Harvesting – Page 5 – Use That Herb

Cayenne peppers grew so well this year we probably have enough for the next five years or more. Of course we’ve shared with friends, but how many strings of hot peppers does one kitchen need?

Hanging a collection of peppers is a nice way to display the colorful fruits and have easy access to them while cooking. By stringing them up the peppers will have room enough to dry out and not mold. If you have lots of counter space you could just dry them on a tray making sure to turn them every day. Just throw away any that turn black- not so appetizing. If you’re short on places to put a tray of peppers for a couple of weeks, try stringing them up. It can be a fun way to get the kids to help out with the end of the growing season chores.

Each year we try a new plant or two in the garden. Sometimes the new plants do well and become favorites to be grown again and sometimes we need to stick to the old adage, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” Well, next growing season we will be trying to grow tomatillos again. This summer’s attempt was a flop!

Well, not a complete flop. We learned some things about growing tomatillos. Check out this photo of one tomatillo plant. (Click on images to see a larger view.)

Single tomatillo plant laid in front of garage door.

Several plants were started by seed, but I don’t think the growing area was warm enough for the tomatillos to really get going. Maybe they are just not so easy to start via seeds indoors. Since it was our first attempt at growing them I can only guess as to what went wrong.

String Up Your Bounty of Hot Peppers

Tomatillos Can’t Grow It Alone