The garden is growing beautifully in Northeast Florida despite the sandy soil and tropical storms. There are many advantages and disadvantages to living in USDA Zone 9b. I was able to sow my seeds directly in the ground on March 15. The frost was long gone by then and the ground was rapidly warming up. I filled three raised beds with rich composted soil atop my sandy backyard. Everything with the exception of my carrot patch did well in the new raised beds.
There many ups and downs to organic vegetable gardening. Every day is a battle against weeds, animals and bugs. There are a few crops that have flourished despite all of the tropical storms and animal invasions (both domestic and wild). The plants that produced the most vegetables were my pepper plants.
I grew cayenne, jalapeno and Karma red bell peppers. I used my cayenne fresh in chili and Mexican cooking, but most of them ended up strung up to dry for later use. However, the jalapeno peppers were my pride and joy. Ten plants that grew to four plus feet tall and covered with peppers. I pickled many jars of sliced jalapenos, made many batches of jalapeno poppers and canned jalapeno jelly. The jalapeno jelly was a huge hit even among those that can’t tolerate spicy foods. I originally made a small batch to taste test with the intention that I would make more for Christmas gifts. The jalapenos weren’t showing any signs of stopping and I had to find something to do with all of them.
My recipe for jalapeno jelly is very basic and a great starter recipe even if you have never canned before. The basic tools you will need are: a water bath canner, half pint jelly mason jars, lids and rings (this recipe made 5), a food processor or blender. Start off by halving your peppers and removing the seeds (leave a few seeds in if you want to turn up the heat!). You will need 1 cup chopped jalapenos which can add up to be 6-7 peppers depending on their size. Place your peppers in the food processor or blender with 1.5 cups of cranberry juice cocktail and process until the peppers are finely chopped. At this point you may want to run your mixture through a sieve to remove the small jalapeno particles, I prefer to leave them in. Pour your mixture into a large stock pot and add 1 cup of white vinegar and 3 cups of sugar. Heat this over medium-high heat until boiling while stirring constantly. Once your mixture begins to boil add in 1 packet of liquid pectin and bring to a boil again. (Optionally you can add a few drops of red food coloring to enhance the appearance if you like.) Boil this for one minute and remove the foam from the top of the mixture with a spoon. Pour your jelly into hot, sterilized jelly jars. Wipe the rims of the jars and place the rubber seal on top followed by the ring closure. Hand tighten and place in boiling water in your water bath canner and process for 10 minutes from the time the water begins boiling again. Remove your jars and set them on a towel to cool and set. My jars were opened within a few hours and had set up beautifully.
We sampled this on crackers with a small spreading of cream cheese and also on a ham sandwich with spreadable Swiss cheese. It was delicious! I think I will plant as many if not more plants next year after such a wonderful harvest this season.
