Harvesting

Been harvesting some Chiles, tomatoes are done with, but Chiles and okra are still making fruit. I know a lot of y'all don't eat okra but when its fresh its pretty good food. I now have enough in the freezer to last until next year. Thought about drying some. My Grandmother used to dry okra, we also dried okra seed. When we ran out of coffee, okra seed roasted and ground would work just fine. By the way the tomatoes are all canned ready to be eaten.
 Chiles: I have canned some and dried some.Have made lots of what I call wonder dust, dried, ground Chile pequins. I keep it in a shaker bottle and on the table. I like it much better than hot sauce. The powder just adds heat and flavor, no vinegar taste.
This year I did something a little different. I smoked and dried some Chiles. We use lots of Chile flakes, so why not make your own. Besides that I built me a new smokehouse. Yep, I make my own bacon and sausage, really much better than store bought. And I know whats in it. For me now days that makes a lot of since to me.
Back to the Chile flakes: I think these are super good, I like the smoke flavor. I used hickory wood for smoke, just because I had some and I like the flavor it imparts on food. Here are some photos of the process I used with the Chiles. I hope to get about 4 more containers full of finished Chiles. I also use them in my sausage. Good stuff Maynard. Thanks for looking Bill

Chiles in the Smoker.

Smoked and dried.

Crushed Chile Flakes.