Harvest Monday September 27, 2021

Posted on September 27, 2021 by Dave @ HappyAcres

It’s time once again for Harvest Monday, where gardeners from all over celebrate all things harvest related. Autumn is officially here now, and my garden activities are reflecting that. I’ve been busy cleaning out the greenhouse to make ready for fall and winter crops, which is a seasonal chore. I have greens like lettuce, kale and arugula started indoors and it will soon be time to plant them in the greenhouse both in-ground and in containers. Meanwhile, the harvests continue, albeit at a slower pace. I brought in more winter squashes last week, including mature Centercut and Turkeyneck varieties. And I harvested several pounds of pole beans, which are still producing well for us.

September harvest

The peppers are really coming in, with a good selection of both sweet and hot types. The sweet ones included Carmen, Sweetie Pie, Glow and Jimmy Nardello. They have wound up in numerous dishes, including a veggie quesadilla and a batch of sheet pan ratatouille I baked up for dinner one night.

sweet peppers

Aji Delight is a C. baccatum pepper with no heat but the typical fruity flavor most baccatum peppers have. The plants get big for me here, and are always loaded with sweet and crunchy fruit. We use them fresh, roasted and cooked with beans and other dishes where a bit of sweet peppers is called for.

Aji Delight peppers

The pole beans and blackeyes keep me busy shelling and snapping them. The freezer is filling up nicely with both, and we will be enjoying these for many months to come.

pole beans and blackeyes

I got a few of the long skinny eggplants last week, along with the Aji Delight peppers. I roasted some of these eggplants for an open-faced sandwich we had for lunch one day.

sweet peppers and eggplant

I’m still getting a few tomatoes, and last week the haul included some slicing types and the last few of the paste tomatoes. We’ve been using these fresh, as I have preserved plenty of them already.

late season tomatoes

The native Goldenrod is blooming around here now. The plants are not that conspicuous until they start blooming, when the yellow plumes of flowers appear. Goldenrod is attractive to both bees and butterflies, and is beautiful to look at as well. It is commonly blamed for hay fever, but this discomfort is usually caused by pollen from Ragweed plants which bloom at the same time. That fact was confirmed by my allergy doctor many years ago. I happily plant goldenrod here as well as let a few of the wild plants grow, but I pull any ragweed plants I see.

Solidago ‘Peter Pan’

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 be sure and check out what everyone is harvesting!


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Smoking Peppers, Again

Posted on September 24, 2021 by Dave @ HappyAcres

For the last few years I have been smoking both sweet and hot peppers from our garden. I usually turn the sweet ones into smoked paprika, while I do several things with the hot ones. Sometimes I smoke whole jalapenos, then dry them to turn into chipotles. They can also be ground up after drying to make chipotle powder. And one of my favorite things to do is to turn  smoked Anaheim type peppers into smoked chile powder. We’ve got lots of pepper on our plants right now, so it’s time for me to start processing some of them for later use.

chipotle peppers

I use both green and ripe peppers for smoking, and both work well for this treatment. I find that peppers with thicker walls tend to stand up to the smoker process better than thin-walled ones which can burn more easily. Last week I smoked several batches of hot peppers, including the green Biggie Chile peppers which are a hybrid Anaheim type I’ve been growing for years now. After those were done, I put them in the dehydrator to dry for use later.

hot peppers for smoking

I use my Weber charcoal grill to smoke the peppers, building a small fire on one side then adding a foil packet of wood chips on top of the hot coals. I place the peppers on the other side of the grill, and choke down the air supply to keep the heat level as low as possible. My goal is to make smoke, not to heat the peppers up enough to cook them.

smoking hot green peppers

I smoked a second batch which included Honeypeno peppers. That is a hybrid jalapeno variety with moderate heat and a sweet flavor when ripe. I also smoked some of the ripe Senorita peppers, another jalapeno with moderate heat. I was able to smoke two batches of peppers using the same coals, though I used a new batch of wood chips for the second batch. My favorite wood to use is apple, which makes a mild smoke that doesn’t overwhelm the peppers like hickory smoke might do. I poke holes in the foil package to let the smoke get out.

smoking peppers

After smoking, I fermented the smoked red jalapenos for about 10 days. I plan to make a smoked sriracha sauce with them. I made a batch of that last year, and it proved to be one of my favorite hot sauce creations. The combination of smoky, sweet and hot works well in a number of dishes, and I have also mixed it with yogurt to make a smoky salad dressing and dip.

making smoked hot sauces

For more information on smoking peppers, check out my 2016 post on Smoking Peppers, and one from 2015 on Smoked Peppers. I hope you have enjoyed at a look at how I smoke peppers here and how I use the finished peppers. I’ll be back soon with more happenings from Happy Acres!

