Capsicums - Sweet Peppers

Fascinating :o) Good luck !

Blimey, Sue! That's an amazing crop...and still early! :)))

They do look super Crissue! Handy to know you can freeze them....I never would have thought you could! No sign of a crop on mine yet btw. :(

Thanks all...This a better start than last year, we've had such good weather since April...sometimes tooo good...we had to move them, as one or two got scorched by the heat of the sun....I think we've used three, not counting any in the photo...and there's lots more coming...May and June last year we had lots of rain KarenS, which slowed the plants down, and we didn't get such a big yield...Really glad about the freezing method...as we couldn't eat all that we're getting...:))

Hi Sue,

Mom used to freeze them. Cut them into your favorite size for cooking. Or stuff them with hamburg/rice mix. don't use eggs in it tho. For some reason stuff with raw eggs frozen doesn't keep well Guess they need to be cooked first. Anyway, she never used eggs in the pepper stuffing.

As for the peppers getting mushy. they don't retain their crispness, but they do still taste like peppers in any cooking. One thing I do remember, they make the freezer smell like peppers. If I were freezing them I would at least triple bag them, and not put anything delicate in that freezer. But I don't like peppers so no problem for me.8-))

Many thanks Rusty, I'll pass that advice on to OH, he's in charge of the Peppers....He's not stuffing any...just normal...:))

look scrumptious Sue, didn't know you could freeze them. yum yum!

Glad I could pass on the info...otherwise some would go to waste...everyone grows Veg around us...:o)) Yum Yum I agree...Have taken Rusty's advice on bagging up as well...Don't want the ice cream whiffing of peppers too... lol....

What an AMAZING crop, Sue, how rewarding! Whenever I use peppers in a recipe, I only ever seem to need a half, so once seeded, I just pop the other half in a plastic bag (it now contains yellow, green and red half peppers), and they thaw in no time. Yes, they've gone a bit floppy, but absolutely fine for the next recipe . . .

Just back from my sisters house in cordes sur ciele. A lovely place do you know it? We're growing peppers in the greenhouse here so like the advice

Thanks Sheila, - We only ever use half...and i've never had a stuffed one...I was reading too, that if you leave the pepper on the plant, and it turns red, it adds extra colour to say salads etc, but doesn't enhance the flavour...Do you find any difference at all...!!

Glad to help Whitelillies...I bet you had a grand time..Sorry to say I don't know the area where your sister lives, do you know what Department it is!! France is a gi-normous country...but I've asked OH to find it on his map...for me...:o))

I'd say green peppers have quite a sharp taste, Sue, but red ones are sweeter. I use strips of raw reds and yellows for dips, but wouldn't use green in the same way (a bit indigestible!).

Thanks for that Sheila...I'll make sure we leave enough on the plants longer...to turn Red...We're still picking, and they are a good size even though Green, but Red for a change would be nice, wonder how big that would be then...:o))

Well, the red ones in the supermarkets are the same size as the greens, Sue . . . but what do I know?!

If it was down to sunshine, we've had plenty of that, we even had to move the Pot, as two got scorched...so I'll just leave some and see...:o))

Wonderful Crissue. I am hopeless with veg - this year I have one and a half cucumers, lots of courgette flowers but no courgettes, about 4 runner beans (which is three more than last year) and a few very sad looking tomatoes. Fruit is looking better.

Oh what a shame..I don't know what area you are, but do you think it might be more rain than sunshine, a lot of the UK sure has had plenty this season so far...
Glad to know your fruit is doing ok... just have to keep trying....

How unlucky Ginelle - I always thought courgettes were meant to be easy?! We just do the watering for our next-door neighbours when they go away (a lot) and tell us to help ourselves to tomatoes, courgettes and beans (but not raspberries for some reason, lol).

:o))) lol Sheila...

It is a shame when the garden doesn't produce, OH has a problem with Caulis and wont grow them, but I always have a go and hope for the best...
We're still picking Peppers, and its the best we've had, and from a big Planter too...I don't know whether this has anything to do with it...Our Pond is quite small, and the Pump filter needs cleaning out once a week on average...we keep the water that comes out of it, and feed it both to the Melons Cues and Peppers...Also the Farmers here use a Fertiliser called Guano, which is Poo from Seagulls pellet form, and that stinks of fish when its being spread, so there you go, all adds....:o)))

Ah, raspberries Sheilabub - I've had about 12 so far, better than the beans though. Loads of plums, damsons, blackberries, apples, greengages and 6 pears. Oh, and a few wild strawberries so I'm eating a very healthy breakfast these days.

