This wasn’t the best year for us in the garden. We did OK but hopefully next year will be much better! We got our garden in on time and things were going well but come late April, all of May and most of June things began to slide. I was so busy preparing for court that the weeds got ahead of us. It was dismal.
However, the good news, is that I canned plenty of green beans to get us through till next year. And, although our tomatoes didn’t do well at all (really weird – they usually do great!) we did get some canned. Seems like lots of people had trouble with tomatoes this year. They were small and not nearly as flavorful as normal. We are thankful for what we did get and look forward to a better year next year. I try to keep count of how many pounds of tomatoes I process each year. Not counting the fresh eating and the sharing with family and friends, I usually process over 800 lbs. per year. This sounds like a lot but when you think it takes 45 pounds of tomatoes to come up with 6 quarts of spaghetti sauce…..well, I just don’t know why Prego isn’t $20 a jar. What do we do with all those tomatoes? I can them whole, make and can spaghetti sauce, tomato sauce and ketchup. Yummy!
This was a banner year for peppers! I’ve never seen plants so big – waist high! We have eaten our fill, sliced and frozen enough for a year’s worth of fajitas and dehydrated tons. We picked our last bell peppers, jalapenos and cayenne’s last week just before a predicted drop to 30 degrees one night. We pulled up our Red Fresnos, because they were still loaded with green peppers…they are now hanging upside down in the garden shed so the peppers will turn red…..yummy!
It won’t take long in the dehydrator for this big bowl of peppers to dry. I store them in canning jars and then use them in cooking and on salads throughout the winter. They add a nice crunch to the salad. The jars of peppers look beautiful on the pantry shelf….
I dry the cayenne peppers too. I use them in herbal preparations and for cooking. Our last batch just wasn’t enough to fill up this jar.
I also can the jalapenos. I haven’t had to buy them for years! I like to can them mixed…green and red. A truly ripe jalapeno will be red. The flavor is so much better than if you pick them while they are still green…of course they are hotter too – but that is fine by me!
I was so tired of canning jalapenos that I was glad to give the last 5 or 10 pounds away.
I froze the Red Fresnos as they were picked. I use them to make a killer wing sauce. Now that things are slowing down outside (well, at least in the garden!)…I’ll be setting aside a day to turn them all into sauce. Once the sauce is done, I will can the sauce and then I think I can put the canner away for the winter.
We still have some things growing in our fall garden. Cabbage, broccoli, spinach, lettuce (all kinds!) radishes, onions and mache. I’ve covered the bed when it gets below 32…we are back in a warm spell for the next little bit – now the challenge is to keep the chickens out of the garden. I came home one day to find them scratching up my little spinach plants….I thought about canning the chickens!
I love looking at my colorful pantry shelves! Although, I must confess, it is a lot of work. Hot, tedious, time-consuming work. But, when the cold wind blows, and the grocery store prices rise, I am thankful I took the time.
I am in the process of re-writing my Perpetual Garden Calendar! I am adding some new tid bits and hope to get a “zone conversion” chart in it also. I am looking for the paper to print it on and may actually try to do it myself this time. Several of you have asked about it…my goal is to have it available before next year’s gardening season. I’ll keep you updated!
So, what’s growing in your fall gardens?
Blessings
The Essential Herbalist 
Leave a comment