Loose soil, patience and making sure you have a variety of fennel that bulbs. The only variety I have grown is Florence, which does bulb. Other varieties are great for seeds, fronds and stalks.
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Itās Florence that I have. Do you push the soil up around the stems as they grow?
Also, thoroughly impressed by your chilli growing. My jalapeƱos have had a good crop this year and I need to preserve some. Last year I tried the salted chilli approach that Fuchsia Dunlop suggests for thin walled chillies but I think the moisture level in the jalapeƱos was too much. They went mouldy. Do you have a simple pickling method you use?
No, I just ignore them until they do their thing. I used to swear at them a lot but it didnāt helpā¦
Iāve done the Dunlop thing with Fresno peppers, I think if it molds there isnāt enough salt or they arenāt staying under the salt. Itās a tough balance to strike, though. Too salty isnāt the way you wanna go with those either.
Iāve tried several pickling recipes and most of them taste the same in the end, really. This recipe is different and great for jalapenos: http://leitesculinaria.com/82089/recipes-pickled-jalapeno-peppers.html
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Iāve seen Chervena Chuska seeds on several sites- I was hoping to grow them this year since you and several others have mentioned how good they are but I havenāt gotten seeds for them yet, either, so it may not happen this year. I jumped at the chance for Palmyra seeds since theyāre rarer and therefore more important for me to grow out for the seed bank I contribute to. I also got them in a trade and didnāt have to pay for them so that was nice! Theyāre also a large red sweet so Iām hoping it fills in the place Chervena Chuska would have been in the lineup.
I understand if itās too late to start seeds for your season but itās worth checking a place or two (or calling) to see if they have any plant starts. Off to look up Palmyra now.
Its never too late here, we grow year 'round, the problem is space. I already have 122 pepper plants to plant out this weekend, 2 flats of 72 each coming out to the porch from under lights one potted up a size, a few dozen tomato plants that will spend 2 more weeks under lights and all of the eggplants, beans, tomatillos, herbs, okra, cucumbers, squashes and other veggies Iām growing!
The down side of growing a lot of āspiceā or āseasoningā peppers is that it takes several of each plant to make enough pods to dry and grind and fill jars with so there are 12 aleppo, 12 urfa biber, 12 maras, 12 szegedi 80, 12 piment dāespelette, 12 tap di corti, etcā¦ and there will probably be at least a 2nd if not 3rd round of some of them like aleppo since we use so much of it and Iām trying to do spice jars full for Christmas gifts. Those peppers are this years priority.
And then there are the Slow Food Arc of Taste varieties like Hinklehatz and Jimmy Nardello that I try to keep growing so there is continually fresh seed, the seed bank seeds, the grow out seedsā¦ as you can see Iāve taken on a whole lotta projects.
I can spare 4 or 5 Palmyra seeds. If youāre interested, PM me.
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Iām impressed with your collection! I really, really appreciate the offer but seed starting here is such a PITA that I just donāt want to deal with. Let me know how the Palmyra turn out. What do you like about Jimmy Nardello? That didnāt do anything for us, flavor-wise.
Youāve mentioned before that some of the varieties that are really great here arenāt so good there- you didnāt care for Alma either, if I recall correctly. Jimmy Nardello are intensely flavored and very sweet, theyāre great as āfrying peppersā like in sausage and peppers. Iām sure the climate difference is what does it. Youāre East Coast with snow and lots of rain, right? Iām Southern California, inland a bit, in a very pepper hospitable climate. Iāve noticed in these drought years with less and less water that the peppers just keep getting better and better.
Iām sure climate has a lot to do with it, as does soil. Not to mention individual preference and tastebuds. Funny you mention drought because everything Iāve ever read about peppers is that they need an evenly moist, well-draining soil and enjoy humidity. Iām not east coastā¦weāre on Lake Erie just west of Cleveland. Some years a lot of rain, some not but our soil drains exceptionally well and when weāre not getting rain we water regularly and deeply. We get a great harvest of peppers (among other things), some just have better (to us) flavor and are sweeter (again, to us) than others.
My garden isnt big enough to grow fruit or vegetables. I do, however, grow edible herbs in amongst the ornamental plants. The criteria is that they must be herbs we use regularly in cooking, are perennial and, generally speaking , look good as a garden plant (mint excepted)
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I am guessing the soil where you are is more sandy? I try growing pepper and I have never succeeded in getting much yield at all with the puny plants, likely because of heavy clay soil where I am in Norcal. Except habanero last year, I got a bunch of them, which I have little use for because I am not able to handle that type of heatā¦
I have to ask: if you canāt eat them, why did you grow habanero? For family or friends?
Itās been in the 80s all week in So Cal so the heat compelled me to get a few things planted. Three pepper plants (jalapeƱo, serrano, and shishito), one zucchini, one crooked neck yellow squash, celery (never tried growing it beforehand), chives, chard, and basil. Fingers crossed these all do better than last yearās terrible waste of space tomatoes.
[quote=āGourmanda, post:32, topic:3313, full:trueā]
I have to ask: if you canāt eat them, why did you grow habanero? For family or friends?
[/quote]Oh yes. I bought a six pack chili from a nursery. At the nursery, I noticed one of the six died so I grabbed one from another six pack near by, not knowing what chili it was. I didnāt get much chili from the other 5 (the 5 that I can handle), but the habanero (that I canāt handle) was prolific.
Thank you, Iāve Just made these - killer. First time Iāve used Sprite in a recipe. The liquid is delicious, Iām thinking of saving it to marinate chicken in after weāve finished the jalapeƱos.
And hereās a photo of some of what weāve grown. JalapeƱos, Serrano and a Thai chilli. All grown in pots on the balcony. 
Iāll buy some more Thai chillies at the markets this weekend and do some of Fuchsiaās salted chillies to see us through the winter.
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Beautiful peppers! I always wait until the jalapenos get that corking on them so I know theyāre hot!
Tomates, lots and lots of tomatoes. Various heirlooms, black cherries, etc.
Cucumbers
Herbs (baril, flat parsley, cliantro)
Hot peppers
Snap Peas
Melons
Speaking of which garden planning is on the to do list for this weekend. Does anyone have suggestions for a good online seed source?
http://www.highmowingseeds.com/home.php?xid=df638d95f4e2f89b0244f8a985bb2a4f
Reasonably priced and free shipping.
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First chilli seed has popped up into a seedling. Not sure how I am going to get enough to light to it, and hopefully its fellows, in this gloomy Uk winter. Just ordered beetroot, kohl rabi, carrot, and bean seeds.
Just to give you my take on the blue tomatoes, I got the original ones. The plant was tough as hell, soldiering through the horrendous hot dry summer, eventually set a bunch of fruit that took two months to ripen and had no flavor whatsoever. They were beautiful, though! I think theyāve been further hybridized, so look for a variety thatās described as having a good flavor, and read the reviews. I have a lot of respect for the indigo rose plant that I raised last summer, but the flavor was just really disappointing.
