Nice harvest, congrats on a successful first year!

Yes, growing these things is very addictive. So many varieties and never enough time and space to grow them all ;-)

Nice! The only ripe pods I've seen so far are the Hinkelhatz, and those are few and far between. Hoping to see more today after yesterday's heat.

I haven't even been picking jals or serranos, leaving them to ripen b/c I haven't had time to make salsa, or even pick them for market, I've been bringing so many tomatoes and green beans to market (and then freezing what's left over). This week I will have to bring 2 tables, last week I had an 8ft table and boxes and coolers on the ground with things. Hard to handle on this stuff (growing, harvesting, marketing and preserving) on my own - I need another pair of hands!

Well done, as a new grower myself, you couldn't have said it better... from the help received here, to the excitement of the first pull. I'm with you 100%!

Thanks everybody. I had WAAAAAYYYY more jalapeños and HHW, but can't seem to keep them on the plants for very long.... Almost every time I walk by them, I'm snapping one off and eating them like carrots!

Nice haul, Mike. I always like to see people who have fall frost to worry about get at least one nice harvest.

Kevin

Impressive first season Mike!size>

It took me one and a half seasons of wandering in the wilderness before I found this forum and interesting seeds, so I can totally relate. You learn from the members, and you also learn from the plants - one of the things that the members teach you how to learn.

I'm having premonitions of your next year. (Speaking of which, are you thinking yet of acquiring more land?)

Well done.

Dennis

Thanks everyone. It really is rewarding. I've probably got about 3x more than that still on the plants (not counting my Bhuts). Lots turning color now. Should have plenty more ripe ones in the next few weeks.

Dennis- Funny you say that about buying more land. I'm right in the middle of selling my house and upsizing. I JUST got home from an open house, and my wife couldn't get me out of the back yard. "What are you still doing out here? Aren't you coming to see the inside?" My response? "Figuring out where I'm gonna put my peppers next year..." She just rolled her eyes and went back in. Haha!

Cayennes are perfect for New England growing. Fruit early and often, June to October.

Jeeze Mike, ya gotta go inside to check to out the seed starter area too. First thing first! :-)

Nice load of peppers you got there!

I've found the same with the Hungarian Hot Wax. I swear, I could pick one off the plant, bring it inside, go back out 5 minutes later, and there's a new one in its place (feels like that, anyway). Pretty tasty pepper, too. I even got my 9 year old son to eat one! Pretty funny to watch. He's still too scared to try a jalapeño, though. I think just the name scares him.

(And, yes, I warned him it would be spicy. Haha!)

My (almost) 16-yr old was begging for a "ghost" pepper to pull a prank on someone. I wouldn't give him the one I harvested and dried last year. But I did offer him a ripe Hinkelhatz (he didn't take it though).

I made a tomato jam today that called for red pepper flakes, I figured what the heck, I have all these dried peppers. Didn't want to use the Hinkelhatz so I took some from a bag labeled serranos (but they were red, I just figured they were ripe). Took a teeny bite and my bottom lip felt like it was blistering! I think they were cayenne that got put in a bag I'd labeled for fresh serranos I took to market and didn't sell.

DH took all my dried peppers off the plants hanging in the basement and bagged them up - I think I can tell the Hinkelhatz but I'm in trouble with the others, esp. if he didn't keep 1 bag = 1 plant.

Actually, this is my 3rd (and probably final) pull of the season, not sure if I even took any pics of my 2nd. Anyway, I just wanted to thank all of you guys again for helping guide me through my first (extremely successful!) season. Couldn't have done it without your help. Season's definitely winding down here in New England. Frost warnings all over the news. It's been a blast so far, and I'm already looking forward to next season!

Ok, here we go: In the bags in the crate- Red Scotch Bonnets (definitely my personal favorite, absolutely love the flavor), inside the crate- Red Habs, and in the bag next to the crate- Red Bhuts. I've still got over twice that many Bhuts still on the plants (not quite ripe yet, but we'll see what happens).

Thanks again for all of your help,
Mike

Hate it when they post "sideways"!

Nice. I only wish I had that many ripe ones. Here's what I got yesterday. I picked green ones (except for Aji Limon and Hinkelhatz that I covered, hoping to make it through the night) today. Hots:

Actually, here's the pics of my 2nd harvest! Jellies, and pickled pepper rings.

