Jalapenos have taken over my countertop. For the first time this year, I decided to grow a jalapeno plant in a pot in front of my house. Whew boy, did it take off—with minimal attention on my part. The explosion of jalapenos I’ve been harvesting over the past month or two is terrific, but it also has me in a quandary. 

A jalapeno harvest is exciting—but it leaves the gardener wondering what to do with all the spicy little peppers once they’re picked. Photo By Julie Collins.

You see, I like a good jalapeno with a Mexican dish here and there. But I don’t eat them religiously. Most of the people I cook for can’t handle the heart-burning effects of peppers.

Still, I don’t want all these jalapenos to go to waste—so I’m looking for some ways to use or save them beyond chopping them up and adding them to recipes pronto.

Jalapenos can be dried, frozen, pickled, preserved in olive oil, or smoked. Of course, making salsa and using them up in recipes are great options too. Photo By Julie Collins.

Here’s what I’m contemplating:

Drying

This looks like it’s a piece of cake. Just wash your jalapenos and let them dry, then place them on a plate or wire rack or string them up and hang them in a well-ventilated room. Wait several weeks and voila, you have dried jalapeno peppers for displaying or grinding.

Freezing

To save some of my crop for later, I might wash them and place them in a freezer in a two-pound freezer bag. You can skin or peel them, roast them, or chop them first if you like. (Odds are, when you thaw them out, they’ll be limp and squishy—but they’ll still taste fine.)

Pickling

I found a handy, relatively easy recipe for pickling jalapeno peppers courtesy of Lesley Cooks. 

Preserving with olive oil

I wouldn’t have thought to do this until I stumbled on the Jalapeno Madness website. You can preserve your spicy little friends by roasting the jalapenos in a broiler until the skins are bubbly and blackened, skinning them, cutting the flesh into strips, and adding the strips to a clean jar with enough olive oil to cover. If you make sure the lid is airtight and refrigerate them immediately, they should last for a week or more.

Smoking

Mother Earth News has a great story on how you can smoke jalapeno peppers in your own backyard. Why not try it this weekend?

Then again, maybe I’ll just head to the farmer’s market to round up the ingredients for salsa and make a few jars of it to share with family and friends. I’m also dying to try this Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Thingies recipe from The Pioneer Woman. Maybe now’s the time, even if I am the only one in the family who will eat them?

What’s your favorite way to use your jalapeno harvest? I’d love some suggestions!

Warning: Remember to be careful when handling jalapeno peppers, because the oils in the peppers can burn your skin. Wear plastic gloves and, if your hands do touch the peppers, wash them immediately with soap and water.

No matter the season, growing herbs, flowers and vegetables indoors can be immensely gratifying. The sights and smells of burgeoning plants improve moods and indoor air quality, though the guarantee of fresh basil in your kitchen windowsill may be all the inspiration you need. 

Our culture has become increasingly design savvy. Hova Design, created by two gentlemen dedicated to “providing an innovative solution to the needs of gardeners and plants alike,” has taken gardening decor to another level. Their first product is called FabricPot, and it’s exactly what it sounds like—a plant pot made from fabric.

The two FabricPot shapes available: Frusto (left) and Silo, featuring fabrics from Angela Adams. Photo Courtesy Hova Design.

For gardeners, FabricPots have many benefits:

• Robust, unbreakable container

• Minimizes mold growth

• Prevents the re-absorption of soluble salts from fertilizers

• Allows plant roots to aerate properly and grow naturally

On top of being uber-useful for plants and gardeners, FabricPots have a number of eco-benefits as well:

• Fabric sleeves are made from 100 percent recycled polyester

• Pot bases are made from recyclable plastic

• Folds flat for shipping and storage

• Plants won’t dry out too fast or too slow, helping conserve water

A simple view of how FabricPots help plants reach their greatest potential. Photo Courtesy Hova Design.

Decor-savvy readers listen up—this is for you! Both FabricPot sizes are currently available in fabrics from Angela Adams, modern-casual designer extraordinaire. BONUS: FabricPots’ Angela Adams collection is currently on-sale at 40-50 percent off. Healthy plants, healthy homes, chic style—Hova Design’s FabricPots are a happy medium for everyone.

Editor's Note: Natural Home does not recommend, approve or endorse the products/services offered by companies guest bloggers review online. You should use your own judgment and evaluate products and services carefully before deciding to purchase. 

I was optimistic about my garden’s tomato outlook at the beginning of this growing season. I planted cherry and Roma in pots in front of my house, plus a Big Boy and two heirloom varieties in the ground down the street at my honey’s parents’ house. Then, long after these plants were busy growing, I rescued two tiny, limp heirloom plants from the greenhouse (practically free!) and planted them in big buckets in front of our house with the other potted plants.

