Pleasantly Surprised I Guess

obispo45 · July 6, 2007

I seldom get all worked up and excited when the wave of seed catalogs begin arriving right after the holiday season...usually that starts happening when the SSE Yearbook comes along a month later or so

. No matter. This particular pepper caught my eye a while back but hadn't grown it until this season. Its a hybrid named Mavras.

Usually I take the descriptions in any catalog(particularly the commercial ones) with a grain of salt so to speak. Mavras is offered by Totally Tomatoes(maybe others, don't know) and it was advertised as being the darkest bell available and early. Here is a pic or two of Mavras next to another nice hybrid pepper... the very purple Tequila. Fairly impressed. Yield thus far is a little behind other varieties but it sure looks nice IMO. Tastes pretty darn good too. Not bad, a decent size funky bell right after 7/4 in chilly Minnesota. OK, done patting myself on the back

!!! LOL. Cheers everyone!

**nctomatoman** · July 6, 2007

That is a nice looking pepper - wonder how it compares to the Stokes hybrid Blackbird? What is the ripe color..I assume it goes red?

obispo45 · July 6, 2007

I also assume that it goes to red, hopefully I'll be able to let you know since I plan on maturing at least a handful of fruits. Stokes? I've heard of them....mainly from you and a couple other folks but haven't checked them out as of yet. I think that they're in a northerly latitude?? NY?? ME?? Well, time for me to check them out. Off to Stokes.....

Grub · July 7, 2007

Nice and dark and mysterious... flavo(u)r?

Tomstrees · July 7, 2007

Is it of Greek origin ? Mavras means "black" in Greek ..

~ Tom

obispo45 · July 9, 2007

Grub...you said something along the lines of ....nice, dark and mysterious. You talking about me or the pepper

?? Just kidding. Its flavour is pretty good IMO(had some better some not so good), rather thick walled with few seeds and little waste. To be honest the color in its darkest phase turned me on, makes a neat addition in salads and the like. Haven't cooked any yet, all have been served raw. For the color alone I'll probably grow it again.

Tomstress...its all Greek to me, couldn't resist that, sorry

. Know nothing of its origins. All I know and I don't know much, is that the only pepper I've personally grown that comes that close, to the color black, is the Hungarian Black chile.

July 6, 2007	#2
nctomatoman Tomatoville® Moderator Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Hendersonville, NC zone 7 Posts: 10,385	That is a nice looking pepper - wonder how it compares to the Stokes hybrid Blackbird? What is the ripe color..I assume it goes red? __________________ Craig

July 7, 2007	#5
Tomstrees Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: NJ Bayshore Posts: 3,848	Is it of Greek origin ? Mavras means "black" in Greek .. ~ Tom __________________ My green thumb came only as a result of the mistakes I made while learning to see things from the plant's point of view. ~ H. Fred Ale

July 9, 2007	#6
obispo45 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: SE Minnesota Zone 4.51a Posts: 139	Grub...you said something along the lines of ....nice, dark and mysterious. You talking about me or the pepper?? Just kidding. Its flavour is pretty good IMO(had some better some not so good), rather thick walled with few seeds and little waste. To be honest the color in its darkest phase turned me on, makes a neat addition in salads and the like. Haven't cooked any yet, all have been served raw. For the color alone I'll probably grow it again. Tomstress...its all Greek to me, couldn't resist that, sorry. Know nothing of its origins. All I know and I don't know much, is that the only pepper I've personally grown that comes that close, to the color black, is the Hungarian Black chile.

July 7, 2007	#4
Grub Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Sydney, Australia Posts: 2,722	Nice and dark and mysterious... flavo(u)r?