I went back to Forni-Brown in Calistoga today to add a few new things to my vegetable garden. After meeting with my gardeners this week, who are originally from Mexico, I realize that I didn’t take them into consideration when planting my peppers. All I had planted initially were padrons.
They enjoy HOT peppers, so I decided to plant a few that they will enjoy as well. Today I added:
Diablo – a Mexican heirloom. Thin, red and hot. 3″ Fruit used fresh and dried. Tall plant; very productive.
Jalapeño – Mild, hot 4″ fruit; traditional all-purpose chile which ripens to dark red.
Big Jim – Largest of chile peppers, medium-hot fruits measuring 10″ – 12″ and up to 4 ounces. Excellent for rellenos. 3-ft high plant yields about 30 peppers.
Ancho – Mild hot, 4″ heart-shaped fruit, dark red at maturity. Also called Poblano, and can be used as a stuffing chile.
Chilhuacle Negro – From Oaxaca and well-known for their dried spice quality, for use in molé.
While I was looking around the peppers, I discovered one more plant for myself – Spanish Paprika. Narrow, long 8″ – 9″ red peppers. We use the spice in a dip throughout the summer with eggplant and blistered padrons. It will be fun to create our own Spanish Paprika!
Thanks to Forni-Brown for the handout with the pepper descriptions, which I shared above!
