Chile Peppers at Hutchinson Farm Wahoo! Photo: Chile de Arbol, David MacTavish, Hutchinson Farm, Burlington, ON, August 20 2010 Grown at Hutchinson Farm since the 1990's. Available late July to early October.

If you love fresh hot peppers, the best advice we can give you is to buy your peppers from someone who loves them too. At Hutchinson farm, we know chiles, we love chiles, and we grow them hot.

Just how hot is it? The answer is, it depends!
I may find something extremely hot, that a real chile-head finds only mildly spicy. Or, a sauce that may be a little bit spicy to me, has enough heat to kill my mother!

Use Scoville Heat Units as your heat guage:
0 = sweet pepper
< 2,000: some heat, way too hot for my mother
2,000 - 4,000: a mild Jalapeño, nice and spicy for me, no heat to a chile-head
4,000 - 8,000: A real hot Jalapeño
8,000 - 20,000: too hot for me, chile-head heaven
20,000 - 500,000: proceed with caution

• In season
  Late July to early September.
  
  
• Purchasing tips
  Look for peppers that are firm and heavy for their size. For jalapeños, the more cracks, the hotter!
  
  
• Storing at home
  Keep peppers in the refrigerator.
  
  
• Cultivars
  See chart below
  
  
• Preserve
  Chop and freeze large chiles, jalapeños or smaller may be frozen whole.
  
  
• Classic Recipe
  Salsa
  
  
• Favourite Recipes
  recipes to come, please share yours!
  

Capsicum annum
This, the most common family of hot peppers, originating in Mexico, it includes Jalapeños, Serranos, Poblanos, etc. Heat is mild to very hot.

pics coming soon later this season	Don Matias	Poblano, green, 6" x 3" Scoville: 2,000-4,000 Very large ancho pepper with a very dark green color. This variety is a true large Mexican-type for chili rellenos.
	Chichimeca	Jalapeño, green to red, 3.75" x 1.5" Scoville: 3,300 Another Jalapeño
	El Jefe	Jalapeño, green to red, 4" x 1.5" Scoville: 4,000-6,000 Another Jalapeño
	El Rey	Jalapeño, green to red, 3" x 1.25" Scoville: 2,500-4,500 Our standard Jalapeño, "The King"
	Camino Réal	Serrano, green to red, 3" x 0.5" Scoville: 7,000 Serranos are a classic Mexican chile, lots of heat and small seeds so you can use the whole chile without de-seeding.
	Joes’ Long Cayenne	Cayenne, green to red, 8-12" x 0.5-0.75" Scoville: 20,000 - 50,000 An extra long Cayanne, great used fresh or dry. A Seed Saver's Exchange release, originating in the Italian community of Toronto.
	Fish	Green, yellow, red, with unique stripes, 3" x 1" Scoville: 45,000 - 75,000 Nineteenth century African American heirloom first offered by William Woys Weaver in the 1995 SSE Yearbook. Weaver’s grandfather received the seeds in the 1940s from Horace Pippin of West Chester, Pennsylvania.  Traditionally used in oyster and crab houses around Chesapeake Bay. The two-foot tall plants have beautiful variegated foliage.
	Rio de Oro	Santa Fe type, gold to red, 3.5" x 2" Scoville: 700 A mild hot pepper with thick flesh, conical shape. When chopping, leave the ribbing, or you will cut away all the heat. New for 2012. Note: our resident chile-head rates this as hotter than the labeled 700 SHU...closer to a milder jalapeño!
	Super Hungarian Hot	Hot Banana, light green - yellow - red, 8" x 2" Scoville: 6000 A classic hungarian hot.
	Chile de Arbol	Chile de Arbol, green to red, 2.5" x .25" Scoville: 15,000-30,000 A hot Mexican chile, often dried. Means "Tree Chile"

Capsicum chinense
The hottest family of peppers, including the common Habaneros, Scotch Bonnets, and the infamous But Jolokia. If you are not familiar with these peppers, proceed with extreme caution. One of these peppers is as hot as 50 Jalapeños. Be careful when cutting them, keep fingers away from eyes and other body parts, and add with caution to your dishes.

	Fatalii	Capsicum chinense, yellow-orange, 2.5-3.5" x .75-1.5" Scoville: 125,000-325,000 From central Africa, this pepper is like a large Habanero. It even has it's very own website: fatalii.net
pics coming soon later this season	Habanero	Capsicum chinense, orange, 1-2" x .75" Scoville: 100,000-300,000 Insane heat. If not familiar with these peppers, proceed with extreme caution. If you can get past the heat, habaeros have a delightful citrusy-floral flavour.
	Habanero Mustard	Capsicum chinense, light green - orange, 1-2" x .75" Scoville: 100,000-300,000 This uniquely colored habanero showed up as an off-type in the garden of SSE member James Weaver of Kutztown, Pennsylvania.
	Habanero Red	Capsicum chinense, green - red, 1-2" x .75" Scoville: 100,000-300,000(aka Lucifer’s Dream) Caribbean favorite many times hotter than the jalapeño. Three-foot tall plants produce enormous yields of small rippled peppers with a characteristic fruity flavor and aroma.

Capsicum baccatum
A bell shaped pepper, commonly associated with Peruvian cuisine

pics coming soon later this season

Nepalese Bell

Capsicum baccatum, green - orange - red, 1-2" x 3-4" Scoville: 100,000-300,000 Also called "Christmas Bell", this is a Seed Savers Exchange release. The seed was originally obtained from a Nepalese student. The pepper is sweet around the outer edges, hot in the center.