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Harvest Monday September 20, 2021

Posted on September 20, 2021 by Dave @ HappyAcres

It’s time once again for Harvest Monday, where gardeners from all over celebrate all things harvest related. The weather has turned a bit more autumnal, with cooler mornings now and less humid air. The days are still hot though with high temps over 80°F most days. The harvests are turning towards what is typical for us here in September. Peppers and beans rule the day, with winter squashes coming in as they mature on the vines.

September harvest

The sweet peppers are ripening now, and old favorites like Carmen and Jimmy Nardello are keeping us supplied. Sweetie Pie is my new favorite mini bell pepper, and our two plants are loaded with fruit this year. It is shaped somewhat like a pimento pepper, with thick walls and juicy sweet flesh when ripe.

sweet peppers

The eggplant has slowed down but we are still well supplied.  With it and peppers available, I see things like caponata and ratatouille appearing on the menu soon. I also plan to use both in a polenta casserole, and I may make another batch of baba ganoush while we have the eggplant.

eggplant harvest

The Appalachian pole beans are giving us three or four pounds of beans each week now. We eat them frequently, and I am freezing the rest. These beans tend to make a lot of ‘shellies’ if you let the pods get bigger, and that makes for a tasty and nutritious addition to soups.

pole beans and eggplant

The neck pumpkin type of squashes are maturing now, and I cut several of the Centercuts last week. I also found a green one plus a big tromboncino that we spiralized and baked as a side dish.

Centercut and Tromba squashes

The blackeyes are setting on now, and I have the pink-eyed purple hulled variety planted this year along with the pale Lady peas. The purple pods rub off on my hands as I shell them, which makes for purple thumbs for a bit. They are a bit easier the shell though than the Lady peas, and the peas themselves are a bit bigger.

purple hull and Lady cowpeas

The tomatoes are really winding down but I found Cherry Bomb and Juliet last week, along with several green tomatoes which were breaded and fried for a seasonal side dish one night. My wife never ate fried green tomatoes until we met, but she is now a fan of my treatment. I slice the tomatoes and lightly salt to bring out the moisture, then dip in a 50-50 mix of flour and stone-ground cornmeal. Finally, they get pan-fried in olive oil until browned and softened. We only do this once or twice a year, and it is always a treat!

green and cherry tomatoes

I found a few ripe slicers too, mostly the pink Damsel and Chef’s Choice Orange. Chef’s Choice Orange may well be the last big tomato we get this year, and my one plant has outperformed even its usual prolific yields.

slicing tomatoes

Fall flowers are showing up now, though the hardy hibiscus have been blooming all summer really. The helianthus has gotten its second wind and is covered in cheery yellow flowers, while the asters are just now coming into bloom in various shades of purple and blue. Butterflies are visiting the asters, while hummingbirds sip the nectar from the hibiscus flowers.

hardy hibiscus Midnight Marvel

hardy hibiscus Midnight Marvel

Helianthus ‘Low Down’

Aster 'Wood's Purple'

Aster ‘Wood’s Purple’

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 be sure and check out what everyone is harvesting!


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Harvest Monday September 13, 2021

Posted on September 13, 2021 by Dave @ HappyAcres

It’s time once again for Harvest Monday, where gardeners from all over celebrate all things harvest related. My usual harvests now almost always include beans, and one day they also had a few winter squash joining them. I have been busy freezing all the beans we don’t eat fresh, and we should have a lot for winter use.

September harvest

Thelma Sanders is one of my favorite winter squashes. This heirloom is a somewhat shy yielder in our garden, but the squash are always sweet and flavorful. We most often cut them into slices and roast in a cast iron skillet in the oven, which brings out the nutty and sweet flavor in them.

Thelma Sanders squash

I got my first decent haul of hot peppers last week. I had right at two pounds of them, which was enough to start a batch of fermented hot sauce. Flaming Flare is a fresno type pepper with medium heat, while Red Ember is classified as a cayenne even though it has thick walls and a milder heat level than most other cayenne peppers I have grown. Both are AAS Winners and both always do well for me here. The plants are still loaded with fruit even after this harvest.

Flaming Flare and Red Ember hot peppers

Flaming Flare and Red Ember

To ferment them, I removed the stem end and cut in half. I like to remove as many seeds as possible, since I don’t think they add anything to the final product. I wear gloves during this process to keep the hot peppers off my hands. After preparing, I added 5% sea salt by weight and mixed it up well with the peppers. I let them sit out on the counter overnight before packing into a jar and topping with a “pickle pipe” that lets fermentation gases escape. I will likely leave these sit for a week before processing into hot sauce.

preparing peppers before fermenting

fermenting hot peppers

The garden is still keeping us well supplied with eggplant. I believe the harvest in the photo includes Machiaw, Orient Express and Nadia.

eggplant harvest

We used the big Nadia to make eggplant sandwiches we had for lunch one day. After roasting the eggplant and sweet peppers, we spread hummus on a mini naan then added the veggies and topped with a slice of cheddar cheese. We had extra tomatoes, eggplant and peppers on the side, and it made for one of our favorite seasonal meals that we enjoyed outside on the screened porch.

eggplant sandwiches with roasted peppers and sliced tomatoes

We are getting enough slicing tomatoes to eat, but not enough to have a glut of them. We did a tasting one day with a Benevento and a Chef’s Choice Pink. Both were tasty to me, but I decided I slightly preferred the Benevento. On the other hand, my wife preferred the Chef’s Choice Pink. That is one reason I like to have a number of varieties planted! I have to say I would gladly eat either of them, and they both will likely be on my planting list for 2022.

