Brandywine Tomatoes, Jalapeno’s, and New Ace Bell Pepper Bumper Crop

ByKen J. Last Update
64 Comments

My Red & Green Bell Peppers

OH MY GOODNESS! My pepper crop is OUTSTANDING this year! The ” New Ace ” Bell peppers and jalapeno peppers have been very healthy and very prolific.

Doesn’t that photo bowl of red and green peppers make your mouth water?! And that’s just a tiny sliver of what we’re harvesting this year.

I cannot even begin to explain the taste difference between these homegrown peppers and store-bought peppers. Oh my word…

Here’s a picture this morning of just one (of 48) pepper plants. They’re all loaded… If our season doesn’t end early with a frost, we’re going to have “tons”.

My Jalapeno Peppers

Here’s one of my jalapeno plants just before harvest last week. There are still lots more of these peppers growing…

“Hey Ken, what do you do with all those peppers?! There’s no way you can eat them all!”

How I Preserve Them

Great question! We core the Bell peppers, and then slice them into strips. Jalapeno’s are not cored – but simply sliced across. We process immediately after harvest (it makes a big difference!). Then we vacuum seal portions into small vacuum seal bags. After that, they go in one of the chest freezers.

Here’s a bag of vacuum sealed jalapeno peppers:

The BEST Tomatoes In The Land

Hey, lets talk tomatoes! I have a new absolute FAVORITE tomato. And that is the Brandywine Heirloom! Words cannot begin to describe how absolutely astonishingly good and yummy these tomatoes are!

Here is one of my mature Brandywine tomato plants. They did extraordinarily well this year.

The tomatoes are generally quite large. There’s one in particular that is about 8 inches across!! Several pounds at least! Here’s a picture of it:

Let me tell you this… Brandywine tomatoes are extremely good tasting. They’re very juicy. The internal meat is deep red colored. They taste sweet, sweet, sweet! Don’t you wish that you could pick up one of these tomato slices and eat it?

I wish I could grow these all year long. But unfortunately our summers are short! They’re so good that I might try (for fun) growing one indoors this winter with a grow light.

Okay folks… I just thought that I would share the delish with you. Harvest is always such a nice time!

How’s your harvest going?


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64 Comments

  1. Congrats on a bumper crop of peppers. Mine are doing well and have really taken off in the past week. This summer we had a lot of rain followed the next day with overcast skies which created fungus and mold issues on our tomatoes, squash and zucchini .

    We were able to can about half of what we did last year but I did have a great amount of cucumbers which we made pickles and canned around 30 quart jars of green beans. My collards, cabbage, lettuce, spinach and carrots are up and running for the Fall garden.

  2. Nice crop, Ken. Your tomato plants look very healthy!
    Have you seen people uproot their plants to hang them upside-down before frost? It enables fresh tomatoes for a few more months!

    Remember that tomatoes need lots of sun AND the heat, so if you want to grow them indoors you will be battling against the short days/long nights. Depending on the grow light you choose, you can get supplemental heat (and maybe a bigger electric bill — or will you use your solar system for the light?).

    Glad you’re having a bumper crop of peppers. Ours are growing and we have peppers, but not nearly as much as other years. It’s the only crop that we haven’t had enormous crops from this year, so no complaints.

    Don’t forget to save some of those Brandywine seeds!

      1. Love that idea. Some days I like my chickens more than the kids (kidding) (maybe not) :-)
        DW rescued 4 older Isa Browns from a hoarding situation and they’ve been quarantined for almost 3 weeks as I was terrified they might infect my flock with something. This weekend I’ll be introducing them to the rest and seeing how that goes. Getting almost a dozen eggs a day now. Might put together a document/post detailing my Spicy Pickled Ghost egg recipe/process.

        1. Isa Browns are a hoot to watch. Mine love to be around people. So curious. I’m getting 6 eggs a day – though the 7th should start soon I hope!

        2. Oh they are. The treats I give are the Meal worms I pick up at TS. When I walk into the yard and yell Chick Chick… They come running…..Found something new this weekend. I took a small watermelon, cut it in half and put it on the ground. They all circled it and pecked away. Someone told me chickens love watermelon, but to watch them in action is a hoot. By the end of the day there was only rind left. We have the Isa’s, a couple of another breed, and two little Silkie’s. The little ones follow the rooster around non stop. They’re pretty funny to watch. Watching the rooster stalk the ladies and do his dance before mounting is even funnier.

          To be honest, my chickens are what have kept me sane since we started raising them back in March.

