Autumn has arrived, and it brought with it cold and damp conditions. I read that this was the wettest summer on record here, over 21" of rain. Harvests are slowing way down, and I've already removed the cucumber and broccoli plants.
There was only one "new thing" this week: black beans. Like my other dry bean crop, this one suffered from poor germination, so the results are less than stellar. Still, I can get at least one meal of one of my favorite dishes, black beans and rice.
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| Midnight Black Turtle beans |
I've done several general harvests this past week, but only one is picture-worthy. Flanking the raspberries on the left are sweet peppers, and on the right, hot peppers. Some green pole beans and broccoli side shoots are at the bottom.
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| Tuesday general harvest |
I'm still picking tomatoes, but not worth showing. The Kitchen Goddess and I were talking the other day, and we agreed that we have so much canned tomato products left from last year, that it isn't a tragedy that we've had a poor year. Plus, much less work to do! Now if next year is like this one, we will be sad.
TKG met her mother at the community garden plot they share, and Mom went home with some nice goods. By the way, I think TKG was being too optimistic with the description of the weather.
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| Community garden plot harvest |
For "preserving the harvest," I judged there were enough peppers to dehydrate and grind. These are Anaheims on the left, which have a very slight heat, and the red Hungarian Cheese peppers I use for paprika. I decided to forego smoking this batch.
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| "Spice" peppers |
The Cheese peppers, being thick-walled took almost twice as long as the Anaheims to dry in the oven, and still had to be finished in the dehydrator. Maybe I'll start looking for a thin-walled paprika pepper. But the end results are very pleasing.
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| Anaheim pepper powder |
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| Paprika |
I suppose it's a valid question to ask if it's "worth" putting in all that time for a little bit of inexpensive spice powder. I guess I just do it for fun, and the aroma is worth it, as is the good feeling you get when you use some of your own labor.
That's all for this week. Thanks for reading, and thanks to Dave at HappyAcres.blog for hosting Harvest Monday.
Last year was my poor year for tomatoes, but this year has been a good one. Like you, I enjoy making and eating the pepper 'powders' and that's good enough reason for me!
ReplyDeleteWow, 21 inches of rain in the summer! We were happy to get 2 inches from the tropical storm in August. The black beans look very nice. I'd like to grow some next summer. Hope the season winds down for you successfully.
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