Chef’s Choice Pink (l) and Benevento (r) tomatoes

I had a question from a reader about the avocado squashes. Picked at the green stage, they do have small seeds inside that are edible along with the flesh and skin. I remove the seeds if they get larger, but for the most part I chop them up and cook the whole thing. The one in the photo was sautéed in olive oil until tender and served up as a side dish, which is my favorite way to prepare them.

cutting up Early Bulam avocado squash

In other news, I baked a batch of Moomie’s Famous Burger Buns last week. This is one of my favorite bun recipes, and this batch had about 40% whole wheat flour and was topped with an Everything Bagel mix.

Moomie’s Famous Burger Buns

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 be sure and check out what everyone is harvesting!


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Fall Garden Update

Posted on September 9, 2021 by Dave @ HappyAcres

We’re in the busy period now where summer veggies are coming on, and it’s also time to plant and take care of the fall veggies. Today I’ll share a quick progress report on how the fall vegetable plantings are doing. I set out kale and collard plants early last month, and they have taken off nicely. I set out most of the collard greens in a bed where broccoli and cabbage were growing earlier. The bed had been prepped with lots of compost in spring, so all I did was work it up with a digging fork and add some organic fertilizer. You can see in the photo that the weeds are growing too! I need to weed and mulch with straw soon before they get really out of hand..

Yellow Cabbage collards

The other end of that bed was covered in weed barrier fabric and had been planted with bush summer squashes. Those plants are all done for and were put on the compost pile. I used scissors to cut a slit in the material and sowed turnip greens (Topper and All-Top) in half the area. I sowed white ‘salad’ turnips (Hakurei) in a nearby area using the same method. All the turnips are coming up now and hopefully they will be easier to keep weeded with the fabric.

turnips

I replanted a couple of bush zucchini at the far end of that bed. It’s a bit late to be planting squash here, but the plants were started in pots last month and should get off to a quick start. I set out a couple of zucchini in grow bags, and I can move them inside the greenhouse if an early frost threatens. I’ve had good luck growing the squash in these bags, though the yields are lower than those I plant in-ground. At this point I’m just looking for a few fresh ones to extend the season a bit.

late planting of zucchini

I also set out  a few collards in another bed that was covered in weed barrier fabric. They seem to be growing a bit faster than the ones planted in bare soil. And they are definitely less weedy!

Yellow Cabbage collards

I have been experimenting with this woven black polypropylene fabric this year and so far I am pleased with the results. This White Russian kale planted in it is also off to a great start.

White Russian kale

While I try and limit my use of plastic in general, and especially in the garden, I am also getting to the point where I don’t have the energy to devote to gardening that I used to have when I was younger. So I am looking for any and all ways to assist me, and the weed barrier fabric is one way. The bed where the collard greens are planted in bare ground needs weeding repeatedly, while the bed next it has been weed free for months since I put the fabric down. The fabric can be reused, and I look forward to more experimenting with it next year.

collards need weeding

Back in July I sowed a section of one bed in cowpeas for an edible cover crop. They are now setting pods and ready to begin harvesting. I’m growing two varieties this year, one called Quickpick Pinkeye and Fast Lady Northern Southern peas. The cowpeas and mulch will keep down weeds plus add organic material and nitrogen to the soil, while giving us some tasty peas.

Quickpick Pinkeye peas

In spring I planted several eggplants in containers and they kept us well supplied until the in-ground plantings began bearing. The container plants have slowed down, so I trimmed them back a couple of weeks ago and gave them a drink of fish emulsion and seaweed fertilizer. They responded with a flush of blooms are are now setting fruit. I have Fairy Tale, Gretel and Patio Baby growing and all have done well in containers.

Fairy Tale eggplant

I have one more fall planting I made, and that is a bed of kohlrabi I set out behind the greenhouse. I have Kolibri and Terek planted there, and it needs to be weeded and mulched too. Those should be ready to eat sometime next month, and give as a bit more fresh kohlrabi before winter sets in. I have spread Sluggo pellets on the soil to help keep the slugs under control, since they are usually a problem with the kohlrabi.

kohlrabi plants

I decided not to set out any broccoli this fall, since I grow it in the winter greenhouse and that usually keeps us well supplied. I also decided to skip planting cabbage. I do have some other greens like mizuna started and I will try and find a home for them soon. I hope you have enjoyed this update on what’s happening here at Happy Acres!

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