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Chilli Chirps @chillichirps.bsky.social · 10h

I've a feeling the wrinkles are by design - it's one of those fancy new things. But you're right, because that kind of nonsense is designed to make people buy weird pepper seeds, not to make peppers ripen on time 😉 I do also (mostly) grow sensible peppers 😆 chillichumpseeds.com/s/testarossa...

chillichumpseeds.com

Testarossa Orange Seeds

Testarossa Orange ripens to a glowing red-orange hue, packing 1,400,000 SHU and fruity heat, perfect for sauces. Expertly grown by ChilliChump.

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Chilli Chirps @chillichirps.bsky.social · 11h

First single variety harvest to fill a basket, though it's a bit of a cheat as they seem geometrically designed to leave the maximum possible amount of space between them. If Amazon start using them as a packing material, I'm out of here.

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Chilli Chirps @chillichirps.bsky.social · 11h

Emma, I have so many tips with these! They're a fantastic pepper, because they're so easy to chop. Soft seeds too, so just cut and use. I use them in dhal, for the green chilli flavour without crazy heat. I think they'd be great pickled. But mostly mine end up in achar - LMK if you need a recipe.

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Chilli Chirps @chillichirps.bsky.social · 11h

Spaghetti peppers for the achar! ✊ This is the last big haul of these. I've 2 plants, both a bit small compared to previous years, surprisingly no less productive. I time each harvest for the most that are large and green, and get about 70 per plant, times 2-3 harvests in a season. 🌱🌶️

A wooden trug fill to the brim with Spaghetti chillies. They are mostly green, with a few red, averaging 25cm (10 inches) in length, but barely 7mm wide. The shape means they are easy to chop up, and the pieces pack into jars without leaving big gaps, making them perfect for an Indian-style dry pickle. Which I do.

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Chilli Chirps @chillichirps.bsky.social · 11h

Sadly don't think these guys will make it. They don't look too bad here, but they're barely the size of you're little fingernail. A shame, they're the first I've had of this type, but you've got to have a few misses to enjoy the hits. Moved to the greenhouse, and a sunny afternoon here, so 🤞

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Chilli Chirps @chillichirps.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

There's just no telling! I hope so though. I've got a couple of quirky chinense that have only just set their first pods, so that's a proper race against time. Don't know what it's like where you are, but you've got a chance - I've picked Beaver Dam peppers in December in past years.

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Chilli Chirps @chillichirps.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

In the UK, it's total nuts. I've not put on long trousers yet, and I've got superhots just starting to fruit. There's a sheet and a blanket on the bed rather than a duvet, and the thermostat reads 22°C (72°F) indoors.

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Chilli Chirps @chillichirps.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Sadly I have no idea. They were from a pack of mystery freebie seeds that came with an order. Big, nobbly pods that start off green and purple. Best guess is Yaki Blue x Major Pain, but a lot of these newer types seen pretty variable, so it's hard to compare when I've only a single plant.

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Chilli Chirps @chillichirps.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Same same. I've a bunch of mystery failures to move out of the greenhouse in order to make space for the failures I was actually counting on 🤣

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Chilli Chirps @chillichirps.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Wondering how long I can milk out ripening time in the greenhouse, and how best to play it - when the season turns, the aphids normally mess things up before the weather does.

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Chilli Chirps @chillichirps.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

And set them up to be a pretty pure sort of sauce. Just this variety, some slices of pointy pepper, a bit of garlic and a vine leaf to cap it off. Ferment on 🌱🌶️

The bottom half of a fermenting jar, half filled with superhot chillies, capped with a regular sliced romano pepper to hold it all in, and a vine leaf to stop that from moving.

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Chilli Chirps @chillichirps.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

So despite complaining about the weather, I was able to take about 70 of these beauties: 🌶️🌱

6 superhot, lava-hued chillies on a wooden table

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Chilli Chirps @chillichirps.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Fatalii is coming good this year, but late. Naga's been very sparse - again, I think just too hot where they were in the mad madness of summer. As soon as things cool down, pods start a-comin'. More lessons to learn :) Would love to do a single variety Fatalii ferment, but it's a race against the 🕰️

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Chilli Chirps @chillichirps.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

This is brilliant. What a smorgasbord! I know it's a big ask, but any chance of a clockwise-spiral of what's what? (if that even works!). Is that KS Lemon Starburst toward the bottom left?

