Merry Christmas

Hi!

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas!

Regards,
  Mats

Habanero for lunch

Hi!

The summer temperatures continue, and that is great for the pods!

Here is a "view" of the corner of the balcony, where I can't go anymore. The plants are so big, and totally dominates the corner :-) There are plenty of pods, with new ones turning red every day.

Today for lunch, I picked some Dedo de moca, peru yellow and a habanero.

Ready to be eaten on crisp bread with cheese. Yum :-)

Have a great hot week :-)
   Mats

Long time ago. Eating a habanero in Los Angeles

I stumbled over this old picture. It's taken in October 1995 during a vacation in California. That habanero you see in my hand ruined my evening. First of all - I ate it. That was OK. But when we came to our hotel, my stomach reacted, and we couldn't go out for dinner that night. Actually, I more or less thought it was my last moment :-)

Guess if I have learned my lesson :-)

"Beginner's mind"-Mats

Picking peppers

I'm running out of patience with the big plants. Especially the two year old habanero and dedo de moça. So today I decided to take them away. Not an easy decision, but I need to make space for the plants next year.

Here is the stem from the habanero. Carl saved pieces of it to play with.

And here are the pods. I counted them. 128. I don't know how many hundred pods I have picked earlier, but it has been a fantastic chile pepper year!

Next one to be harvested was the dedo de moça. It's the same height as Carl, and he's 155 cm tall...

And here is how the stems look like.

And here is parts of the harvest. Yes, there are some green ones. I don't think they are as good as the red. But they will make a great green powder.

Drying the green ones...

One thing I have learned with chiles is to not rub my eyes after doing this kind of work...

While I'm writing this, there is a heavenly smell from the dryer. More later.

Hot regards,
Mats

Seventy three habaneros!

Coming home this afternoon, I picked 73 nice habaneros!

I think I have some nice activities to do later tonight. On my list is to dry some of them so I can make a good powder and some flakes.

The rest I'm going to put in the freezer for later use.

Inspiration

Growing chiles is a fantastic hobby! Great friends! Beautiful plants! Good tasting fruits that inspires cooking. Trying new recipes. Learning! And so it goes. Actually I think it's a lot about learning. And sharing. And to inspire people.

Before I get philosophical here, I want to share these inspiring photos. It's my habanero. You know, the one that was supposed to be brown. But that doesn't matter. They sure are beautiful, and I can tell you that they taste really good!

Not as hot, but still with great taste and beauty. Here is my peru yellow.

Wishes for a great week!
   Mats

Wishing for some nice sunny days

The chiles are turning red, yellow and orange now, and it sure is a beautiful sight!

Dedo de moça

Long chocolate (well red....) habanero

Wishing that the weather could be at least a few degrees warmer. Because even if the chile plants are beautiful, I sure don't want to bring all of them inside. They are far too big for that!

Dedo de moça and habanero

My two biggest pots on the balcony belong to my two year-old habanero and dedo de moça. Both plants are approximately 175 cm tall, and have chile pods, almost like grapes. I can't remember I have seen any baccatum or chinense on my balcony looking like this. Most pods are still green, but look at this. Isn't it fantastic?

Dedo de moça

Habanero

Both of them have started to drop a few pods. Probably because the plant can not carry more. I can't wait for them to start turning red.

Have a nice hot week!

Mid October and harvest time

Mid October, and I've had the plants indoors for a couple of weeks. Some plants make the transition between the outdoor and indoor climates fine. While others just get bad, and loose their leaves. This year, it was pretty fine. Only the lanceolatum that got sad. But the plan is to get rid of most of the plants as soon as possible. So, to harvest the ripe pods have high priority.


Capsicum tovarii
Major excitement that the tovarii finally has produced pods. I don't know for how many times I've tried, but as they say - never ever give up. Four pods on one plant may not be a world record, but at least I'm happy :-)


I wonder how long they need to mature. Maybe a couple of months more...


Bhut Jolokia
The harvest from my Bhut Jolokia plant. I like the taste of them, but they are a little too hot to handle I think. They have the characteristics of a habanero. The immediate explosive heat, but it also has the characteristics of frutescens. The heat that just grows, and doesn't give up. So I don't really know what to do with these. Maybe dry them, and make a powder. Haven't decided yet.



Tabasco
I think I need to grow at least one frutescens each year. Tabasco or malagueta. It doesn't really matter. They are so good. I'm surprised that the tabasco plant managed so good to move indoors. It seems to keep the flowers, and it looks fine. In good shape. Who knows. Maybe I can harvest tabasco on Christmas Eve :-)



Capsicum lanceolatum
This one is different to all the Capsicum I've grown. Haven't tasted it yet. So I have to report back later.


Long chocolate habanero
Yes, this is funny. It used to be a long chocolate habanero. But this year, it was more like a red habanero. Good heat though. And quite a nice harvest.



Happy guy :-)


Before chopping them for the dryer. I didn't find my protective gloves, so my fingers were on fire for the whole evening...


Finally. Drying. I think I will make some flakes of them, so it's easier to adjust the heat. The smell from the drying pods is fantastic!