What are You Eating from the Garden?

[digitS']

Baked potatoes, baked squash ...

Tomatoes, ripe from the counter ...

Bok choy and mustard greens, because it's that time of year again ...

Steve

 

[ninnymary]

Baked potatoes, baked squash ...

Tomatoes, ripe from the counter ...

Bok choy and mustard greens, because it's that time of year again ...

Steve

Have you ever grown Joi Choi? It's a variety of pok choy.

It's the favorite asian green of a gardener I follow on IG. You harvest the outer leaves and it last's her about 5 months.

I just ordered some so I'm excited to try it. I like things like kale where you harvest outer leaves and the plants last forever.

Mary

 

[digitS']

No.

In the early 80's, I must have asked what the green vegetable was in my plate at a favorite restaurant. I'd finally learned what cilantro is. Off I went to a supermarket in a somewhat ethnically-diverse neighborhood. I don't remember the cilantro; maybe I saved that for my 2nd shopping, at an Asian market. (I don't know if there was a Mexican market, anywhere around during those days. )

The big, white-stemmed bok choy I found at the supermarket was not to my liking - too coarse.

The Asian market had bok choy, all of it small and green-stemmed. I began to grow that in my garden. (Cilantro, I still have trouble with altho I have it early and late in the garden. Buy it quite often.)

I have grown Toy Choy and it is white-stemmed and just fine ... except that it is really tiny!

I have grown several green-stemmed over the years, Black Summer was fine. Those just labeled Ching Chang are real variable. I always return to Mei Qing choy.

I'm not a cut-and-come-again bok choy harvester. If you do that, Mary, my advice is to harvest early and often. You remember that I don't like the heavy stems of most chard varieties . It's true sorta with bok choy. The stem is heavy but I'm not happy if it is also coarse.

tender stevie

 

[Beekissed]

I like the pak choy for that trait...they are smaller and more tender than the larger varieties of bok choy. Grow like they are on steroids and the snails mostly leave them alone when they have more sacrificial lettuce and napa cabbage nearby.

 

[catjac1975]

Fushimi peppers are a bumper crop this years. There are a thousand more green ones that will likely not turn red. I have a ton of the red so will not pick the green unless we get a long break before frost. I want to roast them and then store them, perhaps in olive oil, to use over time. Does any one have any thoughts as to have I can safely preserve them. I do not really want to just freeze them.

 

[flowerbug]

View attachment 28791 View attachment 28792

Fushimi peppers are a bumper crop this years. There are a thousand more green ones that will likely not turn red. I have a ton of the red so will not pick the green unless we get a long break before frost. I want to roast them and then store them, perhaps in olive oil, to use over time. Does any one have any thoughts as to have I can safely preserve them. I do not really want to just freeze them.

i would not store anything packed in oil unless it is also pressure canned, it is classic botulism otherwise (not acidic in those oils and anaerobic).

roasting and freezing is my preferred method for peppers, you can skin them when they come out of the freezer or i just eat them skins and all. the other method is drying and i've not done that here. i like them way too much roasted and packed in their own juices in pint jars then i freeze them.

pickled and sweet and sour relish are both good for peppers too, but i never get that far with mine. i'll eat them fresh as much as i can when they're in season.

i don't grow very hot ones. i don't know how hot those are or what the flavor is like, but green ones can be pretty good too when roasted (daydreaming of Hatch Green Chili...).

 

[catjac1975]

i would not store anything packed in oil unless it is also pressure canned, it is classic botulism otherwise (not acidic in those oils and anaerobic).

roasting and freezing is my preferred method for peppers, you can skin them when they come out of the freezer or i just eat them skins and all. the other method is drying and i've not done that here. i like them way too much roasted and packed in their own juices in pint jars then i freeze them.

pickled and sweet and sour relish are both good for peppers too, but i never get that far with mine. i'll eat them fresh as much as i can when they're in season.

i don't grow very hot ones. i don't know how hot those are or what the flavor is like, but green ones can be pretty good too when roasted (daydreaming of Hatch Green Chili...).

Thanks so much. So. They did not turn into mush when you thawed them? Fushimi are very sweet.

 

[catjac1975]

Thanks so much. So. They dod not turn into mush when you thaw them? Fushimi are very sweet.

 

[flowerbug]

Thanks so much. So. They did not turn into mush when you thawed them? Fushimi are very sweet.

not when roasted. it takes some of the water out of them and concentrates the sugars. but perhaps they are different enough. hmm. i don't really know the peppers you have there. i was assuming they're like a red bell pepper. if they are thinner walled that would dry them out even more when roasted.

when it comes down to safety and botulism i'm pretty careful. i'd hate to hurt myself or others. we do only acidic canning here so i'm not worried about most things we do, but Mom does things at times that i wouldn't do. she used to oven can things like green beans and corn, but they were in the oven for a long time. i don't really like fresh green beans canned at all unless they're pickled so it's not something i'd do. i'd get a pressure canner if i were doing a lot of low acid foods.

 

[ninnymary]

I roast and freeze in freezer bags. They are soft when thawed but still hold their shape.

Mary