This is the second year I’ve harvested horseradish, which is ready after the leaves have died back in winter. I had to dig and pull out the roots from the ground. Some of it was a twisted mass but I found a few long shoots to work with.

After cleaning off dirt and peeling the root, I shredded it into a bowl. It is pungent and kind of sweet smelling. I added sour cream and a little white vinegar to make a horseradish sauce to serve with beef on Christmas. It is pretty simple to make and fresh horseradish has more bite.

I had a good crop of hot peppers growing in the garden. So I picked a pint of them. To make hot sauce, I cooked them for about five minutes, along with several garlic cloves in a cup or more of cider vinegar. I didn’t want to cook them very long, just enough to soften them. Next, I blended the peppers and the liquid in a food processor. (The fumes from peppers are potent so keep your head back when you open the container.) Then, I put them through a sieve to drain the deep red liquid from the chopped peppers. I let them sit a while and also pressed down on them with a spoon to get out all the juice. That’s it.

I bottled it. I could also use half-pint mason jars. I can keep it in the pantry or an open jar in the fridge.

The solids will separate from the liquid after the sauce sits for a while. I’m sure I could add something to prevent that from happening. However, a quick shake blends the sauce easily. As I said, it’s red hot and just a little bit will add heat to anything you eat. A bottle of your own hot sauce makes a nice gift, too.

It’s kind of a triple play for the kitchen — pickling, canning and baking.

Tonight, as the fog was rolling in behind them, the sunflowers were brightly lit by the setting sun. I particularly like the photo of single sunflower, which seems like a scruffy character.

Sebastopol in summer is cool and sunny at the same time, a refreshing mixture usually.

We put a basket full of garlic heads in the greenhouse to dry for a few days. I’d say we have about 50 heads of garlic, variable in size.

As the strands sway in the wind, the bees don’t seem to care.

The blueberries are ripe and ready, a real delight. It has taken about three years to get a really good crop. The raspberries and boysenberries are in season as well. I love the flavor if boysenberries. The raspberries are so prolific that it is hard to pace picking them.

Nancy made a great blueberry cobbler last night.