> For sheer volume and total weight of peppers I had a Red Rocoto last year... A 2nd year Red Rocoto (from Reimer's!! & not a PI# from USDA) is my best ever single year (by weight) producer. Maybe a total of 70-80 pods. Doesn't sound like much compared to 15 gal of similar sized pods, but pretty darned awesome when compared to the total weight of any other species of capsicum. I've grown some baccatums that were very heavy producers the 2nd year too, but nowhere near the total weight of the rocotos. > Sure wish I knew what PI number it was as it's one tough pepper. Ditto! Second year rocotos can supposedly survive temps that kill everything above ground and still regenerate from the roots. Two days in a row of 25°F temps have always killed mine. One night of upper 20s & have had plants lose their leaves, but still survive. Mr Dutchman, you have grown the most awesome rocotos of anyone I have ever known. (a pod of 150 grams!) jt

Amy, I always plant sweet bells in Spring but you probably could plant in mid-summer for fall. I haven't tried that. I'd rather have the sweet bell plants large, mature and ready to explode into a riot of blooms as soon as the Autumn weather cools off to the appropriate level. I've always felt like bells planted at mid-summer might not be as large or bear as heavily as those planted in Spring. Katie, You can make the famous Garden Web/Harvest Forum recipe for "Annie's Salsa" with ReaLemon or ReaLime juice substituted for the vinegar. Sometimes I make it with 1/3 vinegar, 1/3 ReaLemon, 1/3 ReaLime, but you can use either vinegar, ReaLemon or ReaLime or any combination thereof as long as you use the proper amount. It is an approved substitution for that specfic recipe. The reason ReaLemon and ReaLime are specifically listed is because they consistently test at the proper pH for use as a vinegar substitute in canning, while store brands of lemon and lime juice often test at a lower pH that would make them unsafe to use as a vinegar substitute. Here's a thread with the Annie's Salsa recipe that includes Malna's notes, including the note about using bottled lemon or lime juice. I don't remember if this thread has the explanation about ReaLemon or ReaLime being the approved bottled substitute or if that is in another Annie's Salsa recipe thread (as there are many, many threads about this very popular salsa). I can at least 200 jars of Annie's Salsa a year, and never make it with 100% vinegar, now that we know we can use bottle ReaLemon and ReaLime. We give it away as Christmas presents and our friends beg for more of it year-round. Yes, it is that good! Annie's Salsa Recipe and Notes I also roast and freeze tons of peppers, especially jalapenos, to use in cooking in the non-gardening season when I don't have fresh peppers. Rebecca, I grow pimentoes every now and then, but not really often. A few pimentoes go a long way at our house. Dawn

