Lettuce Have Breakfast

Picked the first lettuce leaves of the season today. They really shot up after all the rain we had this week. I don't have a pic of the garden because it is raining, but here's the maple sausage biscuit & jack cheeze sandwich my husband just ate with fresh buttercrunch. Yum!

Umm, so it's been a year....

I've been gardening, just not blogging. I do still find my blog useful occasionally though, so I'd like to try to keep it a little more up to date.

For instance, this week I noticed my chive plants were finally blooming. I thought for sure they were about a month late, and I remembered that two years ago I'd kept notes on harvest times. So I looked back at that list, but lo and behold, they were right on time. Amazing how your memory can be so wrong!

I'm still living in the same home, although hoping to move. For a variety of reasons, we just haven't put the house up for sale yet. My son is now 2.5 and keeping us busy. Therefore, I'm continuing to go light on gardening and trying to keep things simple.

Here's a few pics I've managed to take so far this spring.

On March 31st I had my first harvest: some baby chives that I used on potato salad for our Easter dinner. They really put this humdrum side dish over the top!

     

And this is my strawberry bed on April 21st. Unfortunately you can only see 2 strawberry plants, and the rest are romaine and buttercrunch lettuces that I'd just planted. The triple digit heatwaves last summer burnt my poor strawberries to a crisp, and this is all that came back. Compared to this photo from 2010 it really is so sad. Hopefully they'll survive and send out some runners for next year. 

I also planted a few flowers in the back, along with some wild violets I'd successfully transplanted from our lawn last summer. 

That's it. Not very exciting, but at least it is something! We'll see how much I can blog the rest of the season.

Spring has Sprung

Well, it isn't exactly spring yet, at least until the equinox on March 20th. But this weekend was gorgeous - in the upper 50's and bright sun all day Sat and Sun. Unfortunately, I was stuck inside working. I managed to get out for a quick walk through the garden today though. Considering there is still about 2 inches of snow on the ground in shady places, I was surprised to see quite a few new green baby plants coming up! Here's a photo roundup of each happy harbinger.

First, I'm thrilled with the rosemary you see to the left. It is too cold in my climate for anything but the hardiest rosemary to survive the winter. Two years ago I bought an unspecified variety from a local nursery and it completely died over the winter. So last spring I got a new variety that was supposed to be extra cold tolerant - Logee Blue. Considering this was the coldest and snowiest winter we've had in about 20 years, I never thought it would survive. But as you can see from the left, it looks pretty good! I'm sure we'll be seeing new growth on it soon.

Here's a couple more that don't need much explanation.

Chamomile that reseeded itself for the second spring in a row (I only planted one plant in 2008!):
Biennial Chard growing back for it's second season:
Black Hollyhock (This will be it's second season. I hope it flowers this year, unlike last summer.):
Chives (I am so looking forward to sprinkling those yummy flowers all over my salads!):
Mystic Merlin Mallow (It produced one pretty purple flower last year. I can't wait to see more.)
These were the first pictures I've taken with my new camera. Its a Canon PowerShot SD780 IS. I still have to finish reading the instructions to learn more about taking manual shots, so these were just taken on auto macro setting. I'm pretty impressed with the quality for quick auto shots though. They definitely look better than my old camera, and its great I only had to take one photo of each - no blurring from shaky hands.

Not a Fail Afterall. Hooray!

It turns out the carrots and turnips weren't dead afterall! It warmed up and hit 50 this Saturday, so I went outside to see if the carrots were still edible. To my surprise, the green tops had perked back up and looked alive! They were still damaged, but nowhere nearly as bad as the greens in the other bed (which are definitely still dead, or at least dormant).

The next test was taste, and the carrots passed with flying colors! Sweet and cruchy, they tasted just as good as they did in the summer. So I picked 90% of them. I figured I might as well eat them when I knew the eating was good, before it snows again. I left in just a few as a test, to see how long they'll last.

The turnips were also alive, but the ones I picked seemed a tiny bit soft. I am still going to try cooking them to see how they taste, but I haven't gotten around to it yet.

I lightly steamed the carrots along with some green beans, then finished them off in a saute pan with a bit of vegan butter, toasted fennel seeds and garlic. They were delicious! It was my first time using fennel seeds like that. I would definitely make this dish again (it was based off this recipe).

