Sharing Plants in Springtime

The thrill of the seed packet comes full circle. Then into the ground they must go.

From the moment we start seeds early in the new year we’re eager to share the results. A month ago we met to do just that (and then I planted for weeks and hence this tardy post).

Happy shouts as people comb through crowded tables: “Anyone seen a Black Russian?” and “where did you put the Cap 455s?” As always, Trev brings the peppers—30 varieties this year!

Part of the excitement is discovering what, for example, SRP on a label means—sugar rush peach in this case.

We like to grow uncommon varieties—that is, open pollinated and often very old types of tomato, eggplant, and pepper from all over the world. There were many tomato types on offer.

It was a big day, since the morels also popped up to be discovered.

Was there food? Of course there was food.

With temperatures swinging wildly from the 80sF to the 30sF over these four weeks, we had to bring some plants back inside to prevent freezing, but on April 30 I just started planting.

Solid root development on the peppers, beyond happy to get into the earth.

Here’s the master pepper list, with more to come as the season progresses:

Pepper name followed by Scoville Heat Units (SHU) followed by color and then country of origin if Trev could find it.

C. ANNUUM
Ms. Junie (Hatch) SHU 5,000-10,000 Green/Red Hatch, NM
NuMex CaJohn Jumbo Serrano SHU 10,000 Green NM
Serrano Tampiqueno SHU 10,000-25,000 Green Pueblo, Mex
Jalapeno Zapotec SHU 5,000-10,000 Green/Red Corked Oaxaca, Mex
Jalapeno Craigs Grande SHU 5,000-8,000 Green USA
Cayenne Long Thin SHU 30,000-50,000 Red Mex?
Petit Marseillais SHU 0-500 Yellow Southern France
Doux D’Espagne (Spanish Mammoth) SHU 0 Red Spain
Piment D Espellette SHU 4,000 Red Espellette, France
Piment De Bresse (Lyon) SHU 10,000-60,000 Red Lyon, France
Cibola—below—(VSRP x Poblano)SHU 5,000-10,000 Orange/Purple

Palmetto Punch (Jalapeno x Ghost)SHU 100,00-200,000? Red
Padron SHU 500-2,500 Green Spain
Sarit Gat SHU 30,000-50,000 Yellow Kosovo

C. ANNUUM VAR. GLABRIUSCULUM (Wild)
Chiltepin SHU 50,000-100,000 Red US/Mex Boarder

C. BACCATUM
Sugar Drop Orange SHU 20,000-40,000 Orange
Aji Cristal SHU 30,000-50,000 Yellow/Orange/Red
Cap 455 SHU 0 Red
Zebrange SHU 5,000-10,000 Red/Orange Stripe
Norteno SHU 2,000-5,000 Red Northern Peru
Sugar Rush Peach SHU 25,000-50,000 Peach
Aji Guyana Lemon SHU 5,000-15,000 Bright Yellow
Melocoton SHU 10,000-30,000 Peach Peru

C. CHINENSE
Guadalupe Black SHU 100,000-350,000 Brown Isla Guadalupe
Bahamian Goat SHU 100,000-300,000 Orange Bahamas
Bonda Ma Jaques SHU 200,000-450,000 Yellow French Antilles
Burkina Yellow SHU 150,000-350,000 Yellow Burkina Faso Africa
Hababon Peach (Habanero x Scotch Bonnet?) SHU 100,000-350,000 Peach
Chocolate Fatalli 100,000-300,000 Brown Africa
Cajamarca SHU 20,000-50,000 Green to Purple to Yellow to Orange to Red Peru