Thai. Ordono. Zia pueblo. Jalapeno. Tarahumara. Negro de Valle. Sinahuisa. Poblano. Serrano. Vallero. Kori Sitakame. Cayenne. Hungarian wax.
In other words...chiles!



September is chile season.
To say that Steve is a chile-fanatic is the understatement of the day. The man is cra-zy for chiles. He starts his "babies" from seed under grow lamps every year on the Winter Solstice and he lovingly tends to them over the next nine months, until harvest time.
We grow the full spectrum on the heat index - sweet, mild, warm, spicy, and plain ol' hot.
Over the last few days he's been harvesting and preserving his bounty. It is the end of the season after all (sigh). Yesterday was grilling day and my man must have grilled four loads of sweet, mild and spicy chiles while Zinnia, my mom and I played in the garden.
There may or may not have been some beer drinking as well.


You see this bowl of grilled delectables? We ate the whole thing in one sitting. Yep, the whole thing. The other three bowls we froze for winter burritos and nacho nights.

Zinnia loves them too (the sweet and mild ones, of course).


Then we have the Thais. You have to be careful when handling these babies and just as cautious when eating them (and apparently just as careful when going to the bathroom after handling them... ahem. Someone has learned to wear latex gloves when cutting them.). Stevie gulps these down without a single wince. He's been pickling and eating them by the spoonful over just about everything he eats.


Last night we he picked and pickled the last of the spicy fruit, the Ordonos, which are beautifully rainbow colored - yellow, red and purple. To perfect the color scheme he added a few Thais to give a splash of green to the jars. These might just show up as Solstice gifts, you know, and pretty is important.



And in the middle of the pickling frenzy he made us one of our favorite chile meals - Poblanos stuffed with black beans, cheese and topped with homemade salsa with a side of seasoned quinoa. Love.

How's your garden winding down?
Happy gardening and happy healthy eating!