plantyhamchuk:

July 19 2018 – Garbage Peppers -> Pepper Pickling Experiment

So tired. 

First photo, I’m harvesting the pepper fruits from the plants I’ve been tending at work (did I mention I run the veggie section at our retail nursery this year? it’s been great fun). They’d been moved to the dumpster area, b/c they are so terribly root bound and no one ever wanted to give them a home, but mostly b/c my boss said so. I’m realizing now that the vast majority of my coworkers will not harvest food near the dumpsters. Ornamental plants, maybe, gleaning no. And while people are very enthusiastic about the idea of free plants, often times they forget them when their shift is over. 

I did see a customer come over to check out the free dumpster pepper plants. They were driving a Lexus. In the end, I’m not sure they took anything. Today it was just the hot peppers – hot banana, serrano, and chinese paper lanterns.

I gathered a ton, and combined with previous gleaning, finally undertook the great Pepper Pickling Experiment. I did not hot water bath / can them, just focused on trying to make something that might be tasty that can be stored in the fridge. I used this as a starting point and then tried a few suggestions, in addition to my own twist. We’ll see in a month if it tastes like anything. Hopefully between the heat, vinegar, and salt, it will be safe to eat. 

So far, pickling experiments have gone well, V enjoys the bold flavors. Fingers crossed.