PEPPERMEISTER’S Official 2012 Grow List

Tags

chile, chilli, gardening, habanero, organic, spicy

Here’s the official Peppermeister grow list for 2012.  I’m growing approximately 32 types of peppers, and several other plants, including a ton of herbs, tomatoes and peas.

I wanted to grow a little bit of everything this year, so my chiles range from the sweetest frying pepper to the hottest of the super hots.  I made sure to have several chiles that are best when picked green, red, orange, yellow, and even purple!  Along with the variety of colors I’ve chosen, this summer’s garden will feature peppers from all over the world.  Chiles from Mexico, Brazil, Peru, Poland, India, Thailand, Italy, Jamaica, Bolivia, and of course the good ol’ USA will be featured this summer.

This year’s pepper garden will combine plants that were started as seeds, plants that were purchased as seedlings and even a few plants that I over-wintered.  If you want to get more information about any of these chiles, try The Chileman Database or Chileplants.com.

2012 Grow list:

Aji Crystal

Chiltepin

Cherry bomb hybrid
Banana hot
Beni Highlands
Malagueta
Lombardo
Limon
Lombak
Mini chocolate bell
Mucho Nacho
Sigaretto Di Bergamo (2)
Thai Giant
Wenk’s Yellow Hots

Jamaican gold
Habanero white
Serrano del sol
Cayenne purple
Cyclon
Hinkle hatz
Purple de arbol
Hanoi red
Española Improved
Limo

CDT

CF Habanero

Bhut Jolokia

Alma Paprika

Aji Amarillo

Las Cruces

B.A. Cayenne

Sport Chile

Will I add more this summer? Probably.

Gorgeous Habanero Leaves

What chiles are you most looking forward to growing this year?

My Return to the Pepper Plant Mecca: Cross Country Nurseries

Tags

bhut, chiles, gardening, ghost pepper, habanero, plants

I’ve mentioned them here before, but I just cannot say enough about Cross Country Nurseries in Stockton, NJ.  I am fortunate enough to live just about 25 minutes from this absolutely jaw droppingly well stocked and organized chile plant nursery. Before I continue, I should let you know that CCN does the majority of their business through mail order.  So, if you’re not within driving distance of this place, they will gladly mail out any of their chile plants for you.

Yes, those are ALL chile plants.

As we did last year, my buddy Tom and I went to CCN on opening day (last weekend).  I was well prepared this year with a printed wishlist.  Their site, chileplants.com, is a great resource for browsing chiles based on dozens of search criteria that has been meticulously sorted by the “Pepper-Goddess” herself.  I picked up about 12-15 plants including a few basil plants. Oh…did I not mention the basil?

Each plant marker in this entire pic is a different variety of basil.

I knew I would be returning soon, so I didn’t want to get too many plants on the first visit.  I promptly made plans with my pepper-loving neighbor, Jeff, to return to Cross Country Nurseries this weekend.  Jeff wisely decided to get a variety of chile plants that I would not be growing, so that we could increase the amount of chiles we’ll be sampling by summer’s end (get ready for many new Pepper Profiles).  We were also able to try the Bhut Jolokia Brownie (Ghost Pepper) that was ominously perched in a fridge among other pepper paraphernalia in the small store/cashier hut.  In the car on the way home, we each broke off a generous piece of the brownie, munched it down, then waited.  The heat was strong, warming, and quite unique of super-hots.  Both of us survived with a few sips of water/coffee and our fear of the almighty ghost pepper was slightly assuaged.

heartbreakingdawns.com

We received some first hand advice about transplanting and feeding our plants.  The owners, Janie and Fernando, are true chile-heads and they are not happy just selling you plants, but they will give you all of the information they can to ensure healthy plants and bountiful crops.

Stay with Peppermeister for chile gardening info, recipes and news!

Coming this week: Peppermeister’s 2012 Official Grow List.

Click Here for Last Year’s Grow List.

Peppermeister’s 2012 Pepper Season Kickoff!

Tags

chilli, gardening, growing chiles, organic, peppers, spicy

It was a long (not so cold) winter, and I could not be more excited to get this growing season started.  The seed giveaway contest ended weeks ago and I sent out literally 1000 seeds!  I’ve already gotten some seedling pics from some folks.  Please continue to keep me posted.

I started my pepper seeds early last month, but the majority of my pepper plants for this season will be purchased as seedlings from Cross Country Nurseries in Stockton, NJ.  They officially open this Saturday (April 14^th) and my buddy, Tom and I are all set to spend the morning fishing for lake trout and the afternoon fishing for exotic chiles from Cross Country’s giant greenhouse filled with healthy pepper seedlings, basil plants, tomatoes and more!

The only chiles I will be growing from seed this year are Limo, Corno di Toro, Bhut Jolokia, Pumpkin Hab, Alma Paprika, Las Cruces and Aji Amarillo.  For the first time, I am using a seed starting medium made from organic coconut fibers.  So far I really like the results but I will be posting a full review of the product in a few weeks when I’ve seen what it can do.

Over the next few weeks, I plan to purchase over 20 25 30 35 different chile plants from the nursery, so I will keep you updated.

Stay posted to Peppermeister for tons of chile growing info, recipes, gardening tips and giveaways.

Move over Jiffy mix, this year I'm going with coconut fibers.

Follow me on Twitter @Peppermeister1