decide to do something, Bob says that I tend to go all in with it. Case in point would be starting tomatoes, peppers and eggplants from seed. I figure that I have the room, why not go for it? What's the worst case scenario? I'll be advertising my extra seedlings for sale on Facebook Marketplace. I'll be giving them away to friends. I already tried to talk my sister into taking some and she said no way. Final count on seedlings that have made it is 274 seedlings of 69 different varieties. I purposely planted some varieties heavy because I knew that they would be in high demand, like Prairie Fire.

I also have 39 varieties of peppers that made it and 10 varieties of eggplant. This is the very first year that I will have eggplant that survive from seed. Last year, I planted out around 50 varieties of peppers and the deer wiped them out overnight. Not this year. We got smart. We will be growing them in one of the greenhouses.

I have no method with the different colors of cups. They were just the cheapest ones I could find and they came in different colors.

They are lucky we're not fond of venison. If the truth be told, we think they're awesome and we don't mind them in the yard. We just devise ways around their nibbling nature to get a vegetable harvest. One of the things we do is toss carrots out in areas of our property that we don't mind them being in. A 25-pound bag of juicing carrots is like $10 at a restaurant supply store. It saves a lot of headaches.

Inokra Panigang is a Filipino pepper variety that I'm very excited to try.

Yes. We grow THAT, too.

This is a sweet pepper, bell style, variety that I got from Ukraine.

This is the only Black Hole Sun that I got to germinate. It's pretty healthy looking.

Heaven Oregon is the variety that I planted in honor of my friend, Conda Walsh, and her late husband, Steve. I hope to be able to send some seeds her way for next year so she can grow this variety.

Amy's Sugar Gem is the variety that I am growing to take the place of Isis Candy Cherry that I grew last year.

 
Wolverine is a sample pack that I received from an Etsy seller in Canada. It's a pretty striking looking tomato and I can't wait to see them on the vine.

So, my final pepper list for 2023 is 39 varieties:

Sugar Rush Peach
Blot
Peter Yellow
Elephant Ear
Erotica Orange
Corbaci
Sweet Ratunda
Ampuis
Black Square
Red Habanero
Ancho Poblano
Rainforest
King of the North
Korean Dark Green
Inokra Panigang
Gong Bao
Lesia Yellow
Greygo
Greek Pepperoncini
Peperone di Senise
Witch Stick
Jalora Jalapeno
Lemon Spice Jalapeno
Tabasco
Bridge To Paris
Coyote Teeth
Calabrian
Murasaki
Habanada
Lesya
Zapotec Jalapeno
Bohemian Baron
Pumpkin Spice Jalapeno
Hong Gochu
Tekni Dolmasi
Rezha Macedonia
Farmer Jalapeno
Chicago Sport
Peter Red

My eggplant list contains 10 varieties that made it through the transplant process:

Rosita
Violetta Luaga
Golub Sizokriliy
Louisiana Long Green
Antigua
Indoor Golden Eggs
Green Thai Frog Fingers
Laura
Pandora di Mazzarino
Casper

My tomatoes number 69 varieties. Those with an (*) by their name indicates a determinate or semi-determinate variety.

Phil's One
Phil's Two
Reisetomate
Prairie Fire
Taiga
Opalka
Stoney's Neighbor's
Pink Jazz
Maple Syrup
Cour di Bue Albenga
Queen of the Night
Mushroom Basket
Wolverine
Thorburn's Terra-Cotta
Orange Icicle
Korean Long
Indigo Blue Chocolate
Amy's Sugar Gem
Fleur de Reagar
Blue Zebra
Moonlight Mile
San Francisco Fog
Heaven Oregon
Julia Child
Clint Eastwood's Rowdy Red
DB Cooper
Dolly Parton
Hippie Zebra
Black Hole Sun
Midnight Roma
Butter Apple
Red Dumplin Winner Pink
Polish Nights
Cote d'Zebra
Glacial Zebra
Work Release
British Breakfast
Granny's Throwing
Zlatava
Surrendar's Indian Curry*
Sart Roloise
Everett's Rusty Oxheart
Butterscotch Paste
Arabesque*
Elita*
Cream Sausage*
Orange Fleshed Purple Smudge
Colonnade*
Midnight Sun
Fuzzy Blue Balls
Eros
Bakir*
Lava Flow
Marianna's Peace
Nature's Riddle
Bug Tussle Buttermilk Wonder
Rose
Inciardi Paste
Stripes of Yore
Yamali Blue
Yamali Green
Yamali Yellow
Campbell's 33*
KC 146*
Heinz 2653*
Heinz 1350*
Heinz 1706*
Heinz 1370*
Heinz 2274*

