More Flower Seed Saving. 10.15.22

 The first flower seeds that I saved were damp.  Then I may have left them too long in the sunroom to dry, where the temperature surpassed 100 F.  So I saved more today.  Today was dry so they did not need additional drying.  Just put the flower heads into paper bags, and staple the top,  They will be in the cool, dry pantry until I clean them up during the winter.  I collected Rudbeckia that had petal markings, French Marigold, Yellow Four O'Clock, Fuchsia pink Four O'Clock, French Marigold, Blood Flower (Tropical Milkweed), African Marigold, Pink (but not white) Cleome.  

Planting Daffodils and Hyacinths. 10.15.22

 I bought a few bags of bulbs to plant in the meditation garden / border.

All but one packet of daffodils are planted now.  They will be nice in the Spring.  In this location, it doesn't matter if I let the leaves remain after blooming.  It is meant to look a little wild.  So, they have a good chance to multiply and bloom in years to come.

Finished Hot Pepper Sauce. 10.15.22

 Here is the finished hot pepper sauce.  I used the food processor the peppers, after decanting about 2/3 of the brine.  This hot sauce is very hot, with a generous garlic flavor and hot pepper flavor.  It's basically, Sambal Oelek.

I saved the decanted brine, to use as a starter if enough additional peppers ripen.  Alternatively, it could be returned to the sauerkraut to impart hot pepper flavor.   Here is how the liquid looked before decanting, on top of the glass weight.

Here is how the fermentation looks.  The gas bubbles are carbon dioxide, produced by the beneficial lactic acid bacteria.  There was a fair amount of overflow, brine forced out of the nipples due to gas production.

Making Hot Pepper Sauce. 10.9.22

 I harvested all of the red hot peppers and prepped them to make hot sauce.  These are a mix of ripe Jalapeños, Serranos, and mostly Cayennes.

They are so pretty.

These get cut into slices, along with some garlic.  Then pack into jars along with a tablespoon of fresh sauerkraut juice to start the fermentation, a little sugar to feed it, and brine.  I weight diwn with a glass weight.

Then add a tip with a gas escape nipple.  They get fermented for a few days in the dark, then I process them and portion into jars.  It's even pretty in the jars.

I need to print put a new recipe card. This one got a little wet.

Saving Flower Seeds. 10.9.22

 I saved seeds for the Rudbeckias I liked the best.  During the summer, I tied a cloth strip around the stems of my favorites, to mark them.

The seed heads go into paper bags.  I'll let them dry a couple of months, then clean up the seeds.  I also saved seeds from French Marigolds.  These are my own multigenerational saved seeds.

And an African Marigold that I like.