Well today all of a sudden all the leaves that froze on my southern red oak fell off at once today. It looks like it spit them out and new green ones are coming out. Exciting and interesting to see a springtime fall.

The quality of the peppers would be so low for canning that I would say you will not want to use them for that, unless it is as part of a sauce or something that will be cooked down. I chop and freeze peppers throughout the season, because I use them throughout the year, to mix into recipes, I can grab just what I need. I love my hot peppers mixed in with eggs or cheese grits(with garlic and polish sausage it's hard to beat). Usually at the end of the year, just before frost, I have plenty of peppers to can in relishes, or to include in my green tomato salsa(the only kind I do now since it doesn't have the "excess water" problem of ripe tomatoes).

We have a d'Anjou cross, and the pears will store at cool room temperature for quite a long time. With the fruits that have issues, you can make "dessert pears" by barely covering cut chunks with a light syrup, bring to simmer, then freeze. These are great with a bit of whipped cream. Look for a subtle change in the color of the pears, away from green and toward yellow, and harvest away. I also look for fruits starting to fall, another sign to harvest. Also you can cut into the pears and see if the seeds have started darkening. Good luck -- I love working with pears.

Most of us just freeze them whole. You can do all the peeling adn chopping stuff after they are thawed. They will hold their consistency better if frozen whole rather than chopped. Just search 'freeze tomatoes' here for more discussions on it if interested. Dave