I had two friends over for dinner last night so I served them along with chickpea cutlets parmigiana (with Teese mozarella), homemade teese & unpepperoni stromboli, and saffron risotto from Nonna's Italian Kitchen.
We also had an endive and apple salad as a first course. Next year my goal is to grow endives so we can have them fresh in the winter. In any case, my friends were happy they trekked on NJ transit all the way from the LES. :-)

Four Season Gardening = Fail

Well, not a total fail - but definitely not a success! The plants under my rowcovers have been dead since it first dipped into the low 20's back in early December. Here is what the greens bed looks like today:
Even the mache is frozen. So much for that!

And here is the bed of carrots. The turnips look the same.
I wish I had known this was going to happen, so I could have at least picked everything when I saw the temps were heading down that low. A lot of good food was wasted. My brother says I can still dig the carrots up and eat them, but I've read in other places frozen ground will turn them into mush. In any case the ground is frozen hard right now, and it is so cold out I have no intention of going out there to dig. Nope, I'm staying right here on the couch with my fuzzy blanket, snoozing doggy and tea.

Overall, I don't feel too bad. At least it was a learning experience. Now I know what the Agribon can do, so next year I can plan better. And it did at least make everything last until early December. If it hadn't been the coldest winter on record in over a decade, it might have worked better. I'm also still glad I built the rowcovers, because I'm sure it will help me get an early start in the spring. Now I've just got to be patient and wait for horrible January and February to pass!

C'est la vie!

Update: Looks like the problem is I needed an additional layer of poly. Thanks Robin! I am definitely going to try it. http://www.mofga.org/Default.aspx?tabid=833

Final Haul on a Frosty November Morning

Turns out it already frosted last night. I went out bright and early this morning to pick as much as I could before work, and discovered a light frost on everything. Above you can see it on the nasturtiums, already starting to melt in the sun around 7:30 AM. And here is even more on the shady side of the garden:
Considering last night was only expected to go down to 42 degrees or so, and tonight is supposed to go down to 35 - I'm pretty sure we'll get a killing frost tonight. So I desperately picked and picked this morning. Here's the haul so far - not pictured is a huge bowl of kung pao peppers, and I still haven't gotten to any of the edible flowers or herbs. I can't wait to make green tomato salsa, relish, and fried green tomatoes. Yum. Clockwise from the top left: (yellow bowl) red grape tomatoes, (tupperware) jalapenos, (counter) bell peppers, (blue bowl) Roma tomatoes, (pink bowl) yellow grape tomatoes and (silver bowl) Rutger's tomatoes:
It was actually quite lovely out there this morning, once I dragged myself out from under the warm fuzzy covers. The sun was beautiful, streaming through the frosty air. It was a very enjoyable way to start the day. Too bad I'm always so sleepy and can't haul myself out of bed earlier to have breakfast out there every morning!

Frost Warning!!

Oh no. I knew this day would come. There is still soooo much stuff left in the garden, it will take me a day to harvest it all!! Green tomatoes, hot peppers, lots more bell peppers, flowers...dang. And there is no way I can take another day off.

This is why I really hate winter - getting home after dark. I can't pick anything if I can't see it. We really need to get some proper lighting for the backyard. It is at the top of a very long list of things this house needs. (homeownership is no joke, that's for sure!)

I guess I can try to get up early and at least get some in the morning, but this is even more complicated tomorrow since I have to go vote. (still don't know who I'm voting for - I don't like Corzine or Christie)

Oh well, at least I already have the row covers up. I guess I'll just have to pick as much as I can. We'll see what I get tomorrow.

Big Fall Harvest

Wow, I can't believe how much I picked today, and I didn't even get to any flowers.

Here it is: bell peppers, italian frying peppers, lots of hot peppers, mustard greens, a couple radishes, basil, two kinds of mint and shiso leaf:
The peppers and mustard greens I can handle, but the mint and basil are going to be tough. I've got to pick all of the good leaves off individually, then dry them. That's a lot of picking. Uggh. I better get to it. At least I'll have plenty for the winter.

Also, here's a quick pick of my new dehydrator in response to Chris' comment:I'll be using it to dry everything.

Do I love my garden or what?! Took the day off edition

You might remember this "Do I love my garden or what?!" post from last year's veganmofo. Well, it is kind of interesting to reflect on - things are looking better this year, what with my Agribon rowcovers instead of sheets.

