• About
  • ART CARDS
  • THE DRAWING ROOM
  • DESIGN WORK
  • GALLERY I
    • GALLERY II
    • GALLERY III
    • GALLERY IV: THE ANCIENT PALETTE
  • Label Design

Backyardnotes

~ All things botanical in photos and words—in my West Seattle garden and elsewhere; seeing and creating art and assorted musings.

Backyardnotes

Tag Archives: peppers

CANTOBER! IT’S FINALLY OVER…

06 Sunday Nov 2011

Posted by backyardnotes in Canning & Preserving, Harvest, Tomatoes, Vegetable garden

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

bread baking, canning, peaches, pears, peppers, tomatoes

RETURNING FROM OUR TETON trip, these were waiting for me, all 26 pounds of them! Not to mention 10 pounds of pears, peppers, eggplants, and more.

AND THE TWENTY POUNDS OF AUTUMN LADY peaches that I bought from Red Sky Orchards just west of Ellensburg on our way home. What was I thinking? They were big, ripe and sweet. I couldn’t resist after the last box that never fully ripened.

SO, I got to work. The bulk of tomatoes went into a roasting pan along with onions, basil and homegrown garlic and then into a slow oven until the onions were soft. A brief straining to separate the juice/broth from the solids and then through the food mill. Yield: 4 quarts of sauce and 3 ice cube trays of tomato broth for later use.

With the tomatoes cooking in the oven I chopped up a colorful mix of tomatoes for Tomato Basil Jam (My Little Corner of Rhode Island) that was mentioned in a Food in Jars post. Yield: 6 half-pints

ON THE LAST DAYS OF AUGUST I used some peaches to infuse wine vinegar and make some peach liqueur. Time now to decant, strain and bottle.

After adding sugar syrup to the infused vodka I have a quart that needs time to sit a few more months before transferring to smaller bottles for sharing.

I wrestled with tossing all of the fruit that had soaked in the vinegar and the vodka–but I couldn’t do it. I made peach chutney. I added some onions, hot peppers, garlic, sugar, vinegar and spices. Yield: 8 half-pints

Autumn Lady Peaches: 5 pints of Peach BBQ Sauce from the Williams-Sonoma book of preserving recipes borrowed from my neighbor. About 5 pounds made their way in to a batch of  Peach & Rosemary Preserves. Yield: 6 half-pints

Two Peach Galettes from Rose Levy Beranbaum’s site; one for us and one for the neighbors.

PEARS: 4 pounds of the pears became Pear Vanilla Thyme Preserves with ginger and lemon. Yield: 4 half-pints

I caught a break the following week and we took a 3 day trip to Walla Walla with some friends to celebrate a birthday–so no canning! Had to make a stop on the way home in Bingen, WA at Dickey’s Farms where I picked up some big, beautiful Honeycrisp and Buckeye Gala apples. Soooo good! I indulged my yen for Tarte Tatin with some of the honeycrisp apples.

Nearly every night during October we ate a tomato salad of some kind. Yum! We’ll be sorry when they’re gone.

MORE TOMATOES: Mid-month as more tomatoes became ripe I picked another 16 pounds and combined a lot of them with 3 pounds of peppers for 10 pints of Tomato -Chile Salsa.

I picked all of the remaining tomatoes a week ago Thursday since the weather was cooling and we were headed for New Orleans on Saturday. All of the cherry tomatoes became 8 pints of pickled green tomatoes the day before we left. All of the other tomatoes are either green or in varying stages of ripeness and will have to ripen inside. We will savor every last one–maybe up until Thanksgiving if we’re lucky. It will be many months before we buy a tomato. Total tomato harvest must be close to 80 pounds.

I got on a bit of a baking jag. I had to refresh the sourdough starter (since it had a vacation while we did) and I picked the last of the zucchini and baked off six loaves of zucchini bread and into the freezer.

PEPPERS: All of the peppers were picked and the plants pulled to make room for the garlic. The remaining anchos, Anaheims, jalapenos, serranos became 3 quarts of chile verde sauce (into the freezer); the ‘sweet’ ones and a few hot peppers became 11 pints of pickled peppers.

Who doesn’t love cranberries? Two weeks ago my sister (fabricgirl) came up from Long Beach to celebrate our mom’s 81st birthday and she brought me two, gallon bags of fresh cranberries. I popped them into the freezer to keep until we returned from New Orleans (thank goodness for pre-planned trips). Hmmmm….cranberry wine jelly may be in order. And that should be the last of this year’s preserving. I think I put something in jars at least twice a week, every week of the month. At least that’s how if felt by the last Friday of the October. So as you can see, there was scant time for posting. Whew!

Share this:

  • LinkedIn
  • More
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Reddit
  • Pinterest

Like this:

Like Loading...

