WEEKLY GARDEN THREAD VOLUME 48 NOVEMBER 29, 2013

11/29/13 | greeneyes

[greeneyes]

The Weekly Gardening Thread is a weekly gathering of folks that love soil, seeds and plants of all kinds. From complete newbies that are looking to start that first potted plant, to gardeners with some acreage, to Master Gardener level and beyond, we would love to hear from you. This thread is non-political, although you will find that most here are conservative folks. No matter what, you won’t be flamed and the only dumb question is the one that isn’t asked. It is impossible to hijack the Weekly Gardening Thread. There is no telling where it will go and... that is part of the fun and interest. Jump in and join us!

NOTE: This is a once a week ping list. We do post to the thread during the week. Links to related articles and discussions which might be of interest are welcomed, so feel free to post them at any time.

[rightly_dividing]

I have some hot peppers and cant seen to find a suitable hot sauce recipe. Could you help, please?

[Marcella]

The first time I had hot sauce with cilantro in it, I thought it was heavenly bliss. That particular sauce was homemade by a Mexican type fellow. Pace puts out a commercial one with cilantro and I don't have any but now I want some. Next time I go to grocery, it will be on the list.

What word do we use now for a man who was born here and whose parents are of Mexican heritage but they are citizens just like he is. Is it okay to call him a Mexican-American? See, I think it was one of his Mexican heritage parents that taught him how to make that wonderful sauce. Or, do I just forget he is of Mexican lineage and never bring it up? He also speaks Spanish fluently.

My ancestors from both sides came from England. On my father's side, in the early 1800s, his grandfather or great grandfather married a full blood Choctaw woman when that tribe was headed to Oklahoma to the Choctaw reservation and they stopped in Arkansas for a while and that's how she came into the family. I'm 1/16 or 1/32 Choctaw, so maybe you should call me an Indian. Hussein, the so called president, has some negro blood so he is likely 1/2 negro and he's called a black not a half black, half white. Why is he not called white? Now, I'm totally confused.

[JRandomFreeper]

Mine is very specific and makes quarts.

I'll dig out the recipe tomorrow and post it for you. I did actually measure out the ingredients once when I was kitchen manager at a sports bar, so my guys could make it when I wasn't there.

/johnny

[JRandomFreeper]

Mestizos or pardo or castas, but that is a highly charged subject and generally not discussed by us crackers.

/johnny

[rightly_dividing]

Thanks

[Marcella]

We would all want your hot sauce recipe. See if you can give us the amounts to be less than a gallon or I can guess at it.

[greeneyes]

It should be interesting to see what is down there. LOL

I am thinking about having hubby install roll out drawers in all my base cabinets to make it easier to get to stuff.

[greeneyes]

Here’s a link to get you started. It has plants and herbs listed that work well together, and also ones to avoid.

Off the top of my head, I can’t remember the answer to your question. I am just getting started with medicinal herbs and such myself.

http://www.companionplanting.net/ListofCompanionPlants.html

[Marcella]

Thanks for the link, I’ll go there and read and copy what I need.

[Silentgypsy]

When you apply that theory with regular veggies and fruits and stuff, it’s called “companion planting.” When I gardened in the desert, Dave the Garden Guy was my guru and he was big on organics and companion planting. Spousal unit schedule requires mobilization of physical entity early today, but will scout around and remit what I find. (I adore fennel, but it induces really weird stuff in other plants. Therefore, any fennel I ever plant is gonna be very, very lonely.)

[Silentgypsy]

Oh, greeneyes got it. Here I am, a dollar short and a day late, as usual. Thanks, greeneyes!

[Marcella]

I am copying all this about companion planting in a Word document and will print it out. I figured some plants would be bad if planted in a container with certain other plants but I didn’t know which ones hated other ones for screwing up their product.

And, with herbs, two things to consider: plant the annuals together (1) unless one hates another one (2). Many of the plants overall will be in separate containers but I will have some containers to accept more than one plant and I didn’t know what to do with those.

[JRandomFreeper]

2.5 lbs of Roma tomatoes
1 large sweet yellow onion, quartered
6 large jalpenos (adjust for heat)
2 chipoltle peppers in adobo sauce
1 can (14.5 oz) Rotel Original
salt
pepper
garlic clove (peeled)
1/4 cup white vinegar
1 bunch cilantro

Char the tomatoes, onion quarters, and jalapenos on all sides on dry flat grill or comal.

Quarter tomatoes, and slice jalpenos, remove seeds for less heat.

Place all ingredients in blender and blend until coarsely chopped.

Adjust seasoning with salt, pepper, sugar, and lime juice for balance and acidity.

[JRandomFreeper]

I quartered the recipe. It should make a little over a quart.

/johnny

[Marcella]

Thanks a bunch, I will copy it (I’m glad you found it.)

[rightly_dividing]

Thanks for the recipe. Will pick up the necessary stuff and give it a try. It sounds great.

[JRandomFreeper]

Because of the variablity of peppers and tomatoes, it's a starting point, and should be adjusted for your taste. I specify romas because they are meaty. I would not use a juicing tomato for this recipe.

Make adjustments with lime juice and sugar in SMALL increments. It's easy to overdo it.

/johnny

[JRandomFreeper]

Charring the skin of the tomatoes, onions, and peppers gives it a whole different level of flavor.

/johnny

[Marcella]

“burnt” is good.

[greeneyes]

I'll have to grow some Roma’s next year and try out this recipe. It will be too hot for hubby, so I'll probably use fooled you jalapenos in the batch for him.LOL