Bodeen's 2012 Grow Log - THE END!!!!!

Anxious to get dirt under my nails, so I might as well start this thing off.

Got an unfinished basement that is mainly storage. It has an old 1957 bathroom in it. I tore that out today and will be using that as my grow room as soon as I get it done. It is small enough a small heater will keep my temps in check. (Pictures of progress will come once I get it looking better lol)

Last year I built a grow table and this year I am putting up a shelving unit with grow lights on many of the shelves.

My one garden area that will be expanded on this year I believe. 40x30

My other garden which is longer, but not as wide.

Then I put this row in last year and my thoughts we strawberries, but it might be a row of peppers.

Ugggh

My motto is Rabbit eats garden, Gardener eats rabbit. They are the reason I have to fence the gardens

I also plan on doing some peppers in pots this year.

My tray of peppers last year went 71 out of 72 popped. Hope I can get these results this year.

 

[highalt]

Oooooh, these look super yummy!

I've canned cucumber pickles and zucchini relish before, but have never pickled peppers. I must try them this year!

 

[stickman]

Pods are ripening so fast I may have to start giving the stuff away. My thai and lanterns are almost out of control lol

If you have to have problems, those are the ones to have!

 

[HillBilly Jeff]

Wow!!! You have been busy! Everything looks delicious!

I have to admit that I have tomato envy. Just harvested my first beefsteak the other day, and you've canned 55 qts. already! I'll be lucky if I end up with enough by the end of the season to make a couple batches of salsa. I send a lot of it out to family for Christmas gifts every year, so there will be some disappointed folks if there's not enough to make any.

So in your picture of the various powders, what's in the big one in the middle of the back row?

Big Mama, Big Daddy, Amish paste, Opalka, Better Boy, Super Boy are the varieties I grew this year. Plants grew quite large and produced a lot of tomatoes.

Found a use for the Brazilian Starfish peppers. It is labor intensive, but should look nice. Hard to slice them into rings with a knife, so I am going to put them on my meat slicer. The odd shape of this pepper makes for quite the impressive looking rings. They would really look nice on a fresh vegetable tray, but I will have to settle for canning me a jar or two.

 

[HillBilly Jeff]

Starfish rings are interesting looking.

From back to front, Douce, Lipstick, and LaRouge

My Biggie Chile Harvest.

4th Jimmy Nardello harvest. 72 pods this time.

 

[HillBilly Jeff]

Rain let up and I decided to get a jump on harvesting tomorrow. Didn't get all done I wanted to this weekend due to the weather.

69 lemon drops are now drying.

 

[HillBilly Jeff]

Had some confusion on my 7 Pot Chaguanas that I was growing. Posted the 4 plants in question and it was determined that 2 were in fact Chaguanas. Well, only one plant had been producing until today when I made a discovery. Chocolate. What could this plant be now??

Here is what it looks like on the inside.

Tonight's Bhut harvest. All those yellows came from the same plant. I wonder if that big pod is a cross?

A nice Paper Lantern harvest. I used some of these for the salsa I am taking into work. It has a nice kick.

My Yellow 7 pot plant has always out produced my red. the bhuts are just the opposite.

Bump please

 

[stickman]

Your bump sir...

 

[HillBilly Jeff]

Here is a picture of the chocolate plant with the pods hanging.

Sweet Goliath and La Rouge Royale peppers.

Here is a picture of that chocolate plant.

The one on the right is a Big Jim I am going to sample tonight. The ones on the left were suppose to be lipstick. Every pod on the plant is orange and the other three lipstick plants are all red. None of the sweets planted are suppose to look like this either and these seeds came from a seed company. Going to taste test tonight and perhaps save out the seeds and see what happens next year with them.

This is one gorgeous plant. Picture doesn't do it justice but the prettiest pepper plant in the garden.

Here are the ones I processed today.

The orange sweet pepper taste orangy but quickly has a watered down taste. Excellent pepper though.

