It’s time once again for Harvest Monday, where we celebrate all things harvest related. The weather has gotten a bit cooler of late, just in time for the arrival of autumn. However, record heat is forecast here for this week so it’s not exactly sweater weather just yet! I have been busy harvesting pole beans and hot peppers, which is typical for this time of year. I got almost six pounds of beans last week, most of which got blanched and frozen for later use. And I got a decent amount of ripe hot peppers too.
September harvest
hot peppers and eggplant
I have been turning many of the hot peppers into various sauces. Aji Rico peppers are a hybrid baccatum variety and a 2017 AAS Winner. I got 1.5 pounds of them last week, which was just enough to fill a pint jar for fermenting. They are one of my favorite for hot sauce, with a mild heat and a fruity, citrusy flavor when ripe.
Aji Rico harvest
Aji Rico peppers
A couple of new hot pepper varieties I’m trying this year are Lemon Spice and Pumpkin Spice jalapenos. They were bred by New Mexico State University, and according to this article they were created by crossing a bell pepper with Early Jalapeno pepper. There’s also an Orange Spice version, but this year I am just growing the Lemon and Pumpkin colored ones. Most jalapenos eventually turn red as they ripen, but these do not. I plan to make hot sauce with them.
Lemon Spice and Pumpkin Spice jalapenos
The Annina eggplant continues to give us fruits, though all the eggplants have slowed down production considerably. It has been a great year for eggplant though, and we have enjoyed eating it on a regular basis. We never buy it at the grocery, so it’s a seasonal treat for us. I believe this batch wound up on an open-faced eggplant sandwich.
Annina eggplant
The slicing tomatoes are producing a few mostly small specimens now, but I got one decent sized Benevento last week. This Artisan Seeds variety is one of my favorites for flavor.
Benevento tomato
In non-harvest news, I baked a batch of Whole Wheat Dinner Rolls last week, using my Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread recipe but shaping the dough into balls and baking in an 8 inch square pan. We ate several and then I froze the rest for later use.
Whole Wheat Dinner Rolls
Harvest Monday is a day to show off your harvests, how you are saving your harvest, or how you are using your harvest. If you have a harvest you want to share, add your name and blog link to Mr Linky below. And please take a minute and check out what everyone is harvesting!