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Reposted by Chilli Chirps

Tufty McTavish @tuftymctavish.com · 05/10/2026

🌶️ A handful of pods that I’ve bagged and packaged up this evening 😰 Still got lots left to harvest and I wasn’t able to fit everything shown here into the boxes - the Poblanos at the top in particular were way too large. Another harvest, more 📦 to go 👨‍🌾 #Gardening #VegetableGrowing #GrowYourOwn 🌶️🌱

A large collection of plastic tubs and glass bowls arranged in a rough grid on an outdoor picnic bench. Most tubs have a single variety of Chilli but a couple double up when the distinction between varieties is very obvious. There are a few Sweet Peppers and Ancho Poblano too, which I was hoping to squeeze into the boxes, but there was simply no room.

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Chilli Chirps @chillichirps.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Your Fatalii is nutbars! Mine is late to the party, and it won't do as well as that, but there's a decent crop developing if it gets there in time 🤞

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Chilli Chirps @chillichirps.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

I wasn't going to make you count them! I was very happy to concede. AND you've got better pods than me to boot! I suffered from under-watering, especially when I went away and the fox knocked the solar pump off the water butt (a wonder anything survived!) This is a well-deserved triumph 🍾

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Chilli Chirps @chillichirps.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Mystery Chilli #5, against all odds, is another purple chinense. Unlike the other one, this doesn't have dark foliage and is more modest in size.

A single pod and a flower. It is pointed in shape, with a pale purple hue and a matt finish. The flesh feels thin. This will be unripe, and likely will turn red eventually.

A number of pods on the plant, showing a horizontal growth habit which may be because they're not very heavy. They have an underlying green hue, flushed with a pale purple

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Chilli Chirps @chillichirps.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Caterpillar is like, "What's a superhot, idk lol 🤣🤣🤣" And that after spending a week in the fridge. So I'm letting him keep this pod, I figure he earned it 💪 🌱🌶️

A superhot chilli pod in a metal bowl, with a small caterpillar beside it. The bowl was in the fridge for a week, during which time the grub had emerged from the pod and glued it onto the side with webbing, making a little chamber in which to feed. I've put them both outside, where it has now stuck the pepper to the side of a plant pot, and is in a race against time to eat enough either before the pepper rots or the weather turns.

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Chilli Chirps @chillichirps.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

I also realized my chopper hadn't chopped things sufficiently - the perils of food prep without glasses on - so they spent a long, warm night not covered in liquid and barely salted. So far the fermentation gods have been generous, so if I lose this one I will accept it gracefully.

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Chilli Chirps @chillichirps.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

I did a mash with these. And I'm slightly regretting it, as the hour got late and my tired head got the sums wrong. A brine would have been easier to correct, or at least easier to diagnose. But, 🤞

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Chilli Chirps @chillichirps.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

130 Fruity Volcanoes on their way to the fermenting jar. 🌶️🌱

A hand holds a metal bowl containing vivid red Fruity Volcano chillies, a variety of C. chinense. In the background is a brick planter next to a wall, containing a Purple Pumpkin and a Hungarian Hot Wax chilli plant. The fruits of both are visible.

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Chilli Chirps @chillichirps.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

I made a version of the usual Baccatum Red Relish, but this time out of the Purple Pumpkin chillies rather than baccatums. I don't think it's going to last us long. 🌱🌶️

3 jars of bright crimson relish, one half eaten, stand behind a green saucer containing crackers spread with the same relish atop a layer of goat cheese.

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Chilli Chirps @chillichirps.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

As a kid, some friends and I produced a school play, the central joke being, "We're supposed to be Basque Separatists, not Camisole Twin Set Separatists." And yet I STILL didn't think to call it Basque Red instead. TBF, I was the one in the Camisole.

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Chilli Chirps @chillichirps.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

I always recommend buying moar cheese 😂 Something mildly sheepy or goaty often works very well. I'm considering charring a couple of poblanos and peeling before stuffing with cheese, but if memory serves I believe it's a task ill-suited to my sausagey fingers

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Chilli Chirps @chillichirps.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

This rings true with mine - the older it got, the more white it displayed. I'm planning to save seeds and see how the offspring pan out. My daughter, who (nominally 😆) has grown these, absolutely loves them, so it won't hurt to have a few extra plants next year. Good size for stuffing too 😋

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Chilli Chirps @chillichirps.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

I got one from the other nipper too, featuring chillies of red, green, yellow and purple. As you can imagine, they are by far my favourite plates.

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Chilli Chirps @chillichirps.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

The lower branch in the picture was fully off, so I put it in water in the hope it would survive long enough to ripen the younger fruit (unlikely). The branch on the right, which was still slightly attached, I tied up to see if it would graft back on.

