NuMex Heritage 6-4
 

Photo of my Numex Heritage 6-4 today, 6/13/2010. Just released a few months ago form NMSU Chile Pepper Institute. Just starting to set fruit.

[url]http://newscenter.nmsu.edu/news/article/?action=show&id=4678[/url]

Hey Michael,

Those are good looking NuMex Heritage 6-4 Pepper Plants!:yes:

Mine, from the seeds you sent me are doing fine - - but far behind yours. Flowering now, but no growing fruitset. I've had a few that have dropped off the plant, which is a bit concerning:

[IMG]http://i1005.photobucket.com/albums/af179/rnews/IMG_9927.jpg[/IMG]

I am also growing Joe E. Parker and Big Jim NuMex Peppers, to compare productivity and most important, taste. Unlike most other Pepper folks, I am looking for a somewhat mild NuMex to put on top hamburgers, etc. Will be fun to see which one best fits my taste profile.

Raybo:D:D:D

Ray: The Chile Pepper Institute at NMSU also just released NuMex Heritage Big Jim. If you want seed, pm me. The Big Jim you are growing, I assume, is not the Heritage.

Your plants are looking great. I shared some of the seeds you gave me
with someone else and I still have plenty for next year. I'm looking
forward to tasting them soon. Thank you again for being so generous.

Here is one of my plants. Looks like I can pick this one.

Roper: You are ahead of me-pls post how the taste was.

I will pick it tomorrow and grill it on my George Foreman grill. Will let you know.

roper,

Those are picture-perfect Heritage 6-4 NuMex Peppers. Can you tell us your fertilization brand and method? I see you are using drip irrigation for the containers.

thanks,

Raybo

Thanks raybo. There's no drip irrigation, that's just iron pot hangers.
As for the mix, I used Scott's potting mix, pro-mix bx, little extra
agricultural vermiculite and Espoma Garden-Tone. I like to add what
I have on hand to the potting mix.

mdvpc, had a cold so I had to hold off on eating the Nu-Mex Heritage 6-4. Just
ate one today on grill. Only Nu-Mex variety I have growing, so can't do a side
by side comparison. I can say this, 'it is absolutely delicious'!! Full of flavor with
a very mild heat. I will plant more next year, yum, yum....

roper,

You are making me envious!!!

Your report is consistent with the NMSU review that Heritage 6-4 is a reinvigorated version of the old Parent strain. Glad to hear the flavor bar has been raised.

My Heritage 6-4, Big Jim, and Joe E. Parker continue to grow well, but no fruitset as of today. The "heat" is on the way here in Silicon Valley, so hopefully, the NuMex plants will start to take off.

Raybo:D:D:D

Roper: Glad you liked it. My Heritage 6-4 are behind you, but I have nice fruit set, fruit is getting bigger. I just germinated and planted the second in the heritage series, NuMex Heritage Big Jim.

Michael,

Do you also have some of the "standard" Big Jim to compare with? The site you posted claimed the Heritage Big Jim are hotter than the standard Big Jim. An actual taste comparison would be interesting.

Raybo

Raybo:

Sorry, I am not growing the "regular" Big Jim this year. I usually dont grow much green chile since we buy it by the bushed in the Hatch area-I could never grow as much as we use. I dont think I grew even one plant last year. But when I saw the Heritage varieties, I wanted to try them. I have had some extremely hot green chile, some I couldnt even eat from this area. Even a hotter Big Jim would not be too hot. Remember, they are going back and reintroducing Big Jim and 6-4 the way they were originally, and they were not/are not know as real hot varieties. Of course, hot for one person, could be mild for another and vice versa.

Photo of some fruit I picked yesterday.

Michael,

I grilled some of the Heritage 6-4 a few days ago and peeled the skins. Absolutely wonderful on the Hamburgers!

Raybo:D:D:D

Agree, glad we got seed. My Numex Heritage Big Jims have set-I planted them months too late, since I didnt get seed until the summer was here. I am hoping for some harvest, so I can try them.

Hi Michael,

I was in Santa Fe last week and driving up and down the main drag through the commercial area on Rt14 were tents with vendors roasting their "Hatch Chiles" along the sides of the road in parking lots. Aroma was great.

