On 9/9/2016 7:23 PM, Derald wrote:
George Shirley wrote:

Wife picked a fairly large bucket of sweet peppers this morning and we
found some hot ones in the crowd. She found the culprit and pulled it as
we can't anything that hot. Also got a smaller bucket of Japanese
eggplant, lavender ones this time. All the stuff pulled went to the
church pantry as both freezers are completely full and there is no more
room in the refrigerator.

I may go ahead and pickle a bunch of peppers as I have always liked
those and we only have one jar left in the pantry.
I'm still getting purplehull peas, okra, jalapeño and bell peppers.
Hermine upset one of the okra beds a bit and knocked down a few small
pine limbs but did nothing consequential here. Left us cooler and drier
for a few days but we're getting back to warm humid normality at flank
speed. Nights are cooling somewhat while days remain warm, a typical
autumn weather pattern that usually prevails until around Hallowe'en and
some years lasts 'til around Christmas. Some years, though, we do get a
"October Surprise". I've optimistically planted more Provider green
beans because most years the weather stays warm long enough to get a
decent crop. Also, optimistically planted "Little Marvel" little green
garden peas this morning. We're in the planting window but daytime
temps are still a bit high. I can (and do) plant several flight of peas
between September and March so as to have a continuous supply until
April or May. Gotta few heat-tolerant greens up and growing among some
tomatoes but am delaying the sure-enough "cool season" veggies until we
have a longer stretch of cool weather. The English peas should be up
within a couple of days and I figure that when they're three or four
inches tall I can put some mustard greens under them.
I, too, have enough japs to be considering pickling a few pints
(hot peppers in vinegar are called "pepper sauce" down here) using my
BIL's most excellent recipe.

We're in Northern Harris Cty, TX, USDA Zone 8b, used to live in
Louisiana, zone 10B, that used to be 9B. It's 88F outside at sunset and
will be in the mid to high seventies when I get up tomorrow.

Last year had no winter for us, temps never got below 60F if I remember
correctly. The Gypsy pepper plant we planted in early spring of 2015 is
still producing and the avocado seeds dear wife planted two years ago
are about four feet tall now.

We grow green beans and peas every two to three years as there are only
two of us here and we can enough in one season to hold us that long.
Gives us a chance to try new things in the garden, some have been okay
and a lot more have been duds completely. A few of our black crowders
dropped some seed and now the fall garden is being covered by massive
pea vines, some have set fruit and I spotted about six, six to seven
inch pods in there. May get a second crop this year.

The lavender Jap eggplant have gone crazy, picked eight more today, most
six to seven inches long and about 1.5 inches in diameter. I may have to
make a new batch of eggplant fritters. We're having some tomorrow with
dinner that we put up in 2014, another eggplant massive season. Our
climate is just right for some things.

The Tennousi pears are now pear honey and pear sauce. We saved enough to
make a large pear pie, my spousal unit is the pie queen in the family,
known in three states and four countries for her lemon meringue pies. I
may have to put in a lemon tree to go with the rest, probably would have
to take down the garden shed to get the room though.

I used make real pepper sauce, fermented kind, doctors finally told me
to stop that and get off the stuff as that was what was eating my
stomach lining. What the folks in Florida call pepper sauce is pickled
peppers down here and I just put up a batch of sweet peppers for future
eating.

About time to start thinking of what to grow this winter/spring, if the
pepper plants continue on another year we won't need any of those. Won't
be long until we're picking kumquats so I have to think of what to make
with that crop. Someone mentioned kumquat wine but I might do something
else, already have a good bit of kumquat marmalade so may just put them
up ground up for kumquat pies and cakes. So much time to make as much as
we can, it's a disease.

George

George