The ‘P’ Word
Peppers and prunes!
We’re supposed get some more hot, dry days this weekend, and the peppers are on the verge of getting sunburned in the greenhouse if I didn’t get the ripest ones picked today. You know, different sun angle and all.
L – R clockwise, Red Ruffled Pimiento, Flavorburst, Padron & Jalapeno
All these peppers are destined for the freezer, romesco, and fermented hot chili sauce.
Italian prunes
And the best part of the summer, the Italian prunes are getting ripe. I’m gonna have to pinch myself, this the third year in a row we’ve had a good fruit set. I have no idea what all the fuss and snickering about regularity and prunes is, we see no difference and some years we go without, but we’re still regular… . This is our raisin and candy substitute, much less fuss and muss than grapes, and the taste? To die for. Nothing like the unreasonable facsimile available in stores.
Amish Paste – Kapuler
The final ‘P’ word is plugging. Plugging away at the tomato preservation projects. I’ve got some new tomatoes this year, and we have to try them out, cooked, fresh, roasted, etc., before we decide if they stay or go. I haven’t watered the tomatoes since the first week of August so they are getting a more concentrated flavor, any ideas I had about culling a month ago are now fleeting statements that I will soon forget.
That’s the word from here, just keeping it local!
Throwback at Trapper Creek 
I have serious plum envy. Italian plums roasted with honey and cinnamon are one of my favorite things to eat. Fantastic with yogurt!
And those peppers!
Sounds delicious!
Your produce always looks superb. Hanno’s favourite cake/dessert of all time – German plum cake. Do you eat all the plums fresh or do you preserve and bake some?
Rhonda, I’m in the same corner as Hanno, I love German plum cake! We eat as many fresh as we can, dehydrate as many as possible and sometimes I juice some, or can some in jars for whole plums. Almost my favorite fruit 🙂
Do you use a dehydrator for the prunes??
Yes!
It is the S word here in Montana. I only grow a few tomatoes, in tubs–they are now in my living room. At least they won.t freeze and be snowed on the next two nights.
I saw that on the weather report tonight 😦
Purdy pictures of perfect produce. The S word here is sizzling. Funny, I thought that maybe I was the only one that grew tomatoes in pots in their living room during the winter. 🙂 So Matron… Have your phenological observations led you to any predictions or prognostications as to whether this winter’s weather will be pleasant or perilous?
Hmmh, let’s see…I’ve been moving firewood in at a fairly steady pace, but that’s normal, we seem like we’re in kind of normalish pattern here with things ripening on time like they used to. I’m kind of scarred by the recent memory of the wet summers of ’11 and ’12 with fruit ripening 4 -5 weeks later than other years. I’m hoping it won’t be as cold here as last year…I was not prepared for 5F degrees in the garden 😦
Oh yeah, German Plum Kuchen! I made one last week and we ate it with tons of whipped cream. Oh yummers.
mmmm. I’m getting hungry for that for sure. I just pulled the first roasted pimientos out of the oven, and I afraid I didn’t plant enough – they’ll never make it to the roasted red pepper spread stage!
Can you share the pepper varieties you are raising, particularly the red peppers? Also, àre you growing those in your greenhouses? I need to focus more effort on peppers next year.
April, sure, Red Ruffled Pimiento OP, Flavorburst F1, Numex Joe. E. Parker anaheim OP, Padron OP, and Jalapeno F1, nothing fancy but all quite prolific. I do grow them in the greenhouse, that ensures they will get ripe, I grew up eating green peppers…
that picture of the tomatoes in the skillet is phenomenal! I had not thought of taking plums and drying them into prunes, genius!
Just make sure you have a prune plum variety, some plums just don’t dry well. Italian is the best!