right now

right now

Aug 30, 2011

Seeing Red

Last night something amazing happened here... the a/c was turned off, temps were in the 60's - that hasn't happened since early May!  Last night I couldn't even concentrate on my book because I kept getting surprised by a wonderful cool breeze blowing through the house.  Today was more of the same.  I put off working in the garden today in favor or more "seasonable" activities like canning and going to the library.  Today was cool, in the 70's and breezy, and just felt like fall to me.  (I wasn't so happy the past 2 days, when we were cleaning up Irene's mess in the 90's!)  Fall always means putting up the last of the summer garden and activities like reading a book outside or a visit to the library.  After that library visit with the kids, I tackled the red stuff!

Left:  Poblanos, Right: Bell Peppers


Since I already have oodles of Poblanos hung to dry into Ancho Peppers...


I thought I'd try roasting and canning them to use as Stuffed Poblanos/Chiles Rellenos this winter.


Roasted, peeled, seeded and left whole for stuffing - pressure canned at 10 lbs of pressure for 35 minutes. 


The very, very last of the large tomatoes and beans.  These were harvested the day before Irene stormed through, and sadly the plants were damaged to the point of being ripped out.  All that's left out there are 2 little Juliet hybrid plants that I will use for drying.

 

One thing is definitely done for the year, no more tomato canning!  The kids go back to school next week, so I will have more uninterrupted time to continue the fall chores outside, but for today it felt nice to just do whatever felt like fall to me :)

18 comments:

  1. Yes, it is wonderful. We turned our a/c off yesterday and sleeping to the cool breeze floating in through the sheers felt great. What a reprieve!

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  2. Oh, forgot. As usual your peppers look great. Good idea to roast and can. I am usually too lazy. I roast and freeze.

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  3. You are really getting good use out of that pressure canner! Can hardly wait until next year's canning season when I can use mine for the first time. Today when I had no kitchen sink, it hit me that I'd be right in the middle of canning season if I had done the usual garden this year. Uh-huh, sure. Can you see me going absolutely crazy trying to handle the garden harvest in the middle of the kitchen being torn apart??

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  4. Hey Erin, I have an overabundance of jalapenos this year. Can I string them and dry them? I don't use them for much but salsa, but I don't think I'm going to have enough tomatoes to make salsa this year...

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  5. It was 31C here today and I sure wish I felt a bit of Fall.
    Next year I am going to plant some hot peppers. You have inspired me!

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  6. Ah-does this mean I can now torture YOU with pictures of Brandywines????
    Probably not, huh! I'm thinking you're probably sick of them by now anyways.
    Glad you got to enjoy some cool weather. We're always opposite-you're cooling down and it's supposed to get 85 here on Friday. Ugh.
    (but next Monday's high--55!!!!) Hooray for fall!

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  7. Oh that torti salad looks sooo good. Now I am starving. :)

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  8. APG, one things for sure, peppers have no complaints about my climate!
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    Jane, fall can't come soon enough this year :)
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    Lorie, I debated on whether to freeze like I do all my bell peppers, but I just knew I'd mangle frozen poblanos when it came time to make a dish out of them LOL. My other peppers will continue to be frozen in strips, much easier!
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    Mama Pea, it would have been a bad scene indeed if you had planted the normal garden this year! I do love that canner - I'm finding I would even have a use for a smaller one if they made one smaller!
    ***

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  9. Ruth, you could absolutely string them up! Just go through the stems, and because of the humidity here I tend to make slits in a few spots with a knife to speed up the drying. Jalapenos also freeze whole very well for stuffing later if you like them that way.
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    Sparkless, I'd be interested in what varieties you could do there, there must be some for your area somewhere. Here, the peppers don't really start to get into full gear until mid-late August and I'll be doing them until the first week of October probably. The quickest maturing ones I have are the Jalapenos, I start harvesting those by the first week of July.
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    Sue, YES! Now it's your turn to amaze me with things that don't grow well here, like carrots, turnips, well any type of root vegetable really! And apples! - we don't have apple trees here :) And of course, the Brandywines :)
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    Kelly, LOL that was the dregs of a frozen bag of tortellini I had hiding in the bottom of the freezer, ssshhhhh.... don't tell the kids! LOL...

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  10. peace and quiet is on the way! of coarse you will miss the fun guys but school is school[ and I can't wait for the 6th to arrive ]

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  11. Finally! I don't know how you could stand it - I am at my wit's end after two days in the 90s, never mind 100! I'm glad you're able to breathe better and get to your garden clean up. Your dinner looks so wonderful! And your peppers!!!

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  12. soo jealous...of both your peppers and your plate!!

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  13. It all looks awesome, Erin! Glad things are cooling off for you.

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  14. Do you need to do anything to the peppers before you hang them to dry?

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  15. Those are great looking peppers! Most of mine get choped and frozen but I might try dring them. Thank you for the idea!

    I like your blog!

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  16. Dani, so sorry I never answered your question about the peppers! I don't do anything to them other than make a couple of little slits in the big ones so they will dry quicker.

    Providence Acres Farm, hello! The drying just came from me being too busy LOL, but eventually I'll have to do something with the dried ones too!

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