The Accidental Smallholder Forum

Growing => Herbs => Topic started by: Bodger on September 17, 2013, 04:14:06 pm

Title: Chillie Peppers.
Post by: Bodger on September 17, 2013, 04:14:06 pm
I've just picked a small portion of our chillie pepper crop from the poly and there's loads of them. I think that I've settled on freezing them individually and then keeping them all together in a polythene zip bag. The question is, do I remove the seeds from them or leave them intact? What do you do?
Title: Re: Chillie Peppers.
Post by: Greenerlife on September 17, 2013, 05:29:16 pm
Always freeze them whole, with seeds.  I have even once grown more chillies from frozen seed!
Title: Re: Chillie Peppers.
Post by: Bionic on September 17, 2013, 05:37:22 pm
I chop mine and then freeze complete with seeds
Title: Re: Chillie Peppers.
Post by: Fleecewife on September 17, 2013, 06:29:40 pm
I dry mine with seeds and store them in a jar  :chili: :chili: :chili:
Title: Re: Chillie Peppers.
Post by: Bert on September 18, 2013, 08:35:47 am
I dry mine with seeds and store them in a jar  :chili: :chili: :chili:


I dry as well. Hang them in the airing cupboard or over the wood burner  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Chillie Peppers.
Post by: Bodger on September 22, 2013, 08:05:55 pm
We put half a dozen fresh ones in a Hairy Bikers curry tonight and we very pleased with the result. Most of the ingredients for our meal were home grown, our own chicken, onions, red peppers, tomatoes and chillies. It was a nice feeling to have been so self sufficient and even better still, the curry was absolutely Delicious. :farmer:
Title: Re: Chillie Peppers.
Post by: Bodger on October 05, 2013, 07:54:25 pm
Chillie overload! :o  We froze the last chillies that we picked from the poly tunnel but we're going to try and dry these. We picked 240 of them this evening and there's way more than that left to get. I had a nibble of one of the yellow ones while we were in the tunnel and it damn near burnt the front of my lips off. :roflanim:  Fantastic colours though.
 
 
 
 
(http://i1200.photobucket.com/albums/bb334/kcooper2011/002-8.jpg) (http://s1200.photobucket.com/user/kcooper2011/media/002-8.jpg.html)
Title: Re: Chillie Peppers.
Post by: Bert on October 06, 2013, 08:34:41 am
Bodger That's a fantastic crop  :thumbsup: :trophy: .  How many plants is that little lot from? What varieties have you been growing this year? From the photo it looks like cayenne and habanero . I've been growing a mixed selection of chilli's this year it's been quite tricky working out which variety is which ??? . Still not 100% sure on a few plants, it's like Russian roulette. But the ones I do know are cayenne, scotch bonnet, satans kiss, jalapeño and habanero.
Just ordered next years seeds and the rubber gloves for handling them :thumbsup: . Going to attempt to grow some very hot chilli's butch T, naga and Trinidad 7 pot brain strain. Also going to try some just because I liked the names,  ring of fire  :-J  And hot banana  ;D  To name a few. Think I've got 14 varieties to grow next year.
Were do you grow your chilli's, In pots,grow bags or in beds?
 Sorry about all the questions but I really like growing chilli's but can't seem to get it exactly right, going on your photo you are a chilli growing god, and I would love some advice.
Title: Re: Chillie Peppers.
Post by: Bodger on October 06, 2013, 08:53:58 am
Thanks Bert but I'm afraid its just a case of beginners luck. I stuck half a dozen mixed plants in the poly tunnel that I bought from Wilkinsons and the local garden centre. I know that I lost just the one plant and replaced it with a hot one . I can't really what I planted, the labels that came with the  plants disappeared ages ago  but I think that a lot of them were the cayenne.
 
I've also got some that look a bit like Chinese lanterns but again, I can't remember the name.
 
The ones in the picture are just the tip of the iceberg and there are many many, more left in the poly. Its a bit of a mess in there as its the end of the season but I'll try and get a photo to show you what I mean by beginners luck.
Title: Re: Chillie Peppers.
Post by: suziequeue on October 06, 2013, 10:00:05 am
Do they ripen wel in the polytonal? We are planning to grow chillis next year instead of peppers which seem to rot before they get ripe.