        3. Double Tap, The chickens love pumpkin too… I often cook extra treats for my chickens.. I make cornbread with extra corn meal and add a few eggs…can throw a handfull of wheat in it, or rice if needed… I also add a handful of DE to cooked foods.. it de worms them… helps keep the eggs clean… There are also some herbs they like among those are oregano, and the mints.. i crumble those dry and put in ..

      2. Kula, we have 3 month old New Hampshires (1 is a rooster and he’s found his crow). This is a ‘new’ group of layers for us. We were going to sell a few but decided to keep them all with the food shortage issues. Our extras can feed our dogs.

        We revamped the entire chicken facility this season, before these young ones were released into their new yard. Hubby replaced the roof on the chicken house, then he tore all of the old fencing out and made a chicken aviary that’s predator proof. We lost a few too many to raccoons in the past years so it was time to improve the chicken yard. The wire goes below the ground, w/ pressure-treated fence-base all around, and totally wired on sides and top. The new gate fits snug and has a heavy wooden perimeter around it. They even have a couple of outdoor roosts in this chicken yard. lol

        Chickens are great scrounges and imo, they’re second in line to pigs as the clean-up crew. They soon learn that when they see you coming, they run to meet you because of the treats you have. LOL

        We tote a compost pail filled with food scraps, and they’ll run to us. They also eat many weeds and garden debris, too. They go crazy over bugs — they love Jap Beetle grubs. Mmmm…. Ours are enjoying squash, cucs, and tomato bits these days. They love kale and other greens and stems, too.

        Don’t forget to forage for the chickweed — they love it.

      3. My baby Americauna chickens are now a month old and getting big! Looking forward to blue and green eggs from them in about 5 months. In the meantime, I enjoy watching their crazy antics!

  3. Nice Ken,,,
    Looks like a good harvest,
    I havent really been paying attention to the garden, but it still is producing, just a bit more weedy and buggy than most folks would like, but i dont mind it so much, been getting tomatoes and peppers steady, maybe not as big as they could be but hey, i really havent touched them since i planted,,,
    Cabbage is pretty amazing, huge difference in flavor from my purple cabbage to the green. Is time to dig through the garden and do a good weeding and cleanup

  4. Here is yet another Tomato Catsup recipe. This is a very old one. Types of catsups were used in the days before refrigeration because meat could have an off flavor. Heinz began his empire with his idea of the famous catsup we all know.

    8 quarts tomatoes
    2 cups vinegar, white, never used apple
    1 1/2 cups sugar
    4 tablespoon salt, could use less if needed
    1/2 tsp cinnamon
    1/2 tsp cloves
    1/2 tsp allspice
    1 cup grated onion
    1 cup green sweet pepper
    1/2 pod hot pepper or to taste, take pepper out when done

    Peel the tomatoes, cut in smaller pieces, put all in a preferably stainless pot, bring to boil then cut heat back to simmer and cook down to 1/2. Towards the end watch and stir often as it might burn. Process like any tomato product in water bath with clean jars.
    This catsup is more of a type of relish rather than like a bottled catsup. It is tangy, spicy, sweet and is good on beans, eggs and meat or whatever you like!

  5. Garden has done very well considering the extreme heat we have had this year.

    I’m still having problems with Tomato Virus, maybe next year I’ll do some containers on the porch away from all things to do with the current Garden, mainly tools and the like that can spread the T-Virus.

    Root crops are going absolutely NUTS, Beets literally 5-7” Dia. and no core problems at all. Carrots are monsters as are the Parsnips and Turnips

    Peppers, now we have a discussion going on, I have 6 different types and degrees of “Hot”, from Bell to Thai Dragon.
    A suggestion, I Dehydrate Peppers, and use in soups and stews. Flavor is fantastic. And don’t take valuable freezer room.

    Leaf produce is also going great, Swiss Chard, Spinach, Beet Greens, Turnip Greens, all get dehydrated also, Winter Soups with a mess of Greens is out of this world.

    Armenian Cucumbers are the absolutely best there are, Fresh, Pickled, Marinated with Tomatoes and Onions, don’t matter…. ALL good.

    A hint for Ken, and Grow Lights. There are new LED Grow Lights available, supper cheap and very “Plant” orientated as for as the ‘Light’ they give off.
    I have grown Tomatoes inside during winter at a former home, they do well… I don’t care if ya get small tomatoes or just a few, ANYTHING is better that a POS Store bought tomato.
    Hint, pull a large “Sucker” from one of your current Tomatoes, Root it in a little Root Stimulator and water for a couple of weeks, than plant in a HUGE container.