While the tomatoes began growing, I dreamt of the overabundance I was certain I’d harvest in no time. I’d have more than I could handle for caprese salads, BLTs and homemade sauces. I’d pass along bags of beautiful, ripe, juicy orbs to friends and family to share the love. I’d even try my hand at canning a few. 

But then what is usually the beginning of a long, fruitful tomato season passed with nary a red tomato in sight. I lamented the fact I was an inexperienced grower who had botched my tomato gardening.

Only it wasn’t just my plants—long-time tomato growers in the area experienced the same plight, and even the pickin’s at the farmer’s market were slim. Those tomatoes that did appear on people’s vines tended to be a bit mushy, tinier than usual, and not nearly as tasty as a fresh-from-the-vine fruit is supposed to be. 

Part of the problem in our parts: this summer’s weather. I did a bit of research to try to figure out why it affected my tomato harvest this year: 

Late blooming  

We had a few weeks of ridiculously hot temperatures early in the summer, and then cooler temps and a lot of rain at the time when the tomatoes really should have taken off. Long after plants around here should have been heavily laden with tomatoes, very few had even formed. This may be because lower night temperatures (below 55 degrees Fahrenheit) or high day temperatures (above 95 degree Fahrenheit) mean tomatoes do not set and flowers drop.

Although they look healthy, these tomatoes likely won’t taste as great as similar fruits in years past because they are taking so long to ripen. Photo By Julie Collins.

Slow growing  

Even when the tomatoes did set, they grew incredibly slowly and took forever to show color. According to the University of Illinois Extension, tomatoes are highest quality when they ripen on healthy vines and daily summer temperatures average about 75 degrees Fahrenheit. With cool temperatures and way too much rain, colorful tomatoes were tardy. 

Slow-growing tomatoes are a problem in many parts of Illinois this year, due to weather fluctuations and wet conditions. Photo By Julie Collins.

Blossom end rot  

The bottom of most of my Romas turned black and mushy early this season and continue to do so now. The problem, according to the Colorado Extension (which offers a handy chart for identifying the cause of your tomato troubles, by the way), is blossom end rot, which occurs due to a combination of cold temps or excessive heat during blossom set, plus fluctuations in water supply. This leads to a calcium deficiency within the plants.

Many of the Roma tomatoes on this plant were afflicted with blossom end rot due to temperature and water supply inconsistencies. Some of the tomatoes, however, were not affected. (And made for a tasty garden-fresh pasta sauce.) Photo By Julie Collins.

Yellowing leaves

Fusarium wilt and Fusarium crown rot are two possible causes of yellowing leaves. With Fusarium crown rot, older leaves yellow then often turn brown or black and wilt. With Fusarium wilt, the yellow leaves turn down and droop. Some of my tomato plants in pots are experiencing what looks like Fusarium wilt, but it may be my watering practices—over- and under-watering can mimic such disease symptoms.

The first tomato of the season is cause to celebrate—and this gardener looks forward to many more slices before the summer is out, despite early growing trouble. Photo By Julie Collins.

Despite these troubles, my tomatoes are coming around. I harvested quite a few of them last weekend and plan to pick more today. Sadly, they aren’t nearly as tasty as the tomatoes I ate all last season (when sometimes they didn’t make it past the cutting board before I devoured them). 

But I’m not quite ready to chalk this tomato season up to a loss yet. 

Last summer, my first as a gardener, I started a container garden in my front yard. I learned the basics of planning and planting in containers through a bit of careful research and plenty of trial and error.

Once my plants got growing, I discovered my work was just beginning. To reap the rewards of a great harvest (and keep my container plants healthy and happy all summer long), my pots needed:

The right amount of water

To make certain my fledgling plants had enough water, I gave them a hearty drink from my watering can each day—but was careful not to drown them. Installing a drip irrigation system (yep, they work with pots) would have saved time, but I enjoy watering by hand and prefer to use water from my rain barrel. To help your pots hold in moisture, consider topping the soil with compost, straw, or grass clippings.

Frequent, deep watering keeps potted plants healthy. Use a watering can rather than a hose to conserve water. Photo By Julie Collins.

Great light

How much light do the plants you picked need each day to thrive? Figure that out from the get-go, so you can position your pots appropriately. Pots are portable, of course, but trust me: Once that tomato takes off, it’s going to be a pain to lug around. That’s why I situated all of my pots right in front of the house—where they get plenty of direct sun most of the day—and let them be.

Nutrients

I didn’t fertilize like a madwoman. In fact, I hardly fertilized at all, aside from the addition of a purchased organic fertilizer halfway through the summer.

