As Backyard Farmers, our job is never done. I we aren’t sprucing up the flowerbeds, chopping and stacking wood, we are harvesting various garden gifts. Pictured is our latest bounty. Jalapeños, Sriracha Peppers, Jimmy Nardellos.
The cherry tomatoes from a ‘volunteer’ tomato plant growing along side another ‘volunteer’ beefsteak tomato plant that has taken over the Pea and Bean trellis. By “taken over” I mean it’s over 8 feet tall and has numerous clusters of tomatoes on it! The cherry tomatoes are just a bonus plant!
Such is life on the farm when you create your own composted soil. Sometimes there is a volunteer plant or two. In our garden, we have many. Pumpkins, Tomatoes and Spaghetti Squash have been the discoveries thus far. We are so grateful for all that the garden provides but sometimes, the endless processing can be overwhelming. No complaints here, just always busy!
Today is another busy day! Processing the latest bounty. Dehydrating the jalapeños which, when finished, will be gifted to our daughter and her family. Sriracha peppers and the Jimmy Nardellos will be frozen for later use. Peppers do not lose their crunch when frozen so it’s a good way to preserve them for long term. You also do not have to blanch them. Jimmy Nardellos can also be strung up to dry in front of a window but we really don’t have a sunny space for them to dry. Too many beautiful trees and the house faces North to South. I really don’t think anyone wants drying peppers in their bedroom windows. Cherry tomatoes can be dehydrated, canned or frozen. We will dehydrate these and add them to our others and use to make tomatoes soup on a cold winter day!
We are fortunate that processing this produce will only take about an hour start to finish. The rest of the day will be spent getting our travel trailer out of storage and bringing her home to be winterized and, as it is October, decorating for Halloween!
General Information:
Wash all your harvested yummies before you do any processing. Even though we don’t use any chemicals in our soil or on our plants, we still wash our harvest.
If you choose to freeze your Peppers, dry them. Place them is airtight containers as they will last 3-6 months. We put ours in Vacuum Sealed bags which can give you an even longer freezer life.
Individual Temps for Dehydrating:
Jalapenos: Slice them into 1/4 inch rounds and place on dehydrating trays, not touching, and dehydrate at 125 degrees and let them go for approximately 10 hours. I always check them after 8 hours, removing the completely dry ones. They will be hard and no softness remains. Keep the others in the dehydrator, restart and check the rest every two hours or so. Let cool and store in airtight containers. We use mason jars.
Tomatoes: Cut the cherry tomatoes in half and place them on the dehydrating trays skin side down. Set the dehydrator to 140 degrees and let the tomatoes ride for at least 9 hours. Check them at this point to see if all the softness has gone. They should be crisp. Let the tomatoes cool and store in airtight containers. We use mason jars.
As always, Love, Light and Peace!
Please feel free to leave a comment or ask a question. All unkind comments will be deleted.