But I'm concerned that we will be equally luckless with chills.


Do the chillis ripen better than peppers?
Title: Re: Chillie Peppers.
Post by: Bodger on October 06, 2013, 01:16:29 pm
This year, both the chillis and our peppers have done really well in the poly. No problems with them not ripening.
Title: Re: Chillie Peppers.
Post by: HesterF on October 06, 2013, 10:59:22 pm
Oh wow! I've been growing chillis, peppers and aubergines and one chilli is just turning yellow, one aubergine is maybe 5cm long and I've got a couple of tiny peppers. They were so late starting, most only flowered in August. I'm not sure what I'd do with as many chillis as you've got but they're beautiful to look at.

H
Title: Re: Chillie Peppers.
Post by: Bodger on October 07, 2013, 06:36:00 am
I can't see us planting many if any next year. As you say, I can't ever see us getting through this lot.
 
I'm going to try planting some garlic in the tunnel at the end of this month.
Title: Re: Chillie Peppers.
Post by: hexhammeasure on October 07, 2013, 08:06:55 am
I've not had much luck this year had a few off so I can say not a disaster but nothing as good as that pic! jealous!!


I think my problem is not enough feed been giving about 2/3rds what I fed the tomatoes but also that they were in a draught, Figured the small plants would grow better under the arc of the polytunnel and the tall plants in the middle..


next year I will have enough space to put them away from the vents



Title: Re: Chillie Peppers.
Post by: fiestyredhead331 on October 07, 2013, 11:03:54 am
we pickled last years crop and kept them in the fridge and used them over the winter, won't have so many this year as one of my pet lambs got in to the conservatory and decided to have a munch  >:( >:(
 my peppers did well this year but this years chillies are slow and still quite small
Title: Re: Chillie Peppers.
Post by: Fleecewife on October 07, 2013, 11:52:50 am
That is a beautiful crop Bodger  :sunshine:
 
My crop of chillies wasn't bad this year, considering I forgot about them and they were mostly left in 2 1/2" pots  :D   The ones I planted out in the greenhouse got spider mite but have cropped fine.  In previous years I have grown them in the soil in the polytunnel, on the south-facing side, as they need loads of sun to develop their full flavour and here in the south of Scotland they have done amazingly well.
 
I mostly use them in chutney, which we like hot, and stews and soup which we prefer well flavoured but not too hot.
 
This year I wrote labels for each plant with the expected heat as well as the variety as I knew I wouldn't remember which were hot when it came round to harvest.  I grew types from very mild through to pretty hot, but not the real scorchers which to us would be inedible - and would take too long to grow up here.
 
I always compete with my youngest son who lives in the south of England and always has better chillies than I do  :chili: :chili: :chili: .  He swaps them with friends for other veg which he doesn't have room to grow.  He also swaps many of the fish he catches for other game such as pheasant.
Title: Re: Chillie Peppers.
Post by: Greenerlife on October 07, 2013, 12:02:50 pm
My chillies are in their third year now, and i have had the biggest crop yet and they are still flowering! 
Title: Re: Chillie Peppers.
Post by: Mel on November 20, 2013, 03:57:27 pm
I dry what is left, Can't sell runners beans much on my stall, but the chillies sell out @ £1.00 for 5! This year I have made Jelly and chutney, I grew some Naga and scorpions- in amongst several other varieties.

The Nagas were huge so I have Nage / Scorpion chilli jelly/preserve and it is insane/lethal :o, I cannot eat it however, a courier from Essex regularly delivers and buys 20 jars at £5.00 per lb jar at a time  :thumbsup:

I have no idea how he eats it as I feel it is akin to nitromors ;D
Title: Re: Chillie Peppers.
Post by: suziequeue on November 20, 2013, 05:16:13 pm
Great. Thanks Mel. I was just about to post asking for best varieties as we are going to start with some in the PT next year.  :thumbsup: :fc: :excited: