Picking a Peck, Fast
It is the wintering in time, and therefore busy, busy, busy. So I have to work smart and fast. I still have some big harvesting jobs left in the garden, along with putting the garden and greenhouse to bed for the winter. Still on the list, sweet corn, cauliflower, winter squash, naked seed pumpkins, and garlic planting. Things that are coasting are dry beans in the barn, greens for the freezer, and a little more canning. And maybe prunes if we get some dry weather this weekend. Fall rains are here with mountain snow which means peppers or tomatoes left on the bush or vine get an odd bitter taste.
So, the other day, I harvested the last of the peppers. No more long sunny days now to help things ripen. Peppers are one of those foods that I like to grow, because they taste good at all stages, whether green or ripe. And…they keep for a long time in a cool place and continue to ripen. And when it looks like they are going to head south, I can freeze or dry the remainder for longer term storage.
Many times what seems like a big job can be made easier by working a little smarter. All summer we have babied these pepper plants, carefully clipping a ripe pepper here and there so as not to break an entire stem off. But at final harvest all bets are off.
The biggest impediment for quick and easy harvesting is the twine tying the pepper laden plant to the stake. A necessary thing in my opinion, but a pain nonetheless.
After harvesting, these plants are dead to me, literally. So off with the bandaid! I slip the twine off or cut it, and pull the plant back towards me. I can be rough and quick because the final act in harvesting is pulling the plant. This is so much easier than trying to kneel down or bend over and pick the plant. It’s pretty easy to miss green peppers amongst the leaves but if the plant is bent over somewhat the peppers are more exposed and easier to harvest.
With my box nearby, I just harvest with both hands (unless I am trying to take a photo) and by pulling up, the stem breaks easily and I throw the peppers in the harvest box.
If you want to sort by ripeness, have two vessels ready for your goods. I find moving two boxes along the row is more of a pain than sorting later at a more orthopedically correct table or work area. Plus sorting later gives me a better chance to look for blems that may cause spoilage.
When I am done, I just yank the plant and shake the soil off of the roots. That way I can put the plants in the compost pile and then pull all the stakes and store them for next year. By harvesting quickly, and doing a little of the clean-up work while I am there, I can really save time.
Numex Joe E. Parker
My main farmstead job is growing our food, and not working myself to death by not working smart is not part of the job description.
Food Renegade
Simple, Green, Frugal Co-op
It’s an interesting ‘problem’ that I’ve never had – how to quickly pick the last of the bounty – simply because we don’t grow in the quantities that you do. I’m lucky if the produce makes it into the house for more than an hour before it gets eaten! However, your peppers look really tasty…
Jenj, maybe your way is the best way
Gorgeous peppers. Do you like to roast and freeze peppers? I think that’s what I’d do with half of those. Or maybe roast, puree and freeze (to save freezer space?).
6512, we eat so many before they go bad in January, that I have found just slicing and freezing on trays and then bagging takes care of the rest. If you pureed them, would you use them for soups etc?
sauces and dips!
Hmmm … how about starting with the final step? Put your boxes in a wheelbarrow or cart that you roll down the row as you harvest. Pull up the plant entirely and hold it up with one hand while standing, pick peppers off with the other hand. Or, lay the plant across the wheelbarrow/cart to pick (roots hanging over the edge so soil falls to the ground). No kneeling or stooping involved, and if the cart is the right height, no bending either.
Debra, excellent for field work. Since my peppers were in a crowded greenhouse, I had to toss my spent pepper plants to the wheelbarrow in the path.
I like Debra’s ideas. Makes sense. But, how you do it makes sense to me too. I just haven’t grown anything in that large of quantity before. Now I’ll know what to do to work smarter! Thanks!
Oregon Sunshine, it’s all good, I like to pick with both hands, so the plant has to be firmly in the ground still. Lots good ideas everywhere if you do grow large quantities!
My peppers died this year, but last year I had a good crop from my four plants. We picked them fresh off the plant for several months and then I froze the last cut in half. I like to make stuffed bell peppers, and a frozen half is ready to go straight into the oven with a hamburger stuffing and an Italian sauce on top. Yum! – Margy
Margy, I know, they sure are easy to freeze for later. And so tasty too!
I’m envious – a tree fell on our garden space and eliminated ALL the peppers. I bought peppers at a farmer’s market and froze them – some diced, some cut in strips.
I have always roasted and frozen my ripe peppers in a mad end-of-season dash. I didn’t realize the green ones would ripen up if given time. At what temp/humidity will they do this? I had the idea they needed to be refrigerated or they’d dry out but perhaps that’s not true?
Sue, some will and some won’t ,( just like tomatoes) and I have seen it more so in chili and pimiento type peppers than bells. But it’s worth a try. I keep mine on a cool porch in cardboard boxes the temperatures vary, but are not as cold as a fridge. If frost threatens I cover the lot with sheets or towels and they do fine. Same with large zucchini, I keep them on the porch sometimes until January. Of course you have to look for spoilage, as with any stored goods, but it’s easy and free and frees up a lot of time for things that won’t keep and need to be processed.
Just the sort of details I needed to know — many thanks!
Sue, you’re welcome
I absolutely LOVE your blog. Your efficient, intelligent, sustainable methods of farming/growing are truly inspiring. I have learned SO much from you and I thank you for taking the time to blog!
Sherri, thank you!
Wow!! Look at all those peppers!! Our peppers got crowded out with weeds, but we did manage to harvest a few. Local farm down the road from us sells theirs at 4 for $1, so we stocked up on theirs. I -think- we froze enough to last until next summer! Peter was playing in the garden the other day and found a stray pepper! It promptly got chopped and added to home made french bread pizza for lunch!
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I grew a boat load of peppers this year. Its one of the few crops that tolerated the long stretch of 105 plus temps we had through July and August. This is the first year I actually had much success at bells. BUT even then they are small. What is your secret for growing those huge bell peppers? I got one or two the size of a baseball the rest were half that size or less. Thanks for sharing so much of your knowledge…. love your blog.
Karen, chicken manure! Or actually composted chicken manure. Peppers are heavy feeders. And I watered them once a week since they are in the greenhouse.
Eek 105! We were lucky to break 90 a few times this summer. My corn is just now getting ripe in October!
I’m in Dallas, Texas and we had a pretty miserable summer. 70 days with temps over 100. Several times it was up to 110. In the late spring we had sleet and hail destroy all the fruit set on our pear, apple and plum trees. Then the temps went from cool to hot so fast that it screwed up the tomatoes so we got very few spring tomatoes. Everything we grew came to a screeching halt with the high temps. Even the peppers didn’t grow or set fruit. Good thing is they didn’t die. So we had a crop in June and I’m harvesting from the same plants now in October.
Add to the heat, no rain all summer sent us into serious drought conditions. I’ve heard predictions that the drought may last for years, so I have started reading some of your referenced books on dry gardening. I use raised beds currently because of the miserable clay soil so I’m at least watering a small concentrated space.
Manure is definitely a missing in my gardening. I compost, grow green cover crops and I’ve planted comfrey to mine the deep minerals. I did add organic fertilizer to my beds… but still had scrawny bell peppers. Chickens are on my wish list. I just need to get brave enough to go for it. Especially since we are plagued with grasshoppers and I’m tired of paying $5 a dozen for eggs. One more reason to get chickens. hmmm.