Since I live in a climate where the wind is frequent and sometimes strong. We have to protect our peppers from the wind. To protect the roots, we use a shade net. And for protection from the wind, we put up additional wooden stakes and tie the peppers to them. The pepper tree can be over half a meter tall, there is a watering system under the trunk that keeps the soil moist, but at the same time, in a strong gust of wind, the head of the pepper tree can fall over.
We would have done it before but we didn't have wooden stakes. We were thinking whether to buy them or go to the forest and look for them ourselves and cut them down. But through a conversation with a neighbor, she had a lot of those stakes left over last year and used them for tomatoes, this year she reduced them. She said if they stand there for another winter they will rot completely. She doesn't need them anymore so she gave them to us. She also asked us to give her a water hose to water some fruit trees because they have restrictions in the water supply and we have our own source and water pump. So this was a good trade :)We brought about twenty sticks, since they were big I cut them in half.
I drove four wooden stakes in a row. I think that will be enough to keep the peppers in place in case of strong winds.I also used some older slats
When I've driven in all the pegs, my husband and I stretch out the rope. We wrap it around each peg and then we go in and join the rope every meter of length.
The better we insure now, the less headaches we will have later because we know we did our best.We planted two hot peppers and six sweet peppers. The peppers we use for Ajvar are the Bodroška, Elephant's Ear and Makedonka varieties.
Here is a quick and easy recipe for traditional homemade ajvar
Ingredients
5 kg red peppers
300 ml oil
1-2 tablespoons salt (to taste)
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon vinegar
Roast the peppers whole in the oven at 220°C (or on the stovetop) until the skin is blackened. I have a mini cooker made for that and we bake on the stovetop. Put the hot peppers in a bag for 15 minutes to soften, then peel and remove the seeds. Leave them to drain briefly. Grind the peppers in a meat grinder or finely chop them. Pour the mixture into a saucepan with oil and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, for about 1 hour, until the liquid has evaporated and you can't see the bottom of the saucepan when you remove it. Add salt, sugar and vinegar towards the end, then cook for another 5 minutes. Pour the hot ajvar into sterilized, warm glass jars and seal them immediately. If you like, add 1-2 eggplants and bake them with paprika. I personally don't like it.
*All images are mine unless otherwise noted
Thanks for reading.
Until next time.
Stay healthy.
Markone85.
