It is strawberry guava season. Our ten foot tree that is about twelve years old is a heavy producer. This week we harvested fourteen pounds. Picking is tedious since the guavas range from one-half inch to just over an inch in size. In recent years we’ve put garden trays under the tree and my husband shakes the tree—not so vigorously as the nut trees in California’s Central Valley but sufficient to loosen ripe guavas.

As the refrigerator filled with guavas, processing began over the weekend. You can see the steps for making the puree in the second link below. The yield was four quarts. I gave some puree away to a friend who is enamored with strawberry guavas, froze four-ounce jars for my grandson who recently started solids and sent the remainder in pint containers to the freezer. More in another post on how I use the rich, velvety puree.

To learn more about strawberry guavas and my sentimental connection with the sweet-tart, antioxidant rich fruit you can read these posts: Strawberry Guavas and Guava Season.

Labor Day marked the transition to the fall garden. The cucumbers stopped producing last week and a half dozen zucchini refuse to grow larger than five inches. The tomato plants went to the green bin and I’ll next make puree and roasted tomatoes for the freezer. Second sowings of green beans are close to harvest. Zinnias are the current glory of the garden and peppers are just coming into their own.

You can tour the garden with me in a post from last week, In My Garden Today, Early September.

The ‘Baby Belle’ peppers are a treat to have since my large bell peppers are weeks away from turning red. These went to black bean fajitas and after a brief saute, stuffed in a grilled Havarti cheese sandwich on sourdough.

This pepper escaped its supports and broke the stem so time to bring to the kitchen.

I had some extra brine left over from making quick pickled red onions so decided to try a small jar of pickled green peppers. They are delightfully crisp with a flavor punch.

I’ll be using these on tacos, salads, black bean burgers and alongside a sandwich.

The container-grown arugula is thriving and I shear it every few days. It’s useful under a special entree, with pasta or topping a pizza.

An arugula salad is a lunch favorite, here with my garden apples, diced cucumbers, dried cranberries, goat cheese and sliced almonds.

I’m having such fun with the ‘Blue Point Bouquet’ zinnias. They are stellar performers even in our cool, dank summer with no signs of mildew.

See what other garden bloggers harvested from their gardens last week at Harvest Monday hosted by Dave at Our Happy Acres.