30/

Biquinho (chinense)

This is a famous pepper in Brazil. They’re supposed to be sweet like candy with mild heat and are often pickled. My red ones were a casualty of cross pollination and turned out to be blazingly hot and tasted like battery acid. The salmao were fine.

Fresh: sweetish, slightly berry (like candy raspberry) with mild chinense flavor, lower heat than jalapeño.

Dried: tastes like sweetish orange peel and chinense flavor disappears in drying process…

28/

Ají panca (chinense)

Staple pepper in Peruvian cooking.

Fresh: cucumber, lettuce. It begins to dry on the plant and can air dry at room temp. No chinense flavor.

Dried: best tasting dried, it’s sort of reminds me of tamarind-date chutney if you take away 99% of the tartness. After taste of cucumber water. Almost heatless, warm, not biting.

Cultivation: very tall plant, needs staking, doesn’t produce a lot, and is very cold sensitive…

26/

Ají jobito

Not sure if this is a true jobito bc other seeds in the pack grew to be red scotch bonnets. The man who originally exported them from Venezuela in a fundraiser (2015) described them as fruity, intensely flavored with some heat. I started these rather late and the peppers matured in the fall so it’s also possible cool weather affected their taste.

Fresh: sweetish, almond-y, very faint mushroom/cooked squash aroma. Barely noticeable chinense flavor is isolated in the placenta…

24/

Ají habanero (baccatum)

Fresh: not a lot of flavor, jalapeño level heat, sweetish and smoky. The pepper walls are thin and tough. They are not good for fresh eating. They are much better as a dried/powdered ingredient.

Dried: phenomenal dried. Earthy, smoky sweet apricot. It taste kinda like saffron and can be used as a saffron substitute. I store these separately just for this reason. Jalapeño heat.

32/

Cheiro do Norte (chinense)

Fresh: Sweetish, mild chinense, slightly cooked summer squash flavor, less heat than jalapeño.

Dried: tastes best dried, chinense flavor disappears. The drying process gives it a pleasant crispy texture like a potato chip and is nicely snackable, like a chili-seasoned, apricot-y, sweetish potato chip. And unlike potato chips, it’s satisfying after a few slices.

Cultivation: compact, chubby, fairly early flowering, produces well. Cold sensitive.

This deeply resonated with me. Thank you for sharing.

It reminded me of this interview with Jillian Johnsrud and her description of burnout as a biological protection mechanism to escape bad situations.

moneywithkatie.com/the_mwk_sho…

Jillian also referenced the Old Testament concept of a taking a year of rest every 7 years (sabbatical year), as a mega version of taking every 7th day of work off (sabbath day).

gotquestions.org/sabbatical-ye…