All my other (25 or so) peppers grew large and lush and are filled with large to giant sized peppers, but the Purple Beauty plants have just finally begun growing. One is about 12" tall now, and the other is around 18". The bigger one has given birth....here is my first Purple Beauty!
It's still a baby, not much over two-inches long, but isn't it pretty!I've been getting so many cucumbers, today I decided to make sweet pickle relish. Last year my neighbor, Pat, made a delicious zucchini relish, and I had plans to make it this year. Unfortunately, I don't yet have any zucchini. I Googled for a relish recipe in which I could use my cucumbers, and the very first one I found happened to be the same as the one Pat uses for her zucchini relish! So cucumbers and zucchini are interchangeable in the recipe.
I guess I could have left out those four drops of green food coloring. It probably would have been green enough without it, as I used all green peppers (none of mine are red yet). I used my freshly picked garden cucumbers and peppers, and the last of my onions in this recipe, and it made three pints, although I only canned 2-1/2 pints and left some out for immediate use. I'll be making more of this real soon, as I have lots of cukes and green peppers to use up.We eat, therefor we garden.
Um....Beauty? Granny, it looks like you whipped the hell out of it. Just look at those bruises....Wha? It's supposed to look like that? It almost looks like an eggplant. BTW, wife made Eggplant Parmesan today, and it was good stuff! Oh! The romas usually have a grainy texture, I think.....
ReplyDeleteYou said you have lots of peppers... I was wondering if you could help me out with mine. I've got some yellow bells that refuse to turn yellow.( I'm sure they aren't green bells, I have those too)They've been on the plants for quite some time now (maybe 6 weeks or more) They are a neon yellow green color and very big. should i just pick them or leave them a little longer and hope?
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on the baby eggplant. I grew eggplant last year for the first time in ages - only because a friend gave me the plants as she had extra seedlings started. I am the only one in the house who likes eggplant - so not a soul mentioned disappointment that there was no eggplant growing in the 2009 garden. ;)
ReplyDeleteThat relish is quite pretty!
My purple peppers a just a little smaller then yours still. I had the same thing happen with my red bell peppers last year. They did all there growing in August and most of the fruit was ready in September. I noticed today that I have one purple pepper just starting to form and loads of new buds starting. Can't wait to try one.
ReplyDeleteYour relish look delicious. I made a relish recipe with lots of spices last season. It was really strong at first but has mellowed nicely in the jar. This year I want to try a normal recipe, I should give your neighbors recipe a try.
LOL, KitsapFG...it's not an eggplant, it's a purple bell pepper ;-) I've never grown nor tasted eggplant.
ReplyDeleteEG, those Romas are not only grainy, they don't have any flavor. Of course, the entire bush is diseased, so that probably doesn't help matters. LOL, KitsapFG mistook it for an eggplant, too.
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Tiffany, they take forever to turn color. I have red and yellow bells, and they are still just green. You can pick them green, they are good, or you can wait and hope they turn color. This purple bell actually starts out purple. If you leave your green ones on long enough, they will turn red. Mine would probably freeze before they did that!
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Dan, the relish is very sweet. I actually used one I found at http://www.recipezaar.com/Sweet-Pickle-Relish-130781 but my neighbor's recipe was the same, just half the amounts. I wouldn't fool with the smaller recipe, myself. Anyway, I just love it on hot dogs, but it might be too sweet for some people.
I've never tasted relish. What's it like?
ReplyDeleteMy yellow bells are just now turning color, but none of the other peppers are. I wonder if it's because they're the ones that get the direct sunlight (the others are behind them) or if they just mature faster, but goodness, like you say, they were store bought transplants that I put in the ground in April. They sure are taking their time.
What a pretty pepper. I've given up growing bell peppers. They just don't like growing here. I'm not sure if it is the lack of heat or the pests, but I've given up on them. Who needs bell peppers anyway. I've got chilies.
ReplyDeleteI suppose I could make spicy sweet pickle relish since I have only hot peppers. That ought to taste good. But I would need those elusive cucumber things. I hear they exist, but haven't gotten to pick any yet.
Wow. I learned something new. I thought all peppers started out green and then turned.
ReplyDeletePlease tell me you're going to save the seeds...and then please tell me I can have a few :~)
Thanks for the recipe link Granny. I may give that a try this year.
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to hear about how the purple bell tastes! I've never had one.
Sure is a beaut! Let us know how it tastes compared to regular bells... I've always wondered. EG's comment made me giggle...
ReplyDeleteYes, your relish is pretty bright. LOL I'd never heard of that or zucchini relish before. What will you use it on?
Ribbit, Sweet relish just tastes like chopped up sweet pickles, the old fashioned kind like my MIL used to make that I loved so much (her and her pickles). That's why I tossed in the green food coloring, because her pickles were always that pretty, bright green. Anyway, you (being the sour lover), would probably hate it!
ReplyDeleteI almost always end up using my colored bells when they are green. Last year I did finally get some yellows, maybe 2-3 from four plants. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed this year. There's always a first!
Looking back at my 2008 pictures, I had a red bell on 9/9.
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Daphne, you can make relish from summer squash or green tomatoes,too.
My kids all gladly take my bell peppers. Well, the boys take anything I'll give them, but my daughter only wants bell peppers from the garden, so I grow a lot of plants.
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Cheryl, I'll send you all the seeds! I won't guarantee any of them will grow, what with the luck I had with this variety!
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Desert Dame, I've never had a purple bell, either. They sell them at the farm stand up the street, and always have tons of them, so I assume they aren't always as difficult to grow as these were. I should have just bought one to taste when I was there yesterday. I'm thinking they wouldn't be so pretty cooked, like the green, red and yellow.
Momma_S, I love it on hot dogs or hamburgers, but I might cut back on the sugar a bit in the next batch.
ReplyDeleteI "could" if I had any summer squash :/ It is as elusive as my cucumbers are. I saw two female blossoms open before I left this morning. I hope they set. And no way is any one allowed to pick those tomatoes before they turn colors. I suppose that could be done in the fall though as the frost threatens to take them out. Hopefully my cukes will start. I have a lot of plants. If they ever take off I'll get a ton.
ReplyDeleteI grew a Lilac Beauty pepper in San Antonio. It did well. The flavor was sweeter than your ordinary green bell. Sure looked pretty in a salad, but cooked, not so much...
ReplyDeleteSB, that's what I figured...it probably looks kind of black when cooked. It would be pretty in coleslaw though.
ReplyDeleteBesides the seeds I got from you, I planted seeds from a store bought bell pepper. They all germinated, but I think it's the cool weather that's slowed them down. I'm seeing flowers, so I'm still hopeful.
ReplyDeleteDaphne, you should give hand pollinating your squash a try to help gurantee pollination.
Cheryl, I planted a pepper in July last year, and I got peppers from it! It was from a bunch of root bound leftovers my neighbor picked up for half price, and it performed almost as well as the ones I planted in May!
ReplyDeleteWow... those are giant marigolds!
ReplyDeleteThe pumpkins sure did take over.
When I got to your cantaloupe photo... I could almost smell and taste it's deliciousness... : )
Granny, your garden really looks fantastic!
Are you loving SFG? It has been such a pleasure NOT having to weed!!! Well, except for my paths.