  6. Wow, Ken, nice veggies! Your tomato plants look so healthy. Brandywine is one of my favorite varieties, though they’re a bit picky for growing conditions here.

    Before we get a good frost, I sometimes pull my pepper plants and hang them in our 50-60F basement. Peppers that are mature enough will ripen gradually on the plant and can then be processed. Tomatoes that are large enough and have started to change to lighter green will ripen on the shelf, too, off the plant. We’ve had fresh ripened tomatoes in December that way.

    Thanks for the inspiration!

    1. Farmgirl:
      Green Tomato Relish, and ChowChow are a good way to also use up those unripened Tomatoes.

      Curious, what Brand of Tomatoes do you grow? I’m looking for something that will take a very abusive climate, HOT and dry, average 15% humidity and 7″ of rain… A YEAR HAHAHAHA

      1. NRP & Blue – My climate is very different from yours, lol. It can get hot, but it’s humid. 15%?!!! And then it can get cold. This week we’re seeing temps in the upper 40’s at night. My neighbor’s coming over for some row cover to comfort her tomato plants.

        I grow open-pollinated stuff, lots of different kinds since I trial some for next year’s greenhouse seedling sales. Too many to list here. One that might do well for you is Arkansas Traveler, it’s really heat tolerant, fairly drought tolerant, and seems to take just about everything that gets thrown at it. Ozark Pink is supposed to be good, but I haven’t tried that.

        My favorites big slicers for here are Tiffen Mennonite, Cherokee Purple, and Pruden’s Purple. You might give Pruden’s Purple a try. The flavor is right up there with Brandywine, and it’s early for a large slicer at 72 days. Fruits are slightly ribbed avg 1#, though I’ve gotten larger, and it’s a deep pink contrary to it’s name. The reason I suggest it is you can get it planted early and harvest before the searing heat kicks in. Something to try. Yellow Pear might work, too, for a cherry type. Really sweet flavor and very prolific. You’re gonna have to water them though, or just switch over to cactus pickles or something, lol.

        1. Wow, thats a big tomato!
          We have high humidity too,
          Have been wanting to build a drying loft into part of my shop, a good place to dry peppers and onions and such, right now the high ceiling is just wasted space. I worry about it being too warm though.

      2. Punta Banda (Ensenada, Baja) and Flamenco will take the AZ dry heat. They keep setting and are not prone to cracking or disease. The leaves are small and feathery, so handle the heat better. I have 2 Punta Banda in a 15 gal sack. I pick a dozen every 2 or 3 days. It’s Sept and it’s still setting. 110 during the day and 60 at night. Monsoons now and they really like the humidity. Puntas are about the size of ping pong balls. The Flamenco has the same characteristics but is slightly larger and grows well with partial shade. The Puntas are in the sun. I drip irrigate 16 raised beds and 20, 15 gallon grow sacks. My raised beds have 40% shade cloth on pvc hoops. Only way to survive the summers. My slicer tomatoes are under shade cloth. I’ve had success with Black Krim, Robeson, Cherokee Purple, Mortgage Lifters, Chocolate Pear, Romas. They like 40% shade and drip irrig 3 times a day.

      3. nrp
        I think you are a little hotter than we are down here, but it was awfully hot here. A tip on a great tomato for here is Oregon Spring. It always produces and if the plant gets a disease, it will keep alive until the last tomato turns green. It is open pollinated and if you save the seeds the plant adapts to your climate. I grow it every year. Two others are Beaverlodge plum and Beaverlodge slicer. There are more tomatoes on both than leaves!

      4. We had good luck with our peppers and tomatoes this season. Red onions are getting big. Limas and yardlong beans went crazy.
        The okra is struggling though.
        They usually do well in warm weather. Im wondering if the UV is contributing. I think Lauren was mentioning that.
        Growing our leaf veggies inside hydroponically Along with cilantro. The Cilantro bolted right away that was planted outside.
        Cucumbers doing good as are the squash. Growing some Asian squash types this time.Took alot longer to get them to set fruit.
        its been an interesting growing season.
        Started with whole packets of seeds not germinating and lower than expected germination percentages with others.
        Never a dull moment…

      5. NRP
        I am not sure about tomatoes but one thing I know of that dies well in that harsh climate are rocks. It seems like they multiply like crazy in that kind of climate.

    2. Nice tip Farmgirl about the pulling and hanging your peppers! Early frosts are just part and parcel of us northern gardeners.

