Harvesting Peppers and Checking on Winter Squash
June 2nd, 2021
We harvested the first of our Wonder Bell peppers last week, a standard heirloom bell pepper. We’ve been harvesting these peppers green but they can also be left on the plant to eventually mature to a red color. Wonder Bells are perfect peppers for stuffing but they can also be roasted, grilled, sautéed, or enjoyed raw with your favorite dip. In addition to the Wonder Bells we’re just starting to harvest small amounts of our Turkish Biberiye peppers. These peppers are perfect for pickling and based on our taste testing have a heat similar to a jalapeño.
Winter squash might be the last thing on your mind in June but ours are coming right along! The term “winter squash” can be misleading as we often associate these vegetables with cooler weather. Just like summer squashes, winter squashes are grown during the warmer months. The 898 squash we’re growing from Row 7 Seeds (pictured below) is nearing the first harvest. It’s a small statured butternut that has been bred to pack concentrated sweetness and flavor into a single-serving squash.
Remember the cowpeas we planted back in March in the high tunnel? They’re not only thriving, they’re just beginning to flower! This variety is called “Red Ripper” and it produces 10-inch pods that begin green and turn to a purplish hue as they mature. Cowpeas can be shelled and eaten fresh or allowed to dry out on the vine before being harvested. We will most likely be harvesting and shelling our cowpeas fresh because we think they have a superior flavor in this stage. Fresh cowpeas can be cooked just as you would fresh black-eyed-peas.
