On planting chile peppers for 2015

Inspired by Mark over at Mark's Veg Plot, I decided to expand my chile horizons for this year. Last year, I had one chile negro pepper plant, and my one plant was quite successful. This year, I decided to focus on two different varieties: early Jalapeno and banana pepper. As I don't have much space in my community garden plot, I will likely plant only one of each.

I am treating the seeds as I do my tomato seeds. I soak them over night in a bit of water. Next, I plant at home where they are in the window sill where there is plenty of light and warmth.

Roasted chile negro peppers

The chile negro peppers were roasted in the oven at a low heat for several hours and then stored in a container. I am now researching mole recipes so that I can actually make use of them. I suppose I could use them in any recipe calling for a mild chili. Here's what they looked like before.

An abundance of black chile peppers

My summer garden is just about wound down except for the black chile peppers (chile negro), my first year growing them. This plant has done well, mostly because the critters in our garden did not munch on them. So what do I do next? I have to figure out how to harvest them, dry them, and then use them, probably in a mole recipe.

Chile negro pepper growing

Excited to see a real chile negro pepper growing. I don't know when to pick them but will cross that bridge later, I suppose.

aka Pasilla bajio or 'chilaca' or 'chile negro'

First chile pepper bloom: Pasilla bajio or chile negro

Presenting Pasilla Bajio or 'chilaca' or 'chile negro'. This is the first year I have had success with germination. I only had one seedling at that. We'll see how it turns out. Family: Solanaceae Capsicum annuum