2024 Food Garden

We char them and freeze on cookie sheets, then put in freezer bags. I don’t know for sure, but I don’t think I’d freeze them first.

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So char then remove the skin THEN freeze ?

That’s what I do.

It’s more work, but I also makes red pepper "paste" and freeze that in ice cube trays.

Last year I froze them seeded, and made some paste when things were less busy …and to make room for this years excess.

The weather has changed from hot, coupled with drought, to day after day of rain and flash floods! It has brought out the hidden world.


Night Velvet Shiitakes, grown on oak logs, are coming in on a staggered schedule. Most are getting dried.

The first Black Trumpets are emerging in the forest:


When dried, these are surprisingly fragrant and used as a seasoning. The best mushroom soups have this as an almost invisible ingredient, crumbled up into tiny dark flakes. The fungus is mycorrhizal on several tree species, and tend to appear in the same area yearly, on mostly bare ground under the trees.

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Good for you.

I’m intimidated by the idea of growing my own mushrooms. I have been seeing the kits at the garden centre a lot, lately.

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A panoply of porch peppers. 2024 will go down in history as the year my Anaheim seeds decided to grow and fruit like crazy.

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Nope, char them and freeze in the skins

then it’s easy to remove the skins when you defrost?

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Give it a try! I grew shiitakes a couple of times, and then tried some Lion’s Mane, which was a lot of fun. I got several small ones, decided it was done, and quit babying it for a week or so, then I turned it around and there was a baseball sized one growing at the back. I like the flavor of those a lot. They need to be kept humid (especially here), but they’re surprisingly easy to get at least one flush from the kits.

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It’s actually about the same, in my opinion. Martha Stewart said on her show that it was a sin to rinse the skins off, and used a paper towel to demonstrate, which is what I do. It’s messy, no question, but there’s no loss of flavor. You could use a tea towel, and it would be a bit faster, maybe, but cleaning the towel after is another story.

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Beautiful peppers, and congrats on the milestone - how satisfying!

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Growing on natural logs is tricky, but can be very productive with superior quality mushrooms. However, kits using enriched, sterilized sawdust/wood chip media are easier to manage. You may need a plastic bag (vented) to maintain humidity if the air is dry.

I get mushroom growing supplies from Field & Forest Products, a family-run operation that has always treated me well. Kits that have been hanging around a garden center for a while may not be the best, depending on storage time and temperatures. Avoid any with off-colored mold (e.g.: green, yellow) in the bags. Shiitake mycelium is white, bruising brownish.

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Making red pepper paste

I roasted them,


I’m peeling them

Trying this one this time, but didn’t notice the part about salting before roasting, or slow roasting a larger quantity. Note to self to try that next time.

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Those look so good! Flame roasted peppers are not that hard to peel with a knife. then, there’s so much you can do with them. The paste…yum. Easy to use!

The best salsa I’ve ever had was made by a lady friend, neighbor across the road. When I asked her the secret, she replied: “Flame-roasted peppers.”

I’ve water bath canned pimientos using the flame-peel method. So many peppers work well with this. A favorite variety are New Mexico Joe E. Parker.

I’m not a fan of ice cube freezing for foods, condiments, too much air space, unless you vacuum-seal the cubes to reduce oxidation and freezer burn. That’s a lot of contact with plastic. I prefer to freeze in mason jars 4 oz.–pint size, or reused jars, with a little olive oil on top to seal out air. Out of the freezer, you can scrape the oil off, into a bowl or metal measuring cup. Let the product thaw just enough to scoop out. The oil can be remelted and reused, or replaced. No plastic, little to no waste, trash.

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I do usually vacuum seal the cubes, but I’ll try that! Any estimates on how long to thaw?

That will depend on the size, shape of the jar, water content of the peppers and the room temperature. For me, I can get the granular frozen scooped out in an hour or so. The oil on top can be scraped out sooner.

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Thank you @bogman !

Green lacewing eggs!

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is that… good?

:grin: Yes! The eggs become larvae called “aphid lions”! People pay for the these!

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YAY!

is a complete sentence.

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