Senior Sea Kayaker

Nice neighbors!

I don't peel them. Depending on size I cut them into 8-12 pieces, removing the stem part, and then mix them with the other ingredients. I prefer smaller pieces as I usually use this to 'divet' focaccia, as a pizza topping or as a quick pasta sauce.

Bin it. Really not worth the risk of food poisoning.

I just pack them in jars and freeze. No need to acidify, unless for taste, if they'll be stored in the freezer.

Since it's a dreary windy rainy day processed my dried Italian parsley seed heads. I'll use these to seed an indoor planter and to seed outdoors next season. My purslane is developing a lot of seed pods and when ready I'll be processing those. This is the planter growth. It also grew in one of the outdoor beds.

One suggestion would be to do a batch of @ElainaA oven roasted tomatoes (her recipe used cherry toms but romas work fine). It can be used in many ways and it results in considerably less volume than other methods.

Quick late dinner. I'll call this a Reuben although some may quibble. Montreal smoked meat, Swiss, sauerkraut and here's where i go off on a tangent as I like mustard on mine rather than goopy dressing and since I didn't have any decent rye I made this with toasted focaccia. With a Unibroue 'Blanche de Chambly' (Belgian style wheat beer from Quebec) and a tomato salad.

Early breakfast this morning and pretty carb heavy as today is prep for a possible bad weather weekend. Waffles and breakfast sausages with blueberries and maple syrup and coffee.

Sadly true. Grocery store jalapenos have grown larger and milder.

Four days into fermentation. My opinion is the anthocyanins from the purple beans leached out into the brine and, as the pH dropped, regained their purple colour. Dependent on what anthocyanins are present and how pH labile they are.

That must be one hell of a tasty rutabaga.

The menu, and food, looks good. Pleased to see Heartbeat Hot Sauces (from Thunder Bay on the north shore of Lake Superior) on the table.

That sounds good to me. Growing plants does bring a sense of accomplishment.

First fresh bolete (foraged yesterday) made into an omelet filling with chard, green onion and feta. There's enough filling for another omelet tomorrow. Enjoyed with caramelized onion focaccia, V8, coffee and homemade applesauce.

First edible king bolete of the season. Not a very pretty specimen however the damage is superficial. 218 gm. I found four a few days ago but they turned into mush when touched.

I really have no advice with regards to growing poblano pepper indoors or out. I've generally stayed away from growing large peppers as they take up too much space for yield. I'm not trying to dissuade you trying but I can't give an informed opinion.

You're on the right track by focusing on what you'll use in everyday cooking. Most of what I grow indoors over the winter are herbs I like and use on an almost daily basis and are best fresh. Dried are a poor substitute and purchasing them in those small packages is expensive and generally wasteful. So chives, basil, dill, Italian parsley, cilantro.... Some herbs are great dried, such as oregano, summer savoury and others. I've started almost all from seed in potting soil except for basil which I've serially propagated from cuttings (lots of YouTube videos on that and for that matter on container gardening indoors) I'm growing hot peppers this year because the prices for said peppers are crazy here ($1 for a single Scotch bonnet or habanero). Good luck.

Yesterday's dinner: home made dumplings (pork, boletes, garlic chives and habanero) with a sweet chili sauce. Long beans stir fried with mixed greens, ginger and garlic. Tomato. Unoaked chardonnay.

Two days into fermentation the purple beans have all turned green.

I have a fan that I set up every few days and circulate air around the plants. This also stimulates the plants to produce stronger stems and not go 'leggy' (simulating outdoor air flow due to wind).

Peppers are self pollinating but are assisted by movement caused by wind, or in the case indoors, agitating, usually by moving around or by a few taps near the flowers (which I suppose constitutes hand pollinating). They don't require cross pollination. These plants will be moved and repositioned within the area in accord with the sun every day which should do the trick.

This is the first time I've done these with purple beans however my guess is they'll turn the usual drab olive green when the pH drops during the fermentation process.

I'm setting up my indoor 'garden' for the winter. A little more ambitious this year with twelve containers. This area has good eastern and southern exposure and I had good results last year. Fish, habanero and serrano peppers (round planters 2 each). Basil, Thai basil and germinating cilantro. Three other planters still on the deck outside: chives, dill and Italian parsley and one undecided (I may try purslane). Fish peppers: Habanero peppers flowering: Basil in background:

You've got about ten basil plants there. Gently separate, repot separately, and they should be fine (notice the two leaves at the junction below the main stem: those are two new branching stems).

I've been harvesting a lot of green beans and purple filet beans. Freezing 50%, eating and giving to my sister. As another form of preservation I started a lacto-fermentation (5%w/v) of purple filet beans with garlic and dill.