Hopefully, these will be enough to net me all the tomatoes that I need to go through the year.

Giardiniera

 I love giardiniera mix. I've been wanting to make some for a long time now, so I figured that it was as good of a day as any to do it since I had taken advantage of a local farmers market for some awesome produce.

At first, I thought I was going to make that chunky mix that I like to buy occasionally from the supermarket. I read up about it and found out that there were two different types. There is the original Italian version, which I do love, and there is a Chicago-Style, which is more of a condiment.
If you know me, you know I love condiments. I usually have no less than 15 in my fridge at one time. I have an entire shelf dedicated to my condiments and, all I can say is that it's a good thing that we have a spare fridge in our outdoor kitchen! This is supposed to be spectacular on a hot dog. In a month or so, I'm going to get some really good hot dogs and I'm going to try it.

I found a recipe for a small batch. I didn't want half of a leftover head of cauliflower, because I'd be the only one eating it and, while I do like cauliflower, I don't like cauliflower enough to eat half a head of it by myself. I chopped up the whole thing. It was tedious, but I think it will be worth it in the end.
The beauty of this recipe is that it will utilize most all of your garden produce harvest! Celery, onions, carrots, eggplant, cauliflower, red peppers, hot peppers...it's all in there! Since I decided to use the whole head of cauliflower, I used 1/2 cup of kosher salt and just over 5 cups of water to brine. You want the veggies to be covered by salt water. I left to soak, refrigerated, overnight.

While my jars were getting sterilized in boiling water, I drained and rinsed the veggies off. I split them in half into my two bigger sized pots and I used vinegar, sugar and spice in each pot and boiled for about 15-20 minutes. 

I made exactly 3 quarts. Ideally, this can be canned up in pints, but I'm saving those for other things that need to be consumed quickly after opening. This stuff can last in the jar for months, so this was just the way that was logical for me. 

I processed these quarts for 20 minutes to be on the safe side. I don't think I'll use that particular pot to can quarts in anymore. It's great for pints and half pints but not for quarts. That's why I processed for 20 minutes...better safe than sorry.

Viola! Enough giardiniera to use for the whole year!

Giardiniera
*makes 3 quarts or 6 pints

Ingredients

Day 1-cut all vegetables into small-dice sized pieces, enough to make 3 quarts. There are no measurements because these ingredients are all to an individual's preference.

• Cauliflower
  
• Red bell pepper
  
• Sweet onion
  
• Celery
  
• Carrot
• Hot peppers (optional)
  
• Eggplant

Other veggies can be used, too: zucchini, green olives, banana peppers, etc. 

 

Day 2-cook vegetables in brine. I split between 2 pans and split the brine in half, as well.

• 8 c white vinegar
• 2 Tbsp sugar
  
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 tsp black peppercorns
• 1 tsp each celery seed and fennel seed
  
• 
  
  On the first day, chop all vegetables and place in a large bowl. Sprinkle salt over veggies and stir to combine, then add water until veggies are submerged. Let set for 12 hours or overnight.
  
  On day two, rinse the veggies well under cold running water. Combine all the Day 2 ingredients in a large pot with the veggies and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Place into sterilized, hot jars. Seal. (Please look at the safe canning guidelines. Click here for link.) Process 15 minutes for quarts, 10 minutes for pints. Let cool thoroughly.