The green and rolling countryside of Worcestershire, England, is home to the cider apple orchards which surround the gardens of Pear Tree Cottage. They enjoy a sunny south westerly aspect with sweeping views across to Martley Hillside, Woodbury and Abberley clock tower. The Teme Valley lies just over the hill and, not far away, is the Herefordshire border. Although our climate is temperate, our seasons are often uncertain and always a challenge to a gardener! This began in 2010 & follows the weekly ups and downs of garden work chronicling both successes and failures but, above all, demonstrates the fun enjoyed by three people who regularly garden in all weathers

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3 September 2016

Aga Dried -V- Sun Dried!

The first of the Apache's
Drying on the Aga
Here we have some Apache chilli peppers grown in the greenhouse which I am harvesting as they ripen and drying them on the Aga. Their rating on the Scoville scale is between 70,000 & 80,000 shu.  Now that's quite a lot of heat when you consider that a Jalapeno has a rating of a mere 10 - 20,000 shu.  Of course there are far hotter varieties and at the the other and hottest end of the scale is the Carolina Reaper which weighs in at a hefty 1,569,300 shu! When fresh, Apache's are rich in vitamin C and antioxidants.  They also make ideal decorations when dried, threaded and hung up.  I might eventually get around to alternating some with Bay leaves and hanging them in the kitchen with the odd one finding its way into a beef chilli on a cold winter's evening!

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