Harvest time

[Bear]

I'm getting a half gallon of sun golds a day now, tried some salsa today, not bad.

 

[Twigg]

Figs are coming ripe. Decided to make a spread with brown sugar slow cooked, will finish with lemon zest and juice.

 

[Bert2368]

I protected my peppers from frost the two nights it might have frosted last week, will do so again this week. Peppers are accelerating production of some of the later, hotter chilis. Plus more mild shishitos than I can use as fried peppers.

Last time I planted shishito, I ended up using them in place of bell peppers in a variant of Paul Prudhomme's creole sauce (which I also canned). Takes longer to dice up a few quarts compared to big, bland thick walled bell peppers but that batch was very tasty, made with ripe home grown tomatoes and fresh thyme.

 

[Bear]

I protected my peppers from frost the two nights it might have frosted last week, will do so again this week.

We had our first frost last night, I can't put them in the garage so I make one

It's almost the end up here

 

[Bert2368]

Frosted hard here last night. And a black bear came by & tried a few bites each out of a number of pumpkins and squash. So I brought in a few unmolested ones I wanted for myself.

Later, I may invite the bear to dinner...

 

[Twigg]

They are great! Just be sure to cook to proper temperature, trichinosis is a *****.

 

[Bert2368]

About 60 lb. of "Golden Spice" pears and some apples. A few Macoun and Empire but mostly Haralson. It's a light year for apples but the pear trees nearly broke their branches.

I think I need a cider press. No way I can use that many pears except maybe juice and ferment them. Pear wine?

 

[Caleb Cox]

Pear cider is fantastic, I like them dry and carbonated.

 

[Bert2368]

I've got the makings for EdWort's Apfelwein on hand, plus carboy, fermentation locks & etc. but that recipe starts out with commercial, clear apple juice as USA little children expect it to be. I need to figure out how to do a clear wine from cloudy home made juice... Reading about "fining" now.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/Apfelwein

 

[Twigg]

Why not just filter or strain at the end?

 

[Caleb Cox]

You should get some clarification with time/fermentation, beyond that isinglass and gelatin are both easy to use. Beyond that, it's a pump/filter apparatus.

 

[lowercasebill]

And i thought tomato season was over

 

[ian]

Time to rip up the basil...

 

[Twigg]

Okinawa Sweet Potatoes, slips sourced from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds.

 

[Twigg]

Dried and ground Aji Charapita in short jar, Aji Pineapple in tall jar.

 

[juice]

Time to rip up the basil...

Carefully, so it doesn't end up Fawlty...

 

[Caleb Cox]

Dried and ground Aji Charapita in short jar, Aji Pineapple in tall jar.
View attachment 96448

Yessss, more yellow chile powder! This is a blend of sugar rush peach and scotch bonnet.

 

[Twigg]

Look what arrived today! I will post the pics at harvet time. Adding to my crocuses, so will definitely have some in December again.

 

[MrHiggins]

Look what arrived today! I will post the pics at harvet time. Adding to my crocuses, so will definitely have some in December again.
View attachment 96620

That reminds me to buy some garlic! I grew it for the first time this year, and it was phenomenal.

 

[lowercasebill]

Look what arrived today! I will post the pics at harvet time. Adding to my crocuses, so will definitely have some in December again.
View attachment 96620

Good luck with saffron. I planted once and the squirrels got every one ( or maybe it was a skunk) either way i didn't get any.

 

[Twigg]

Good luck with saffron. I planted once and the squirrels got every one ( or maybe it was a skunk) either way i didn't get any.

I grew it last year for the first time and had good luck. I have a fenced garden and a dedicated raised bed for these. They are a fun distraction. I did learn that 25 plants will get you enough for one meal. Going for 2 meals this year!

 

[M1k3]

I grew it last year for the first time and had good luck. I have a fenced garden and a dedicated raised bed for these. They are a fun distraction. I did learn that 25 plants will get you enough for one meal. Going for 2 meals this year!

How long did it take to harvest the stigmas? Did you use tweezers? Damascus ones? Or your hands? Seems like a very tedious plant to grow and turn into edible. But I'm curious about it.

EDIT: Serious inquiry. I'm not trying to troll or poke fun of you.

 

[ma_sha1]

Just made some Grape Jam this past weekend. I had about 5-6 lb of grapes from a single Concord Grape Vine that’s year 2 into bearing.

Unfortunately, the squirrels got to it just before harvesting. They raided everything except those that I protected in mesh bags, about 1.5 lb harvest which I made two jars of organic low sugar Grape Jam.

 

[Twigg]

How long did it take to harvest the stigmas? Did you use tweezers? Damascus ones? Or your hands? Seems like a very tedious plant to grow and turn into edible. But I'm curious about it.

EDIT: Serious inquiry. I'm not trying to troll or poke fun of you.

I harvested all over a 3 week period. They bloomed in mid December last year. Have to pick mid morning after the flower opens all the way. Tweezers work great. No Damascus tweezers, just stainless. I set them to dry on a small bowl in my kitchen then save them in a jar. The plant is only a few inches tall. I am traveling for work, but will post a picture when I get home tomorrow. It isn't too bad, not tedious. I mean, its December, so its the only thing I have to harvest then and certainly the only flower I have blooming at the time.

 

[Twigg]

How long did it take to harvest the stigmas? Did you use tweezers? Damascus ones? Or your hands? Seems like a very tedious plant to grow and turn into edible. But I'm curious about it.

EDIT: Serious inquiry. I'm not trying to troll or poke fun of you.

 

[Caleb Cox]

Due to a combination of cold stress and storm damage I had to harvest pounds of peppers, in all states of ripeness. This is a sampling of what's going through the dehydrator.

 

[MrHiggins]

The green chile harvest is a HUGE deal in New Mexico. Typically, you buy a 40# sack and have it roasted, then take it home and freeze it in 1# zipper bags. I went to the farm store today and got my supply.

 

[rmrf]

30/bushel? Thats amazing! A bushel is huge! ... It occurs to me that my definition of bushel might be biased because I buy bushels of apples. Still, I'm so jealous. They look so fresh.

 

[Barashka]

Here we go again ..

We don't know what to do with all the hot peppers, we eat as much as we can, we pickled more than enough, we made sauce ... seriously, if anyone wants some near Chicago, pm me.

 

[Bert2368]

I took a few more squash, there are probably at LEAST this many more left out in the garden for wildlife. Now that the green forage is going away, the deer are getting more interested in eating squash/pumpkins. The recent bear was quite full of squash/pumpkin too. Chickens enjoy some as well, gives them summer-y dark yellow egg yolks in winter when they munch squash.