Still, I took today off from work (it was a slow week, so my boss was fine with it) just to work in my garden haha! It is bright and sunny, about as good as a fall day could be. Although we haven't had a frost yet (very unusual) we've had extended cool temperatures so things are starting to show signs of dying. The leaves on the herbs are turning brown, which I definitely don't want since I am trying to dry and preserve them for winter. I have a number of things I want to get done:

1. harvest and dry the hot peppers (habanero & kung pao, mainly. The jalapenos still haven't turned red)
   
2. harvest and dry herbs (shiso, oregano, marjoram, eucalyptus, sage, mint, chives & lavender)
3. harvest and dry the edible marigolds
4. harvest the nasturtiums and make something with them for dinner
5. pull down the malabar spinach. It has spots all over it now, since it is a tropical plant I think it is hating the cool weather
6. sew the extension onto the agribon covering the lettuce bed

Jeesh! It is a lot for one day. I've also got to clean my house since I'll probably have people over for a Halloween party this weekend, and I need to put another coat of plaster/joint compound on a drywall project in the upstairs bathroom. I'm sure I won't get everything done, but, I'll try my best.

Four Season Harvest "Chenilles" Low Tunnels Completed

Just finished building two low row covers for my winter crops. I did it as described on page 89 of Eliot Coleman's book, "Four Season Harvest". Apparently this is a French innovation - to have little loops on each hoop so you can tie a rope to hold it down, rather than burying it with dirt. This makes it easier to harvest and vent.

I used #9 wire, and bent it into a semi-circle shape a little longer than he said, actually 8' long instead of 6.5' since my beds are wider. (approx. 40 - 42" rather than 30 - 36" he calls for) I used needle-nose pliers to put a loop about 1.5' from each end, again a bit longer than he called for (1'). It needed to be longer to accomodate the cinder blocks. I pushed them about a foot into the ground on either end.
Then I laid the #30 Agribon over it. (actually this was better as a two person job, and Mr. Aubade helped a lot - both with cutting and shaping the hoops, then with laying down the fabric) I finished it by tying poly outdoor rope like a shoelace through each loop.

The first one came out too short, so I've got to staple on about 2 feet more. It had lettuce, arugula, mache and mustard greens in that bed (not pictured).

But the second try, as seen here in the pictures, seemed to work pretty well. This bed has carrots, chard and turnips in it. It didn't come out quite like I had hoped, as it seems a little wobbly - but I think it will be ok since my backyard isn't too windy. Guess we'll see how it goes. This is definitely an experiment. I just want to see how long the plants will live.

Spring Harvest and Two Meals

Here's a good pic of the different kinds of radish I grew this spring. White Icicle, Easter Egg (white, pink, purple, maroon) & Red Globe. Most of the White Icicles ended up taking a bit too long to mature, so by the time they were big enough to eat, they had bolted and gotten woody. I think they'll be better in the fall. The Easter Egg & Red Globe, on the other hand - were fantastic - I picked about 100 more that aren't pictured here.



Now here's a picture of the Mustard Greens. I picked at least 3 more armfuls as big as this one. They were so tender and delicious. The trick is to saute them with a little maple or agave syrup to bring out their sweetness. I will definitely grow these again.






This is a big pile of Arugula. I also picked about 3 more piles this size. It is great sauteed like spinach. I like to mix the sauteed Arugula in with a tomato bean sauce and put it on pasta. It's also good just raw as a salad green. I love the nutty taste.

I even used the arugula flowers in a meal one evening. They have the same nutty taste as the leaves, delicious! You can see them at the top right corner of this picture:

It is cajun-spiced seitan on a bed of radish & mustard greens (sauteed w/ garlic, smoked paprika & red pepper flakes), dirty rice, and a wonderful salad composed of thinned baby turnips and beets, plus radishes w/ chive & arugula blossoms and a light herb vinagrette. I really do like the taste of the chive blossoms. I sprinkle them on everything now.

But that meal was nothing compared to this brunch! Grilled Vcon smoky tempeh w/ black-eyed pea salsa & grilled smoked rosemary potatoes + mustard greens sauteed in the leftover tempeh marinade. It is all sprinkled with chive blossoms and also dollops of oregano pesto. (I had to make something with the oregano since I have sooo much of it. The pesto was tasty!). More purplish-pink easter egg radishes on the side, with a bit of the pesto on the end + chamomile flowers. The yellow flowers by the pile of greens were actually mustard green flowers. Spring is great!

The Best Laid Plans...

So, I had all these previous posts with ambitious plans to plant by the moon phases, start this and that inside, blah blah blah. Well, most of it didn't happen. Haha I've just been too busy.

