[CH] Hot, Hotter and More Hotter

Amy McWilliams (amos@mhtc.net)
Mon, 8 Oct 2001 09:13:37 -0500 

    Well the leaves on the trees are falling and the frost is definitely on
the pumpkin here in SW Wisconsin, USA.  I picked the rest of my peppers off
my plants last Friday before the frost hit. It was a good year for the
garden. It was a candy flavored year with Lemon Drops and Hawaiian Sweet
Hots.  There were the usual surprises and a few disappointments but overall
El Grade blessed me again this year and I'll have to sacrifice a few virgins
(if I didn't use them all up on the Green Bay Packers)  and toast him with
shots of chile laced mezcal.
   One of the best surprises this year was my Red Savinas. I didn't think
that any of my Red Savina seedlings had made it. They were very small when I
transplanted them and I got a late start this year anyway so none if my
plants were transplanted into the garden until June 7th. I planted (4) types
of Habs. I put markers at each of my plants. Around the beginning of Sept. I
noticed some very large Habs on one of the plants. They turned a nice dark
orange and I picked a few. I hung them up in my kitchen until I could figure
out I wanted to do with them. In the meantime they turned a beautiful bright
red. I checked the marker at the plant and because most of it was buried all
I could see was the word "Red". I grew another pepper called a Red Congo and
I thought that was what the pepper was. I ate a few in some chile I made and
they were delicious, hot  and thick walled. The plant was prolific. Last
Friday when I picked the peppers I also pulled up plants to hang (to ripen
the rest of the peppers) and I discovered they were "Red SAVINAS - my new
favorite pepper.
    Now the Savinas are zesty but I happened upon a pepper that I swear
blistered my lip. While I was picking peppers I picked one off a pepper
plants that I had pretty much ignored all season because it took so long to
produce. They were grown from seeds I had traded for and the person I traded
with said they were baccatum baccatum var. praetermissum, which I doubt
since they don't match the description on Graeme C.'s pages. The plant was
huge. But by last  Friday there were peppers galore  - about 3-1/2" long,
3/8" around and pendulant. All were very dark glossy green. I decided to
pick one and take a bite - YUCK. They were the worst tasting pepper I have
ever eaten. The tasted like Murphy's Oil Soap that had gone rancid. BUT my
lips immediately began to burn like I got stung by a bee. Then my tongue got
so hot it got numb. The burn in my throat wasn't as intense. The burn on my
lips continued to build and yesterday the spot on my lips where the pepper
touched was raw and sore. I won't be eating anymore - not because of the
burn but because the taste is so bad. And I am not sure what they are but
they left an impression on me.
    So I hope everyone else had or is still having a great year in the
garden and that El Grande always smiles on you.

Best Regards,
Dan "Dragonlips" McWilliams

"The one small garden of a free gardener was all his need and due, not a
garden swollen to a realm;
his own hands to use, not the hands of others to command."
Sam Gamgee, The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien