Adventures in Canning: Pints of Pickled Peppers.

As mentioned in the previous post, our garden has provided a bountiful supply of banana peppers. So far we'd just been grilling them (which was quite tasty), but the N-boy suggested that we try pickling and canning them (of course, pickled banana peppers is one of his favorite foods-go figure). Although I did canning last year, I was HIGHLY supervised by a friend who was teaching a few of us how to can. Needless to say, I was a little anxious about attempting this adventure on our own and creating a product that won't give anyone food poisoning. I did lots of reading ahead of time in a couple of books and online to make sure I still remembered the basics. 

We prepared the peppers by slicing them into rings and deseeding them. 

The N-boy hard at work.

All ready for the brine solution! The darker jar is a batch of jalapenos from the Farmer's Market.

Into the canning bath they go.

Tada! Five jars total! And they all sealed! 

Although we haven't tried them yet, they all look great. We heard the ping of sealing happiness when they came out of the boiling water and they all tested fine the next day. Can't wait to give them a try!

Garden Bounty.

Our garden is finally coming into its own. We've been picking banana peppers for about a month now, but it's like these last two weeks have really sent it into overdrive. The N-boy and I spent a couple of hours on Saturday rescuing it from the weeds.

A very superfluous cauliflower plant. And a tomato plant with a mind of its own.

The weeds have no chance when the N-boy is in action. Especially in his cute hat. 

It's hard to see in this picture, but there are at least six eggplans on this one plant! And more on their way. 

Banana peppers by the pound.

We have two more raised beds that we didn't use this year that we started prepping for next year.

 Highly exciting moment-using some of our compost for the first time! 

Next up: canning our great supply of banana peppers!