But tomorrow looks perfect. I'm just about to finish a project I've been writing so tomorrow will be clear for nothing but fun. The weather report is looking great- in the mid 70's and sunny. (despite what my weather widget says in the sidebar- apparently it is broken)

So tonight I want to get some seeds in water to soak them over night. I don't want to pre-soak too many, or else I'll end up like a few weeks ago planting 200 radish seeds for 2 hours straight. (good thing I like radishes!) So I'm trying to work out a good estimate here to get the right number for my space:

The measurements of the new bed these are going in: 39" x 94"

• Beets: sow 1" apart, 1/2" deep, 12" rows, thin to 2 (babies) - 4" (storage) apart

• Carrots: sow 1" apart, 1/2" deep, cover with soil lightly. keep moist. thin 10 1" apart when 1 to 2" high, then again later when they're bigger to 2" apart

• Turnips: sow 1" apart, 1/4" deep. rows 6" apart for babies, 12" for bigger ones. When seedlings 3 - 5" high, thin to 3"apart

So wow, if the bed is 94" long and they all get sowed 1" apart, that means I have to sow nearly 300 seeds tomorrow! Oh my. Well, at least I'll be getting lots of exercise!

Note: I got the planting directions above from Barbara Damrosch's "The Garden Primer". She's the wife of Eliot Coleman who wrote "Four Season Harvest". They really seem to know their stuff so I'm going by what she says.

Also, my Agribon finally arrived today!! Now I just need to get wire and make the chenille row covers as described in Eliot's book. I have about a snowball's chance in hell of getting this all done tomorrow, but, at least it's finally here!

Pea Update

It's been just about 32 days since I planted all those peas. I thought they were all doing pretty well. They look healthy and some are now about 3-4 inches tall.

But then I just looked at this post about the same dark-seeded early perfection peas I planted last fall. At 33 days old, last year they were WAY bigger than the ones I have now. I have them now on the same trellis, but they haven't even reached the bottom rung yet (see above), whereas the ones in the pic from last year are above the second rung and already have a few flowers!

As you can see on the right I have the sugar snaps on a bigger 6 foot tall trellis, but they haven't reached the bottom rung yet either.

I think they must just grow really slowly in the cold weather we've been having. It even snowed again yesterday morning. Just flurries, but overall this spring has been the coldest I remember in a long time. Bummer.

I planted them early because it gets so hot and humid here pretty quickly in June, and everything I read says that will kill peas. And if it takes 60 days for them to mature, that doesn't seem to leave enough time if I didn't plant them until April.

Darn! I was really looking forward to tasty peas! I really hope they grow faster once the weather warms up.

This is proving to me that I really need that Abgribon. I wanted to try a little wire hoop house type row cover setup. But the stuff is still on backorder. On March 26th they said it won't be mailed until April 10th or later. :-(

Here's a close up of the sugar snaps:

Baby Violets

There they are, along with my finger for size comparison. The origami pots didn't work out that great. It may be just because of the type of paper I used instead of newspaper- but they are breaking down. I don't think too many of the pansies grew, just the Johnny Jump Ups. I read that violets should be planted out about a month before the final frost date, which is coming up this week, but I'm not sure if they are still too small to transplant.
A couple of the violets-in-a-can my partner brought home from the computer show actually grew too. I can hardly believe it.

Update: Great news!! Remember the wild violets that unexpectedly grew in my backyard last year? Well they are growing back again! I was worried they wouldn't, since we did so much work in the backyard the area was trampled quite a bit, as well as torn up by J.J. the dog. But last night when I went outside, I saw that all of a sudden they are sprouting up everywhere! Yay, I'm so excited. They smelled so delicious last year. I think I identified what type they are too: Viola sororia (Sister Violet or Woolly Violet). They are New Jersey's state flower. :-)

End of March: Wonderful News!

Despite having freezing cold nights at the beginning of this week, all of the veggies I planted outside are growing! I went outside Thursday and couldn't believe my eyes, all of the peas I planted (both types) are peeking out of the soil. I counted them last night - there are nearly 40 pea sprouts. The arugula also survived the cold, and the whole row looks great. We even have two radish sprouts.

The inside seedlings are still ok, though leggy. I'm going to harden off the lettuce this week then plant them deep so hopefully they'll recover once in the garden. Of course, as you can see below the cut-and-come again tray of extra seedlings I didn't even plan to plant is looking way better than the leggy lettuce in individual containers! Oh the irony.