At home, I tried cutting up some of the off-the plant ones and then eating them, but they were somewhat tough and bitter (compared to my Bell peppers). However, roasting them on the grille with the hamburgers and peeling off the burnt skin produced a wonderful taste treat on top of the burgers.

We never made it down to the Buckhorn Tavern to try theirs, but now I know how to prepare the NuMex Peppers to bring out their best flavor.

Raybo:D:D

Yes, the NuMex's have a tough skin that needs to be burnt off. While it can be done in an oven (or even a microwave), the fire-roasting gives them that wonderful smoky flavor...Mesquite fire makes for a traditional SW flavor.

That's how I roast mine. On the barbeque grill. I will be trying
the NuMex Heritage Big Jim next year. I really liked the NuMex 6-4.
Since you were very generous in the seeds you sent me, I passed some
along free of charge to somone on another forum. He really liked
them and said they were very prolific. I know I will be planting
a lot more next year.

Roper

Happy I was able to send you enough seed to help out another gardener.

I tasted Numex Heritage Big Jim side by side with Numex Heritage 6-4 from my garden.

Heritage 6-4 is a very mild green chile-great for you gringos that dont like hot chile. :yes:

Heritage Big Jim is still mild to my palate, but has some heat.

Both of these are very good tasting green chile. They have a depth of flavor that is not in a lot of green chile varieties.

Ray: Dont know how I missed your post. There is a famous green chile cheeseburger restaurant in San Antonio, New Mexico. Its called the Owl Bar and Cafe. If you are ever traveling south on 25 from Albuquerque, check it out. There is a place across the street that Bobby Flay did a throw-down at, called the Buckhorn. I think the Owl is better, most people like the Buckhorn-maybe I just like funky joints that look like they have been there forever.

San Antonio, NM, is where Conrad Hilton opened his first hotel of many.

Hey Michael,

The day we were to go to the Buckhorn Tavern in San Antonio, my son convinced me to go here instead:

[url]http://www.tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=15923[/url]

Glad we did, but still want to check out both the Buckhorn and Owl next time we get to Santa Fe.

Raybo:D

Ray:

The Buckhorn and Owl are about 2-2.5 hours from Santa Fe. Were you going to drive that 5 hours roundtrip just for a green chile cheeseburger?

There is a website, [url]http://www.newmexico.org/greenchilecheeseburger/[/url] to check out next time you are in New Mexico.

HI Michael,
Interesting link you posted. I am curious about the green chilies they use in their recipes. Do they process the chilies in any way- add something like salt? vinegar?
Any recommendations for a not too hot green chili (Jalpeno like heat)?
Jeff

tam jalapenos and jalapeno m varieties are mild in heat and i've heard taste great.

Jeff:

As far as I know, everybody here, at home and restaurants, simply roasts the green chile, most put them in ice water to take the burnt skin off, then either use it fresh or pack it in freezer bags, freeze them and take them out when needed.

Heritage 6-4 is very mild. Heritage Big Jim is much less hot, in my garden, than a Jalapeno. Sandia and Barkers would be way too hot for you. I have had some Barker's and Sandias that are super hot, much hotter than they are rated on the Scoville Scale.

So the two heritage peppers could be good for you. Joe Parker might be also.

Take a look at the New Mexico Chile Pepper Institute Scoville Scale at the top of the Pepper sub-forum-it has a sticky. That can give you a general idea of how hot different chile is.

Thanks, Michael.
Jeff

[quote=mdvpc;185532]I tasted Numex Heritage Big Jim side by side with Numex Heritage 6-4 from my garden.[/quote]

Which one is bigger for you?

I grew the "regular" Big Jim (not Heritage) a couple of years ago, and the size was a bit of a disappointment - 4" max, I think. And that was in the late spring and fall when my peppers tend to be at their largest. In summer, they were usually even smaller than 4".

However, I have to wonder if my seed was true because one of the two plants I grew produced even smaller peppers than that, 3" max and the plant did not get nearly as tall. Both were grown in similar conditions.


In other news, I'm very pleased with the NuMex Heritage 6-4. :yes: Thanks for the seeds.

Now that it's cooled off a bit, pepper size is usually 4" to 6". I'm going to roast some today.