Yah, those HHW's are looking good. I wish mine were that far along.

Thanks, fellas.
The Thai and Hungarian Wax always do really well, once they get going. They make great staple plants with a guaranteed harvest. I highly recommend Hungarian Wax, as I know Bruce does; they're so versatile, whether eating fresh, pickling, roasting, stuffing, frying, drying, or turning into paprika, you can't lose.

Bruce, the majority of your plants are way beyond mine! My Ghost and Douglah just made their first y-split, and have a single flower each. It's going to be a long time before I see anything on those plants.

Josh

Finally have some Marchant peppers setting....

I looked up Marchant peppers, they look like HHW a bit from what I found, does that seem correct?

My Biquinho peppers are just starting to set fruits as well, about the size of yours. The pointy end reminds me of them, but mine are smooth, not lobed.

Hey! Isgen, just got back from the garden and some of those lower, older Hungarians are starting to go from yellow to orange. I can't wait for a nice harvest.

As for the Marchant....I'm very unfamiliar with them. They remind me more of the slightly wrinkly, thinner-skinned Italian Wax peppers (of which they are a variety). But the plant is so odd, since it is C. baccatum. Very tall, lanky, and vigorous.

This pod is nearly to harvestable/pickling size. Looking forward to trying it.

Josh: It sounds like your HHW's are way ahead of mine. I just harvested what I had on my plants and none were starting to turn yet.

Looking good Josh, please let us know how the taste and heat of the Marchant pepper. Let us know if it is good enough to a a staple in your garden.

Will do! I might even eat that first sacrificial pod today. The plant is actually loading up nicely. Stay tuned!

Josh

So, I just ate my first Marchant pepper. It tasted like a thin-skinned wax pepper, crispy, airy, green, but it had a decent smack of heat inside, like a mild to medium Jalapeño. I ate half the pod, then dipped the rest in some fish sauce and sesame oil....really a great flavor combination.

If I want to keep the peppers mild, I'll need to pick and pickle them by this stage of development.

Interesting feedback on the pepper. Does the value of this pepper make your grow list every year? Would you prefer the thicker skinned wax pepper over the Marchant pepper since the flavor is near the same? I bet it would make a nicer pepper flake pepper over the HHW. Will you let one go red to see if the flavor profile is different?

I don't know if I'll grow it again, but I think the thin skin will make for a more tender pickled pepper, and not quite as hot. Probably better as a snacking pepper; whereas the Hungarian makes a great sliced pickled sandwich condiment.

I will let some ripen....although I already have seed. I'll do it as a flavor/heat comparison.

Josh

The season is speeding along, and I'm finally nearing a decent harvest. I have tons of Hungarians ripening, which is always fun seeing the red, orange, and yellow pods ascending the plant. The Thai chiles are banging out pods, too, as well as the Marchant - it is a productive plant, with pods from top to bottom. And I finally have some superhot pods set!

Hungarians:

Marchant Italian wax pepper: four feet tall in a 1.5 gallon pot. I have to keep it in a drip-tray now, or else it will wilt every day.


The mighty Douglah: properly shaped pods! Now just waiting to see the color...

And the Bhut Jolokia: the classic phenotype...no Nagas here!
They'll probably take a month to ripe. But first they need to hit full size.

Cool, you'll have a bounty of peppers to pick. What are your plans for the various kinds?

Hey, Isgen!

The Hungarian will all be smoked, dried, then ground into paprika.

The Thai will be eaten fresh, frozen, and dried whole.

The Marchant will be eaten fresh and pickled.

The Douglah and Bhut will be used in spicy pickles and spicy jam (Strawberry Ghost), smoked and dried for powder, frozen, and flaked for use in things like jerky and marinades.

Josh

Josh, great to hear. I just back from a couple days in the hospital and haven't checked my peppers yet, but i know the two containers of HHWs were brimming with full size pods. The ones in back are still struggling and have one or two pods per plant at best.
But you bring up smoking your peppers and then drying and grinding for "paprika". I just rehabbed a 24 year old weber Genesis 1000 grill and was hoping to do a little smoking with it. I hadn't really thought about peppers, but I may just try it out. The smoke flavor would be great with some of my dried and ground peppers. I might even give up some of my HHW cold canned pepper slices and subject them to the smoking process.

