Why buy a jar of pickled jalapenos at the grocery store when you can make a home-made batch with peppers plucked from plants on your patio?

Pickled jalapenos are a favorite food around here and I usually have a store-bought jar at the ready to add to panini sandwiches, to top a pizza or to sprinkle on Mexican food.

But since gardening this year has yielded such a good chile pepper crop, I decided to create my own easy recipe for pickled peppers.

I mixed the recipe for these refrigerator pickled jalapenos by starting with the ingredient list from the back of the jar sitting in the fridge–and then adding my own ideas. I experimented with the quantities until the pickling brine tasted just right.

Before you start, please save yourself some pain and slip on a pair of plastic or rubber gloves to protect your hands and eyes while working with fresh peppers.

The hard work of sowing and growing is over around here and now it’s time to enjoy the chile pepper harvest.

One of my favorite parts of summer is when it’s almost over. That’s when gardening gets a lot more enjoyable because the hard work is done and the harvest has begun.

These days I’m having fun picking peppers off the plants on the patio.  It’s not the biggest pepper crop I’ve ever grown, but it includes seven different varieties and some are hotter than others.

In the photo from left to right are:

Casa Bella–This plant was a gift from someone who told me it grew small Jalapeno-like peppers that turned yellow. These cute little peppers are some of the hottest peppers I’ve grown–much hotter than Jalapenos. We like our peppers hot, but these are too hot to eat raw. When I add them to recipes, I only use one, remove the seeds and mince it like crazy. Once the peppers turn from yellow to red, they lose a bit of heat. I plan to dry the red peppers and then grind them into powder to sprinkle in soups, chili and other cold-weather fare.

It’s time to start harvesting and donating your Plant a Row for the Hungry produce to a food bank, soup kitchen or food pantry near you.

This morning I spent time picking and packing 7 pounds of home-grown organic tomatoes and French yellow beans to drop off at The Friends of Saint Andrew in Aurora.

It’s taken most of the summer, but I finally had grown enough fresh veggies to play a small part in the Garden Writers Association national Plant a Row for the Hungry effort here in the Denver Metro area.

I called ahead and spoke with Sarah Norton, program director, to confirm the times volunteers would be there to accept produce and to ask the best way to package it. She said individual packets would make it easier for the volunteers to distribute, so I spent about 15 minutes packaging all sizes and colors of tomatoes and handfuls of long golden beans into small baggies.

The September/October issue of Hobby Farm Magazine features everything you need to know about home canning in a special section called “Canning Simplified.”

Gardening season is still in full swing around here, but it won’t be long before it’s time to preserve the harvest by freezing, drying and canning.

If you’ve never canned before, or you feel like you need a refresher course, be sure to pick up a copy of the fall issue of Hobby Farm Magazine.

Inside the “True Country Living” magazine’s pages is a super-duper article called “Oh Yes You Can!” by Nancy Mann Jackson that includes everything you need to know about canning–including a quote from me on why I love the canning process.

Nancy builds the case for canning, details how to gather equipment and supplies, provides the steps for getting started and explains all the safety measures that guard against food poisoning. She’s even included recipes for hot salsa, quick pickles, and microwave apple butter.

The Fourth of July is just around the corner and the celebration calls for some good old fashioned craft-making fun.

I had such a great time making a Fourth of July wreath for my front door, I thought you might like to try making one, too.

Most of the materials were found in my own backyard, but I took a few shortcuts with craft-store goods. I’ve never been able to make as nice a bow as I can buy for 99 cents.

If you have vines growing in your yard, like the trumpet vine growing in mine, you should have plenty of material to craft your own twisted vine wreath and I’ve included some tips on how to make one.

If you take a stroll through your garden, I’m sure you’ll find some flower heads you can use to decorate the wreath, like yarrow and baby’s breath.

Here’s what you’ll need to get started:

Materials

Gardeners certainly understand the connection between growing a vegetable garden and sharing the fruits of their efforts with others. In addition to the Plant a Row for the Hungry campaign, there are other organizations working to help gardeners provide food for their communities.

My Plant a Row for the Hungry volunteer efforts started in November when I met with representatives from the Food Bank of the Rockies to gain their support for the annual campaign.

Just recently I learned about a similar year-round “gardening for good” program called Ample Harvest.

According to information on its website, “AmpleHarvest.org gives food pantries the opportunity to be listed in a central nationwide directory so that gardeners can share their fresh produce and, garden-by-garden, help diminish hunger in America.”

I first heard from Gary Oppenheimer, founder of AmpleHarvest.org, when he wrote to ask permission to use a photo he found on this site.

Vegetable gardeners in the Rocky Mountain states will find gardening can be a little easier and a lot more enjoyable with a new book from Cool Springs Press.

If you garden anywhere in Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Utah or Wyoming, you have to get your hands on a copy of Guide to Rocky Mountain Vegetable Growing by Robert Gough & Cheryl Moore-Gough.

But that’s only if you want to have a successful vegetable garden this season.

My brand-new review copy of the book is already marked up, dog-eared and broken in.

Whether you’re an experienced vegetable gardener or you’re just getting ready to take your first tentative steps toward the garden bed, the Goughs have some advice for you. They wrote this book because it’s the resource they wanted to have when they first started gardening in such a challenging region.

The Get Growing Guide to Tomatoes is a new, 23-page eBook loaded with tips for growing a garden filled with America’s  favorite “vegetable.”

Although technically a fruit, tomatoes are the most popular vegetable grown in home gardens. That’s why some gardeners prefer to call them “love apples.”

Tomatoes aren’t that difficult to grow, but they can be a little tricky. That’s why I wrote this guide, to help other gardeners have tomato-growing success. The guide explains how to amend the soil, gives seed starting instructions and provides methods to keep plants insect and disease free.

One of the first gardening articles I wrote for The Denver Post was a “how to grow” tomatoes article for those interested in entering their tastiest tomatoes in the annual NatureSweet Homegrown Tomato Challenge.

I had my own methods for sowing and growing great tomatoes, but for that article I also interviewed gardeners from across the Metro area, including the Homegrown Tomato Challenge winner from the previous season. He won with his Goliath Hybrid and a special “tomato toddy” he mixed for each planting hole.

Jean Ann Van Krevelen is continuing the long tradition of sharing gardening tips and home-grown recipes with her new book called “Grocery Gardening.”

It may be difficult to decide where to keep your copy of the new “Grocery Gardening” book. Some of you will certainly want to keep it with your other gardening resources, but others will want to keep it handy in the kitchen.

Maybe you need to buy two copies.

Edible gardening is in fashion again and there are more new gardeners planting seeds and growing gardens than ever before.

“We’ve seen a resurgence of interest in edible gardening, but many new gardeners aren’t sure what to do with their bounty,” says author Jean Ann Van Krevelen.

“It’s very different to grow a couple of zucchini vines and harvest the squash than it is to pick up two at the store.”

The 2010 gardening book season is in full swing and these three new titles will help gardeners of every level grow great gardens.

The first crop of gardening books to review arrived in my office this week and now I can’t wait for the growing season to begin.

I’m sure every gardener will find something they can put to use in each of the three new titles from Cool Springs Press, whether it’s a fabulous new recipe, a way to avoid plant problems or how to pinch a few more pennies.

I plan on writing complete reviews of each book over the next several weeks, but thought you might like an overview, just to whet your appetite.

Each attractive cover has an intriguing title, is aimed to a specific audience, and loaded with full-color photos, illustrations and all kinds of interesting tips, tricks and ideas. These are guaranteed to make gardeners want to get growing immediately.