Mary, That's a long time for a water heater to last! I doubt they make them that well any more. One reason we're not getting new appliances to go with the new cabinets is because all of ours work so well. For a long time, I pondered getting new stainless steel appliances to go with the new gray cabinets, but the more I researched online and read endless reviews, the more I decided there was a good chance that new appliances wouldn't work as well as what we have or last nearly as long, so I hated to take the chance with new ones, even though I think stainless steel would be beautiful with the new cabinets. From all the research I've done, it seems like maybe they just don't make them like they used to. For every positive review of any brand/any model, there's plenty of negative ones. So, I guess we'll hang on to what we have until the day they die, and then we'll hope we luck out and find decent replacements. My Bosch range has ruined me for any other brand, and it is well worth every cent you spend on a good one when it lasts and lasts and lasts. It's never given us any trouble. I cleaned out about half the pantry and 5 or 6 more cabinets today. If I work as hard tomorrow as I did today, I'll have everything emptied out by the end of the day tomorrow, and we can spend the weekend taking down the old cabinets (or most of them, we will keep the sink base/sink in place anothe week probably) and hopefully get started on ripping up the tile floor, which is going to be a beast of a job. It is too hot to work outside anyway, so I might as well be working indoors. The garden looks hot and wilty today. It isn't liking the fact that the heat came back any more than I'm liking it. Amy, When we moved to OK in 1999, Tim dragged along some clothes of his from high school. High school! (We graduated in 1977.) Can you say "pack rat"? It wasn't like he wore them (or even could wear them), but he just couldn't let them go. After we'd been here about 5 years, I told him that I was going to clean out the closet in the guest bedroom and that his high school clothes were leaving this house one way or another. He didn't argue with me. I just don't see the point in hanging on to random bits of clothing that doesn't fit you for at least 25 years. We don't have an abundance of closet space, and I was glad to get rid of that junk. He never gets rid of anything---even when he says he will, he just puts off doing it. So, by cleaning out the kitchen cabinets and pantry I am insuring this project gets off the ground because, with the best of intentions, he'd talk about it but just not get around to starting it. It is my job to make sure we both start it and finish it. I do have his love of home-cooking on my side though, so that will help. There are things I wanted to do to the house after we moved here in 1999, and half of them aren't done yet. So, it isn't like we are good at completing little projects. We are pretty good at getting them done once we start, but finding time to get started seems to be the issue. I'm tired of having a long To Do list that never gets done, so we're starting with the kitchen and laundry room and, once that's done, we'll repaint the breakfast room and living room to match and just keep going from there. Our house is stuck in about 2005 and I am ready to bring it a little further into the current century. Lisa, I am pretty stuck on white subway tile (a timeless classic) and dark gray or black grout. I'd like to be more adventurous, but I think I'll be adventurous with accessories that are easily changed out. There's a lime green subway tile I'd love to have, but I think I'd be tired of it in three or four years. Maybe I'll buy a handful of the lime green tile and tile a wood tray with it or something. My favorite part of the kitchen is going to be the apron-front farmhouse sink. That's how the kitchen remodeling quest started. I just wanted a new sink. We bought it. It sat in the garage for 6 or 7 months and I kept nagging my husband to install it. When all was said and done, we decided the new sink merited new cabinets, and so, while the new sink is still in the box in the garage, by this time next week, the new cabinets should be out there sitting with it. I'm not optimistic enough to think we'll have the kitchen ready for the cabinets before they arrive, but I think that once they do arrive, Tim will be motivated to get the kitchen done because the cabinets will be sitting where he normally parks the pickup. I've been the chief procurement officer---ordering things for the remodel. Once it all starts arriving, he has to help me install everything, or we'll be buried under a pile of kitchen and laundry room stuff. We're going to install everything ourselves. We're good at DIY stuff once we actually get around to doing it. Dawn

Forgot about the vinegar method. That's another good one. I usually fridge pickle the babyAjiAmarello's I grow. Sooz, when you pick up your roasted batch, you might want to get a couple fresh if they sell the by the pound. Interesting flavor depending on the variety and heat level. BigJim is mild hot and slightly sweet. I so agree to get them roasted. We can't get them roasted but not a chore for us as we roast other things early Fall. What I like about theHatchStore is their offering of five varieties from mild to extra spicy. The HatchStore, link, HERE They do sell roasted, flash frozen but gets $$. A note if anyone is interested, 5pounds is 35$, but 10pounds is just 40$. They are shipped every Tuesday, picked and shipped right away. Very fresh. "Although they are good enough chilis, they are still shipped a long distance to get here." Peppers travel well. Peppers are climacteric. Once picked they continue to ripen for some time before they hit peak, then start to loose freshness. So no, I don't agree with that. And most of the Northern states cannot grow large peppers. Hatch NM has the perfect climate. I can get jalapeños, habanero, and poblano, etc year-round. Way too spicy and small for stuffing. Love poblanos. I also find all in the onion family very different. Same with potatoes, summer and winter squash, tomatoes. Even avocados can be very different depending on the variety, where they were grown and the weather any given year. I see nothing wrong with celebrating local harvests. Even shipped. We look forward to artichokes every year from California. Excellent this year. We are celebrating fresh farm stand corn right now. Picked early am, still cool from overnight lower temps. Enjoyed within a few hours. Before the sugars start turning to starch. I'm sure some think a can of corn is just fine, 😜 That said, enjoy your peppers Sooz!