I was at the farmer’s market this weekend and came across a table with several strings of peppers for sale. It got me thinking about the pile of peppers that were sitting on my kitchen counter. You see, I planted about two dozen mixed pepper plants (I got a bit carried away with the seeds this year). So in the last few weeks, I’ve harvested an overabundance of peppers from my garden…more than a person can use all at once. (I’ve used exactly three. Look at how many are in that pile!)
So I saw the string of peppers at the farmer’s market and the light bulb went on. Let them dry out and I’ll use them all year! (One would hope that I would have had this plan in place before planting dozens of pepper plants…but sometimes I like to fly by the seat of my pants.)
So there’s a brilliant solution to save all those peppers. Let’s do this.
- Rinse and dry your peppers
- Thread a big needle with some thick thread between 2 and 3 feet long. (Baker’s twine, fishing line or a few threads of embroidery floss would work. I used baker’s twine.)
- Tie a knot at the end of the thread.
- To thread the peppers, insert the needle through the stem of the pepper. Ideally, you’ll be able to pluck off the pepper itself when you’re ready to use it, while leaving the stem on the string.
- Continue, one after another, until your pile of peppers is gone.
- If you’re like me, a cat will want to sit on your lap and help with the peppers. Say thank you, take his picture, then politely kick him off your lap.
- Now, you’re finished. Hang your pepper string in a pretty spot in your kitchen. When you need some spice for dinner, just pluck one or two off the string. I’m told the peppers will all turn red as they dry…I’ll post another picture in a month or two if they do. In the meantime, here’s my new kitchen accessory:
