BrooklynXpat's First Grow Season - 2013 - Pod harvest 8/16

Hey THPers!

Just wanted to get my 2013 Grow Season off to a good start. I have begun doing some things and will try to backlog as much of what I did in the log here.

I built 3 4x6 Cedar Raised beds and have a handful of planters that I plan on using to get some more starts for the 2013 season. To fill my Raised beds I bought the following plants from CCN (Cross Country Nurseries in NJ) and have been babying them inside my house near a sliding door with good ambient light since its been real cold for the past 2 weeks.

7 Pot
Datil Sweet
Fatalii
Chocolate Hab
Jalapeno Jumbo
Limo
Marconi Golden
Thai Yellow

Non Peppers
Black Cherry Tomato
Cherokee Purple Tomato
San Marzano Redorta Tomato
Sunsugar Tomato
Black Beauty Eggplant
Cloud Nine

I began hardening them off this week and I think they are almost ready to get outside - monday is only day they say that will drop below 50 @night.

Getting delivery of my 3cu yards of 50/50 mix of organic compost and topsoil

After one of my raised beds was complete

After un-boxing the plants from CCN (ill start taking close-ups)

Repotting into 6" planters

I'm open to suggestions as far as spacing is concerned since i want to maximize my space as much as possible without hindering growth. As you can how my setup is currently for my beds. Dont mind all the dead grass - after Sandy - most things haven't come back yet or are completely dead

Thanks and hope to keep everyone updated with more info/pics as time goes on.

 

[BrooklynXpat]

TSMB'll gitcha! Good on Matt!
 
Ironically, all I have not turning are choc habs! Have fun on travels!

Thanks Annie - thats weird, i always hear they turn first usually (why i grew them). I wish i could say i will enjoy the travels, up @3am and back home tomorrow at 10pm. 
 
I wish my company had clients in the Caribbean 
 

Looking good man!  I haven't even tried them yet! lol.  I am glad you and your buddy enjoyed everything.

Thanks Matt - The picture below is for you, last night i made a buffalo chicken pizza and i used some of your smoked powder in the buffalo chicken sauce  I was so upset my wife was home and I had to share -hehe

 

[BrooklynXpat]

Small Update: Sorry for delay but between work travel and work being absolutely insane, i haven't been able to get to my computer much to upload the photos.
 
First Choc Hab Harvest done on monday night and cooked up last night in some turkey burgers i made and topped with ken "pepper daddy's" sauce i'm reviewing. The choc hab was mighty spicey with great flavor profile (still a newbie with heat palate, haven't built my tolerance up yet)

 
Harvested some jalapenos.

 
and had them as a side to my turkey burger :-P in the form of baked poppers - The wife never had a real ripe jalapeno before and it was quite enjoyable watching her eat that and having a dot of chocolate hab.
 

 
thai yellow - peppers turning orange, hopefully will turn yellow or i got thai orange instead.

 
fatalii turning finally

 
I haven't done my compost tea in a while, so i plan on brewing up a batch tonight and spread the goodness by sunday. I seriously cant wait for this work week to end!

 

[MGOLD86]

Looking good man!  Those poppers look awesome!

 

[Devv]

Those choc habs are fantastic, before you know it you'll be eating like Jals.
 
Poppers look great! We make them like twice a week, I just can't get the wife to eat the corked ripe ones. She goes and picks the the early ones....but she does eat them!
 
Have a great weekend!

 

[BrooklynXpat]

Looking good man!  Those poppers look awesome!

Thanks Matt! Them poppers are going to be a standard for me now, love em
Those choc habs are fantastic, before you know it you'll be eating like Jals.
 
Poppers look great! We make them like twice a week, I just can't get the wife to eat the corked ripe ones. She goes and picks the the early ones....but she does eat them!
 
Have a great weekend!


Thanks. I'm building my tolerance back up and have no choice with new pickings . I think my wife is going to start picking green ones also, she loved it minus the heat.

Small harvest with my first fatalii and Thai yellows.

 

[Devv]

Glad to see the pull!
 
So where in NY are you now?

 

[BrooklynXpat]

Glad to see the pull!
 
So where in NY are you now?


Scott - thanks , I live in oceanside now.

 

[Devv]

I had to look up Oceanside, I moved from Smithtown in '78. Fantastic beaches on the south side of the Island for sure! Every time I visit it's more houses though, but I love it there....also expensive!!

 

[MGOLD86]

Congrats on the harvest bro!

 

[BrooklynXpat]

I had to look up Oceanside, I moved from Smithtown in '78. Fantastic beaches on the south side of the Island for sure! Every time I visit it's more houses though, but I love it there....also expensive!!

Yea scott, the beaches are nice - luckily they were able to fix up most of the boardwalk near me since sandy last year. Didn't get to the beach as much as i would've liked this year. I went to college at stony brook, so not far from where your originally from.
 

Congrats on the harvest bro!

Thanks Matt! 
 
Been traveling again this week but came home to two awesome packages. Jamie (romy6) sent me an awesome selection of seeds and some dried pods i need to find out what they are, cant wait to start building my 2014 grow list.
 
Jeff (Bodeen) sent me a wicked box of pods that i cant wait to start trying and harvesting seeds for next year. Still trying to determine what is what :-P

 
I got home late last night and the wife didn't harvest anything this week, so i had to run out this morning and check on things. Got some things ripening
 
Sweet Datils - tried these and they are definitely not sweet, not sure if thats normal. Was hoping this would be a good pepper for wife - which it isn't!

 
Thai Yellow - got a good harvest today, going to start dehydrating these puppies and making some thai pepper flakes to replace the generic red pepper flakes.

