Harvest Monday

The hot pepper plants did not make it through the first frost, even though the weather has been very mild and quite beautiful ever since. So here are all the remaining hot peppers. There was another bucket full, but I only took a picture of one container. It's hard to see from the pics, because I didn't bother spreading them out, but I would say there are about 5-6lb of hot peppers total.

We grew: Cayennes (both finger type and some really big fat kind that we don't know the name of), Habaneros, Jalapenos, Bulgarian Carrots, Anaheims, Thai birds eye, and Jolokia peppers. The green ones are in paper bags, hoping that they will turn red inside...

I also harvested all the carrots from the hoop house. I thought of keeping them throughout the winter, but they looked very matured, and I didn't want them to get too tough and bitter with the warmth inside the hoop house. I rather plant something else in that space anyway. I think I am glad I pulled them up. It's definitely the best tasting carrots we've ever had and grown. Very sweet and crispy! I think these are "Shin Kuroda" carrots - I don't think they are supposed to be this short, but it's my fault, as I didn't prepare fluff the soil properly.

I have 2 more small patches of carrots outside. I'm not sure if they will reach maturity before the ground freezes. I may have to think about putting a cold frame around them.

I also had a small bed of Broccoli Raab that I sauteed with a bit of kale and garlic. Oh so yummy! The broccoli raab was heavily infested with aphids earlier, but I think the frost killed them all. I only wish I had planted a lot more of these. I am going to try growing them in the hoop house and see how they do. They are very fast to grow.

Something as simple as this plate of sauteed carrots and bok choi fresh picked from the garden can really make a big difference on the dinner table.

Now I have a lot of cleaning up to do in the garden .....

Make sure to go visit the host of Harvest Monday and see what's growing in everyone's garden!