I'm getting excited now for the next few weeks in April. Lots of things to be planted. I made another plan (yes, I couldn't help it haha) for exactly when to plant the seedlings according to the moon cycles. I went with different dates since the Farmer's Almanac seemed to early considering the cold weather we've been having, based on the conventional wisdom that leafy plants with seeds on the outside go in the first quarter, annuals with seeds on the inside second quarter, root veggies and perennials in the 3rd and nothing in the 4th. I don't know if it is bubkus or not, but I figure there is no harm in trying since it is pretty much right on time as far as the weather anyway. This is the plan for the next two weeks:

Today:

• Pre-germinate radish seeds for early (non-moon) planting in the next few days. I want to put these in early where I will plant warm weather veggies in May so they'll be ready for harvest by then. It will be interesting to compare them to the later moon sown radishes, although I won't know if any difference is due to the moon or just warmer weather.

4/1 or 4/2:

• Start flowers inside - Tray 1 = Calendula (10 flashback, 5 octoberfest), Marigold (2), Bergamot (3 fitulosa + 3 didyma) & Garlic Chives (2)
  
• Tray 2 = Nasturtium (10 climbing, 5 empress, 6 whirlybird), Balloon Flower (2), Mallow (2)
• Tray 3 = Hollyhock (15) & English Daisy (10)
• Direct sow more lettuce & arugula plus mustard greens, mache and chard
• Transplant lettuce seedlings

4/4 or 4/5:

• Direct-sow a couple more peas to fill in any empty spots

4/11 or 4/12:

• Direct-sow turnips, beets, carrots & more radishes
• Plant purchased berries outside - raspberries, blueberries and strawberries

Final Seed Order 2009

Yep, couldn't help myself- oops I did it one more time.

Here is today's order:

• English Daisy Tasso Strawberries and Cream
• Balloon Flower Astra White
• Monarda Panorama Red Shades
• Hollyhock Mallow 'Mystic Merlin'
• Hollyhock Creme de Cassis
• Organic Cilantro Longstanding
• Organic Dill Bouquet

I'm not sure I'll even have enough room for all of these flowers, but we'll see what happens.

As far as the third week of March update- some good and bad news. The good news is I've got two pole peas growing, and the whole row of arugula has sprouted wonderfully. No action on the bush peas in the strawberry bed, so something clearly went wrong there. No big deal though, I have plenty of extra seeds. I plan to soak and replant in the first week of April.

This experimental early March planting has told me that you don't necessarily gain much from starting earlier in this climate. This is probably especially true this year, since it has been so cold. Tonight it is supposed to go down into the 20's! That's the bad news. I hope the arugula lives!

I still may try to start early next year, as the head start on cool weather plants will leave more room for the warm weather plants in my small garden. But I think it will have to be protected by a double row cover greenhouse as described in "Four Season Harvest" by Eliot Coleman. Unfortunately the Agribon I purchased was back-ordered until at least 3/20, and I haven't received it yet.

More mixed news for the indoor seedlings. The lettuce and violet seedlings are doing OK, but some of the lettuce plants seem pretty leggy. So I'm a bit disappointed with these results too. I think it may be because we didn't get enough artificial light on them soon enough. The good news is Mr. Aubade was able to set up the shop lights using the corded switch. However, we forgot to ask the hardware store to cut the chain in half, and our hack saw wouldn't work to cut it. So we've got to go back to the store today and ask them to cut it, then we can finally hang the big grow lights and start the flower seedlings.

Ultimately I think the lettuce seedlings will survive, but I bet whatever I direct seed in the beds in the next week or two will grow just as well as the ones I started inside. Oh well, live and learn. They sure look cute on the windowsill anyway!

Sweet! My First Spring Pea

At least I think that's what this is. I noticed it on Saturday, in just the right spot where we planted the Sugar Snaps outside under the trellis. Looks a little crinkly but I think it's the first pea to grow this season! I can't wait for fresh peas mm mmm.

I also planted the Dark Seeded Early Perfection Pea variety leftover from last fall, but none of those have sprouted yet as far as I can see.

Then last week, in the middle of the night- I was a midnight poker! Not a joker, or a smoker, but a seed poker. (oh my) Don't know what came over me, must have been the warm weather I guess- but I decided I just had to plant a row of arugula about 11:30 at night. hahaha None of them have sprouted yet either.

Finally, last night we started some radishes. It was still a bit too cold, my soil thermometer said 46-47, but the package said ideal soil temp for radishes is 55 - 80. So I only planted 1 sq. foot with 5 white radish and 6 easter egg radish seeds as an experiment. I hope they grow!

