Sweet peppery and potatoey harvest
A cool August slowed down a lot of heat-lovers, like the sweet peppers shown above. But they're starting to roll in now, better late than never! Last year, I chopped our sweet peppers 
into
small pieces and froze them in ziplock bags, which made for easy
seasoning-dashes in winter dishes. I'm glad to be able to repeat the
preservation trick this year. One pint down, as many as we can fit in
before the frost still to go!
I'm also starting to
harvest our sweet potatoes so they'll have plenty of time to cure before
cold weather hits. I'd planned to only dig a few hills per day,
figuring their vines would be enjoyed by the goats. But our spoiled
ladies turned up their noses even after I told them how much deer adore
sweet-potato tops. I guess I'll go ahead and harvest the rest of the
planting today before whoever's been nibbling on the tubers does much
more damage.
Meanwhile, our porch
dining table has been halfway taken over by my seed-saving station.
Since I'm a far-too-speedy eater, I like having a stockpile of beans to
shell or hazelnuts to husk to keep my hands busy while Mark finishes his
meals at a more normal pace. Last week, I was shelling beans for
planting from our Masai bushes, and this week I harvested another half gallon or so of scarlet runner bean pods from our shade vines, along with the last of the year's mung bean
pods, both for eating. The field corn is being husked too since I
learned the hard way that, even on drying racks, corn in the husk will
mold instead of dry in our humid climate.
I didn't bother to take
photos, but I also harvested another twenty
pounds or so of butternuts, bringing our total 2015 yield up to about
225 pounds. Add in a batch of mozzarella plus a pot of soup over the
weekend and it's been a pretty productive week already. But we've still
got basil and okra and green beans and sweet
corn to preserve in the days to come.
Since I ended last week's harvest update
with a Song Sparrow photo, I thought I'd snap a shot this week too.
What a difference eight days make! I have a feeling these chickies will
have left the nest and learned to fly before I regale you with a harvest
post once again.
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About us: Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.
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Anna, This fall I have developed a taste for homemade pesto! I put about 2 cups packed, of basil in the food processor. Add about 1/4 cup olive oil, 2 tablespoons pine nuts or almonds or other nuts you have, 3 cloves garlic, and 1/2 cup crumbled Feta cheese. Process until fairly smooth, adding salt and more oil to suit. Wonderful over sliced tomatoes.
I also take zucchini, Peal with a vegetable peeler, rotating as you go along. Then cut the strips into 1" pieces and add pesto.
Well, it sure sounds like harvest time at your place! I planted a couple of bushes of those mini sweet pepprs. Yellow, orange, and red, and we just love em. I love jist loooking at the colors in a stir fry. We are freezing ours also. At least, the ones that actually make it into the house. They are a great snack while working in the garden!