chiles drying on my windowsill

These are a mix of hot cayenne and Thai chiles. I pick them when their shoulders are fully red then spread them on plated to dry. These thin-skinned chiles dry nicely even in our relatively humid New England weather. It takes several months for them to dry.

more 2012 crop reviews

Carrots. I didn't do a good job with carrots this year. Lots of room for improvement here next year. I've grown great carrots in the past, but for some reason, decided to experiment this year. I learned what not to do. Carrots sprout slowly and they need to stay moist. This is hard for me since I grow them at my community plot and don't have time to go water every day. So I sowed my carrots in pots and and transplanted the seedlings, like I do for nearly every other crop I grow. The results were terrible - short, badly misshapen, bi-, tri- and quadru-furcated roots. Next year, my plan is to dirext sow and use burlap the hold the moisture.

Chiles. Overall a very good year for chiles. I grew lots of NuMex Joe E Parker, poblanos,Thai hots and cayenne. Also a yellow bell that never turned yellow, but was very nice as a green bell pepper. I tried some other varieties also, but these did the best for me.

Cucumbers. It was a super cuke year! I had 6 or 8 varieties, long and short ones, white and green ones. I love to grow way too many cucumbers. Diva is still my favorite variety, but a close second is the long and crispy Sooyow Nishiki. Cucumbers do well in the very protected and slightly shady space my side yard.

Eggplant. My eggplants got shaded by my cucumbers this year. They eventually produced a nice crop, late in the season. I like the little bicolor Thai variety (Tiger) and a big purple oval one (Classic). I'll try to remember to give them more space next year.

Garlic. A bad garlic year. :-( I planted 100 cloves last fall, but at least half of it rotted in the ground. I think because I planted too late and did not mulch. We had a nearly snow free winter, and the soil in my garlic bed was like hardpan it was so dry. I havested about 40 nice big cloves. With so few, I didn't have enough to eat and plant next year. I bought some new seed garlic: The variety Music, which I am looking forward to trying. My current variety is Duganski.

Green beans.

garden vegetables on the cutting board

These are peppers from the Iddy Betty Bossy seeds I brought home from Switzerland. Just peppers from the supermarket, but son thought they were especially tasty and asked me to grow them. They did well and I will have more seeds to save and grow again next year.

last chile harvest

roasting chiles

My son helped with this project. He charred the chiles over the stove flame and then I peeled and seeded them. There are now 6 or 8 baggies of roasted chiles in the freezer ready for a sauce someday this winter.

... click on the label below to see my past posts about chiles....

today's harvest - chiles and broccoli!

Even as I was picking these Numex (Joe Parker) chiles they seemed they they should be stuffed. Chile Rellenos? I've never made them before, but these chiles smell so yummy, I think I will try.

And I was really happy to see some nice broccoli heads today. Its still my old spring planted broccoli plants. I never needed the space for something else, so they have stayed in just for the nice blueish-green of their leaves. With the cooler weather, they are producing some sparse heads.

my new ristra

I found some pieces of string and started a ristra. I love that it is something that grows. I can add to it as more chiles ripen. I tied three cayenne or two Thai together at the stem with string then made a loop with the end of the string. The loop gets added to the other chile bunches on the growing ristra.

I hung it on my kitchen door - so evil is now warded off!

chiles for a ristra

I'm accumulating a lot of small red chiles this year. Time to figure out how to make a ristra. I see instructions at eHOW (eHOW ristra instructions link). They say a ristra is decorative, but its also a good way to dry chiles and keep them for fall and winter use.

A couple years ago I made a ristra with wire. It was hard to make and didn't hold the chiles well. But they did dry and keep well. I used them all winter.

eHOW's method uses string to tie chiles in bunches of three and then assemble into a loose hanging strand. Sounds like I can assemble the ones I have now and add more as they ripen. I hope to start one tomorrow.

My small red chiles are mostly a variety I call Amelia's cayenne, which originated from seeds Amelia gave me 3 or 4 years ago and that I grow and collect seed from every year. They are very productive this year. I also have Thai hot and Nardello.

HOT! habanero chile

I finally got the courage to try one on my garden habanero chiles - described as the hottest chile in the world.

