Thursday, September 10, 2009

Red Peppers

I finally was patient enough to let peppers turn red in my garden. Above are Fat N' Sassy bell peppers.
This is a mix of Fat N' Sassy bell peppers in red and green stages, Opalkas, two Black Krims, and a small Cowlick Brandywine tomato.

6 comments:

  1. Boy those peppers look good!! Tomatoes too!

    I think I will be harvesting mine over the weekend. Most are still green, but frost danger is near.

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  2. Thanks!
    I only have a few more weeks before our first frost may present itself. :( The peppers are great. I still have a bunch out there that I am allowing to turn red...if they have time. I've been harvesting them all green until now. These Fat N' Sassy peppers have impressed me quite a bit. They are by far the best performing bell pepper that I have grown to date.

    I hope you have a great harvest this weekend!
    Kim

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  3. Kim-
    I was wondering if you could answer some questions about seed collection. I want to harvest seeds from my green peppers and from my pole/string beans. Do I just let them dry out??? I separated the seeds from the green parts of the veggies & I just have them in a bowl :-) I love your blog - it is the only one that I have found that focuses on a PA garden

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  4. Thanks Burgher. I've had difficulty finding PA garden blogs as well. :)

    For saving seed for beans, I would let them dry out on the vine. The pods will dry out and turn brown. We are getting closer to our first frost. If they aren't dry and brown by then you can pull up the beans by their roots and hang them upside down in a cool and dry location until they are ready.

    For peppers, I would let them turn to their final color (mine turn red). Then take out the seeds, sit them in a single layer on a paper plate, and let them dry out. Just a word of warning, if they are hybrids, they won't come true from seed next year. Also, peppers can cross-pollinate. Bagging blossoms or only growing one variety can help avoid this problem for seed savers.

    Here is a GREAT link that addresses seed saving: http://wintersown.org/wseo1/Specific_Varieties.html
    It really helped me out when I was first starting to save seeds.

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  5. No problem. If you have any more questions just ask. I'll do my best to answer them for you or tell you who can.

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