Any tips on smoking them? Time, temps, type of wood, etc....?

Hey, Bruce, I'm glad you're out of the hospital. Hope all is well now.

For smoking the peppers, I try to keep the temp 200F or less....but I'm not really precise. I just keep a small coal bed, and feed small pieces of soaked wood. I mostly use oak, but I do have maple and apple, and also alder (for fish).

I keep an eye on the pods so the skin doesn't burn and flake.

Josh

OK, I dont have any coal burners, but I will give it a shot in my gasser. What do you think about my Thai Hot peppers for smoking, drying and grinding. I assume they still need drying, even after smoking.

If you are cooking at 200, how long would you expect it to take for thin long thai hots and also for HHW's. Do you split them at all, or just cook the pods whole?

So, after I smoke the peppers (some take longer than others), they're fairly shriveled already. That's when I put them in the dehydrator, which doesn't take long at all. After that, it's just a quick and easy grind.

I do put a long slit down one side of the Hungarians, so that some of the smoke can flavor the interior flesh, and also dry the pods more evenly.

I've never smoked Thai chiles, but I think the long ones should work fine. I would split them, and then crumble out as many seeds as possible after the smoking/drying. The seeds are the biggest issue with Thai chiles.

I bet some smoked Thai chiles, left whole, would bring great flavor to a dish like Mongolian beef. You could also make a really awesome smoked Thai chile oil with garlic.

Josh

Perfect. Thanks Josh. probably after my camping trip next week.

Short garden update...

Dang. Now you make me feel like I am neglecting my plants. I haven't updated for a while and leave for a camping trip this week. I have to go out and do an update before the sun is completely gone. BRB.

Cool video update!

About your tomatoes, I think I see you prune them down to a single or maybe two main stems, is that right? If so, did you ever compare production between pruned plants versus fewer un-pruned ones for comparable use of garden space?

The Thai chile plant is huge!

Great update, Josh! Garden looks wonderful!

Hey, thanks fellas!

Isgen, I don't ever prune my tomatoes. I just train each branch upright, and let them all go.

Josh

I see, it just looks so clean compared to my also non-trimmed plants! I guess I had a good supply of N in my soil as mine also grew a ton of foliage, adding to the mess, but lots of tomatoes too luckily. I'm only starting to see the first signs of blushing.

My garden is quite shady, so the plants tend be less leafy and compact. I grow them upright to get as much sun as possible, but it's still a struggle. And, you're right, there *is* a lack of Nitrogen in my soil...always the missing element.

Josh

I think one of my two 4'x8' beds might have been low on N too last season, as my tomatoes did poorly and the peppers in the same bed this year aren't great either. I amended my other bed with more compost this year and it paid off for the tomatoes.

First pull of the Hungarians. Now the next wave will ripen faster....

I have harvested twice now. Like you said, that second batch comes fast. I am looking for at least one more full harvest before my season ends in early October. I have yet to allow any to ripen fully. My latest harvest had several that were getting orange and even a little red, but none as red as yours.

Excellent grow update and video. Your plants all look great! Your garden looks nicely kept, mine is a war zone of plants crossing over each other and my cucamelons found their way across a few tomato plants and marigolds. Enjoy your harvest and smoked paprika.

Thanks! I will say, the zucchini is encroaching on everything now...as usual...which is why I grow only one plant; and the beans are climbing over to the cucumber trellis, but I can still walk around...mostly. An advantage or side-effect of gardening in such a dry region is that weeds don't overtake the garden paths....only watered areas have things growing.

I think I'm going to pickle a bunch of the Marchant peppers today - probably a single quart. I'm not going to hot water bath them, so they'll have to be eaten in the next few weeks. I want to try and keep a bit of the crunch. I already have the brine ready - a classic Kosher dill - and I'll just add fresh garlic.

If I get around to pickling today, expect pictures :-)

Josh

Pickling finished....now the jar is in a hot water bath, which I decided to do after all. I have the resources, so why not do it properly, right? Pictures coming...

