Hot pepper heaven

I've always found hot peppers a bit of a hard sell.  If I lived in the southwest US or Mexico, maybe it wouldn't be so.  But in my little neck of the woods crowds of people, including chefs, don't exactly rush in to get them.

But, typical me, I continue to grow lots and lots of them simply because I like growing them.  Wise business move?  Maybe not.  But what the heck, you've gotta have fun in the garden!  And with the stunningly brilliant yellow, oranges, reds and purples-what's not fun?

Better yet, of course is if you can convince some unsuspecting friend to do a little taste test to check out the Scoville units.  Then the fun really begins!

Peppers have been around for a long, long time.  Evidence of the use of peppers was found at Machu Pichu, believed to date back as far as 5200 BC.  They were revered by the Incan civilization, the first king being named 'uchu", the word for pepper in the Incan language. They were brought to Europe by Christopher Columbus while he was searching for the totally unrelated Piper nigrum (black pepper), slowly making their way to Spain, India, Africa, Turkey, then Hungary. At one point in their history, Europeans believed they had a "certayne hidden evyll qualitie", but this notion was dispelled, and their popularity grew.  It wasn't until the 17th century though, that hot peppers began to be used in some small degree by North Americans.

Peppers (Capsicum) are members of the nightshade family (Solanaceae), which of course also includes tomatoes, potatoes and eggplants. There are five cultivated species of peppers, and eighteen known wild species.  In North American one species only will be found in the grocery stores and that is C. annum, which includes all chilies and bell varieties.  I have grown some of the C. frutescens varieties such as tabasco and one of my all time favourites, Aji Limo, with it's citrus flavour and slap of heat.

The heat in any pepper is the result of the capsaicin concentration in the interior walls.  In general the hotter the pepper, the more tolerant it is of cool weather.
Additionally, peppers are perennials and can sometimes be successfully overwintered in pots indoors or planted in hoophouses.

Peppers readily cross pollinate and if you are trying to save seed from different open pollinated varieties, plants either need to be caged or 500' apart.  Realistically for most home gardeners, the best thing to do is simply grow one variety.

There are hundreds of varieties of hot peppers to choose from, and how much you enjoy the heat is the question you need to be asking when you are choosing varieties.

There are pleasant tasting varieties with low levels of heat, like Beaver Dam and Bulgarian Carrot, higher levels of heat with jalapenos and cayennes, or mind blowing heat with Tepin and Naga (Bhut) Jolokia.  What is your pleasure?

I like to get my hot peppers started right around this time.  Some varieties can take a little bit of time to germinate, although I find they never take as long as some seed vendors suggest.

I like to seed my hot peppers in 200 cell trays because I grow them in quantity, but really any container with good drainage will do. I fill my containers or trays with a good soil less mix which I have moistened with HOT water, I place my pepper seeds on the soil surface and then cover with a light 1/4 inch deep layer of soil.  After a good misting with warm water, I cover them with a humidity dome or plastic bag.

Hot pepper seeds can be hot!  Remember this when you are planting and don't wipe your eyes or you may be in for a burn.  Wash your hands off when you are done in an attempt to limit this possibility.

Your hot pepper seeds want a good warm environment to germinate in.  I put mine under my lights in the kitchen...close to my wood stove.  This seems to make them pretty happy and germination is usually  rapid.  A heat mat, heating cables or similar could be used.  As soon as they germinate, get the humidity dome off, transplanting them into a larger container when the true leaves appear.

Don't rush in getting them outside.  They like a lovely warm soil, preferably made rich by a good helping of compost.

What will I plant this year?

The Naga Jolokia was quite a novelty and hit last year. As well I'll do Aji Limo, White Habanero, Jalapeno, Beaver Dam, Bulgarian Carrot, the scorchers Fire, Fatali and Tepin, assorted cayennes and Orange Rocoto as well as far more than I care to mention.

I'm really not aware of any pepper seed specialists in Canada. I have ordered seed in the past from US pepper enthusiasts The Pepper Gal , Redwood City Seeds and Tomato Bob to mention a few.  Seed Savers Exchange also has a good collection.

Enjoy...and bring on the fun!

Cake and Loaf "Dough" fundraiser

Looks like a fun fundraiser! It certainly is (again) a unique concept. I thought I would pass the information along...

Hello all,

Just thought I'd pass on some more details about our event:

BAKE SALE! Cake+Loaf Bakery will be hosting a celebration of local food and live music, supporting the Juravinski Cancer Centre and Cake+Loaf Bakery.