 
Limo Hab - funny thing is that when i purchased starts from CCN, this pepper was said to be a mid season habanero, and its the last to turn out of all my peppers. It is definitely prolific though

 
 
My 7 Pot - this is a regular 7-pot but it seems to be turning yellow instead of orange. It might be another CCN Mixup or NOT. My Giant Marconi is more like a small golden bell 

 
Chocolate Hab - only a few more big guys, some small pods setting. This seems to be losing alot of momentum it originally had.

 
 
Fatilii going strong, podding up still

 
Planning on working on removing some trees and clearing out some area for next years grow area. Probably cut down a handful of big shrubs and some trees and do what i can to remove stumps.

 

[Devv]

Nice haul from Jeff!
 
Let us know what you think of the different peppers...
 
Plants are looking good, glad they will produce before things start winding down...
 
More garden space?  Now that's what I like to hear!

 

[BrooklynXpat]

Nice haul from Jeff!
 
Let us know what you think of the different peppers...
 
Plants are looking good, glad they will produce before things start winding down...
 
More garden space?  Now that's what I like to hear!

Tried only a few of the peppers as alot were getting a bit soft. I had the peach hab, trinidad perfume, devils tongue, chaguana, and what i think was a 7 pot jonah. The reason i said think is that Jeff is unsure of the red supers he sent as they are all similar. I took some more photos of some of the red supers ill post soon to get everyones opinion on what they think it is. The 7 pot possible jonah was scorching, the hottest pepper i ever had - hands were definitly trembling and i only took a nickel size bite.
 
I will take some photos this weekend of my backyard and my plans for it in the next few months, have sprinkler people coming in next week since i need to have that redone before my paver and outlying garden space. Once i get that all scoped out, i can do some measurements and figure out how much i can grow next year and start building my list
 
So garden update time!
 
I mentioned on a squirrel post that i've been losing eggplants every so often and its due to squirrels. After shopping this weekend at my local grocery store, made me think otherwise as they are selling "local" produce... probably sneak into my yard at night and take my plants. 
 

 
My 7 pot from CCN is growing a bright orange - so this is "Not 7 pot red" - looks amazing and i will definitely grow this out, has a nice look to it.
 

 
Its starting to drop in temperature (50's this morning) already and other than my peppers, most of my other plants are looking very dreary! I hope we can get a few more weeks so i can get a small harvest before we finish up. 

 

[Devv]

When I lived on the Island the weather change became most noticeable in Oct.. Tomatoes ran until Halloween..
 
I hope your season hangs for you!

 

[BrooklynXpat]

When I lived on the Island the weather change became most noticeable in Oct.. Tomatoes ran until Halloween..
 
I hope your season hangs for you!

 
Weather has been crazy past week, going down to low 50s and then up to 90 yesterday. Hoping things will keep going, most of my tomatoes are done (improperly maintained) and only have peppers left :-P
 
Small update since i have been swamped with 12-16hr days at work and i just want to crash when i'm done!
 
My biggest harvest yet!
Top: 3 Not 7 Pot Reds, 2 Lemon Habaneros, 3 Chocolate Habaneros
Middle: Sweet Datils
Bottom: Thai Yellow
 

 
Closeup of the Not 7Pot Reds

 
And tons of jalapenos!

 
which i used to make pickled jalapenos - YUM!

 
Currently dehydrating some stuff and will possibly be making a season mixture for ramen noodles. I'll be back with some photographs of the backyard garden i had for 2013 and the layout of 2014 garden

 

[Devv]

Nice harvest!
 
I hope the weather hangs for ya!
 
Got some heat there...

 

[MGOLD86]

Lookin good man.  Sucks about those NOT 7 Pots.  Do you need 7 Pot Red seed for next season?  I can send some over if you want, I have a ton.  Lovin the pickled jals, gonna do a batch or two pretty soon.  The plant is loaded up and once they start to turn red Ill pull em.  I like how you cut them in coins instead of thin slices. What is your brine solution?

 

[BrooklynXpat]

Nice harvest!
 
I hope the weather hangs for ya!
 
Got some heat there...


I'll take some of your heat! I already see peppers getting smaller. Boooooo

Lookin good man.  Sucks about those NOT 7 Pots.  Do you need 7 Pot Red seed for next season?  I can send some over if you want, I have a ton.  Lovin the pickled jals, gonna do a batch or two pretty soon.  The plant is loaded up and once they start to turn red Ill pull em.  I like how you cut them in coins instead of thin slices. What is your brine solution?


Thanks for the offer Matt, I'm actually on a train or two so we'll see how I do with what passengers are onboard . I am still trying to figure out my 2014 grow, I got a bunch from you I plan on growing.

I used 1:1 ratio of water and white vinegar. The base recipe is as follows:

1 cup water
1 cup white distilled vinegar
2 tbsp kosher salt
4 tbsp sugar
2 cloves garlic

I made 1.5x the recipe and filled my jar to the brim.Very simple and they are a huge hit with everyone, I just eat them straight out of the jar while watching TV. Next batch will have some extra heat added as an alternative.

 

[Devv]

Thanks for posting the pickled Jal recipe, I have way too many Jals!

 

[BrooklynXpat]

Long awaited update, the season has definitely died down with my last harvest being about a week ago. Most plants are not producing anymore to the 40 degree weather we had the other night.
 
I haven't been able to keep up with the forums do to my company doing a whole change in organization, so new boss and new responsibilities on top of existing projects. So 12-16hr work days have been the norm and weekends as well as working on house projects that need to be done before it gets too cold and i have to work inside.
 
This is the last Not 7 Pot i picked, has a wicked tail on it. Saved these seeds and might try to grow out separately.

 

[Devv]

Sorry your season is winding down, but you had a good one!
 
Try not to work so hard, life goes by so quickly...geeze my older G-daughter will be driving soon...just crazy!
 
Mañana be Friday!