producing ever more

It is October and the temperatures have dropped. And yet, the tomato plants and hot pepper plants continue to produce flower and fruit. It's baffling to me, or perhaps this is not surprising to seasoned gardeners. In any case, it's great to see! The tomatoes have been very juicy and tasty! The jalapeño still lack the heat I expect but the cayenne does pack a surprising punch!

I am pleased that I will continue to have tomatoes and hot peppers into autumn.

garden tomato soup

It was a productive Sunday on the balcony garden. I was cleaning up dead and dried leaves from the tomato plants. Surprisingly, our plants are still producing tomatoes; flowering and pollinating themselves. This is also true for the jalapeño and cayenne pepper plants. One particular plant just keeps on producing though I must admit, it's not that spicy.

I gathered a bunch more tomatoes, basil, and jalapeños, and made tomato soup. I roasted all ingredients with olive oil, salt, and pepper for 30 minutes. I placed all ingredients in a pot on low heat and picked off the skins that peeked off from roasting it in the oven. Then blended it with a cup of water. I let it come to boil and added balsamic vinegar and salt to taste.

TH loved it.

jalapeños

Last week I wrote about the success of one of the other chili pepper plants, the jalapeños. Another jalapeño plant has also produced some fruit as well. It's not a great abundance but we certainly have more than we normally buy. I love how plentiful they look on a single plant, just dangling the way they are.