      1. NH Michael – Especially the sneaky ones the weather forecasters miss! I dry my cayennes that way every year because it’s such a timesaver during peak harvest time. Sometimes I forget about them until January, but they’re still hanging there all nicely dried.

  7. Should add about the peppers, the hanging plant strategy works best with the thinner walled peppers – Jimmy Nardellos, cayenne, habanero, etc… – but I have tried it with bells that are starting to turn, and it works if the room is cool enough.

  8. BTW, here is a recipe I use for Salsa.
    Yes I cheat and use a Spice MIx…
    BUT!!!! let me tell ya this stuff is GOOD!!!

    Approx. 8 to 10 pounds of ripe tomatoes
    10 to 15 Jalapenos depending on size of Peppers
    5-7 Large Cloves of Garlic
    1 Bunch of Cilantro
    1 HUGE Onion
    1/2 Cup White Vinegar
    1 package of Mrs. Wages per batch, I like the HOT but Medium is good

    Clean 12-14 pint jars as normal, put lids in warm (not boiling) water
    Pre-heat water-bath water till very warm, not HOT, you don’t want to break the jars with Temp Change

    Prep tomatoes in Hot water bath, remove skins and stem cores,
    Chop in LARGE chunks do NOT cut to small

    Dice everything else, again not to fine, this is not soup

    Dump everything except Vinegar and Mrs. Wages in large pot

    Bring to boil and cook for 10 minutes.

    At 1/2 way point of boil add Mrs. Wages mix

    Add Vinegar at end of boil, make sure to stir well

    Fill pints with hot mixture to 1/2 inch of top, add Lids/Rings, do not over-tighten Rings

    Hot water process 20 minutes for pints, I do not use quarts at all for Salsa

    Let sit for at very least 1 month, I have some 2-3 years old…. YUMMMMM

    I usually do a double or triple batch and use one Hot and one Medium Mrs. Wages

  9. AWESOME!
    Try a sweet/spicy treat called “cowboy candy” or candied jalapeños. Soooooo good.
    Our greenhouse was a huge success. 10’x20’ can produce a lot of tomatoes and peppers in an otherwise challenging environment. After picking ripe tomatoes this afternoon I think we’ll be well over 60 pounds so far this season.

    1. AZoffgrid:
      Cowboy Candy on a Ritz Cracker with a dab of Cream Cheese…..
      OHHHHHH yeah.
      A little to spicy for Ole Blue though… hehehehe

    1. Cant beat a good BLT,,
      Lots o mayo, good layer of bacon, and nice thin sliced tomatos,,,
      Hmmm
      Think i know whats for lunch!

    2. Lol, I saw the pic of the sliced tomato, picked one out of the garden (a Brandywine, by the way), and made a tomato sandwich for lunch…your recipe.

  13. Ken, garden plants look great! Hasn’t been my best garden year, tho adequate. Putting up and canning a lot of food here. Freezers are full, and filling the last of my canning jars. Whew! Haven’t commented much lately, but been reading along when I can. We have been so busy getting tons of projects done here before winter – and the election. Lumber is more available now, and the grocery stores have more on the shelves mainly from local farms. Good to see that.
    As far was freezing peppers, we slice some and then dice some for chili and such. So convenient to pull them right out of the freezer and dump into something delicious!!!

  14. Squash is FINALLY coming on, but the new varieties are all small when ripe. Pumpkins ripening. Sweet potatoes are blooming but I haven’t seen seeds yet. Tomatoes are taking their time, but coming on a few at a time (which is OK, since my brother’s family won’t eat them! WHAT!!!?) and peppers starting.

    One cucumber survived the summer but only male blossoms so far. It’s in the greenhouse, so it should still have a few months unless we get a weird September freeze like last year.

    1. Our squash did really good, need to gather them but looks like there are around 60-70
      Are an orange kabocha, pretty good size too, going to cut them up, blanch and freeze,,,
      😎🤙🏻

  15. Your garden looks great. We are having a great harvest. No bugs this year but extremely large garden spiders. Summer squash has fed us and neighbors, canned 35 jars of green beans out of a 4×8 bed. Broccoli and cauliflower and cukes are finally coming now that the weather is cooler. Tomatoes are overdoing themselves. Pickled my first beets, they are great. Winter squash is going to keep us going for a while. I did something different this spring. I put a slice of tomato in a pot and covered it with about 1-2 inches of dirt. I kept 2 of the plants and gave away 20+. And the plants have large beautiful tomatoes growing. I grew 4 bell pepper plants but 3 came up chilie and 1 was bell. Not sure how that happened as they came out of a bell seed packet. They must have known they were in NM and made chilies instead!

