Good morning, fellow gardeners, and welcome to another downheah edition of The SMGB! I decided to go big on making my own hot sauce this year, and so far it’s going well. I won’t go into the actual sauce making process, but for those of you who are interested, please look back to my diary from January: Here. I will say that I’ve “tweaked” my recipe a bit since last year, but not significantly. (I think that beer consumption may be a factor, but I’m not certain...)
For 2020, I am using 4 pepper varieties for hot sauce: Hinkelhatz, Prairie Spice, Jalapeno, and Numex “Nematador” Cayenne. The title picture is my 1st batch of Prairie Spice green sauce. It was excellent, iffin’ I do say so myself!
I’ve made two batches of Hinkelhatz sauce so far, one with added garlic. Both were good, and had a pretty good bite!!
I had some labels left over from last year...;/
I guess I’ve made about 20-something bottles so far; I’ve got 8 left. I keep some for myself, but most has been gifted to family & friends. A few pepper plant pics:
There are 14 Hinkelhatz plants and I’ve already picked/fermented 10 quarts...
Prairie Spice
Numex “Nematador” Cayenne
Rooster Spur
Another batch of Hinkelhatz sauce is in the works for later today, 6 qts…. That will free up 6 jars to get more peppers fermenting! Meanwhile, the Tomato Patch, although mostly done, is hanging on. Cooler temperatures overnight here lately have helped with fruit set on my remaining Big Beef and Roman Warrior plants.
The hard July heat and various fungal diseases have taken their toll, but I reckon that I’ll still be picking tomatoes for another month, or so…Any more tomatoes are for fresh eating, and sharing, since we’ve already put 9 gallons in the freezer! Kinda hard to tell from that picture, but those Big Beef plants are over 8 feet tall….Changes are in the works for the Tomato Patch in 2021, but that’s another diary…
A few more random pics:
(Prairie Spice seeds drying on the blue dinner plate...)
Prairie Spice on the chopping block...
And now for a couple of “odds & ends”…
Over at Doc’s, The Big Pepper Challenge is getting cranked up! I’m currently in 2nd place, at 217 grams. “Miss Becca”, from Denmark is leading the pack (for the moment) at 234 grams. BUT...”tomike”, from Canada, looks like a serious contender… More updates and pictures coming soon.
Largo de Reus Pepper
I’m out and about the area most every day, and ran across these fossilized (oyster?) shells a few weeks ago on a construction site. They don’t seem to be a “matched set”...My Wife promptly took them off my hands.
Well, Folks, that’s about it from downheah on this fine Saturday Morning. I’d love to hear what’s going on in y’alls gardens! ~Peace~
On top of a raging pandemic, there are terrible wildfires out West that have caused mass evacuations. And... two (yes, two!) potential hurricanes heading for the Gulf of Mexico. 2020 just keeps on giving… Y’all stay safe!
