The chile harvest starts today! As you read this, Nacho, Alejandro, Arcelia, and I are out picking the first round of Sugar Rush Peach chiles. Part of me can't believe it's time to start harvesting peppers, while the other part of me has been ready for weeks to get things going.
In the next 2 months, we hope to harvest somewhere around 30 tons of fresh chiles, which is no small feat. We've been harvesting and cleaning beans for the past 3 weeks (we've got 1200 pounds so far!) and still have more to harvest before we're in the full swing of chile picking.
Luckily we've been able to still have some fun as summer comes to a close. We've stuffed our faces with tomatoes, I have plans to make a very large batch of pesto tonight, and honestly I think we're a bit over the 100 degree days! This past weekend, Boonville hosted the 100th Annual Mendocino County Fair and of our 19 entries, we came home with 13 award winners! We love entering our crops in the fair and seeing how they fare against other farms and home gardeners. Here's what won:
First Place Blue Ribbons: Sugar Rush Peach chiles, Tolosa Beans, Seascape Strawberries, Sunflowers, A photo of the Northern Lights, and Gideon’s Blueberry Muffins
Second Place Red Ribbons: Japones chiles (New!), Poblano chiles, Espelette chiles, Anazape beans (new!), and a bean-filled scarecrow
Third Place White Ribbons: Cascabel chiles and Tiger’s Eye beans
Second Place Red Ribbons: Japones chiles (New!), Poblano chiles, Espelette chiles, Anazape beans (new!), and a bean-filled scarecrow
Third Place White Ribbons: Cascabel chiles and Tiger’s Eye beans
Things that didn't win: Three bunches of fully burnt/dried out/terrible Pinot Noir grapes that did not make it through the Grange Fire (we hope the judge got a laugh at these), Zolfini, Brown Tepary, and Southwest Gold Beans (unfortunately there's only room for 3 winners in the category even though we were the only entrants) and 2 photos of our dog (rude).
