SALSA! Curry pickles? Woah you're doing some crazy stuff over there!

Tomatoes, hot peppers, basil, parsley, and catnip. That's about all I've got left that survived the recent heat/drought. But of those, the tomatoes are kickin' my ass (already have 15 pints of salsa, and three quarts in the freezer for veg chili with much much more to prep and freeze this weekend). The jalapenos were poorly placed, so there aren't many, but they are finally starting to ripen. The Thai Dragon chilis are really doing well, but I don't know what the hell I'll do with all of them. Pickle some I guess, but they are hot as fuck. Freeze some perhaps.

Up until a few weeks ago, I harvested more cukes and zukes than in any previous year. I have more B&B pickles than with I know what to do. But the missus tells me if she ends up preggers she'll plow through them.

Oh, and curry pickles? Please to share the recipe?!?!?!

MIL has a greenhouse which she has kindly shared. Mostly tomatoes, peppers and some herbs.

Cilantro failed. Bummer.

This is the Year of Swiss Chard. My chard did amazingly this year and the harvest really never fell off since May. I've been eating a lot of it and will have to go take my scythe to the latest batch tomorrow. I re-seeded spinach from the spring's planting's seed yesterday. Still waiting on my tomatoes...some of my neighbors have ripe tomatoes, and I'm envious, but there's another month or so. Tarragon is going nutso, parsley, a little basil, sorrel like crazy, and my fennel is looking great though it's overwintering.

I just have a small garden and everything else comes from the market. Though I'd like to do a lot more preserving at this time of year for winter, this year it won't be happening; too many other expectations on me. But I do OK price-wise by just eating seasonally to a large extent. In winter I don't bother buying fresh tomatoes - not only the $5 a pound issue, but they absolutely suck, especially after you've enjoyed a couple of months of real tomato taste. So in wintertime the tomatoes are canned or jarred (as in salsa and sauce) and there's lot more kale, potatoes, and butternut squash going on with me.

Have fun. It's great to be surrounded by joyous colorful veggies and fruits.

Miko--sounds delightful. I've planted fennel for the winter, too, but it's not really doing anything. I planted some artichokes (a friend was clearing out her garden centre and gave them to me), but the aphids have gone berserk on one and the rest apparently need more water than I've been giving them.

tr33hggr-Thai Dragon chiles? DRY THEM! I had a bumper crop a few years ago and they became the best damned dried chiles I've ever had. Can't remember how I dried them then, but one of my books says to run a needle and thread through the thickest part of the stem and hang them outdoors or in a sunny window to dry. As for the curry pickle slices, I haven't made them before but the recipe comes from a book that's proven reliable so far:

Curry Pickle Slices (for 4 pint/500ml jars)

2 qts pickling cucumbers
4 sm onions, sliced
1 tbsp pickling salt
2.5 c cider vinegar
1 2/3 c granulated sugar
1 tbsp curry powder
2 tsp pickling spice
1 tsp ea: celery seed and mustard seed

1. Cut a thin slice from the ends of each cucumber and cut into thick slices. Place with onions in a non-reactive container, sprinkle with salt and let stand for 24 hours; drain. Rinse twice and drain thoroughly.

2. Combine vinegar, sugar, curry powder, pickling spice, celery seeds and mustard seeds in a large stainless steel or enamel saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat. Add vegetables and return just to a boil. Remove from heat.

3. Remove hot jars from canner. Remove vegetables from liquid with a slotted spoon; pack into jars. Pour liquid over vegetables to within 1/2 inch (1 cm) of rim (head space). Processs 10 minutes for pint (500ml) jars and 15 minutes for quart (1L) jars.

So there you have it. I may cut back on the sugar and increase the salt--I don't like my pickles sweet. Since I don't have pickling spice, I just throw a couple of whole allspice berries, a few peppercorns, some mustard seed, some coriander seed and a cardamom pod in each jar.

So you mentioned salsa? Care to swap recipes?

(Oh, and for those who are interested, the book that recipe comes from is The Complete Book of Year-Round Small-Batch Preserving by Ellie Topp & Margaret Howard. It rocks.)