I also had "Salsapalooza 2014" a few weeks ago... Twice. This is half.

Fantastic haul there Mike, and you're definitely making the most of it! Are you going to be able to digest it all before next year's crop comes in? :-)

The son of my coworker is 9 and loves hot peppers. He's gobbled up everything I've thrown at him, although my super hots are just starting to come in (got a late start) and he hasn't tried them yet.

Anyway, when he was 2 yrs old he developed a red, runny, and apparently painful stool. His parents were freaked and the doctors were baffled, even after many tests.

Turns out he was was eating his daddy's hot peppers like they were candy. Doc said to try not to let him get carried away with the peppers, otherwise, don't ever bring him back here for that same problem. :-)

O' Right, Mike. Impressive for first year. I have been growing mild peppers, including Habs since 2008/9. Then I used to think that Habanero is the hottest pepper in the world. Hahaha.
But still, my hottest pepper is Hbaneros (300k shu is my limit).

I like making spicy jams with some like Manzano and Lemon Drop. Both are fruity to me. That spicy taste goes real well with sweetness of jam and jellies.

Thanks a lot guys. Like I said before, couldn't have done it without all of your help. I appreciate the kind words. Yup trying to make the most of it. I've been making jellies/jams like a madman lately (that pic is probably 1/4 of what I've made so far!), and salsa. I can't seem to keep it around for long, though. It was all supposed to be Xmas presents, but every time somebody comes over, I go, "You've GOTTA try this!" Then I send them home w/ 3 jars... Just made some powder for the 1st time too.

Anyway, I had a few hurdles in the beginning of the season; blossom drop, aphids, etc. but, in the end, everything worked itself out. Thanks again for all of your help guys.

Semper Fi,
Mike

Ok. This is "really" it. All done for the year. Finished my FINAL (4th) harvest of the season. It's supposed to get down to 29*F tonight, and I'm tired of dragging these things inside/outside. Plus, between my other 3 harvests of the year (and a few little ones in between), I've had more peppers than I know what to do with. I'm definitely gonna have my dehydrator putting in some OT this week! And, once again, thanks guys and gals for all of your help and guidance through my first year.

Left (top to bottom): Scotch Bonnets, Red Bhuts, Red Habs
Right: Cayenne, Serrano, jalapeño, HHW

Thanks again!
Mike

Mike, you posted, "If I were more computer savvy, I'd post the link to my harvests from last season.".. What kind of help do you need? Are these pix on your "puter or a pix hosting site like PhotoBucket?

NECM

Haha! Thanks NECM. No my pics aren't on Photobucket or anything like that. I don't have much interest on learning how, to tell you the truth. I just wasn't sure how to copy and paste (?) the link to this thread onto the bottom of another thread. For example, when somebody writes a bunch of stuff and then on the bottom, it says something like: "Here's a link that might be helpful." (Something like that)

I just wanted to give "dustonj2008" an idea of what he might be able to expect for pod production from "X"# of plants in zone 6a. He was wondering how many plants he should grow. I was just trying to give him a rough idea, and didn't know how to post THIS thread on the bottom of my entry on HIS thread.

I do all of my "internetting" (haha) on my iphone. The limit of my skills on a laptop is that I can Google something.....as long as my wife will turn the computer on for me...

No big deal,
Mike

Disclaimer: I really don't want to sound ungrateful, because I'm not! But if you reply to this with a bunch of computer "mumbo jumbo," (ie: URL, host site, browser, etc.) I'll have absolutely no clue what the heck you're talking about. Just trying to be honest. Put it this way, the only reason I have an email address is so I could be a member of this site. One of my buddies tried sending me an email a while back, and I wrote him a letter in a notebook and mailed it to his house. Just sayin'... Haha!

Mike,
This thread was really helpful man. I appreciate you pointing me to it.

Josh

No problem at all, Josh. That's what we're all here for, helping each other out. Glad it helped. Last year (my first year) I was terrified about having too short of a growing season. Just be patient, the plants will come around when they're ready. I vividly remember thinking I was wasting my time when August came around, and I still didn't have any peppers. Especially since we usually get our first frost in October. Everything worked out fine. And if you have any questions, just ask. There are a ton of really helpful people on this forum who are always willing to give pointers.

Mike