Mr. Bumblebee meets my rocoto grande

It is harder to get a good picture of a bumblebee on a chile flower than one can expect, but today the gods were with me :-) These rocoto flowers are huge! The biggest Capsicum flowers I've ever seen.

Aren't the flowers fantastic?!

I'm also happy to see that my manzano plants have more than 30 pods this year. 

It's a different plant. It does not grow on the height. It is probably only 30-40 cm. tall, but sort of grows sideways. Understandable to a degree, because the pods are really heavy, so I have to support the plant with chairs.

A few more pictures of my manzano here: http://petterssononline.com/habanero/peppers.php?action=variety&id=1207

Wishing you all a nice weekend!

   Mats

The origin of my dedo de moça

The dedo de moça that I grow originates from Patricia's uncles farm outside Rio de Janeiro. When we were there over ten years ago, I got seeds from it. We were there in December, during their winter, and I still remember the hot days with a strong rainshower each day. Compared to this climate, I think it is amazing that it is at all possible to grow it here in Stockholm.

Here you can see me picking seeds from ripe pods.

Patricia's uncle also had malagueta (C. frutescens).  Here you can see me behind it. I am in heaven :-)

Me, my dedo de moça and my habanero

This is me and my overwintered dedo de moça and habanero (to the right).

The dedo de moça is about 175 cm tall, and now full of fruits. Some branches are so loaded with fruits so I'm almost afraid they will break. It's a very nice Capsicum baccatum!

The habanero is smaller and does not really show under the big baccatum. But since the latest heatwave it is also full of fruits. Really exciting to follow the development on the balcony.

Capsicum cardenasii

Cardenasii is believed to be the mother of all Capsicum, so it is special to me. It originates from Bolivia and Peru, and sometimes goes under the name Ulupica.

I can not remember the last time when my cardenasii produced pods. But this year it has been flowering a lot, and actually produced a couple of tiny pods. The pods are less than a centimeter in size.

I can't wait for tasting the pods when they are ripe! :-)

Fresh chiles and crisp bread

These days when we have unusually high temperatures here in Stockholm, it's good to see that the chiles are ripening at high speed :-) Today it's 31C, and there is a fantastic smell of flowers on the balcony.

So for lunch I picked two dedo de moça and one peru yellow. Yum! I think that these baccatum have the perfect heat.

So, how do we eat them? I just chop them and put on crisp bread. A true delicacy :-) What I really find amazing is the Carl (8 years old) also have adopted the taste for hot chiles on crisp bread. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree :-)

Soon

Hello little friends! Soon you are in my stomach :-)

From left to right. Serrano, chacoense, dedo de  moça. Yum!

Finally some ripe chiles

After the strong winds this spring, when most of the plants looked half dead, I could not expect to see ripe pods in early July. It's amazing to see how fast the plants recover.

Dedo de moça
My dedo de moça is from last year, so it has thick woody stems, and is probably 1,75 meter tall. I keep it in a big pot, so it's not easy to move it. Therefore I had to take this picture through the kitchen window.

 

Serrano
And my first serrano has turned red. We will probably make nachos tomorrow, and I can't wait tasting this one.

Capsicum chacoense (CAP 1153 / 96)
Also a plant from last year. I really love these tasty hot tiny chiles.

Rocoto manzano grande (red)
This is an interesting plant. It does not grow tall, but it grows sideways. So it occupies more than a meter on the balcony. The flowers are the biggest flowers I've seen on a Capsicum.

Tabasco
Another one from last year. Last year it produced only a couple of pods. But this year it looks more promising.

Rocopica
My rocopica is fantastic! Last year it produced hundreds of pods. And this year looks like it's going to be the same. Superhot small fruits! 

My herb garden

Lately I have become more and more interested in ayurveda, and the herbs used in herbal medicine. So this year, I am not only growing chile peppers. I'm also growing some herbs.

Tulsi green (holy basil)
A common herb in ayurveda. I grow this one so I can make tea and use it in my cooking.

Basil Genovese
A must when making pesto :-)

Salvia officinalis
We like fresh salvia on fish and chicken. It's a nice plant to grow.

Fenugreek
I use fenugreek for sprouting. The sprouts have a fresh "curry" like taste, and we like them a lot. Of course I also had to put the seeds in soil, and this is how the plant looks.

Turmeric
Turmeric is another spice I use on a regular basis. Mostly in its dried format, but lately I have been using the fresh root. It has a very strong taste, is quite "oily" and has a strong yellow colour. I put some of the roots in soil, and after a couple off weeks this "thing" came up :-)

Ajwain
According to ayurveda, Ajwain is a strong digestive stimulant. I use the seeds in some of my cooking, and decided to try to grow it. And here is the result. It's an interesting looking plant. Don't you agree?