This lack of attention to my container garden’s soil probably explains a few of last year’s lackluster plants. My big boys, yellow tomatoes, and green peppers were awfully shrimpy. Although my cucumber plant blossomed like it had potential, eventually it faltered. Much to my chagrin, none of the cucs ever made it past their tiny, spiky stage.

Because nutrients escape from the soil every time you water your plants, it’s important to fertilize your containers every couple of weeks. Photo By Julie Collins.

To avoid my plant problems, try natural fertilizers that provide the nitrogen, potassium, phosphorous, and micronutrients your plants need—compost tea, worm castings, liquid organic fertilizers, fish emulsion, and kelp meal all work. Heck, you can even dump some used coffee grounds on the soil to up its nitrogen content.

Pest control

When I started my container garden last summer, I knew I didn’t want to use chemical pesticides. That led me to a natural gardening technique I call “watch and wait.” In other words, I didn’t do much aside from picking off bugs and trimming any infected portions of my plants.

Placing pots of marigolds and other companion plants next to potted veggies can help ward off pests naturally. Photo By Julie Collins.

One reason this hands-off approach worked: Prevention was my friend. I began with healthy, organic soil, kept an eye out for weak and infected plants (and removed them when necessary), and planted a variety of crops so pests couldn’t spread easily.

Another trick: When I watered, I avoided watering the foliage and concentrated on the base of the plants. Wet leaves attract insects and may cause fungal damage—neither of which are any fun.

If pests are problematic, there are easy, natural steps you can take to remedy the situation. Try introducing beneficial insects to do the pest control work for you. Or spray a nontoxic, homemade remedy customized to the pest problem you’re facing. Traps and barriers are other options, depending on the pests you’re dealing with. Learn more about safely pest-proofing your garden.

Harvest appreciation

When it came time, I harvested the fruits of my labor and enjoyed cooking fresh from my container garden. My eggplant was a workhorse and produced big, beautiful purple fruits for a good portion of the summer. My lettuces and herbs grew fast and furious. Although, as I mentioned above, a few of my plants struggled due to lack of nutrients, all in all I was happy with my first year’s attempt at container gardening.

Follow the pointers above, and hopefully you will be too!

Only two weeks ago I moved out of my tiny New York dorm room and into an even tinier apartment. But while my new home might be a little lacking in space, it has one feature that more than makes up for it: windows. Big, beautiful, sun-filled windows.

So to bring a little green into my crazy city life, I’m lining my windowsills with plants— herbs to be exact. Not only does an herb garden brighten up your house, but it also gives you a constant supply of fresh herbs to use in cooking, garnish your dishes, or even infuse your favorite tea. Starting an herb garden on your windowsill is actually fairly simple.

First, find a south or southwest facing window. These get the most light during the day, and you want your plants to get at least 4 to 6 hours of sunlight. Next, look for a container that will fit on your windowsill. You can use anything as long as it won’t melt in the sun and has good drainage. Because of the drainage you will also want a reservoir bowl or saucer to place under your pot to keep your sill dry. If you live somewhere that gets very cold, you might want to invest in a terra-cotta pot which will insulate your plants during the winter.

Now, fill your container with potting soil or a soilless potting mix. Don’t use dirt from your garden since the soil composition is not good for growing plants indoors! Gently place your plants in the pot and fill with soil, making sure to leave plenty of room for growth and at least an inch at the top for watering.

One of the trickiest parts of gardening is knowing how often to water your plants, and being very careful not to over water them. You should only water your herbs when the top of the soil feels dry to the touch.

To keep your herbs thriving, you can fertilize them by adding a little compost to the soil every 6 to 8 weeks. I have an indoor composter which turn my kitchen scraps into excellent plant food. It’s an easy, green way to dispose of odds and ends without throwing them away.  

Now you can have fresh herbs year-round.

Deep windowsills like this one are the perfect for growing herbs. Photo By Greg Palmer/Courtesy Flickr 

Herbs that grow well indoors include rosemary, bay leaf, parsley, thyme, chives, oregano, mint, sage, cilantro and dill. Chives are particularly easy to grow and good for someone unsure of how green their thumb may be. Mint comes in many varieties and has a strong, fragrant aroma. It is often used in soups, salads, or tea. Parsley is a good choice if you like to garnish your dishes.

One of my favorite herbal recipes is a honey mustard glaze that I use with ham or pork tenderloin roasts. All you need is:

• 2 tbsp country dijon mustard

• 1-2 tbsp honey

• 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary, chopped

Mix the mustard and the honey in a small dish. I usually use 1 or 1 1/2 tbsp of honey, although you can add more if you prefer a sweeter taste. Add the chopped rosemary and drizzle on top of the meat before cooking.