Well, I normally give some to family and friends...If I have an overabundance, I will wash it, slice it and freeze it...

LSS,

I am about to put a few peppers in my raised beds. I am not planning on tilling anything because I have other stuff growing up around them right now. I was wondering if adding any sand to each hole I dug would make any difference or not.

What say ye?

do you blanch it before you freeze it? Does that even matter?

I always freeze mine with some kind of tomato sauce. I add it to my homemade marinara, which I freeze in the summer, and make spaghetti primavera. Try stir frying it with peppers and onions, then add a stir fry sauce. The twice cooked pork sauce is good.

Coat in cornmeal batter and fry, bake whole or in a casserole and eat smaller ones raw in salads. I also try to pick the prettier ones ,let them mature then slice thin and air-dry for next year's seeds.

We batter and freeze our extra for frying and then when the freezer's got plenty of that we start giving away the surplus.



Here's a recipe I invented to use on some yellow squash.

Cut several yellow squash into 1/2" thick slices and throw them in a deep casserole dish.

Cut an equal amount of white onions into quarters and throw the whole quarters on top of the squash.

Take a pack of sliced bacon and cut the entire slab into 1" pieces. You'll wind up with 1" squares of bacon. Sprinkle the bacon on top of the other stuff and pop a lid on it.

Bake it at 375 for 35 to 45 minutes. Check and see if the bacon's cooked good and if it is pop the dish back in without the lid so the bacon gets crispy.

The bacon grease goes through the onions and into the squash and you just can't believe how good this stuff is. It's a stand alone so no sides needed. You'd think that this recipe would feed several folks, but no. Two people will eat the entire dish every time.

Enjoy.

Also, I never add salt or spices. The bacon and onion flavor the dish to perfection.

Yes it will make some difference...In some of the areas where I had too much gravel mixed in, I back-filled the rows with top soil I had purchased...

I will agree with MC, do NOT add salt to anything before freezing it, or it will dry it out...

No, I do not blanch...I simply wash them, let them air dry, then slice them. I take a ziploc bag, get it close to being sealed and stick in a straw. I then suck out the remaining air, seal it, and freeze it...It's my own redneck vacuum sealer...

I do the same thing, just without the straw. Zip it up until there's about enough left to stick your finger through, pinch it with both hands to make the opening stay, and bottabing.

Oh, strawberries! The strawberry plants from last year are several times larger and we've pulled about 2 dozen so far. The ones we've gotten have been small, but they're starting to get bigger. We moved them to an old oval shaped wash tub and the whole setup is real nice. It pretties up the front yard.

Also, there's two little grape tomatoes already. During the summer we keep a plate on the counter in the kitchen and EVERYBODY snacks on them. Good stuff.

...and the zucchini's flowering.

I have lots of tomatoes. The squash and cucumbers are starting to come on...I also noticed a few small cayenne peppers today...

My squash has taken off faster and earlier than any of my other plants so far. It's growing like crazy.

What do you guys mean when you talk about spanking your tomatoes? Mine are growing tall and leafy, but are only producing just a few so far.

I also need major help with my strawberry plants. I have them planted in containers hanging from my fence so they don't touch the ground. But they are getting full sun. Do I need to move them to shade or what?

This is our first attempt at gardening and it is so much fun that I go out and "check" on everything twice a day.