Ajvar Peppers
I recently came across some Ajvar pepper seed in one of my seed catalogs and couldn't resist ordering a packet for the summer. I had high hopes knowing how fantastic ajvar spread is, I could only imagine how good the actual peppers would be. Let me tell you, I was not disappointed!
With such a short growing season in Chicago I got these seeds into the seed starter tray a little later than I'd like. Looking back I'd probably like to get them started in mid to early February. These little gems start slow and take some time to get going, this is definitely the first seed into the starter tray this year. Also, invest in a heat mat for these guys, they love the warmth, like all peppers, and a good quality grow light. I might need to do a few upgrades on my little system this year, I struggled to get all my tomatoes and peppers fired up due to heat and capacity.
I planted half Ajvar seeds and half King of the North in my seed starter. It was really no contest, the Northern were twice the size and had significantly better germination ratio compared to Ajvar.
I'd suggest ordering a few extra seed packets to insure you're going to have enough strong and viable plants for the summer. I think I ended up with about 8 -10 of each which was just enough to fill up my two new pepper beds this year. I bought my seeds from this site:
https://www.rareseeds.com/ajvarski-sweet-pepper/
I've had good success with their seeds in the past and honestly, its the only place I've ever seen the ajvar pepper seeds.
Once I hardened off my plants and got them into the ground, which was mid/late May they both took off like wild fire. There really wasn't any difference in the amount of plant vigor between the two varietals. I would strongly suggest caging the ajvar plant due to the size it gets and the amount of fruit it will drop. A normal tomato cage will do the trick, these little guys will get up to 3' tall by the end of the season if you give them enough light and nutrient.
Here is a photo of the pepper after it set its first fruit, on average each plant had between 6 and 10 fruits after the first set. It would still flower after the first set but didn't set much more until the existing peppers were starting to ripen. If I had a longer growing season like in Arizona you could probably get two to three crops off this plant a year. Not to mention a pepper plant will winter over and produce for several years as long as its protected from frost and freezing.
I keep my garden chemical free, I realized early on if you have great soil full of nutrients you really should never have to spray for pests. Also, if you keep your plants spaced properly and keep the soil from splashing up on your plants fungal infections are kept to a minimum. I did a little experiment with half my tomato this year and covered the soil in straw and the other half was bare. The cover portion of the garden had almost no infections by the end of the year while the uncovered was in the usual condition. Next year the entire garden is getting straw.
Once the peppers began to mature I couldn't resist pulling a few off and tasting them. The flesh is thick and dense like a bell pepper but much more flavorful. The pepper has a very sweet vegetal flavor and when grilled releases tons of aromatics. This varietal has been grown for hundreds of years in Macedonia for the making of ajvar pepper spread. In my opinion the best ajvar pepper spread you can buy is Mama's which is available all over Chicago. In my cooking blog I plan on making some homemade Ajvar this year and will add details and a good recipe.
Because the peppers set all around the same time I left them to hang until all the peppers were ripe and ready for harvest. A few of the Northern started to get a bit mushy but the ajvars with their thick walls were fine. My harvest date this year was September 9.
I planted two 8' x 2' garden beds, about 32 square feet and harvested well over 100 peppers this year. I didn't weigh them but if I had to guess I would estimate probably 30 - 40 pounds?
I didn't want to pickle these off into jars because the flavors really shine when the sugars get caramelized by fire roasting. I wish I would have done a jar or two of just plain pickled peppers but that will have to wait till this year. Instead, I fire roasted all the peppers in my big green egg then stuffed them into large mason jars and topped with a pickle brine that I love to use.
Couple tips on fire roasting peppers. Tip number 1, YOU NEED REAL FIRE! You can't oven roast these little jewels and do them justice, I'd really suggest if you've gone through all this work and trouble build a nice wood fire and sear these baby's off as quickly as possible. The smell of the smoke adds some complexity to the flavor of the peppers and just really complements their overall taste.