The big jim is worthless in my opinion. Barely warm, no flavor, and very tough skin. Won't be grown again!!!

 

[stickman]

Hi Bodeen
I'm surprised you didn't roast and peel the Big Jim like you would a Poblano. They're much better that way. I got my Anaheim and Serrano seeds mixed up in the seed swap I took part in this spring... The packet of seeds labeled Big Jim turned out to be Serrano, and vice versa, so I'm not sure in the end what kind of Anaheim variety I grew, but it was great roasted, peeled and used for chile verde. Cheers

 

[HillBilly Jeff]

Bajio are finally starting to turn. Gotta research to see the best way to use them. The first one I used in a tomato sauce over walleye and it was yummy.

Lipstick harvest with a couple canary bell peppers in the mix. First and last year growing the canary. Just has no flavor.

Found another great pepper for an omelet. Sausage and cheese and thai pepper. It sure is one good way to slow your eating down. Made my entire face sweat. It was so good. Finished eating and my mouth was numb, Excellent pepper. Definitely a place in the garden from now on.

While I was out grinding up some powder (got my first ounce of yellow bhut finally) I heard a squirrel barking 50 yards away. Ran to the house for the rifle and this weekend there is going to be a new use for some hot pepper.

 

[Spicegeist]

Looks very nice. Like a choco hab crossed with a choco bhut.

 

[HillBilly Jeff]

Plant has purplish leaves with purple stems. The leaves are not as purple as the [background=rgb(255, 244, 228)]Chaguanas [/background] though.

Tasted the bajio again with this modest picking of 3 pods and the flavor impresses me. A little warmth and a great mellow flavor. Almost sweet but not there. Not quite smoky but sort of. I am thinking deer tips and noodles in a nice brown sauce with these peppers stewed into the sauce. I am bound determined to find a way to use these things other than drying them. Unless the powder would be awesome too lol

 

[HillBilly Jeff]

Raining like crazy here today. Gotta get my pods off tomorrow no matter what. Calling for possible hail and high winds tonight. That will be horrible for my remaining pods.

 

[stickman]

Raining like crazy here today. Gotta get my pods off tomorrow no matter what. Calling for possible hail and high winds tonight. That will be horrible for my remaining pods.

Ouch! We feel for ya guy... Keeping fingers crossed...

 

[HillBilly Jeff]

While it was raining I decided to jar up some cayenne I was drying. Ended up with a quart jar full of pods. Thinking about using them just like they are.

It slowed up enough for me to get out and pick my thai to get a jump on the weekend. Remembered to take a pic of a plant before I picked this time lol..

First plant I counted 87 pods picked and I didn't start counting right away. Next plant had 120 pods. Third plant had 162 pods. I didn't count any more after that.

Got a nice wet shot of my chocolate whatever it is.

Then another shot or two of some of my supers.

Cumari pic didn't turn out so well.

Some Tepin

Bulgarian Carrot, even though I am not a fan.

And my Thai Siamese Twin pod

 

[Sanarda]

Bumpersssssss

 

[HillBilly Jeff]

Thank you. I am going to try to get some more pics tomorrow. Unbelievable poddage going on right now!!!

 

[HillBilly Jeff]

Finally remembered to look this up. If I was better at video editing, I would alter this a lil bit

 

[highalt]

Wow!!! Incredible harvest on those Thai plants! How hot would you say those are?

So how do you know when the Pasilla Bajios are ripe? Mine have started to shrivel while still on the plant, because I thought they would change color, and they never did.

Those Tepins look a lot like the Inca Red Drops, except ones an annum and the other is a baccatum. It'd be interesting to do a side by side taste test of those two.

 

[stickman]

So how do you know when the Pasilla Bajios are ripe? Mine have started to shrivel while still on the plant, because I thought they would change color, and they never did.

Mine turned a chocolate brown color when they ripened. I lost about half of them to the shriveling you mentioned... the stems turned yellow and then began shriveling from the tip end. Nothing for it but to pull them off if they don't fall off on their own.