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What pods can you buy at your local markets?

"Chile guero caldro?"  That's a new one, to me.  I could live with that selection, I guess, but I'd have to grow to supplement it.
 
I just want to add to the moldy pepper discussion above that I've found the pods packed in styro dishes with the shrink wrap, that packaging method really seems to decrease the shelf life.  I'll buy them that way, but i really inspect them pretty closely to make sure they look ok.  The cheap produce spots by me, they sell 1lb bags of pods, and those seem to really hold up better, i guess b/c they're looser?  There's always a few beat up and/or gross ones in the bag, but most of'm tend to look pretty good. 
 
When I buy bonnets at the Trenton Farmer's Market, they have them in little baskets, which they dump into a baggie once you choose one.  They have big containers full of the bonnets behind the table, and they replenish the emptied baskets from that.  Most often, they have green pods mixed in with the yellow, but i just ask for an all-yellow sack, and then i tip the kid a few bucks as the "PITA tax"... I just prefer the taste of the ripe ones, plus i was collecting seeds last year.  The seeds i saved from Trenton all did so well for me, if they end up growing true to type, I'll be saving seeds from Trenton pods again this season.
 
I wonder if they got pods up there yet?
 
Wasatch said:
The only hot peppers I see around here are seranos, jalepenos, habaneros.
 
We have all of those, plus habaneros (usual;ly orange, sometimes red), "long hot" types are EVERYwhere; Subzi Mandi (the Indian/Pakistan grocery) has green chiles of unknown exact type, usually graded into 2 or 3 pod sizes.   I bought'm once; not very hot, but hot is about the only flavour they seem to have going on.  The selection at the Far East type markets seems to be more variable.  The pods sold as "Jamaican hot Peppers) (with varying typos) are different week to week.  Always a chinense type, but sometimes they are big, other times little.... sometimes hab or congo style, other times they're pretty nice bonnets.  Colours vary widely, even within the same package, you might find green, yellow, orange, and red pods, sometimes very different phenos are represented, too.  We see Fresnos, Anaheims, Hungarian Wax (often), cubanelle frying peppers, sometimes bonnets at the mainstream groceries, aji dulce at the mercado occasionally (always unripe).  Cherry peppers are common, as are Poblanos. The cutesy little "lunchbox" peppers are always to be found at the mainstream groceries; i've never even tried'm, b/c my gut instinct tells me that i oughta avoid them. I have got to find time (maybe this weekend) to check out the African markets that opened up recently.  They might have something cool, even if it's just dried pods...  The dried pods available from various spots in my area seems pretty good, but the prices can get weird, and labels are often pretty dubious in terms of what you're actually getting...  
 
Bicycle808 said:
When I buy bonnets at the Trenton Farmer's Market, i just ask for an all-yellow sack, and then i tip the kid a few bucks as the "PITA tax"...
How often do you go there, and what do they whack you per pound?

I might have to get your address one of these days and mail you some cash to do some long distance grocery shopping for me ;) TFM Bonnets are my favorite peppers

I'll throw in some goodies to make it worth your while :)
 
MikeUSMC said:
How often do you go there, and what do they whack you per pound?

I might have to get your address one of these days and mail you some cash to do some long distance grocery shopping for me ;) TFM Bonnets are my favorite peppers

I'll throw in some goodies to make it worth your while :)
 
I'd NEVER been there until i read about TFMs online last year, and figured i'd go to the source.  Turns out, they share a parking lot with a dairy called Halo Farms, that i'd been to a bunch of times (really good, really cheap ice cream, a lot of other cool products they make there and sell cheap...)  so, last year, I was going like twice/month during pepper season.
 
I haven't been there yet this year, but i'm going to go soon to see if they're stocking peppers yet.  I'll likely go often once they got'm available; the TFM sells incredibly good pierogies and other Polish specialties, some other good chile peppers and assorted produce, and then getting milk, ice cream, and OJ at Halo Farms turns the whole thing into a nice little day trip.  We hit up Princeton for an early lunch, a trip to the famous Princeton Record Exchange, etc and then stop at Trenton on the way back.  (But there were plenty of Saturday mornings where I drove straight to Trenton to buy Bonnets and came right back, before my wife was even really awake.... she sleeps in weekends.)
 
According to their website, they ought to have peppers in-stock right around now: http://www.thetrentonfarmersmarket.com/
I'm kinda jammed-up this weekend, but i'll try to swing out there next week and see what's up with pods....
 
 
I think they sell the little basket, which is closer to 0.75 lbs, for $3?  I think?  Can't recall, but it seemed STUPID cheap.  They taste incredibly good; phenos vary a bit but each basket has a couple of 95% perfect pods, and the rest are a bit weird shaped.  They all have that classic SB flavour, though.
 
If you need seeds, i think i still have some from last year.  If you're thinking fresh pods, I would gladly facillitate that if you want a SFRB of'm. 
 