Josh

Zucchini can run wild and their spread shades out plants. I planted 4 and ended up with two. I like grilled zucchini pizza or zucchini bread. Pickling peppers makes them taste so good especially a quick pickle to keep the crunch. I had a co worker give me a jar of pickled peppers I ate some then added fresh cucumber slices and left them a day or two to get spicy and ate them up, then threw in some purple carrots slices in from the garden and will let those get spicy then eat them. Looking forward to seeing some pics, either later today or when you get to them.

My first pickling of my own peppers at home....in a week or so, I'll find out how the flavor and texture is! I picked a bowl of Marchant wax peppers, about a quart's worth. These are obviously much larger, and some of them riper, than optimal for pickling...but I had to wait until I had enough to fill a jar.

Then washed, trimmed, and slit down the side. Chopped some Elephant Garlic, too.

Packed a sterile jar tightly, but not too tight.

Then into a 15 minute hot water-bath for safety....

Out of the bath, and onto the counter to rest. As I'm typing this, I literally just heard the *ting* of the lid sealing :-)

I love that sound. I am not doing my Salsa this year. Too many other hobbies and distractions. But I am going to miss it later in the year, I am sure.

That looks delicious! Fantastic! I have one HHW I have a few peppers on it and hope to let them ripen more and quick pickle them. The 2019 season I will grow many more HHW. No 2018 season due to moving.

good luck with the move Habs. I hate it when stuff like that ruins an entire season.

Finally getting a break from the hot weather....only 64F today, and I love it.

The peppers are ripening nicely.

Next wave of Hungarians:

Thai chiles have become massive and loaded with pods.

The Ghosts are looking legit and glowing beneath a cloudy sky.

Many Douglah pods at this stage.

And the first ripe Douglah from a day ago.

That's a mean looking pod! How tall is that Thai chile plant? It looks 3-4' or so unless the photo is tricking me.

The photo is not tricking you! 4 feet is about right (of course, the container elevates the plant further).

My aunt visited last week, and she was blown away by the Thai chile. I sent her back to Texas with some pods for her to grow next season. She doesn't even like spicy food, but she just wants to grow the plant for its attractive features.

Josh

Thanks Bruce, all next season I will be eyeballing everyone's garden while I move. Living through everyone's pics!

Josh nice peppers and ripe pods the Douglah look fantastic, chocolate pods are by far the most beautiful color in my opinion of a pepper, they also smell and taste better. I have a hand full of chocolate habaneros this season so I'm greatful the season was not a complete bust as I thought it would be.

Looking good, as always, Josh! You'll have your hands full in no time

Pulled a few more Ghosts and Douglahs today. We had about an inch of rain last night, so I didn't want the pods to get blotchy or cracked. Looks like I'll also get one last small pull of Hungarian pods.

Still on the plant...the next few days of warm weather will ripen them quickly.

Crazy, but we still haven't had our first frost yet. I have always had to pull my plants during the first week in October. But it was 75 here again today and been that way for 4 or 5 straight days. But, things are about to turn. By mid week next week, I will be done, I am sure. I have about 8 or 9 orange to red full sized HHW's that I plan on smoking and drying for paprika. Then, I will pick the rest and do the slices and cold canning thing with those. I have a plant full of Reapers, all red. I also have to harvest the last of the rip Thai Dragons for my pepper flakes.

I hope you have a longer than normal growing season out west, Josh.

Nice looking pods!

We've had 2-3 frosts so far, but a good 3 weeks later than normal for my zone. I still have one Rocoto plant out there in the ground and while some foliage was damaged, the plant's still alive. My only peppers really still going are my 3 Biquinho's which are now indoors, almost all the pods are ripe by now. Amazing flavour and almost no heat.

No frost yet, but we are getting cooler. Nights are in the 40F's now.
I'm hoping for at least two more weeks of good weather.

I'm also about to plant Daikon seeds.

Josh

High of 40 and snow predicted for Friday around here. My season is done this week. What a change.

Planting Daikons now????? Won't they be get froze out within a month or so?

I hope not!

Geez, your growing season is really strange. Seems to start a month or so later than mine and ends at least a couple months later. I can understand starting earlier and ending later, but yours seems shifted later on both ends.

Bruce, I think it's because I'm in the foothills, which makes for a colder start...but once we heat up, the heat lasts through October. We've been in the 80F's for many days now.