SPRING CLEANING AND DREAMING OF TOMATOES

26 Monday Apr 2010

Posted by backyardnotes in Peppers, Tomatoes, Vegetable garden, West Seattle garden

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

peppers, planting, seedlings, Spring cleaning, tomatoes, vegetable garden

EVERY GARDEN NEEDS SOME SPRING CLEANING and there are no exceptions here. The biggest job looming over me has been the vegetable garden. Pulling out the bolted and blooming brussels sprouts, cabbages and carrots that were part of the fall and winter garden was long overdue. Beets and swiss chard are near to bolting and weeds have sprouted a plenty since the last weeding before our trip in March. The endive and escarole are beautiful and full now and should nearly tide us over until new lettuce is ready. The garlic looks great and the fava bean plants are beautiful and plentiful–we can hardly wait until late May when the first pods will be ready to pick. Vegetable gardening is in the blood, I guess. Grandma T always had a very large one and Grandma Aggie always had something growing in her small side garden, including horseradish, which she dearly loved. My late (first) mother-in-law, Helen was my tutor and mentor for the first vegetable garden I ever planted–a whopping 40ft x 60ft garden planted with canning in mind.

Grandma T’s vegetable garden ready for planting in 1982 was nearly two city lots in size. While I was growing up the upper portion had a Yellow Transparent apple tree, peach tree, raspberries (kept to the end), logan berries, and gooseberries. The peach tree eventually came down, the gooseberries came out because they were ‘buggy’ and finally the logan berries went away. She always planted peas (which we sneaked into and then got yelled at), corn, tomatoes, beats, carrots, onions, etc. My grandfather got a couple of loads of horse manure every year and tilled the garden for her. It is hard to believe that she was still planting a garden of this size at the age of 75! She fed her family from this plot of land for more than fifty years.

My initial garden here in West Seattle was smallish when first laid out in 1993 and is loosely designed on the principles described in Better Vegetable Gardening: Peter Chan’s Raised Bed System the Chinese Way, first published in 1977 and an excellent book. My vegetable garden has evolved considerably since then. Today’s vegetable garden area is about 25ft x 20ft. There are four 15ft long x 2.5ft wide beds and four 8ft long ones; they are oriented east to west. The one below is ready for planting. I couldn’t bear to pull out the Swiss chard just yet! I add chicken manure, veg fertilizer and compost to each bed before tilling. I no longer turn the soil by hand after a bout of sciatica several years ago. Now the beds are turned with the help of the Mantis, a great little electric tiller just the right size for these beds. All the beds have black rubber soaker/drip hoses and the paths between are covered with wood chips to keep feet clean over the wet winter. The wood chips need replacing about every three years.

The vegetable garden is on the north edge of the property and bounded on the west by a perennial bed and the house, on the south by espaliered apple and pear trees. To the west is the edge of a slope. As you can see, we having some outstanding overcast weather.

North view

West view

Every year is full of decisions. What worked last year, what’s new to try this year?  I always look forward to starting tomatoes and peppers! When the last tomatoes plants are pulled from ground in October (if we are lucky) we have period of mourning–no tomatoes until next August! By February the longing begins and we dream of sweetly ripened tomatoes, warmed by the sun. Each year I like to try one new one and leave the poor performers behind. This year I started my seeds a tad late, on April 10th. I have started them as early as February (too early) and as late as the third week in April (a little late). By the end of May they have been in the cold frame for a couple weeks, hardened off and ready to go into the ground once overnight temperatures are 5o°, which around here is not usually before June. By that time, the favas are ready to harvest and then plants come out and tomatoes go in. Once the tomatoes are in the ground Tom takes over their care and maintenance.

The seed starting setup.

The seedlings after sixteen days.

Tomatoes are quick to germinate, usually within five-seven days; peppers up to two weeks. This year I have started twelve varieties. My favorite producers are an Heirloom German originally from Johnny’s Seeds, Yellow Flame, Aunt Ruby’s Green, and a Roma type from seed that I saved from plants that I purchased in 1995. My newest favorites are Red Pear Piriform (2006), also from Johnny’s and Japanese Black Trifele (2009) from Territorial Seed Company.  Also good are cherry tomatoes Black Cherry and Sungold. We have such a short season and the first tomatoes are usually ripe mid-August if we have favorable weather.

Peppers do very well and continue to ripen well into October. Last year’s surprise was a little yellow pepper (chosen by one of my daughters), Yum Yum (Territorial), a prolific producer of sweet, sweet fruits. So many that they were turned into pickled peppers. Another wonderfully sweet, blocky, red pepper is Figaro, originally from Shepherd’s Seeds. I have saved seed since 2006 with good success. Last year the Ancho chile peppers were huge and a bumper crop to boot. I canned them using a recipe from Eugenia Bone‘s wonderful book, Well Preserved for Marinated Peppers. The flavor of these peppers six months later is a knockout!

No time for dreaming, it’s back into the vegetable garden for now.

Share this:

  • LinkedIn
  • More
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Reddit
  • Pinterest

Like this:

Like Loading...

