Chile Primer
September might not seem like the month for chile peppers, but believe me, it is! This crop takes a looooong time to mature and so they don't really start going until later in the season. We always make our hot sauces in September when the picking is good. There is such a wide variety of chile peppers that we couldn't possibly grow them all! That being said, we did stock the pick-your-own with 12 varieties this year! This is in addition to our field-grown Anahiem chiles, which are our largest chile by size that we grow. Read more below about some of the types of chiles we grow and reference the photo above for ID. We will work this winter on making new signs for all the new varieties for the PYO. In the meantime, you can always bring your harvest into the barn for ID
Arranged generally in milder/medium/hotter columns but remember: growing conditions ALWAYS affect heat level , sometimes more than variety or type! Also note that you can eat the chile no matter if it's green OR red/orange/whatever color it "should" be.
Column 1
Shishito: this Japanese frying pepper is very popular in the US now. It is a bit of a "roulette pepper" in that some are spicier than others. Great bilster-fried or grilled as an appetizer.
Aji Dulce: this is a habanero-type (note similarity between it and the actual habanero). There aren't many of these fruiting right now in the PYO and they are the ones at the front of the patch. "Real" habaneros are at the back with the hot paper lanterns.
Jalapeño: remember, farm jalapenos are ulually way hotter than grocery store ones! They irrigate frequently to increase yields where we water only when needed.
Cherry Bomb/Capperino: this is a popular pepper for pickling or stuffing due to its cute shape! Can be eaten green or red.
Column 2
Havasu: new to Bellair this year, we find this pepper to be striking and adorable. They were really mild at first but are really turning on the heat now! The color is unique and pairs well with other pepper colors in a mixed scenario.
Fresno/Santa Fe: these are meant to turn red but there aren't lots of red fruits out there. This is the chile that Sriracha is made from. It's also fine to eat green.
Serrano: ours are pretty hot! This pepper is a high-yielding, well-known standby and is front-and-center of the PYO patch.
Ancho/Poblano: a little slower-growing, you can find just a few of these out there. The dark color is nice and it has thin walls. Fresh, it's called a poblano. Fully red-ripe and dried, it's called an ancho!
Column 3
Traditional Cayenne: wrinkly and long, this cayenne, like all others, drys really well for chile flakes or crafts. Needs to be red to dry. Otherwise can be eaten green. We have lots of reds on the plants at the moment.
Korean Drying Cayenne "Amazing II": new to us as of last year, this one is a winner! It's been picked a lot by our members, so not tons of reds at the moment, but it is leaded down with greens and will ripen a big flush at the next stretch of sunny days. This is the pepper you make gochugaru or gochujang from!
Hot Paper Lantern Habanero: one of the hot-hots. This pepper in particular ripens well and there are lots of red-orange fruits out there! Can be eaten green as well.
Traditional Habanero: the classic super-hot pepper. It doesn't ripen quite as fast as hot paper lantern, but will yield its fair share or orange fruits in the coming weeks.
CHILE Pepper Trivia: What makes hot peppers hot?
The chemical that brings the heat in peppers is called Capsaicin. You'll note the root of the word in the Latin genus name, Capsicum, which is also the colloquial term used for a pepper in Australia. Capsaicin feels hot because it stimulates the release of a chemical thought to be involved with sending pain signals back and forth through the nervous system. Capsaicin has been used medicinally across many human cultures for centuries. It has pain-relief properties to the extent that it is still recommended by even main-stream health professionals today! Anecdotally, folks will tell you that in addition to bringing the pain, eating hot peppers can also help clear and drain sinuses.