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I had been getting condensation from my plastic seedling dome dripping at the edges so I put a cookie sheet under the seedling tray.  I found after doing this that my heat mat could not get up to temperature.  I figured the cookie sheet was acting like a nice heat sink so I put a piece of rigid...

I am going to start from seed for the first time.  In the past I have had a black thumb as far as starting from seed.   I have a heat mat, temp controller, 300W Mars LED, and a grow tray/dome.  My question is how high the light should be over the dome/seedlings?  Also, should I start with a low...

I started a new ferment this weekend.  It's all chocolates.  Chocolate Moruga, Chocolate Congo, and Chocolate Bubblegum.  I also tossed in two toasted oak "spirals" from the brewing store.   -Alden  

I wanted to order some seeds from semillas.de.  I was looking at the requirements for small seed importing.  I was wondering if their shipments met these requirements.   (i) A typed or legibly printed seed list/invoice accompanies each shipment with the name of the collector/shipper, the...

Any ideas what this is? Bugs or fungus? -Alden

I am a proud papa.  This was the ferment I started last December.  Straight super hots and toasted oak cubes.  I added a small amount of white vinegar, water, and some cane sugar to finish it off.  I ended up with eight bottles of this stuff and man is it hot!  Tastes similar to Tabasco but...

My new babies arrived. They are in awesome shape. Thanks Juanitos! -Alden

I made up a new ferment yesterday.  A bunch of different kinds of peppers and some "toasted oak" cubes.    Recipe:    Peppers    Salt    Oak Cubes    White Labs Lacto   Sorry about the second picture being blurry.   -Alden  

For the first time ever I harvested peppers in December!  The grow lights seem to be working.   -Alden  

JayT mentioned grilling in the rain.  I thought we might share pics of us grilling.  Since I can't find the picture of me grilling in the snow wearing shorts, short sleeve shirt, and flip flops this one will have to do.   -Alden  

That my pepper plants are doing fine.  This is the first time I have overwintered with lights and not cutting the plants back.  I have four 300w MarsHydro LED lights and reflective Mylar all around them.  They have been inside for a month now and are still producing peppers.  There was a little...

Ghost Peppers and Carolina Reapers. Another hit from the kitchen. -Alden

This stuff is so good!   My co-workers are tearing it up, even the ones that cry when they eat it.   I followed this recipe and substituted ghost peppers for the jalapeno peppers.   http://www.food.com/recipe/strawberry-jalapeno-jam-474371   I can see that I am going to have to make more in the...

Last year I made some strawberry mango ghost pepper sauce.  It was really good.  PH was around 3.6 and I sterilized the bottles and hot bottled as I normally do.   After a few weeks in the bottle the very top part of the sauce would turn dark.  Is this just oxidization?  Is there anything I can...

Second bottle out of 27 that I bottled yesterday and I managed to splash some Trinidad Scorpion based sauce in my eye.  I will say that was fun!  My eyeball stopped burning well before my eyelid did.   -Alden    

My first ferment was successful.  The second one got a little funky at the top of the jar so I didn't chance it.  This will be my third try.   Turmeric, Serrano's, Sweet Onion, Yellow Ghost, Garlic.    -Alden  

I like spicy pickles.  I decided the ones that I can buy aren't hot enough though so I thought I would try making some.  Yesterday I canned nine jars of garlic dill ghost pepper pickles.  Now comes the hard part, I have to wait six to eight weeks to give them a try.   -Alden    

I picked up a double boiler last week.  I saw in one of the threads here that Salsa Lady (thanks SL!) recommended one.  I read up on how they work and decided it was a good idea.  I ordered one and tried it out yesterday.  I really liked the even heat and didn't have any sauce cooked to the...

Just added some Chicken S&%t to my soil.  I have a pile that is about 10 years old (newest on top).  I knocked the top of the pile off so I can get to the bottom level and filled a couple five gallon buckets with it.  Sifted it through a piece of 3/8" hardware cloth and turned it into my soil. ...

I don't really have any seeds to trade but I would be glad to pay a reasonable fee for some reaper seeds.    -Alden