Archives

Recent Posts

  • OUT WITH THE OLD POND, IN WITH THE NEW WATER FEATURE
  • WINNING SUBMISSION AND NEW DIRECTIONS
  • WHISPERS OF SPRING
  • NOT EXACTLY CANNING…
  • A GIFT OF WINTER APPLES

Art

  • ABC Typography
  • Annerose Georgeson
  • ArtPlantae Today
  • Drawing in Color
  • Fonts
  • Gage Academy of Art
  • Kapitza
  • Kathleen McKeehen
  • Katie Lee
  • Late Start Studio
  • New York Central Art Supply
  • Painting of the day
  • PastelPointers blog
  • The Postman's Knock
  • Wagonized
  • Wordle

Birds

  • Bird Note

Blogroll

  • A Gardener's Table
  • A Way to Garden
  • Annerose Georgeson
  • Backyardnotes\’s Blog
  • cold climate gardening
  • Homeward Bounty
  • The Fresh Loaf
  • West Seattle Blog
  • West Seattle Herald
  • WordPress.com
  • WordPress.org

Bugs!

  • BugGuide
  • What's that bug?

Butterflies

  • North American Butterfly Association

Canning & Preserving

  • A Gardener's Table
  • Canning Across America
  • Fermentista
  • Food in Jars
  • National Center for Home Food Preservation
  • Phickle.com
  • Well Preserved

Creative & Handmade

  • Aunt Peaches
  • BackyardDesigns
  • RedClothespin
  • Whirlygig Fashion

Design

  • ABC Typography
  • Before and After Magazine
  • Clients from Hell
  • Communication Arts
  • Font Bros.
  • Fonts
  • Kapitza
  • My Fonts
  • The Graphics Fairy
  • The Postman's Knock
  • Typographica.org
  • Wordle

Font Love!

  • Emigre
  • Font Bros.
  • Fonts
  • Hoefler & Co. Typography
  • Kapitza
  • My Fonts
  • The Postman's Knock
  • Typographica.org
  • Wordle

Food & Drink

  • David Lebovitz
  • Indian Simmer
  • Jeffrey Morgenthaler
  • Punk Domestics
  • Rose Levy Beranbaum
  • Serious Eats
  • Tapas Bonitas
  • The British Larder

Gardening

  • A Gardener's Table
  • cold climate gardening
  • Cornell Plant Pathology Vegetable Disease Web Page
  • Hellebores
  • Hosta library
  • Johnny's Seeds
  • Naylor Creek Gardens
  • North American Butterfly Association
  • Not Dabbling In Normal
  • Territorial Seed Company
  • Wells Medina Nursery
  • West Seattle Nursery
  • What's that bug?

Inspiration

  • Toom-ah? What Stinkin' toomah?

It's About Life

  • Toom-ah? What Stinkin' toomah?

Let's Eat!

  • Anson Mills
  • Five and Spice
  • food52
  • Northwest Sourdough
  • The Artisan
  • The British Larder
  • The Cook's Thesaurus
  • The Fresh Loaf
  • Wild Yeast

Painting & Drawing

  • Annerose Georgeson
  • ArtPlantae Today
  • Draw a stickman
  • Drawing in Color
  • Gage Academy of Art
  • Kathleen McKeehen
  • Katie Lee
  • Painting of the day
  • PastelPointers blog
  • Wagonized

Plant love

  • Flower World
  • Hellebores
  • Hosta library
  • Naylor Creek Gardens
  • USDA Plants database
  • Wells Medina Nursery
  • West Seattle Nursery

Shops

  • BackyardDesigns
  • RedClothespin
  • Whirlygig Fashion

Vegetables

  • Johnny's Seeds
  • Territorial Seed Company

West Seattle

  • West Seattle Blog
  • West Seattle Herald

Categories

Blogs I Follow

  • grow it cook it can it
  • Red Road Diaries
  • A Gardener's Table
  • Backyardnotes
  • WordPress.com

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 64 other subscribers

apples Art birds black radish brussels sprouts cabbage camelias camping canning clematis compost cranberries crocus dahlias Daikon radish Death Valley desert Drawing fall fava beans food friendship gardening Gardening garlic hamamelis harvest hellebores herbs hiking hostas iris lavender mangoes mixed media mustard greens narcissus nature New Orleans nicandra painting pears peas peonies peppers pesto Pickled asparagus pickles pickling planting plants poetry poetry exchange poppies preserving Radishes rain roses Sandhill Cranes seedlings Sisters snow Spring Spring flowers sunshine tetons tomatoes Travel trillium tulips vegetable garden volunteer plants volunteer seedlings wildflowers winter cyclamen winter flowers

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 64 other subscribers

April flowers Art Canning & Preserving Cooking & Eating Fall Flowers Fun in the Garden Growing Harvest Inspriation Jellies & Preserves March flowers Spring Spring bulbs Spring flowers Summer! Tomatoes Travel tulips Uncategorized Vegetable garden Weather West Seattle garden Winter Winter flowers

No Instagram images were found.

BYN_IG

No Instagram images were found.

Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.

grow it cook it can it

Red Road Diaries

Musings from the back roads

A Gardener's Table

Celebrating the Harvest

Backyardnotes

All things botanical in photos and words—in my West Seattle garden and elsewhere; seeing and creating art and assorted musings.

WordPress.com

WordPress.com is the best place for your personal blog or business site.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Follow Following
    • Backyardnotes
    • Join 64 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Backyardnotes
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d bloggers like this: