Chillies, Fire of Prairie, taste and wellness - Guide to the harvest

Hi dear Steemians,

A few days ago I gathered my chiles and I took some pictures to show you my technique to harvesting and conservation.

In the last years I have dedicated myself to the cultivation of plants with beneficial and healing properties. Among them, I love the chillies for their infinite properties and their varied use in the kitchen.

FIRE OF PRAIRIE

I chose this chili pepper for some aspects:

First, the spiciness that varies between 100,000 and 200,000 Scoville units (a measuring scale of hotness which varies from 0 to 16,000,000 for the pure capsaicin), that gives them a marked but not excessive spiciness.

Second, It is an extremely resistant plant growing like bush with a thick branching. It doesn't need much water, you can wait until the ground becomes dry before giving it to drink and doesn't suffer.

Third, it produces so many small chillies of 2-3 centimeters, that ripen throughout the all warm period, so you'll have them always fresh. As you can see from the next the photos, after having cut them all, my plant is blooming again and presents some new chillies.

Fourth, Its appearance is very beautiful with its spherical shape and the many bright green leaves with these red and yellow fruits that make a nice contrast. It is often also used as an ornamental plant, in fact I also hold it over a wooden barrel near the entrance door. For its small size it also fits well into the balconies, but is neccesary that It spend a lot of time with the direct sunlight.

THE GUIDE TO HARVEST

Chillies are ripe when they become red intensely and start to shrivel. Use a small scissor and cut the chili stem at about 1 centimeter without damaging the leaves, which guarantees better conservation. Always use scissors, because if you tear them with your hands you will damage the plant.

During the shots I received some visits :)

My favorite, except my face :)

CONSERVATION

Let's go back to us, now we take needle and thread and insert one by one the chillies, sticking them by the stem. Once you've put them all, Cut off the superfluous thread and make a knot. Keep the chillies in an airy place and wait for them to be dry. I put them on the handle of the kitchen window, they are also beautiful to see. When they are dry, put them in a closed container, and stored it in the dark.

Still visits :)

This isn't the only way to preserve the peppers, you can put them in oil, freeze or pickle.

You can also make spicy oil:

Take 5-6 chillies, cut in half and put in a bottle full of oil. Leave them inside for a month and then remove the chillies by filtering the oil.

This step is very important, do not forget, because by cutting them they disperse their properties in the oil but they also begin to decompose making it TOXIC in the long run, I recommend after 1 month maximum 2 to remove them.

More chillies will be used and more oil will be spicy, I think 5-6 are enough to make it spicy but not too much.

If you like it, upvote and follow me for more posts.

Thanks @stea90