It’s time once again for Harvest Monday, where we celebrate all things harvest related. We got just over an inch of much needed rain last week, which should help the gardens a bit. It was our first decent rain in over a month, and pretty much the only rain we got in September. Before the rain came, I got a nice haul of tomatoes and hot peppers. The tomatoes are holding up surprisingly well given the dry conditions, while the peppers are producing too but much less than usual.
harvest of tomatoes and peppers
Chef’s Choice Orange tomatoes are my favorite orange-fruited variety, and it has given us a good supply for a couple of months now. We’ve been enjoying these sliced and eaten as a side dish.
Chef’s Choice Orange tomato
It’s my first time growing the 2023 AAS Winner Wildcat cayenne. This variety has large, thick-walled fruits with a mild heat level rated at 500-1000 Scoville heat units. That is a lot less heat than most cayenne varieties, and less than a jalapeno for that matter. I tasted one of these and it had a sweet flavor and crunchy texture with very little heat. I think this one is a keeper, and it should make a good addition to hot sauce or for a batch of my Sweet Pickled Peppers.
Wildcat Cayenne peppers
Another September harvest featured more hot peppers, and a surprise cucumber from the greenhouse. I say ‘surprise’ because I thought the cucumbers were done for in there, and had not even been watering them.
late September harvest
The Nokya cucumber plant did not get the news however, and kept on growing. I harvested two of these beauties last week, and more are setting on. That prompted me to start watering the plant again to give it a little encouragement!
cucumber Nokya
I used some of the cucumber to make a Farro Salad with Feta, Cucumbers and Sun-Dried Tomatoes for lunch yesterday. Along with the cuke I used fresh parsley from the garden plus some of last year’s dried tomatoes. We served it up with some of my wife’s Curried Chicken Salad and some pita crisps. I love using the farro, which holds up well for salads or soups without getting gummy. And the sweetness of the dried tomatoes compliments the salty tang of the feta cheese while the cucumber adds crunch.
Farro Salad
The hot pepper harvest included a few of the Pumpkin Spice jalapenos. These are one of a trio of peppers developed by the New Mexico State University Chile Pepper Breeding Program. I’m also growing the Lemon Spice this year, while the third pepper is called Orange Spice and is much hotter than the other two.
Pumpkin Spice jalapeno peppers
The Aji Delight peppers I harvested are a C. baccatum variety with no heat though. I’ve been pickling a lot of these, and they are crunchy and sweet tasting for fresh use too.
Aji Delight peppers
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 check out what everyone is harvesting!
That orange tomato had me fooled. It looks just like an orange.
I still had to use Facebook to comment
Things are still looking mighty good in your garden. Always nice to get a surprise, like those excellent cucumbers. I really like the size and shape of the Wildcat cayennes. But for me, I want more heat in a cayenne.
I think the Wildcat is probably not the best choice if you are looking for a lot of heat! Most cayenne peppers are too hot for my tastes, which is why I grow a lot of jalapenos and Fresno type peppers.
What a nice surprise to get cukes now. Farro is a nice grain for salads. I think I have some frozen in the freezer that I should break out.