Garden Chores

Peaches, peppers, tomato, onion, garlic

Photo by NisonCo PR and SEO on Unsplash

Peaches

No writing tomorrow. Tomorrow is a day of necessary chores. I have a bushel of peaches to process that I have been procrastinating. Sigh.

The peaches are basic, nothing fancy this time. I tend to add more work by creating more challenging recipes. Not this time. No matter what I choose, the peaches will be placed in hot water briefly, cooled in an ice bath, and skin and pits removed. After that, the options will be water bath canning with light syrup or just placing them in freezer bags to use in cobblers or pies.

Peppers

Peppers of different kinds are coming in hot and heavy, and I will pickle them for long-term storage.

The other option we like is the candied jalapenos that are delicious and used on crackers with cream cheese or as a condiment on your hamburgers instead of pickles. We use them in a variety of ways.

The sweet peppers will be used in the stewed tomatoes I can, along with the celery, garlic, and onions growing in the garden.

I will chop up and dehydrate or freeze any extra peppers I don’t use for use later in the winter months.

We took peppers out of the freezer that we had yet to use. Deseeded them, put them in the smoker, dehydrated them, and made smoked pepper dust. We use this with other spices on rubs for BBQs.

My husband turns some of the hottest peppers we grow into a hot sauce that he ferments and bottles up at the end of the garden season.

Tomatoes

I picked the first red tomatoes tonight; I want my BLT sandwiches which is probably what’s for dinner tomorrow night.

I’ve decided to simplify my tomato canning this year and do lots of stewed tomatoes. I’m close to being out of them.

Last year I made roasted tomato soup, which tastes terrific but takes more work — roasting all the tomatoes, garlic, and onions and removing the skins and seeds. I still have some left from last year in the pantry.

I also made Bloody Mary mix the last couple of years. Until I made it, I had never had a Bloody Mary and probably would have told anyone who…