Luscious Little Strawberry

This is a catch up post. Last year one of the first plants I bought when we moved into the house was a lone little strawberry. You can see it here. Well, sure enough that one plant produced about 20 delicious little bites of happiness! Wow, are home grown strawberries better than the ones you buy in the supermarket, that's for sure. Not even close. And they are so easy to grow. The only thing I was worried about was birds- but as you can see from this picture, I just put a tepee of bird netting around it to prevent any birdies nipping away my berries. I didn't have any problems at all. I pretty much left the plant alone once it finished producing, and it ended up sending out several runners which found homes in the ground around the pot.

In just a few weeks, I plan on extending a small existing raised bed into that area and planting out about 20 plants. I think it would probably be able to fit about twice as many, but I figure I'll start small then let them grow bigger themselves (it will be cheaper that way and give me extra room to grow some more peas this year). I already planted tomatoes and peppers in that bed last year, which apparently is bad because it can give the strawberries diseases. Nothing I can do about that though, with such a small garden. So I'm just going to make sure to get resistant varieties. I don't know what they'll have in the store but I'm thinking I should get some June-bearers and some day-neutral so I'll have a longer supply of fresh berries. These are the possible varieities for my area according to the local Master Gardening program: Early - Earliglow, Noreaster, Mid - Allstar, Guardian and Neutral - Tristar.

It's Alive!

Well, it was as of January 1st anyway. I don't know what will happen to the plants with the below freezing temps we're having this week. Guess we'll see after the snow melts.

It was pretty cool to see them alive in January. Especially the Roman Chamomile in the herb garden. It spread like wildfire! I didn't plant any of the green you see in this pic- they all spread from one plant I put in last summer. I will probably have to pull some out in the spring it spread so much.

You can kind of see the strawberry plants in the background too. Quite a few babies came from one plant I had in a pot- the runners spread out and established themselves in the ground next to the pot. I think I may work with this development and turn that area into a strawberry bed since they seem to like it. The two thyme plants towards the left of the picture don't look so good though. I hope I didn't cut them too much and they recover come spring!

I also really love this picture of the budding Red Romaine.

Happy New Year 2009!

This is what I harvested today, January 1st, 2009. It is baby carrots (odd that they are still baby since I planted them in May, 08), parsley, a bit of baby spinach and kale. I can't even believe all of these things were still alive, without any row covers or protection whatsoever! Next year I hope to get some Agribon and extend the harvest even further. But in the meantime, it sure made a nice addition to my New Year's Day feast.

I always make sure to eat lots of greens & lentils, since both are supposed to represent money for the new year. Not that I am really into money or material things, or very superstitious- but I figure it can't hurt for fun, especially when it tastes really good! So along with sauteed greens (usually chard, spinach & kale w/ garlic, olive oil, red pepper flakes and a spritz of lemon juice), I have some lentil salad and Texas Caviar made with black-eyed peas. Not only does all of this make great road picnic food for my annual New Year's trip to relatives in Canada, but it should make me good to go as far as luck and fortune in the new year!

I am reprinting my Texas Caviar recipe here, even though it wasn't grown in my garden. Next year once I get the row covers in effect I think we could have several of the ingredients fresh from the garden- so it is something to aspire to for 2009!

Good fortune, love, and happiness to all of you and your loved ones in 2009. (even if you didn't eat any beans and greens!)

Texas "Caviar"

This recipe is copied for a free recipe card I picked up in a Texas Wholefoods store around 99 or 2000ish. I've made it almost every New Year's Eve since - if not every one - it is that good. If you don' t like any heat at all, it isn't for you- but most people would consider it relatively mild as written. If you like things very spicy, you can always add more diced jalapeno, habanero, or whatever kind of hot pepper you have.

1 & 1/2 cup chopped seeded tomatoes (1 & 1/2 medium tomatoes from my notes)
1/3 cup green onions, thinly sliced (6 thin from my notes)
2 Tbsp canned chopped green chiles
2 Tbsp white wine vinegar
1 Tbsp jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
1 Tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
1 tsp olive oil
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/8 tsp pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
1 can (15.8 oz) black-eyed peas, drained (and rinsed, from my notes)

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Cover and chill. Garnish with jalapeno slices and cilantro sprigs, if desired. Serve with baked corn tortilla chips, toasted pita, etc.

Makes 3 cups, about 14 servings.