Re: Gettin' cold

Cyndi,
I too have so many peppers that I need to get picked. I had planted some fall tomatoes then when I went off to Houston we had a frost. The leaves are all mush. I have not yet picked the green fruit. In the past I have picked them and put them in cardboard boxes with newspapers in between... but I read that if you hang the entire plant they will keep that way too. Which is better? I pulled up an entire pepper plant and took it to my neighbor... she is a fellow gardener... she was excited to share with friends at work. It is funny how easy it is to share what looks like too much work to keep!
Let me know what you think of the garden you are visiting. When I visit my sister in CA we are always looking for neat gardens to visit.
Tricia
zone 6b
western Ok

----- Original Message ----- From: "Johnson Cyndi D Civ 95 CG/SCSRT" <cyndi.johnson@edwards.af.mil>
To: <gardenchat@hort.net>
Sent: Thursday, October 26, 2006 10:56 AM
Subject: [CHAT] Gettin' cold


We're still holding off on the first frost but it's definitely getting
chilly. I picked another gallon or so of basil Tuesday night and saw
some of the leaves getting that cold-nipped look. I doubt I'll pick any
more; the quality of what's left isn't as good and I don't have the time
to sort through it all. I also picked two big baskets of poblano
peppers, Anaheim peppers, and jalapenos. Made some chile rellenos and I
was going to roast and freeze the rest of the poblanos. But then I
figured I would take a few into work. Who knew my officemates were
secretly starving for chiles? The pleading faces got to me and I've
given away pounds of chiles in the last couple days. There's still
plenty to roast. I probably won't dry any, I have done it in the past
but then I don't use them. Oh and chipotle batch number two failed, we
didn't put enough water in the smoker before leaving for work and came
back to charcoal chipotles. I still have maybe a pound or two of red
jalapenos so we can do another batch if I want, or maybe I might try
making hot sauce.
I can see the leaves on the pepper plants also starting to get that
wilted look that means too much cold. If it will hold off until Sunday I
can get all the rest of the peppers in the house. And some green
tomatoes, though there's not a lot out there. This is the worst year for
tomatoes I've ever experienced.
Last night I started dragging pots into the greenhouse. My little lemon
tree has a number of yellow leaves; don't know if that's cold,
daylength, or lack of fertilizer but it has done pretty well over the
summer so it can afford to lose a few I suppose. I got a couple of the
pelargoniums, the bay tree, and a pot of impatiens too. Impatiens are so
cheap it seems weird to overwinter them but they will bloom all winter,
very cheery in the greenhouse. I decided I might try to bring in at
least one of the ferns too, they do come back in the spring but it takes
them a while to look good.  My variegated abutilon died right after that
horrible heat wave in the summer, it was getting watered but I guess 120
degrees was just too much for it. I have a weedy cutting of it I took
last winter struggling along in the greenhouse and maybe it will grow up
one day.
Tomorrow my friend and I are going to visit the Virginia Robinson
gardens in Beverly Hills - from the pictures I suspect just another
wealthy woman's formal garden - but we haven't been there before so why
not. Then we'll spend some time at the La Brea Tar Pits. I haven't been
there in forever, but it's a fun place to go.

Cyndi

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