Preserving Your Harvest

[TooCheep]

I read an article earlier today that said you can overwinter pepper plants. Has anyone done this? I was planning on just saving seeds from my two favorite pepper plants but I'm gonna try this way also. Figured I have nothing to lose, still going to save seeds and the plant would just be tossed anyways

I've done this successfully with fig and pomegranate plants for several years. I tried this with a tomato and a couple of pepper plants last winter, but they all died using basically the same procedures.

I bring the plants into my attached garage (which keeps them above freezing), keep them in the dark and water them once/month while they are dormant. This works for the figs/poms, but the tomato/peppers died. One difference is that I heavily pruned back the tomato/peppers before bringing them in per procedures I saw on the web. I'm not sure if the problem was insufficient watering or if they need light during the winter. I'll try again and water more frequently this winter. If they need sun (like in a sunroom), then I won't be able to succeed.

One warning- be careful if you bring them into your house proper. You will be bringing insects into the house.

Good luck.

 

[tripletfeb]

I've done this successfully with fig and pomegranate plants for several years. I tried this with a tomato and a couple of pepper plants last winter, but they all died using basically the same procedures.

I bring the plants into my attached garage (which keeps them above freezing), keep them in the dark and water them once/month while they are dormant. This works for the figs/poms, but the tomato/peppers died. One difference is that I heavily pruned back the tomato/peppers before bringing them in per procedures I saw on the web. I'm not sure if the problem was insufficient watering or if they need light during the winter. I'll try again and water more frequently this winter. If they need sun (like in a sunroom), then I won't be able to succeed.

One warning- be careful if you bring them into your house proper. You will be bringing insects into the house.

Good luck.

The directions I read said they need sun from a window and watered every two weeks about. And it gave instructions on how to clean the plant in a neem oil/castor soap mix to kill the bugs on it. It also said they need to be kept at around 50-60°

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

I canned 7 more jars of Cowboy Candy. I don't even know if I like it yet.
Froze 4 gallons of tomatoes for later. I've lost track of how many bags I've froze, but it's a lot.

 

[Alagirl]

I read an article earlier today that said you can overwinter pepper plants. Has anyone done this? I was planning on just saving seeds from my two favorite pepper plants but I'm gonna try this way also. Figured I have nothing to lose, still going to save seeds and the plant would just be tossed anyways

peppers and tomatoes are grown year-round in greenhouses.
I will try to take some cuttings because life went off the rails this summer and I was unable to tend to my 2 tomato plants I bought.
One grew huge but never set fruit, the other really never took off.
Lack of water and fertilizer.

 

[Sammster]

I read an article earlier today that said you can overwinter pepper plants. Has anyone done this? I was planning on just saving seeds from my two favorite pepper plants but I'm gonna try this way also. Figured I have nothing to lose, still going to save seeds and the plant would just be tossed anyways

I just watched a couple YouTube videos on it. I'd try - if I had the space. Good luck! Let us know how it goes

 

[Iluveggers]

Filled my dehydrator with zucchini slices this morning!

 

[Sally PB]

The subject of food sealers has come up on the garden thread. Any comments here? Brands you like/don't like?

I will say that we got a Food Saver, and it worked one time only. I will not get another of that brand. But I just looked, and there are a lot of different brands that I've never heard of.

 

[tripletfeb]

The subject of food sealers has come up on the garden thread. Any comments here? Brands you like/don't like?

I will say that we got a Food Saver, and it worked one time only. I will not get another of that brand. But I just looked, and there are a lot of different brands that I've never heard of.

I have a Food Saver and love it. It has worked for us for many years. Sorry you had no luck. I have no experience with any other brands. I will just say that the Walmart brand seal bags are terrible, they don't seal well and get stuck to the food when you are trying to remove it from the bag, 0/10

 

[tripletfeb]

I have no idea why I haven't fermented foods before. So far, I've done grape tomatoes with garlic and basil, and fresh salsa. Holy crap, they are both so good! I have sauerkraut going also but that takes longer. And today I did more frozen corn, was given the corn by a coworker, they were really little ears so I marked the bags for use in soups vs as a side dish. I also have grapes cooking down to make fruit leather. I've never done it before but I have concord grapes that grow on the fence between me and my neighbors so I figured why not try it?

 

[pennyJo1960]

My food saver from Costco is great.