Build a hot fire, either sear them directly over the coals or you can go with the indirect method like I've done here. I got my egg up to about 600F and threw them in. You don't want to over cook these guys because there will be less flesh left when your done. Blister the skin then put them in a bowl and cover them with saran-wrap for about 20 to 30 minutes till the skin is soft and peals off with little effort.
At this point you can either enjoy them with some sea salt & olive oil over crusty bread, jar them for later with a brine mixture or grind them into ajvar spread. They are versatile and fantastic any way you choose to enjoy them.
With such a short growing season in Chicago I got these seeds into the seed starter tray a little later than I'd like. Looking back I'd probably like to get them started in mid to early February. These little gems start slow and take some time to get going, this is definitely the first seed into the starter tray this year. Also, invest in a heat mat for these guys, they love the warmth, like all peppers, and a good quality grow light. I might need to do a few upgrades on my little system this year, I struggled to get all my tomatoes and peppers fired up due to heat and capacity.
I planted half Ajvar seeds and half King of the North in my seed starter. It was really no contest, the Northern were twice the size and had significantly better germination ratio compared to Ajvar.
 |
| Seed Start Kit |
https://www.rareseeds.com/ajvarski-sweet-pepper/
I've had good success with their seeds in the past and honestly, its the only place I've ever seen the ajvar pepper seeds.
Once I hardened off my plants and got them into the ground, which was mid/late May they both took off like wild fire. There really wasn't any difference in the amount of plant vigor between the two varietals. I would strongly suggest caging the ajvar plant due to the size it gets and the amount of fruit it will drop. A normal tomato cage will do the trick, these little guys will get up to 3' tall by the end of the season if you give them enough light and nutrient.
 |
| Ajvar Pepper Set 2017 |
I keep my garden chemical free, I realized early on if you have great soil full of nutrients you really should never have to spray for pests. Also, if you keep your plants spaced properly and keep the soil from splashing up on your plants fungal infections are kept to a minimum. I did a little experiment with half my tomato this year and covered the soil in straw and the other half was bare. The cover portion of the garden had almost no infections by the end of the year while the uncovered was in the usual condition. Next year the entire garden is getting straw.
Once the peppers began to mature I couldn't resist pulling a few off and tasting them. The flesh is thick and dense like a bell pepper but much more flavorful. The pepper has a very sweet vegetal flavor and when grilled releases tons of aromatics. This varietal has been grown for hundreds of years in Macedonia for the making of ajvar pepper spread. In my opinion the best ajvar pepper spread you can buy is Mama's which is available all over Chicago. In my cooking blog I plan on making some homemade Ajvar this year and will add details and a good recipe.
 |
| Ajvar Pepper & King of the North |
I planted two 8' x 2' garden beds, about 32 square feet and harvested well over 100 peppers this year. I didn't weigh them but if I had to guess I would estimate probably 30 - 40 pounds?
I didn't want to pickle these off into jars because the flavors really shine when the sugars get caramelized by fire roasting. I wish I would have done a jar or two of just plain pickled peppers but that will have to wait till this year. Instead, I fire roasted all the peppers in my big green egg then stuffed them into large mason jars and topped with a pickle brine that I love to use.
 |
| Roasting peppers in the egg |
Build a hot fire, either sear them directly over the coals or you can go with the indirect method like I've done here. I got my egg up to about 600F and threw them in. You don't want to over cook these guys because there will be less flesh left when your done. Blister the skin then put them in a bowl and cover them with saran-wrap for about 20 to 30 minutes till the skin is soft and peals off with little effort.
At this point you can either enjoy them with some sea salt & olive oil over crusty bread, jar them for later with a brine mixture or grind them into ajvar spread. They are versatile and fantastic any way you choose to enjoy them.
 |
| Avocado, Pickled Ajvar Pepper, Smoked Pork Loin |
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| Fire roasted ajvar pepper |
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