Thekla McDaniels

Let them ripen to bright red.  You can smoke then dry them and you’ve got chipotles.

Or make jalapeno jelly that is beautiful bright red.  I used to sell the red jelly at holiday craft shows.  It was always successful, popular, sold out.  There may be more people making it with red ripe jalapeños than 20 years ago.  It’s a good gift as well

This is the first I have ever heard of the practice of topping pepper plants.

I have a short growing season, and have to start the seeds in February..  Sometimes I have to cover the peppers and tomatoes for a late frost in June.

I would never dream of slowing the plant’s process of getting a ripe fruit!  And beyond that, it sounds like added work.  I just plant enough plants that I get enough peppers.

If I ever get my greenhouse established and functioning, then in the situation of limited space, I might give it a try.

I don’t think we’re ever going to know for certain what happened to the OPs peppers 13 years ago.  It seems like a weird set of circumstances.  Peppers have been pretty straightforward for me.  I have germinated them on a sunny windowsill and on a heat mat.  I prefer the heat mat.

Chance Lunceford wrote:

Not a bad idea, as chamomile is high in bisabolol and which is one of the primary components in it's distinctive aroma, which is also sometimes described as having a sweet/honey/apple aroma. Smart.

If you're looking to enhance apple aroma/flavor further, using similar tools, consider adding the following for their farnesene/farnesol content:

- Orange blossoms (also has nerolidol which is present in small amounts in apples)
- Rose petals
- Apple peels (highest concentration of a-farnesene in the apple)
- citrus zest (avoid the pitch so you don't go bitter)
- ginger (a smaller amount than if you're looking for a spiced flavor)
- tea, particularly white tea

So, if you want richer apple flavor, don't throw your peels out, boil 'em and reduce the water, or, even better, juice 'em.

You can also reduce apple cider to a syrup and then add that into your butter.

Here's an example of what you could try:

- simmer your apple peels and ginger in equal parts water and cider for 20 minutes, mushing occasionally
- strain the peels and ginger, return to simmer and add your chamomile for 5 minutes, adding your white tea when there are 2 minutes remaining, rose petals for (don't over simmer the tea or you'll get bitters) then strain
- simmer to reduce over low heat until mixture achieves a syrupy consistency
- remove from heat, let cool to a warm-but-not-hot temperature, then add zest from a lemon and rose petals, then put into the fridge to infuse overnight, then strain the rose petals
- add this concentrated syrup to your final product during the last few minutes of cooking or just after pulling it off the heat

That  would be an incredible concoction!  If I still lived in the town where we had a very casual and unregulated farmers market I would try all that!  And give samples😊!

I add clove to apple butter.  Whether or not to add cardamom would depend on if you like it!  Cardamom is an odd spice to me.  Some foods I enjoy with it, and in some foods it just tastes wrong!😊

A few more

Our feed store delivers in 55 gallon barrels.  They unload the barrels into the shed , and I leave them there.

It’s great not having all the trash build up… the feed sacks I mean.

I used to have bajillions of mice, which would have been a problem because the lids on the barrels don’t necessarily fit tight, unless I put the clamp on, which I don’t want to bother with!

The barrels are rotating stock.  They arrive full and depart empty so there’s no point trying to adapt them for a tight fit.

I had some half grown cats show up a couple years ago.  I fed them and tamed them and they stayed and multiplied.  They’re all neutered now (5 of them!).  They keep the mice out of the house and all the outbuildings.  YAY.  

I used to keep the cat food in a high quality Brute trash can with lid that latches down, but the cats took the lid off at their convenience.

The cat food is now stored in the house.  For now, things are working.

May Lotito wrote: Oats cost $12 in a 50 lbs bag from feed store so it's very economical if I just broadcast a large area.

12 bucks per 50 pounds?

Lucky you!  $29 for 50 pounds seed oats in my region!

I looked up “ha-ha” recently because one is mentioned in a Jane Austen book and I had no idea what it was.  What I find astounding is that these things were built in pre-industrial times.  No tractors or earthmovers or trucks, just teams of animals and equipment they can pull.

John F Dean wrote:How come I can’t remember my passwords, but I can remember all the words to Rommie Hawkin’s “Mary Lou”?   Yes, I know.  I need to change my passwords to the words of Mary Lou.

That’s a good idea.  I have a hard time with passwords.  I think I could remember them if I made an effort, made a memory tag of some kind, but it seems like so much work!

A song might do it!