End of season shout out to my jalapeño plant. It was the workhorse of my garden this summer and I hate to see it go. Out of everything I harvested this season, this one jalapeño plant outperformed all of them.
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My jalapeño harvest was such a success this year! The pests rarely bothered it; the temperature fluctuations didn’t affect it; it just kept making beautiful peppers all summer long. It’s now autumn and I am finally saying goodbye to it. But before the bagpipes play, let’s see what this one little plant was able to produce and how to use up all of these peppers!
The photo above is only the most recent jalapeño harvest. I think I collected 5-6 gallon size bags of peppers over the summer!
Grow Jalapeño Plants
My gardening season didn’t have the greatest start this year so most of my veggies were small plants from the local garden center. I put them in my raised garden beds loaded with compost and worm castings, turned on the drip irrigation and let Mother Nature take over. I’m all about stress free gardening so no complaints here!
I did one pinch back on the pepper plant in early summer to keep it from getting too leggy. This means I simply snipped the very top set of leaves and buds to encourage bushier growth.
To be on the safe side and help support my plant during our crazy southern thunder storms, I used a garden stake and a couple of these handy plant clips to keep it under control. I use these stakes and clips in all of my raised beds! You have to look closely at the photo below to see them because they blend in so nicely.
*Ginger Tip: Wear rubber gloves and/or wash hands thoroughly after touching jalapeños.
I added worm castings to the soil when planted and a round of fertilizer 4-4-4 mid-summer and the rest is history.
Harvest Jalapeños
Using sharp clean clippers or scissors, cut nice fully grown jalapeños at their stem and collect in a harvest basket. It's so easy! Now what do we do with all of these jalapeños ?
Freeze Jalapeños
Freeze some in reusable silicone bags so that you have plenty of jalapeños throughout the winter. It’s best to wash, trim and remove seeds/ribs before freezing. However, I am usually in a hurry and just rinse and toss the whole pepper in the bag.
When it’s time to use them, I do a quick rinse under warm water to soften them just enough to cut and remove the insides. If they completely thaw out, they can be a little too soft. They taste best within 6 months, but can be frozen for up to a year!
Use Fresh Jalapeños in the Following Recipes:
Growing, harvesting and cooking with jalapeños is one of my favorite achievements from the garden. I hope you have success, too!
How do you use your jalapeños ? Drop a comment below!
For more yummy fall recipes, check out my post:
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