late peppers
The garden season this year has played out consistently. There has been a lot of growth, a fair amount of disease, and meager harvests. Only the poblano peppers (a plant I bought, didn’t start from seed) produced enough small peppers for cooking. In the process I discovered a great, simple, flavorful chicken chili recipe from Smitten Kitchen that has also rewarded my desire to eat more beans.
But the pimentos and other sweet reds are just starting to produce a few fruits, too little too late. I’m hoping to fix this with the use of the greenhouse next summer, supplying the early heat that will kick them into producing fruit. I’ve always had big, beautiful pepper plants loaded with fruit. So I’m mystified. This article says they are pollinated by wind, which is also concerning– maybe I should start them in the greenhouse and then move them to the outdoor beds. That article also makes me tired. Maybe I’ll just tack it up to a bad year and do what has always worked in the past (i.e., just plant them).
The tomatillos also did not develop as usual. The two plants were loaded with fruit, but the fruit didn’t ripen and fill out the husks. Instead of buckets of fruit, I had small pails, which I did simmer down and freeze for a few tomatillo chicken dinners this winter.
And I’ve appreciated the frost-time scaling back of the garden. My sister and I brought in the squash, crookneck and butternut. They’re a little scrappy, too. Today I diced a bunch and in addition to a large roasted vegetable dinner we’re planning, blanched and froze three quarts.
I didn’t make it to the garlic festival this year, so for the first time I’ll be replanting my own seed garlic– so I sat and chose the best bulbs this morning, too.
In the garden itself there are still those powerhouses, cherry tomatoes! And the king of the post-frost harvest, leeks (potato leek soup to come). And the always-fruitful kale, as well as an array of fresh herbs.
After the surgery, I was quite frustrated by my bland diet. Finally my taste is back and I couldn’t eat anything with flavor because of my digestion! But even at its blandest, I was so happy eating my own potatoes. Thanks again to Kate Ritger, my sister Kathy, my step-daughter Julia, and husband Steve, who made those potatoes possible by planting, weeding, and hilling.
I’m finally back in full form this week and eating things I love that aren’t necessarily good for me: ribs, Indian food, Mexican food, etc. I’ve seriously had it with being as healthy as possible, though I am being diligent on the exercise end. This, too, is a way of regrouping before we start chemo this coming Thursday– giving oneself over to life’s pleasures, including culinary ones. The leek potato soup (with a touch of curry powder) can come later, when I return to bland land.
And it feels good to be “putting up” reasonable quantities of foods I’ve grown. As always, though we’re not dependent on the harvest for our food, giving us the sense that we’re ready for winter– we’re ready for whatever lies ahead.