Peppers Galore

The pepper bed had been a slightly neglected bed as I have been busy trying to keep up with the weeding.  This week I was able to address that problem and low and behold I had a bed full of happy healthy pepper plants!  I hadn't been paying them much attention, and they had grown beautifully despite my neglect.  Once the weeds were out of the way I discovered that I had a number of good sized sweet peppers on several plants and handfuls of jalapenos that would be ready in a matter of weeks.  A couple of my purple beauties even had full sized peppers just begging to be picked.  They have a deep purple skin that looks nearly black, but when you slice them open, the insides are as bright green as any green pepper.  It makes for a lovely salad addition.

I think I will try to leave the peppers on the plants to let them ripen as long as possible.  I have planted varieties that will ripen to red, orange and yellow if I let them, though I didn't write down what I planted where, so I guess I have to wait to find out which is which (aside from the purple ones - those are pretty easy to spot!)

In a few weeks I hope that the tomatoes and the peppers start to match their production so I can preserve some jars of salsa.  I will use only garden fresh ingredients because I know that they make the best tasting salsa anywhere.  From the looks of things, I will have plenty of peppers to fit the bill.  I may even get a few extra to freeze for future meals by the time it's all said and done.  I am looking forward to the rainbow of colors that will be coming out of my garden in the coming weeks.  I think that harvest season is by far the best time of the year because everything is so plentiful.