Bicycle808 said:
If you need seeds, i think i still have some from last year.  If you're thinking fresh pods, I would gladly facillitate that if you want a SFRB of'm. 
You da man! I've got seeds, and TFM plants growing right now, but thank you! I grew them for the first time last year, and fell in love, haha

SFRBs are more what I'd be interested in. That'll free up some garden space for me to grow some other stuff I want to try, ya know? Anyway, it was just a thought (and I don't wanna jam up this thread), let me know if you're headed that way in a couple months (via PM), and hopefully we can work something out

Thanks, brother!
:party:
 
MikeUSMC said:
You da man! I've got seeds, and TFM plants growing right now, but thank you! I grew them for the first time last year, and fell in love, haha

SFRBs are more what I'd be interested in. That'll free up some garden space for me to grow some other stuff I want to try, ya know? Anyway, it was just a thought (and I don't wanna jam up this thread), let me know if you're headed that way in a couple months (via PM), and hopefully we can work something out

Thanks, brother!
:party:
 
Gotcha; PM coming your way soon.
 
If anyone else is interested, shoot me a PM.  Once I send a box or 2 to MikeUSMC, i'll know more about the logistics....
 
Bicycle808 said:
I'm gonna try to compile some pics.... I thought i had it pretty good, but some of you seem to have things really nice.  I just feel blessed that i got like a 4 minute drive to get excellent, very fresh bonnets for cheap.  Of course, that's seasonal, but for all i know, they got'm back in-stock now....
 
Howdy neighbor! I'm in Cherry Hill and haven't found many good places, other than Shoprite, that stock various peppers. What am I missing? Who else has a good selection? (besides my freezer...)
 
passleft said:
 
Howdy neighbor! I'm in Cherry Hill and haven't found many good places, other than Shoprite, that stock various peppers. What am I missing? Who else has a good selection? (besides my freezer...)
 
I realize now that i'd typed "4" minutes to awesome fresh bonnets, but i must've missed the "0" key; i'm forty minutes (or so) from the TFM...
 
Best spot for dried pods and cheap 1lb bags of fresh pods is probably Tony Diamond's in Camden. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tony-Diamond-Farm-Markets/163802343639117
Sometimes they got interesting shit in (aji dulce, stuff like that) but usually, it's the usual suspects (jalas, serranos, poblanos, habs, bellz, etc), just really cheap... They got all the usual dried Mexican-type pods too, for dirt cheap..
 
I work in Cherry Hill; from what i learned on this thread, we don't have the best selection, but it could be a far sight worse...
 
 
The_NorthEast_ChileMan said:
 
You could start with asian markets?
 
Those will both have more esoteric chiles; the Asian Food Market at Barclay won't be nearly as fresh as the H-Mart at Danzeisen & Quigley Plaza

but they may have more options...

that place is pretty variable.  Subzi Mandi at Barclay has the frutescens types for cheap.  I guess that's what they are;

i never buy the things but they're fresh and cheap..  I get jalas there a lot, b/c i tend to go there for fresh gnger root, cheap spices, neem oil, etc...
 
If you're into SBs and you haven't hit up the TFM yet, i'd suggest making the trip.  Just try to time it right and plan on doing other stuff in the Trenton/Princeton/New Hope area at the same time, to make it more worthwhile
 
 
If you're into SBs and you haven't hit up the TFM yet, i'd suggest making the trip.  Just try to time it right and plan on doing other stuff in the Trenton/Princeton/New Hope area at the same time, to make it more worthwhile

 
 
What do SB & TFM mean? (at least on here... cause on other websites they probably have other meanings... :rolleyes: )
 
Slug said:
 
Scotch Bonnet and Trenton Farmer's Market.
 
You need scotch bonnets.  Everybody needs scotch bonnets...
 
yes, Scotch Bonnets. and yes we need them .
 
So funny, I used to live near Trenton Farmers Market and drove past it everyday to get to work. I didn't shop there with any frequency; I may need to go again. I've been going to CFM Collingswood Farmers Market and haven't seen many peppers, although it's still early, and I did get 2 plants there - a fish pepper and pasilllo.
 
passleft said:
 
yes, Scotch Bonnets. and yes we need them .
 
So funny, I used to live near Trenton Farmers Market and drove past it everyday to get to work. I didn't shop there with any frequency; I may need to go again. I've been going to CFM Collingswood Farmers Market and haven't seen many peppers, although it's still early, and I did get 2 plants there - a fish pepper and pasilllo.
Colls FM suks for peppers, but sometimes Julie from OurYards has some pods.  I had better luck at the Westmont Farmer's Market (Wednesday evenings) but it's been a minute, for me.  But the one dude had plenty of mild type pods on his truck for dirt cheap....
 
A local super market chain sometimes has ghost and reapers. It's a brand called "Melissa's". They are shipped over from Holland.
 
FITN said:
It's a brand called "Melissa's".
I tried doing some fresh Manzano shopping online a few months ago, and found a website called Melissa's (or something close to that?). I think they were located in California. They quoted me at ONE HUNDRED F--KING DOLLARS for a 5lb box of fresh Manzanos, shipped to Connecticut

:givingMelissa'sthemiddlefinger:
 
I'm mighty jealous of all of you. All we've got are malaguetas, piri-piri and padrons. Sad story.

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