  17. I believe that a thick slice of tomato reaches perfection on a meatloaf sandwich. Day old chilled meatloaf is best, bread toasted.

    1. Anony Mee — oh yes! We do that. And I make my meatloaf with my homemade ketchup, so it’s extra tomato-rich with a touch of that sweetness. We also use cheese and we broil our meatloaf sandwiches. Only 9:30 here and now I’m hungry for lunch. LOL

      Today is another pickle-making and relish-making day. So much garden food!

  18. For us, it’s been a good year for growing potatoes (red, Pontiac, and Yukon gold) and green beans. (Pole beans, but the bush beans did poorly). I usually have a lot of zucchini and pumpkins, but the only squash I got this year is crook neck and a few zucchini, small spaghetti squash, and nary a single pumpkin. My corn crop had smaller and fewer ears than normal, but I had really nice beets and the carrots are doing well. My tomato plants are loaded with green tomatoes and I always pray that September will be our Indian summer so I can have a good harvest of them. It’s been a good year for apples, plums, and pears here, as well as various berries. I’m using my dehydrator more this year and using our food sealer a lot. I made and canned pickled green beans and plum butter and whole blackberries for the first time. I also canned store bought cherries. With a Bartlett pear tree and a bosc pear tree, I’m hoping to can some including pear jam and dehydrate some. Dried pears are a favorite snack in our household. I just bought nectarines for canning today. At .88/lb. that price was as good as it’s going to get for our area. I’m also hoping to can some of our homegrown tomatoes. We eat our share and dehydrate some as well. Now I feel like I should get busy! A lot of work ahead. 😊

  19. Good to see the blessings from your garden. Also really good pics as usual.

    We still have a Jalapeno plant producing huge that we planted in March. We do like NRP does and dehydrate them, then vac seal.

    Today I am starting our Winter Garden, Butternut squash, beets, carrots, broccoli, garlic, and collard greens.

    The squash wasn’t planned for but I threw some bad ones in to the compost and a seed sprouted so I transplanted it and by God’s grace it already has flowers, WHO KNEW?

    If you are looking for a non “politically correct” social media site, check out Dan Bongino’s Parler.com

  21. The last couple of years I have had trouble with Blossom End Rot in my tomatoes. Tried egg shells in my compost, high calcium fertilizer. No luck

    This year the problem started again

    So I buried one Tums an inch or so down next to each stem. NO MORE BLOSSOM END ROT!

    I might have used too much, though. The skins seem a little thicker than normal. Next year i will try just a half a Tums next to each plant and see how that works.

    1. Daisy K
      Friend uses a baby aspirin next to the tap root when they plant them. When the plant starts to produce tomatoes he places another which will last the life cycle of the tomato. If you run out of Tums you have a back up for this issue.

    2. Tablespoon of Epsom salt and a partial banana peel under tomato plant when planting prevents blossom end rot. Done it for 30 yrs 50 plants a yr.Save banana peels in freezer they get slimy when thawed but still work.

  22. Ken,

    Great harvest! My favorite tomatoes have always been the heirloom Brandywine tomatoes! They are by far the most delicious tomatoes I have ever tasted. Every other variety pales in comparison, in my opinion.

  23. Awesome bounty, Ken! What did you use in your beds/do to get such a good crop of peppers and tomatoes?

    I have ordered seeds from Gary Ibsen at Tomatofest. He’s got 650 varieties of heirloom tomatoes to choose from and also type by climate. You can get a headache trying to figure out what you might like to try! There are some small varieties that might do well indoors over winter. Happy Leaf LED dot come has LED lights on timers, very nice people that try the Kratsky method of indoor gardening and will take your call to provide guidance on how to set up an indoor tomato plant.

    The super star plants for me that made it through insects, disease, and critters and produced heartily this year were beans, broccoli and cabbage. Recently made fermented sauerkraut with and without caraway seeds for the first time – my goodness! it is fantastic and it just sits on the counter ready to eat after a few days. Also made a terrific cabbage vegetable beef soup, cabbage/potato/chicken chowder, and some stuffed cabbage rolls. Cabbage is an underrated vegetable and once you develop a taste for it, you’ll use it for more than coleslaw or steamed with butter. If anyone has ideas on how to store cabbage heads for later use, I’d be interested to know if you could please post on open forum.

