Paprika

 

Not long ago Becky started using it in her cooking. Turns out we liked the result. She read up on producing your own and decided that we should give it a try. I was willing to attempt to grow the peppers involved, so she bought some seed.

They were slow to germinate and the resulting plants delicious to deer. I made protective structures of old grill grates and flower pots, but the nibbling was a tough setback.

Eventually though the plants outgrew the depredations and made some little white peppers, which grew into appealing orangy-red, somewhat flattened, globes. 

Yesterday we picked and prepped them and popped them in the dehydrator. The house smelled like peppers all day. Last night they were almost, but not quite done, so they are having another whirl this morning.

Thanks to the deer and germination factors we won't get much actual paprika this year. However, it has really been fun messing around with the project. I saved seeds, which we will give a germination test when they are dry. It they grow, we will use them. If not, we'll get more.

We are also thinking about growing some chili peppers and attempting chili powder next year.

Might be fun.

All photos by Becky (except the top one)