Preparing for Winter & Dehydrating Peppers

Fall feels officially over now that we have snow on the ground.  Were you able to get everything ready for winter?  If not, look for some nice days ahead and give your yard some TLC.  Next spring you'll sure be glad you did!  

This is what we (ok, mostly Todd) did to prepare for winter.  Are any of these things also needed in your yard?

VEGETABLE GARDEN

• Picked remaining produce.
• Removed dying plants and vines.
• Rota-tilled in fallen produce and fertilizer/compost from chicken yard.

  

CHICKENS

• Removed all wood chips and chicken pooh from chicken yard and coop to put in garden.
• Added new wood chips.
• Added warmer under waterer to keep water from freezing.
• Set light to automatically turn on in the early morning so the chickens have enough hours of light (14) to continue laying eggs.

FRUIT TREES

• Anchored trees that needed help growing straight.
• Cut off fire blight from pear tree.
• Planted another pear tree.

GENERAL

• Turned off automatic sprinkler system  and water valve so sprinklers can drain.
• Removed hoses from hose bibs.
• Winterized small engines (lawn mower, rota-tiller, weed whacker) by adding fuel stabilizer to gas tank.  After running engine for a few minutes, dumped out fuel.  Then ran until dry.
• Applied last fertilizer treatment on grass so grass will green up quicker in the spring.

With the final garden picking, we had a LOT of peppers.  Since I've already frozen quite a few peppers, I need to follow my mom's example and dehydrate this final batch.  

To dehydrate peppers, they just need to be chopped beforehand.  A food processor makes this step easy.  Be sure to wear gloves when working with hot peppers.  Otherwise, your hands will sting for quite awhile after you are done handling the hot peppers.

 Peppers ready for the dehydrator.

  Stacks of peppers on trays drying.

 

From the dehydrator to the freezer in plastic bags separated by variety - bells, sweet bananas, jalapenos, salsa, and red peppers.  Keeping them in the freezer retains better color and pungency.

Thanks to my mom for sharing her pictures.  Don't the dehydrated peppers look pretty?  Now if only my peppers were also already dehydrated and in my freezer!

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WHAT ELSE DO YOU DO TO PREPARE FOR WINTER?  ARE YOU READY?

Dehydrating Fruit

First, let me say I LOVE my dehydrator!  This is my second harvest season with a dehydrator and it has been a big hit.  It is great to have another avenue for putting up all the fruit that seems to be coming out of our ears each fall!  I'm amazed by how many things you can actually dehydrate, but so far I have only tried a few things that we've needed preserved.  This post will share what has worked the best for us.

We had a lot of blackberries, peaches and raspberries this year, so fruit leather was the way to go.  It is so easy, not to mention yummy!

Once the fruit has been washed and any pits or bad spots removed, put the fruit in a blender with honey and lemon juice if desired.  I did use lemon juice with the peaches and some honey with all.  I do not remove the peach skins as my blender is able to puree the skins as well as the fruit.

4-5 c. blended fruit

1-2 T. honey

optional for added sweetness

1-2 tsp. lemon juice

optional to keep peaches from browning--not needed for berries

Pour the fruit puree 1/8" thick onto your dehydrator trays.  The more consistent you keep the thickness, the more evenly the fruit leather will dry.  Dehydrate at 140 degrees for several hours.  Just check on it periodically and you'll know it is done when you are able to peel it off the dehydrator sheets or trays.  If you leave it too long, it will become brittle.  The peach has more of a tendency to become brittle than the berries, especially on the edges.  Brittle pieces are still tasty and my kids had no problem eating those since they didn't roll up well for storage.  Use a pizza cutter to cut the sheets of fruit leather into serving size pieces.  Each piece can then be placed on plastic wrap and rolled up.  Store in an air-tight container.  They will keep for a year if kept in the freezer. 

 
Apples need to be made into applesauce before drying as fruit leather, so I dehydrated apple slices instead.  This was much easier, especially since I used an apple corer and peeler.  I've heard people complain that their apple corer and peelers don't work well.  I think mine works great as long as the apples are firm.  Mine is from Back to Basics.  After the apples are in slices, I sprinkle them with Fruit Fresh so they won't brown.  You can also use lemon juice.  Lay the apple slices on the dehydrator racks and dry at 140 degrees until leathery and dry to the touch.  Store in an air-tight container.  They will store for 6-9 months in a cool, dark place and even longer if kept in the freezer.

Apples don't need anything extra, but it is fun to dry a batch or two with cinnamon or Jell-O.  For cinnamon apples, simply sprinkle the apple slices with a little cinnamon before drying. 

For dried apples that basically taste like candy, coat the apple slices with Jell-O powder before drying.  You can do this by either stirring the apples and Jell-O together in a bowl or shaking them together in a gallon Ziploc bag.  Jell-O covered apples take longer to dry than plain or cinnamon apples.  Any flavor Jell-O works.  So far we've tried and had success with strawberry and raspberry flavored Jell-O.

My kids can't seem to get enough of the fruit leather and dried fruit.  The dehydrated fruit works great in their school sack lunches or as a snack.  The only problem I have is trying to keep the kids from eating the dried fruit while we still have so much fresh fruit that needs eaten!

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What do you dehydrate?  What tips do you have?  Please share!