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Chilli Chirps @chillichirps.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Committed a wrongness when I moved some plants around to share the diminishing light. This Red Basque's growth was supported by its neighbours, so it had no need to strengthen its stems. Once they'd moved, the slightest breeze made it split under the weight of its pods. Should have staked it 🙄 🌱🌶️

A red basque chilli plant. I don't know much about these, but a friend got seeds from Real Seeds and gave me a plant, It's not big, but it's quite productive, with thick-fleshed, jalapeno-shaped pods, and a good heat. There is space to the left and right, where previously it was shaded out by larger C. chinense plants.

A close up of the base of the stem of the Red Basque chilli plant. It can be seen that of the three main branches, two have catastrophically snapped, one clean off and the other hanging by a couple of mm thickness.

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Chilli Chirps @chillichirps.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

I've been trying everything! I really want to slice the top off, but it's SO fiddly, and the stuffing gets pushed out as the trapped air expands. Even, mysteriously, if I make a small hole in the botto. So mostly I'm halving and baking. But still experimenting 🥼

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Chilli Chirps @chillichirps.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

I think they've got a really good flavour and a sweetness. No heat. We've been eating them in salads, chopped into couscous, and stuffed with feta

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Chilli Chirps @chillichirps.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

They are sweeter, with more flavour and less watery flesh (though it depends where you get your bell peppers, I guess).

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Chilli Chirps @chillichirps.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

The small yellow sweet peppers (mystery pepper #1) are absolutely astonishing when stuffed with cheese 😋 These are roasted with a mix of herbs, cream cheese and goat cheese 🌶️🌱🍽️ (this time with pic 🙄)

10 halves of small yellow peppers stuffed with cheese, served on a plate decorated by one of my kids when they were small. The plate was a father's day gift, and features a red chilli with a face and arms and legs.

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Chilli Chirps @chillichirps.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Oh, hold on, I DID take a picture of the rings...

Cross-sectional rings of Candy Cane Chocolate Cherry show mottled black patterns where the striping passes through.

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Chilli Chirps @chillichirps.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Candy Cane Chocolate Cherry sweet peppers. Intense variegation, along with chunky flesh, makes these quite slow to ripen, but they're a real joy when they do. Like a stick of rock, the striping goes all the way through, so they look incredible when sliced into rings (will try to get a pic) 🌱🌶️

Five red peppers, flecked with raindrops, sit on a wooden table. They are oval in shape, striped with black, and about 3 inches long. The calyxes are striped green and cream.

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Chilli Chirps @chillichirps.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Been doing this a lot lately. I stuffed an El Oro with goat cheese at breakfast: hugely tasty, but a bit more zing than I was ready for at that hour!

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Chilli Chirps @chillichirps.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

And yet strangely, the kids weren't interested 🤷

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Chilli Chirps @chillichirps.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

I didn't have as many Peppadew and Brazillian Pumpkins ripe as I'd have liked. I wanted pickles though, so I put them together to make it worth the effort. They're both baccatums, both are aromatic and fairly mild, so I'm keen to see how it turns out 🌶️🌱

Two jars of mixed Peppadew (Malawi Piquante) and Brazillian pumpkin. The peppers have been halved, deseeded and soaked in saline before pickling.

I normally follow ChilliChump's recipe for the pickled peppadews, but here I've used some leftover brine from making bread & butter pickles, which I boiled up again with some garlic and ginger.

The peppers are both small, about an inch across, hemispherical and bright red, packed into 400ml (approx) jars and photographed on a wooden table in the garden.

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Chilli Chirps @chillichirps.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

I can imagine! Still not sure what to do with these, but I'm wondering whether to chance a single variety ferment.

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Chilli Chirps @chillichirps.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Yes, pretty much what Alice said. Some will be pickled, and some are earmarked for a particular relish I like to make.

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Chilli Chirps @chillichirps.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Some are, but others not at all. We've had mild autumns recently though, so 🤞

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Chilli Chirps @chillichirps.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Yes, I might give that a go. It all depends what the weather does, and how much space I can salvage from the greenhouse.

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Chilli Chirps @chillichirps.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

I know what you mean, but these are proper purple, even when growing deep inside the plant, away from the sun. bsky.app/profile/chil...

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Chilli Chirps @chillichirps.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

I've just looked those up, and they're really something. I suspect mine has a bit of yaki in it too.

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Chilli Chirps @chillichirps.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Mine are not much better. It's been very hot and dry here, that's my excuse.

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