Harvest Monday - 21 October 2024

We got our first frost early Wednesday morning. I was prepared for it, so no harm done. It just meant that we closed out all the sensitive crops a little earlier than last year.

As such, I got a first harvest of "Sugaretti" spaghetti squash, which looks like a delicata. This is the only mature one the struggling plant managed to produce.

'Sugaretti' hybrid spaghetti squash

I also cut all the remaining squash from other types. There were four neck pumpkins, three of which coincidentally weighed 18.4 pounds each, and a fourth at a more demure 14.6 pounds. In the foreground is another Autumn Frost squash which was hiding in the tall grass.

Last of the winter squash

Only the neck pumpkins produced heavily for us. I estimate we got over 170 pounds from the single hill. We are begging people to take some from us.

I got a final big haul of green sweet peppers. These were chopped and frozen raw.

Final harvest of sweet peppers

I took all the remaining ultra-hot peppers. These are Carolina Reapers on the left, and Trinidad Scorpions on the right. They look the same, but the scorpions fittingly have longer "stingers." All in all, it was fun to grow them, but I really see no need to repeat it again, as they are so ridiculously hot they have limited utility for us.

Or maybe make homemade bear spray?

Actually I think I'll just (carefully) cut them up and freeze them. We can make sauces over the coming months.

Carolina Reaper and Scorpion hot peppers

After the frost I salvaged the other hot peppers that remained. The leaves were wilted, but the fruit was still fine. On the left are cayenne and guajillo peppers, hard to tell which is which. On the right are the few remaining jalapenos. The latter we have plans for when combined with what was in the fridge from the week before. I reserved some to make another jar of pickled jalapeno rings, and the rest were chopped and frozen. We want to make at least one more batch of the Creamy Jalapeno Sauce I showed last post, which we are greatly enjoying (it's excellent on eggs for example). The cayennes and guajillos were just chopped and frozen. We will probably find some good use for them in the future.

Last of the hot peppers

Ironically the weather warmed up substantially after the frost. We may even reach 80 today (Monday). But very little is left in the garden: leeks, carrots, lettuce, celery. This may be my last Harvest Monday post for the year. If so, thanks for reading and commenting on my posts. Big thank-you to Dave at HappyAcres.blog for providing the Harvest Monday forum for us.