I was warned to wear gloves, but I thought I'd try without first. I sliced the orange chile open and touched the cut edge with my finger and then tasted just a little bit, very carefully, only on the tip of my tongue. Well.... after scrubbing my hands several times with soap, drinking lots of water and washing it down with cheese and bread (and wine), I put baggies on my hands (since I didn't have any gloves) and even wrapped a towel over my face. Those are HOT!!! I will agree - wear gloves!

I was nervous about using them in our dinner. But went ahead and tried.

Recipe for chicken wings with chiles: Put 2 lbs of chicken wings in the oven at 375F for 2 hours uncovered in a thick cast iron pan. Add chopped chiles (I used 1 habanero and 1/2 Anaheim chile) and some barbecue sauce (I used Bulls Eye regular). Cook covered 30 min in oven. Pour off oil. Add more sauce. Cook uncovered another 30 min.

They were really delicious. But surprisingly, not very hot. I think I could have used at least twice the number of chiles, or added Tabasco or Frank's hot sauce as I usually do. My Anaheims are mild, and this one had a bug problem so I could only use half of it. For both chiles I threw away the seeds.

chile and bell peppers (Capsicum)
Skippy's vegetable recipes

today's chile harvest

I like to wait until my chiles get full ripe (red or orange) to pick them. These varieties are cayenne, habanero (the orange one) and Anaheim (the big one). Is my first habanero and I'm a little nervous to try it. This variety is known as the hottest chile pepper in the world!

chile and bell peppers (Capsicum)
harvests from my vegetable gardens

summer chiles

By far, my best chile this summer is a cayenne plant given to me by Amelia. It has been producing bright red spicy chiles for a couple weeks now. I'm looking forward to saving seeds from this plant, as Amelia did, and growing them again next year.

Of course, one of the reasons this plant did so well is that it got the front seat in my chile pots. The plants towards the back have had to compete with pumpkin, gourd, sunflower and dahlia leaves. Not so easy. And considering all the clouds and rain... I'm just glad to be enjoying some red hot chiles now.

The second best chile in my garden this year is are Anaheim. The yellow and purple bell's are coming along still. Poblano's had some trouble under the pumpkin leaves.

This week, we have enjoyed cayenne and Anaheims chopped and sauteed in chicken wings and local calamari. Yum! The flavor is super.

chile and bell peppers (Capsicum)
garden gifts

a new crop of chile peppers

It really must be summer! Chile peppers are a heat-loving, full-sun crop. I have young fruits on the plants of my cayenne and Anaheim chile plants.

I planted 5 varieties of peppers in big pots next to my house this year. A beautiful cayenne plant was raised and given to me by Amelia (of Gradually Greener). I sowed seeds for Anaheim, Poblano, sweet Canary and chocolate bell peppers. Lots of flowers, but no fruits yet on the last three varieties.

The photo on the left is cayenne, on the right is Anaheim.
chile and bell peppers (Capsicum)

forgotten chiles

As Scott reminded me, I did not order any chiles. I was actually feeling that I had way too many last year and I needed a break. But I just looked back over comments from last year and found Scott's suggestions about chile varieties.

In the future you might consider other, more flavorful, New Mex chile varieties such as: Hatch ("supreme" or "big jim") or Espanola Improved... big jim is the local favorite but I prefer the supreme.

Maybe I'll order one package of seeds ..... just to try these. Here's a link to a company in New Mexico that sells Big Jim (but not Supreme - Every time I google "Chile Supreme" I find out what Chile's supreme court is up to).

drying chiles

Red cayenne chile peppers I've picked earlier this summer have dried nicely sitting on a plate in my kitchen. It takes a few weeks. Since I have a big batch of them now, I strung the chiles on wire and hung them up. I just treaded the peppers on 18 gauge galvanized wire and bent it into a loop for hanging. I went ahead and hung a few of the thicker skinned jalapeños and round chiles too. Just to see if they'll dry. They look very decorative.

Capsicum

chile peppers

Even my jalapeños and Hungarian wax peppers are turning red this year. The thinner skinned Hungarian wax and cayennes are drying nicely on a plate in my kitchen. The others I will clean and freeze soon for winter chili.

Capsicum

ripening chiles

From top left: long red cayenne, anaheim, jalepeno M, large cherry, hungarian wax.

Capsicum