Forty three

I decided that today was a good day for picking some peppers. Actually I picked forty three. It is definitely not a lot, but considering that Carl and I did our best for lunch, eating four serranos, that leaves me with 39 hot chiles on the plus side.

The serranos were so hot, so I got hickups, and even scared Carl, so he almost dropped the spoon :-) It's interesting. I thought that after eating home grown chile peppers for fifteen years, I should be used to it. But sometimes, that special heat comes, and it's really hard to be prepared for it.

Some other varieties that I picked were rocopica, Patriks chinense and chacoense. A nice bunch of chiles :-)

There are more ripe fruits out on the balcony. But I couldn't pick my peru yellow and dedo de moça. Simply because I think they are so beautiful just as they are!

Here is my peru yellow. I had a hard time to break through the "jungle" in order to take this picture. But it shows some of the beauty.

And here is my dedo de moça. My good old overwintered plant from 2009, delivering lots and lots of nice baccatum fruits.

Have a nice weekend!

Autumn in the air

The nights are getting cooler, and it's just above +10C in the mornings. My late starters on the balcony have lots and lots of immature fruits. So I think that I will spend this weekend harvesting the ones that are ripe, leaving more space and energy to the ones that still are green.

My galapagoense is definitely the latest of them all. But I was very happy to see that there is at least a couple of tiny fruits.

It's a nice small plant. I think I will keep it for the winter.

The galapagoense is one of my favorites. The small fruits does not really taste much, but the heat is very intense and immediate.

More pictures here: http://www.petterssononline.com/habanero/peppers.php?action=variety&id=34

Peppermint

Well I know, this is definitely not a Capsicum, but I must admit that do like other plants than chiles :-) This one is more or less the opposite. It is cooling.

It surprised me with its beauty.

Don't you agree?

These yellow ones are really hot. Two is enough!

That's what Carl said when he had picked these two for lunch.

And I think he is right. This year, our Peru Yellow is hotter than I remember. It's still one of my favorite chiles. Thin, crisp flesh with a fresh taste of citrus. Yum!

My garden

Walking home from school with Carl yesterday, I took this picture of my "garden". There it is on the fourth floor...

Have a great weekend!
   Mats

(One of my) Pimenta cumari varieties

This one had a really slow start this year. The seeds were old, over 10 years, so I even suspected it wouldn't germinate. But it did. It's a beautiful variety from Brazil. The flowers are beuatiful, and the branches are easily broken. Actually quite unlike any other varieties I have grown.

Many varieties go under this name - pimenta cumari. I have grown both baccatum and chinense species with this name. But this one is my favorite.

More pictures here: http://petterssononline.com/habanero/peppers.php?action=variety&id=49

My tabasco connection

I have to admit it. I have a special relationship with tabasco chiles.

Fifteen years ago, I was in Louisiana together with some friends. We "happened" to pass Avery Island and the Tabasco factory. Here we are, outside the Tabasco factory. This happy guy on the picture here, that's me :-)

We had had a busy day driving around, and we were just a little late. So unfortunately this was the sign that met us.

Traveling almost across half the globe, and the factory is closed. That is really bad!
We had a busy schedule for the evening and next day, so we did not bother to return to Avery Island. But I know that I one day will visit the factory, and I will make sure that I arrive in time. :-)

A couple of years ago - 2004 to be more precise. Hmmm, that's more than a couple of years... I did my best to teach two-year old Carl how to handle the heat of the chiles. Here he is, eating the mild jalapeño tabasco.

A little later, he started to experiment with the hotter one. The habanero tabasco.

Eating it on crisp bread...

Yum!

I just had to send these pictures to tabasco. And, thanks to Tabasco, Carl got Tabasco shorts, t-shirt and cap, and I got a nice shirt :-)

Anyway. That is the reason why I feel a close relation to my tabasco peppers.

I think this picture is nice. Immature pods, and one stubborn flower.

And here is a wild bunch of tabasco peppers.

More tabasco pictures here: http://petterssononline.com/habanero/peppers.php?action=variety&id=144