This week's hot pepper item is a large handful of mild hots, maybe more than you need in a week!
Here are ways that I like to keep hot peppers for later:
Frozen: chop and freeze in a freezer bag or container. I'll toss with a few drops of lemon juice to keep the slices from browning (oxidizing) while they freeze. I always have a few bags of chopped hot peppers in the freezer at the end of the season, to add to dishes (and salsas) throughout the fall/winter.
Dried: I put hot pepper slices in my dehydrator and keep for later, often grinding large batches (hey, the masks will come in handy for this!) in the fall for ground hot peppers. I love the mix of many different pepper flavours. If you don't have a dehydrator, spread pepper slices (or whole peppers, but this will take longer) on a baking sheet and dry in the oven at the lowest temperature you can set it (usually 175F or 200F). Check on them often to ensure they're not getting burnt.
Another way to dry peppers is to string them up - which also looks nice and homestead-y. Using a needle and a sturdy string, hang peppers up in a well-ventilated area. They will generally take at least a week to dry, more if the air is humid.
More hot peppers to come for the next couple of months, getting hotter as the summer progresses! Depending on how the harvests go, we may be offering bulk amounts (2L baskets and more) if anyone wants to do some extra preserving beyond what comes in the boxes.