One of the late producers in my garden is usually the jalapeno plants. My tomatoes, peppers and jalapeno's seem to really get a burst of productivity in August and September and for that reason I consider September my 'salsa' making month. However this year I didn't have the amount of tomatoes I wished for so I took to freezing most of my peppers and jalapenos. I love this though as I always have green peppers, red peppers and jalapeno's on hand for cooking and the garden harvest lasts me all year long.When it comes to freezing produce it has to be quick and easy or I won't do it. I have and do freeze green beans and corn which are a little more labor intensive with blanching and such, but when it comes to jalapenos it's as simple as washing, cutting off the tops, scraping the knife around the inside to remove the seeds and popping them into a freezer baggy or a ZipLoc container as you can see in the photo. I typically chop half of them with my food chopper and freeze them ready to add to Mexican casseroles, nacho dips and more while I keep others whole which I can then dice, chop or stuff. The jalapeno will be more limp than crisp after the freezing process breaks down the cells but the flavor is there and when chopped for soups, stews, casseroles and dips, you would never know they were once frozen.