There will be an afternoon bake sale with live acoustic music, children's activities and entertainers, and an amateur cake decorating contest from 1pm-5pm on  March 19^th at Fenian Films at 211 Locke Street South, followed at  7pm by an evening concert featuring Rob Lamothe, The Beginning, The Maladies of Adam Stokes and others! Tickets for the evening concert are $10.

50% of all profits will go towards the Juravinski Cancer Centre and the remainder will assist in the construction of a retail location on Dundurn St. South for Cake+Loaf Bakery.

Cake & Loaf is an artisan bakery located in Hamilton, Ontario. Our 'from scratch' neighbourhood bakery is focused on custom special occasion cakes, artisan breads and pastries with an emphasis on organic, fair trade and local ingredients.  All of the baked goods at Cake+Loaf contain whole grains, organic flours, real butter, organic free range eggs and fresh fruits and vegetables- in short, real food.  We are the first bakery in Hamilton to offer a Community Supported Bakery (CSB) Program.

Josie Rudderham and Nicole Sherman

-- 
Cake+Loaf Bakery
cakeandloaf@gmail.com
www.cakeandloaf.ca
Josie: 905 730 4801
Nickey: 905 531 5926

Thought-provoking Joel Salatin

Monday night I had the honour of going to listen to Joel Salatin of Polyface Farm speak.  Joel is first and foremost a farmer, and a grass farmer at that.  But he is also an opinionated author, speaker and first class entertainer.

As I looked around in the auditorium at Daeman College, Buffalo, most folks had a big grin on their face.

The wit, the "Salatin-isms" were flying. We heard of the "pigerators", and repeated references to the US-duh (USDA).

His farm as he explained it is perfectly sustainable.  Every animal has a purpose and is allowed to do what they do naturally on his farm.  Pigs turn compost with their snouts, chickens eat parasites and disperse cow pies and rabbit droppings.  Everything is carefully thought out, and how things are done in nature is the blueprint for the operation of the farm.  Of course with a few modern tweaks that can make their job just a little bit easier.  But honestly, those are few and far between.

Chemicals, GMOs, Monsanto and government are not referred to in glowing terms.

He speaks rapidly and forcefully, making his points with words and phrases he has no doubt repeated over and over again.  But his enthusiasm never wavers.  He wants you to see that there is another way.  Organic farming can feed the world and in his opinion save the planet.

His optimism for the future of agriculture was based on the growing
interest in the local food movement, and the fact that farmers are interested in hearing what he says, that they are really listening.
"One person at a time, we can change things".

What he does on his 550 acre farm in Virginia is impressive and hard, hard work.  No animals graze an area of land more than once a year.
They are moved day after day and moveable electric fences to contain cattle and pigs, chicken and turkey mobiles and rabbit cages are moved too.

The farm is open to the folks that want to see how their food is grown. It is a place that is safe for children, unlike other operations that warn people off with biohazard signs.

Like when, for example, my daughter last year in Grade 3 came home with a permission form to tour a local chicken farm as a class trip.  My first reaction was disbelief-seriously?  Let's show kids the miserable life we give chickens who then become  food.  Did I let her go?  You guess.

Joel Salatin's management of his grass farm ensures that he will leave his soil and property better than when he took it over.  Few, few farmers can say that.

Of course I'm right with him on so many issues.  What I respect most is his forthright manner and willingness to speak his mind.  I appreciate his deep respect for the environment, his stance against what modern agriculture has become and disdain for the crap it produces and the damage it does.  His enthusiasm for his methods and his belief that he has the right to earn a good living are in your face.

As much though as he is a grass farmer he is also a meat farmer.  That is what he does.  As a vegetarian he loses me when he says "my animals have all wonderful days and one bad day".  That bad day is the last day of course.

My firm belief is that the world would be a much better place if we were all vegans, vegetarians or just simply ate less meat. I believe this for many reasons and won't go into it here. "Humane", "organic" or otherwise raised animals don't make me change my mind on this issue.

I also think that his methods would be difficult to duplicate. As I rode home with a friend from the venue, she pondered out loud why more farmers weren't following his lead.  I guess I would think that some farmers would, and no doubt many use some of his methods. But realistically here in Southern Ontario 550 acre farms don't abound.

