We grow rhubarb here in my zone 5, and I just love it -- especially combined with strawberries in a Strawberry-Rhubarb pie. I agree that you won't be out much for the seeds, but can you also find the plants in the nurseries? It might be a good option, if so, just to diminish the growing time, since rhubarb doesn't like hot weather. In my area the plants cost only a few dollars -- prolly as much as one "batch" or package of it in your grocery stores. It's such a great taste, and I agree it would be worth the small investment just to find out if it's possible.

I also roast, peel and freeze. However, they may be canned in water. You must pressure can as they are low acid. Link below for instructions. They are going to be very soft though. They may be pickled (vinegar recipes), but that will significantly change the flavor. Really good on sandwiches, in salads, etc. Pickled peppers may be canned in BWB. There are recipes for Roasted Red Pepper Spread as well, but that one adds a lot of sugar and turns it into a jam as far as I'm concerned. Very, very good, but not what I want for certain recipes. Just depends on what you intend to do with them later. Deanna Here is a link that might be useful: Canning peppers

In addition, you can always roast - any of the Italian roasting pepper varieties like Marconi work great - and can them per the standard NCHFP/Ball Blue Book instructions and then marinate in olive oil and your choice of herbs prior to serving. Refrigerator shelf life when done in oil is very limited and there are many safety concerns so processing in oil only has a very few approved and tested recipes (like the one linked above). Otherwise the use of oils isn't approved in home food canning. There are also some good past discussions here about dried peppers marinated in oil that you might like. Dave

Okiefamily, It is your choice and you have lots of options. They do not have to be blanched prior to being frozen. You can wash them and pop them into freezer-type zip-lock bags or freezer containers whole if you like. You can remove the stems and then freeze them whole. You can remove the stems, cut them into halves or quarters, remove the seeds and freeze them. You can chop them up to be used in various recipes and freeze them that way. I like to freeze them in 1/4 C. amounts in little snack-sized zip-locks and and put a lot of those little bags inside a gallon-sized freezer ziplock. When I need chopped peppers for a recipe, I just remove however many small bags I need from the larger bags. You can slice up the bell peppers for stir fries, pepper steak, etc. and freeze the slices in zip-locks in about the quantity you'd use for one recipe. If you want you can slice them or chop them, lay them in a layer on a baking sheet and freeze them, then put them in a zip-lock bag. Because they're pre-frozen on the cookie sheet before going into the bag, they won't clump together and you can remove any quantity you wish from the bag. You can roast the jalapenos in your oven or on your grill, thus turning them into chipotles. Then, freeze them and use them in recipes that call for chipotles. Remember, when handling jalapenos (especially when handling a lot of them) to wear gloves and keep your gloves hands from touching any part of your body, or you'll transfer the capsaicin and the pain. I've frozen peppers using all these methods and they all work fine. Of course, a pepper that has been frozen will not have the crisp, crunchy texture of a fresh pepper, but they still are perfectly fine for use in cooking. If the freezer fills up, remember that you also can dehydrate them, pickle them, and jelly them. Dawn