The 2024 gardening season was another fruitful year for my urban homestead. Despite encountering a few challenges, I was able to harvest an abundance of tomatoes, some unsightly but large carrots, and a huge quantity of hot peppers.
Prolific Pepper Production
Peppers, peppers, peppers. Previously I had only tried growing green bell peppers and jalapenos. Last year my bell peppers did not grow well, but I got a lot of jalapenos so I doubled down on those this year. I also ended up planting 2 cayenne chill peppers, a serrano pepper plant, and a Hungarian hot wax pepper plant.
The Hungarian hot wax pepper plant was the first to produce fruit which I started using one or two at a time through the summer to spice up a meal. Next the jalapenos started growing large enough to make poppers out of. The Hungarian hot wax pepper plant seemed to be finished in late August, so I harvested those along with some jalapenos and decided to make some hot pepper jelly.
The serrano and chili peppers also flourished, far exceeding my expectations. In late July I started seeing many of the serrano and cayenne peppers start to turn red. It was exciting. I picked only one of these peppers for a taste test early while I patiently waited for the rest of the plant to mature collectively. Finally in the beginning of September I couldn’t wait any longer and harvested everything I saw that was red. All of the serrano and cayenne peppers were cut and dehydrated with the membrane and seeds from the jalapenos. Once fully dehydrated they were ground and saved in a jar to be used as spicy pepper flakes for pasta, pizza, soups, basically all food.
The second wave harvest happened just a few weeks later in mid-September. Many more of the serrano and cayenne peppers came out along with some beautiful red jalapenos. I had not previously had jalapenos turn red, these are beautiful. All of the jalapenos from this harvest and about half of the cayenne and serrano peppers ended up with the tomatoes in the salsa, while the remaining peppers were also dehydrated and ground up for more spicy pepper flakes.
Some Goofy Carrots
The carrots that I pulled a couple of months back were very short and scraggly, so I had determined to wait until fall to harvest the rest. Over the last couple of months the tops of many carrots had become exposed, likely from the soil settling just like happened to the onions. With the tops of these carrots exposed they changed color above ground, but it also gave a good way to monitor the size of the carrots. Finally again I had the nerve to pull more carrots, holding my breath and hoping that these carrots were going to be much longer than the previous ones.
Great news, they were huge, at least most of them were. They were all very large in diameter and quite long, but they all seem to look quite odd. They have extra legs, took extra turns, and sometimes were intertwined with a nearby partner. Clearly the intertwined ones were because I didn’t thin them after transplant. After some further online investigation I’ve concluded that the reason most of these carrots looked like this was because they were transplanted. It seems the consensus is that carrots need to be direct sown, which I will plan to do next year.
A Bumper Crop of Tomatoes
I started harvesting ripe tomatoes on August 31st when I got about 9.5lbs. Then every few days it seemed I would come up with 3-5 more pounds. The tomato plants continued to thrive through September and as of October 4th have produced an impressive yield of over 65 pounds of ripe roma tomatoes, and still going. There are probably 10 more pounds of tomatoes left on the vine continuing to ripen while we wait for our first frost in Sioux Falls. So far the tomatoes harvested have all been very large in size compared to the ones you find at the store, and have been a beautiful red color and harvested just as they turn tender.
Processing the Tomato Harvest
This year I invested in the KitchenAid fruit and vegetable strainer, part number KSMFVSP, and the required food grinder attachment, part number KSMFGA. The combination of these two devices acts as a food mill allowing me to simply wash, quarter and process my tomatoes resulting in separation of sauce from skins and seeds. Much easier than last year when all of the skins were removed by hand, and all of the seeds remained in the salsa.
This attachment proved to be a game-changer, significantly speeding up the processing time. For each batch of tomatoes processed I put in 1-gallon freezer bags and saved in the freezer until I had enough collected to process a large batch. I also learned last year that I didn’t have enough volume in pots to process such large quantities, so I purchased a 20-quart stainless steel pot to use this year.
On September 21, my freezer was filled with several bags of frozen tomato sauce, it was time to make salsa.
Dicing bell peppers. 
Blending red jalapenos, cayenne, and serrano peppers. 
Tomatoes that were frozen whole before milling. 
Pot full of onions and peppers next to thawing tomatoes 
Salsa all mixed together, and sterilizing jars. 
Showing size of new 20qt pot. 
Water bath canning 2nd to last batch while keeping final 3 jars warm and ready for water bath. 
28 pint jars of salsa water bath canned, Sept 2024
Lessons Learned
Despite the overall success of the garden, there were a few lessons learned along the way:
- Avoid overcrowding: I realized that I had once again overcrowded my garden, limiting the growth potential of some plants.
- Direct seeding for carrots: To prevent carrots from becoming stunted, it’s essential to direct seed them rather than transplanting seedlings.
- Pepper versatility: I discovered that my garden beds are well-suited for growing a variety of peppers, including serrano, cayenne, and jalapeno varieties.
- Adjust herb plantings: I learned that basil, parsley, and dill can become quite prolific. In the future, I will plant fewer of these herbs to avoid overproduction.
- Onion depth: To ensure onions grow to their full potential, they should be planted deeper in the soil.
- Florida trellis effectiveness: The Florida trellis system worked well for supporting the tomato plants, but some of the plants grew too low, allowing tomatoes to touch the ground.
- Chicken poop compost benefits: The compost made from chicken poop continued to be a valuable asset, contributing to the impressive tomato and pepper harvest.
Overall, the 2024 gardening season was a resounding success. By implementing the lessons learned from previous years and making strategic adjustments, I was able to maximize my garden’s productivity and enjoy a bountiful harvest.