If you farmed say 80-100 acres, and your flock could ideally only graze an area once a year, would you be able to make a living with the number of animals you raised?
Could young farmers do it, with the expense of land?  And of course the larger you are, the more work it is.  Hard physical work.  No shortcuts, big equipment or chemical companions.

I must say I was surprised by my friends next question.  "Why do people farm when they could do something easier to make money?"  When you get into this type of discussion it is like people who farm speak a different language than people who don't farm.

How do you explain this?  My dad was a farmer and a teacher. He was a farmer first.
He grew up on a farm.  He was happiest being his own boss, being outside and working physically.
He took pride in his crops.  I fondly remember watching him standing in his huge field of corn with a simple hoe, cutting out weeds.  Outstanding in his field.

I'm kinda like my dad.

There is a saying used by Canadian Blood Services- "It's in you to give."

I'll turn it around a bit to say "It's in you to farm."

Because I think it is.  People don't farm to make a lot of money, to be amongst the working poor or to solve world hunger.  They farm because it's in them.

Thanks, Mr Salatin for making folks think!

"We don't need a law against McDonald's or a law against slaughterhouse abuse--we ask for too much salvation by legislation. All we need to do is empower individuals with the right philosophy and the right information to opt out en masse."
— Joel Salatin

Guest Post- A Lesson in Sprouting by David Jordan

David kindly shared his sprouting techniques with us at our last garden club meeting.  I thank him again for writing it all down to help out those who were furiously making notes, and maybe missed a thing or two.

Sprouting basics

Why sprout:
Sprouting significantly improves the nutritional value of seeds, grains and legumes;
-enzyme inhibitors are washed away during the soaking stage of sprouting, thereby increasing their digestibility.
-Phytic acid, which binds calcium, iron and zinc, is converted making these minerals more available.
-vitamin and enzyme content of food is increased many times; vitamin C is created in some seeds which, otherwise, do not
contain it.
-Sprouting creates delicious, inexpensive “living foods” to add to salads, smoothies, soups, sandwiches and rice
bowls.
How to sprout:
Sprouting involves soaking, rinsing and sprouting.  Some sprouts also take an additional “greening” step and some
can be planted in soil to produce microgreens.  Soaking and rinsing is easily done in large mouth canning jars with wire
mesh lids (see resources below).  Depending on the size of the seed, grain or bean, soaking can take from 6 to 36 hours;
“overnight” works for most of the sprouts I use regularly.  Tables of soaking times are available in the books I've
noted below.
My favorites sprouts for salads are a salad mix and a zesty lentil mix from Sprout Master.  Similar mixes are available
from Mumms and at local health food stores.
       Two tablespoons of seeds is enough for these mixes and other small seeds.  Start by rinsing the seeds, then
cover them in pure water for the soaking process.   After soaking overnight, rinse them and invert the jar at an angle
in a bowl or dish drainer.  Keep them in the dark  rinsing and draining twice a day for 2 to 4 days. When they have
sprouted sufficiently, rinse again and set them to drain in a sunny window to green.  Keep them in the fridge after a
day of greening.
For microgreens, my favorites are unhulled sunflower seeds, unhulled buckwheat and green peas.  One to two cups of
these are soaked and rinsed as above, but only sprouted until a tiny sprout can be seen (usually 12 to 24 hours after
the soaking period).  Then they are planted in drainable soil trays.  Cover the seed for a day or two with another tray.
When the seedlings have reached an inch  or so in length, uncover and place under a grow light, watering daily, until
they are ready to harvest, usually 2 or 3 days.  You can continue to harvest for another few days, but they will become
bitter if left to grow too long. These microgreens are wonderful on salads, in sandwiches, soups and smoothies.
Resources:
A number of books describe this process in detail and give specific times for the soaking, rinsing and draining and
time to harvest.  I like the following:
-Sprout Garden: Indoor growers guide to gourmet sprouts  by Mark M. Braunstein.  A very thorough, detailed description
of  sprouting methods.
-Recipes for Longer Life   by Ann Wigmore.  A recipe book for raw food with many uses for sprouts as well as
instructions for sprouting.
-Hooked on Raw  by Rhio.  Great recipes and a description of a “bowl method” of sprouting.
The books, sprouting equipment, sprouting seeds and further information are available on line.  I like two sources in
particular:

Sprout Master  at  [www.sproutmaster.com]  Sprout Master carries the lids with screens and the salad mix and lentil mix
that I like.

Mumms sprouting site at [www.sprouting.com/homesprouting.html]  This site has a video tutorial.