You're getting your share then Ginellie...:o)))

Indeed Crissue, although I've always felt there must be at least my 5 a day in a nice glass of red!

OH would agree with you there lol....

Absolutely! Couldn't live without a daily glass of red!! Great that you've at least got a good fruit crop, Ginelle. We too have had some lovely greengages, plums and blackberries, but the birds have scoffed the cherries . . . apples and pears still to come.

Haven't got much in the way of fruit, have thornless Blackberries, but only collecting enough to eat this year, as the bushes were moved...Last year I had so much fruitI made loads of Jam/Jelly...Have planted a Cherry Tree this year, but that won't do anything for a couple of years I suppose...Melons are the one fruit that I grow...Charantais...of course....

Ooooh, wow, your own melons! Mmmmm :))

Oooh Sheila...I picked one yesterday...and popped it into fridge, and wow as you open the door, the whole fridge smells of melon...yummy....If you get time, have a look at the collage I did this week on my pics, of the melons on the Vine...:o))

Have done . . . thanks Sue.

:o)))

Crissue , just caught up with the peppers -- quite green-eyed ; I have a go with various peppers each year , they are very willing to germinate but lack of heat stops them coming to fruition , do get the occasional pea-sized ones ! This year I have some yellow peppers looking very healthy in the greenhouse but too late to fruit .
All freeze well . I usually de-seed them first .
I planted a cherry tree about five years ago , the first year we had three but they have gradually increased and this year there was lots of young fruit which didn't make it through [blame the weather] . You should do fine with yours where you are . Good luck .
I had made so much jam last year that I didn't have space for this years , had to put it outside the gate and ask people to help themselves ,which thank goodness they did , got room now for the gooseberry , cherry-plum , and blackberry jelly to date !

Hi Driad....what a fantastic crop...When we lived on the I.O.W. you would often see fruit and veg on the wall with a sign saying grew too much, please help yourself....:o)))
This is a bumper crop this year of peppers....and still picking,...and I normally grow many Tomatoes much more than I need, so I can make Tomatoe Chutney, and Green tomatoe Onion and herbs & fruit pickles...Can't get Saville Oranges here, but I use Navel Oranges, and make Orange & Lemon thick cut Marmalade, usually there's enough of everything to last the year, including giving some away, but we've run out of marmalade this year, No Blackberry this year, we've moved the bush at the end of last year...just enough for desert...Last year was a bumper crop...loads of Blackberry Jelly....
Nice to meet you will catch up soon....:o)))

Brill thanks for info, although i dont grow veg except tomatoes and cucumbers, i find when i buy a pepper i waste most of it living on my own, and land up throwing it away, so i'm going to try this next time i get one and see how it goes.

Hi Clarice...Sheila was saying earlier in the blog that she always has halves over and freezes them rather than waste...so it's worth it I think...

And we're still picking...OH did some more this morning, wish I had weighed them all now it would have given me an idea of just how much we have picked this year....

OH has printed off a selection of Veg that can be frozen, and all the instructions, and do's and dont's, and another one he found was Aubergines...not everyones taste, but ours started late and are coming thick and fast, so they'll waste if not frozen too...

Just an update on the Bumper Peppers...It's just crazy how these Peppers just keep on going, I am so sorry I didn't weigh them as I picked...We have at least 10 going with baby ones still coming, and even more flowers...Is it a magic bush, I ask myself...:)))

Hi , Crissue , what a wonderful plant you have there , sounds a bit enchanted to me ! My wonder-plants this year are the tomatoes , small plumbs , lovely and sweet , picking about a pound a day . They have taken forever to get started but worth the wait . The weather is about to change so it may have to be green tomato chutney soon .

Hi Driad...;Thanks, it's certainly a first for this size crop...
Have just finished my Green Tom Chutney making, and I used Apple cider Vinegar, instead of malt...and brown Sugar...wow...well it tastes like branstons....better, but I'm biased....;))) Still have Toms to ripen, and one young plant that I shall bring inside, and try and keep going in the Sun Room, hate having to buy Toms...
Good picking lots of preserves then...
I don't know about the Sloes here I'll have to find out...
Good luck with your produce...
I'm going to search the net, see if I can find a recipe for sweet pepper chutney...worth a try...

Right on !

:o)))))) lol Driad,

Found a recipe yesterday on line for Sweet Pepper Relish, sounds good...I'll post it here later....:))