    1. @Rootbeer,

      What I did different this year for my peppers and tomatoes:

      1. Amended soil with generic fertilizer granules

      2. Paid close attention to watering. We had a VERY DRY summer so it was quite necessary to keep up on that. Tomatoes especially need regular watering – not too much, not too little.

      3. Tomato plant specific: Trimmed a lot more than past years. Made sure that ALL leaves & stems were well above the ground – high enough to greatly reduce water splash back from soil. Did a lot of pruning so they wouldn’t get too overgrown like a massive thick bush, which reduces light levels into the center. Therefore better air circulation in there (help avoiding blossom end rot).

      4. Mixed up solution of TUMS crushed in water for purpose of watering / adding calcium to soil. Mixed opinions on the internet about that.

      5. Mixed up a solution of one 325mg aspirin crushed in water. Sprayed onto leaves which creates an immune response to the tomato plants. Supposed to help ward off disease. That made an obvious difference — the leaves during the following days got real dark (healthy looking) green.

      With that said, we’re all at the mercy of the weather conditions. We had a warm summer here compared to normal. Tomatoes love warm.

  24. Your garden has been blessed, nice photo of the veggies. We grow the Brandywine and Mortgage Lifter tomatoes . They are both heirloom varities. We also grow green bell peppers and a yellow ,Hungarian Goat Horn sweet pepper, yum.

  25. I have to admit that I use onions on that level as well. It used to drive my family crazy. I’d cover a frozen pizza (my side at least) with thickly sliced white or red onion. Frozen peas? Add onion. Skillet full of SPAM and scrambled eggs? Add onion. Ribeyes, chicken, dove, venison, squirrel, fish? Onion beside it on the grill. My kids, when they were little found it strange, but as they’ve grown up they’ve heard my grandmother’s secret to a long, healthy life: “Eat an onion every day and be mean to the people that needs it.” She will be 99 on her birthday (Halloween!). Here’s hope that you reach the same.

  26. Q: I was growing rather fond of the countdown calendar on the main page. Mine has stopped working. Must be an add-on problem?

  27. Made a couple of quarts of sauerkraut with some garden cabbage, one with some carrots thrown in. Just had a sandwich wrap of grilled turkey thigh, lettuce, onion, cheese but wasn’t enough room for some tomatoes. Next time.

  28. Ken,
    Your Brandywine tomato’s, where did you get your original seed from? And are they determinate? They look like it in the picture.
    Want to try different tomato’s this year, tired of fighting with the ridiculous indeterminate vines

    1. Good question! Apparently the BrandyWine tomato comes in both determinate and indeterminate varieties. I don’t know which one I had. My season is so short, it doesn’t hardly matter… Although they did seem to keep on producing new flowers right up to the time Jack Frost put an end to it. Probably ‘Indeterminate’. Kept on going…

      Definitions for the curious:

      Determinate tomatoes are varieties that grow to a fixed mature size and ripen all their fruit in a short period (usually about two weeks). Once this first flush of fruit has ripened, the plant will begin to diminish in vigor and will set little to no new fruit.

      Indeterminate tomato varieties continue to set and ripen fruit throughout the growing season until frost kills the plants. They will give you a slow and steady supply of tomatoes, rather than one large harvest.

      1. Thanks Ken,
        Last year the tomato’s went nuts, vines were crazy long, tons of fruit, i stopped caring for them ata point because i got slammed with work and i didnt even water them, still got maters off the vine at Christmas. Crazy, total mess but crazy good production. I just want some nice neat contained plants this year, 16’ long vines are hard to deal with, johnnys has a nice one ithink ill try.

    1. They were New Ace F1 bell peppers. Seemed small/medium sized in general. They were prolific. I finally ran out of my freezer inventory over the winter, so have a lot of new starts (and one other kind – an open pollinated variety) waiting to go in the garden… I saved the seed of the New Ace variety from 2 years ago – from the best looking pepper. They sprouted perfectly and look great. We’ll see if they will produce well again this time around.

      1. KJ
        It will definitely be interesting to see if those peppers produce, and what exactly comes out of them, F1 hybrids are not always F1 hybrids, many times they are further down the line, IMHO it just doesnt make sense to keep having to cross the same parents to get a desired outcome, from what an acquaintance of mine told me about the hybrids they develop they will typically keep crossing the whole slew of parents and the offspring to get to a much easier to replicate result, it doesnt always work but from the standpoint of cost effective development it makes more sense.

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