Freeze them or make pepper jelly - if you have tomatoes make salsa...

My peppers just aren't ripening!

Ajs, I was just reading that I could rinse them, remove inside and cut slices or squares, freeze on cookie sheet, then seal in seal-a-meal. That would be good for chili or stir fry. I've wanted to make salsa,but afraid I wouldn't heat jars right.

Never had pepper jelly. Thanks for ideas.

Too bad your peppers are not ripening. What a strange, wet, cool summer we had. For me it was the summer with few flowers. Several didn't survive the winter, some didn't bloom, & many were eaten by deer.

You can pickle them without a pressure canner.

I wish I had that problem. Could you share the names of the peppers you grew? I can't get reliable red & yellow peppers here in zone 7. The bugs/ birds get them before they turn from green to red or yellow. Thanks

You overwintered them? In pots? You can't have a greenhouse, or you wouldn't have had a deer problem. I'm also interested in what varieties you're growing. I gave up on bells since our season is too short to get them to a good size, much less ripe. But even my non-bells aren't ripe yet.

Dice and freeze for soups. Cut them in half, remove seeds and freeze for stuffed peppers.

Deanna

Lacy, never had pickled peppers :) before
Thx, Deanne. I never liked stuffed peppers b/c cooked green peppers upset my stomach. DH said try red peppers,,,, uuuuuu, how decadent.

I've been growing peppers for about 40 years and try a new variety every few years to find the best for here. My fav red by far is Red Beauty, then King Arthur, and Red Knight. I tried a new orange Orange Blaze. Smaller pepper, but delicious. Yellow is Early Sunsation mild flavor.

I order from Tomato Growers or Totally Tomatoes. Guess they didn't expect to carry peppers when they chose their names.

Ajs, sorry for my confusing sentence. I meant I had trouble with my perennial flowers blooming this year (esp. Shrubs like hydrangeas), not a problem having flowers on the pepper plants. No greenhouse, just 20x40 foot veggie garden.

I'll try to upload a picture of them.

Here are left to right Red Beauty, King Arthur & Early Sunsation. Red Beauty are symmetrical. King Arthur can be lopsided. Didn't have Red Knight in the kitchen, but it is really the same as King Arthur. 2 Orange Blaze are in the front. Pop can for size comparison.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pepper Picture

Nice good size. I'm in the process of building a high tunnel so I can get an earlier start next year - maybe I can get some bells going. The only ripe peppers I have so far are Hinkelhatz (PA Dutch heirloom, cold weather tolerant). The Tequila Sunrise are starting to show a little color after a few nights in the 40's.

Yes, try stuffed ripe peppers, they may not bother you as much as the green peppers. You have them, might as well use them, don't worry about being "decadent".

My kids would go crazy over those - sweet as candy!

You could make marinated peppers.

I made two quarts for the first time about 5-6 days ago with ripe sweet peppers and some serranos (I put the jars in the fridge and didn't process them which is why I used quarts). They taste pretty good right now and should taste better as they sit longer. But I'll definitely use more hot peppers next time.

Rodney

P.S. The sweet peppers I used were Early Red and Merlot (both bells), Gypsy, and an unknown Italian type (I got the plant from a friend).

Here is a link that might be useful: NCHFP Marinated Peppers

I mostly chop and freeze my peppers - besides taking the time to cut them up, it's a fairly easy thing to do. I just cut them up and stick them in a ziploc freezer bag. I don't put a lot of excess liquid in the bag, so though it may freeze together somewhat, when I start eating a new bag, slamming the bag a time or two on the counter breaks them apart nicely. I use pinches of peppers from the freezer (except while regularly harvesting when I have fresh) almost daily throughout the year, hot peppers, sweet peppers, in eggs, tuna salad, sandwiches, soups, stir fries, and in many other things. I can't have too many of these frozen. And I'm always out of them right about the time new ones are being picked. I've made beautiful pickle relish with just peppers and a few onions that turns out great - and it requires no more than a BWB.

Cut them up in half and clean out the seeds, put on a roasting pan and char at 400F. Let them cool and put them in freezer bags and freeze until you need them.