The honeycrisp are in. This is about half the pick. They’re my favorite of all the apples we grow, and a sign that fall is here in our corner of the PNW.
Where did the year go???
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Those look beautiful! Fresh picked apples are the best.
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The chilis look beautiful! They would definitely add to a dish!
What are the blossoms/fruit in the lower photo? Is it petals just before they bloom?
It is interesting to see two stages of development so clearly in one photo.
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Yes, partly due to their mass, Bell peppers are slower to ripen. Some varieties, like King of the North and some Ukrainian types tend to start producing earlier. In general, the thicker-walled peppers take longer to mature. The key is to set out very large plants in cooler climates so they ripen during the warmest part of the summer.
However, if one lives in a rainy climate, it’s often frustrating to grow bells because of their shape, the top of the pepper tends to hold water. This puddle can lead to rot by bacteria or by fungi such as Anthracnose. The soft spots you are experiencing may be from Anthracnose infection.
Some varieties, like Quadrato d’Asti Giallo, from Italy, are especially prone to fruit rot because of their high shoulders at the top of the pod and thin skin. The quality of these peppers is so good, I’ve pondered growing them under greenhouse plastic rain shields, hoops with the sides open and the tops covered with film to keep the rain off of the fruits.
In climates with a lot of rain, the pointed varieties are less problematic.
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I remember those! I didn’t realize how shape plays a role
Thank you! As if the credit belongs to me. 
I do love the look of chinenses peppers.
They are hopefully Hibiscus sabdariffa or “Roselle”, aka Jamaican sorrel, aka a dozen other things. In taquerias they are used in Agua de Jamaica.
My pubescens pepper “Manzano”.
It cooled off a bit for a while, and I got new pepper flowers . There’s a pepper from a previous round of flowers.
@bogman , if this pepper ripens, do you think it will bear a more heat tolerant plant?
But it’s supposed to be 98 f today.
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I was happy with today’s modest but very autumn-colored harvest.
From top, clockwise: jalapenos (“pumpkin spice” variety), scotch bonnets (maybe? I’m wondering if they’re actually habs), sweet heat, shishitos (finally slowing down, thankfully; I harvested several pounds of them mid-to-late summer and I’m sick of them), “Calabrian peppers” (not very precisely labeled, and I know there are a number of varieties)
Not shown: A couple of deeply split tomatoes. Rain for the next few days so I guess there will be plenty more where those came from.
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What a beautiful picture and array of produce!
I am especially intrigued with growing peppers, especially chinenses! Where did you get your Scotch bonnet seeds? I saved some from a pepper my mother in law gave me. I call it “[Chile Pepper World - #6 by shrinkrap)'”.
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No seeds this year. I had a really, really bad/disheartening season last year and decided to just buy my plants this year. Going back to seeds next year, so hopefully I’ll know a bit more about what I’m actually growing. What are your favorite online seed shops for peppers? I’ve been buying most of my stuff from Kitazawa Seeds (now called True Leaf) for the past several years.
By the way, noticing all of the pepper photos from your end, I was going to ask you if you’ve ever tried growing manganji peppers, a Japanese sweet variety? They’re my favorite sweet peppers to date. (None growing this year, alas.)
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I get most of my sweet pepper seeds from Johnny’s and maybe Victory or Grow Italian, but I seem to get most of my hot pepper seeds from saving or trades. That hasn’t always been true, and I will have to think about sources. One year I bout plants and peppers online from Cross Country. Looks like they changed their name! Looks like they have seeds too.
P.S. I just noticed the link to “Scotch Bonnet Jean” was wrong, and I fixed it.
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LOL! I was sitting here trying to figure out what wild fires had to do with chilis. Gorgeous looking photos in the other thread! What’s your favorite prep with these kinds of peppers?
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I sometimes make hot sauces, but I freeze them and usually use one or two to flavor chilli and rice dishes.
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It’s unlikely a single pod will have the genetics to be more heat tolerant. Unfortunately, the usual way to breed something into a plant (aside from CRISPR/GMO) is to plant out a large number of plants, hundreds or thousands if trying to overcome an obstacle, and see what survives the stresses and is productive. Sometimes, it takes generations. I don’t even try C. pubescens any more, due to its climate sensitivity.
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Tomato harvests are slowing down, but I’m still picking a couple of pounds a day, mostly Cherokee Purple and Early Girl. Brandywine, which has given me less than 3 lbs of fruit all season, suddenly set a new batch of fruit in the last few days, so I gave her a shot of fertilizer to help those along. Yellow German was an underperformer too - only about 4 lbs of fruit and the plant seems to have given up the ghost over the last few days - there were a few small fruits on it that just shriveled up and died on the vine. Black Krim and Mortgage Lifter have a few decent-sized tomatoes still developing but I haven’t seen any flowers in over a week so I suspect they’re just about done.
Early Girl was by far my most prolific plant (almost 30 lbs of fruit not counting what’s still on the vine or lost to critters) but not one I’ll grow again - the juice just isn’t worth the squeeze. I didn’t get great results with Jubilee or Golden Boy and again, the flavor of those two didn’t do it for me, so they won’t be repeats. Mr. Bionda loved the sweetness of Yellow German and Mortgage Lifter, so I may give those two another go - perhaps in a spot that gets a little more protection from the sun. Others I should consider for a sweeter heirloom? I wasn’t impressed with the flavor or performance of Brandywine but we’ll see how this last batch of fruit tastes (if they have time to fully develop/ripen, that is!).
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Latest green beans! I can’t believe how tasty these are, straight off the vine! Early Italian or Roma 2. Can’t recall which one AI decided to plant.
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You’re letting AI dictate your gardening? Or was that an especially interesting typo..?
This one! Although…
An expanded thread on Er Jing Tiao peppers was just put up, if anyone’s interested.
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