Essegi 2017: at bare minimum

tsurrie · Jul 19, 2017

You're doing it Giancarlo... you're seizing the days. Good for you. Wish I could visit those mountains sometime soon. Pics looks tempting. Peppers look good too... keep it up and stay safe!

stickman · Jul 19, 2017

Essegi said:
Thanks FB and Rick!
Hannibal crossed west side of the alps and here is east. Still an impressive feat ideed.

Small update:

Another Serrano crop. I've given this to a colleague for various reasons... But i did want to eat those!

Here some plants i gave to some relatives. I gave them well grown and they did a good job:

7pod primo orange.I told them to harvest.

Avenir. Pods are quite big.

Also a no longer pup:

Now she's a lady.

I knew Hannibal marched across the western Alps. Don't they look much the same as what you pictured?
Serranos are a great pepper for pickling and sauces, and I'll bet they'd make an excellent jam with some of your Apricots! [emoji106]

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Essegi · Jul 19, 2017

tsurrie said:
You're doing it Giancarlo... you're seizing the days. Good for you. Wish I could visit those mountains sometime soon. Pics looks tempting. Peppers look good too... keep it up and stay safe!

Thanks!
If you have the chance visit Dolomites. Maybe sleeping on a shelter instead of an hotel that can be expensive. You get a truer experience and the couple i've tried had excellent food. It's better to make a reservation a couple of days before.
On the other hand Slovenian alps looks excellent too. I'd like to visit at least Triglav.

stickman said:
I knew Hannibal marched across the western Alps. Don't they look much the same as what you pictured?
Serranos are a great pepper for pickling and sauces, and I'll bet they'd make an excellent jam with some of your Apricots! [emoji106]

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To be honest i've never been to western alps (maybe in the night on a train a lot of time ago so i can't really tell). Hannibal crossed a Monviso pass that is even more impressive since western alps are bigger. Also, if i remember well, those mountains are mainly igneous while dolomites are of dolomite that is sedimetary and look different. Western alps are more majestic but many say Dolomites more beautiful with unique colours, light contrast and shapes.
Btw apricots are all gone now!

Devv · Jul 19, 2017

Always loving the super photography Giancarlo.

Glad to see you're harvesting peppers. I didn't grow any Seranno peppers this year, bhut I wish I had!

Essegi · Jul 24, 2017

Thanks, Scott! Serrano are a great choiche. I don't know if i had been ulucky or what but i've never seen Jalapeno remotely produictive as this one!

Here a small harvest: 4 serrano, 2 7pod primo orange and 2 CAP363

I stored primos and ate others with cheese and prosciutto, not cooked. Good!
@Rick: CAP363 were noticeably hotter than Serrano, so maybe they are something more than little heat in spite of what i said last time.

Front CAP 363

Avenir.

Gift from a friend:

From left: Armageddon, Bhut Caramel, 7 Pod White, Billyboy Douglah

Ok, now i'm fine with heat.

That weekend hike has been a cool one.

On day 1 we climbed Bolver Lugli ferrata

That has been a long one, about 3 hours.
We were too much people and we lost too much time so we didn't make for the peak, still we surpassed 3000m.
Not much photos, too cloud/fog.

Here day 2 on Pale di San Martino plateau, dominated by Fradusta.

Here Fradusta

This is the remnant of the glacier and the lake, close ot extintion.
That place has cold record of Italy: -49,6°C on 10 february 2013. Though i believe it was in a really delimited place and i don't know if it has been recorded on shotted place.
But yesterday it was nearly hot.

There were some steinbocks:

In that pic there are 3 but the family was of six or more.

Some sight of that plateau:

For sure that is a special place, not everyday i see something like that... And better to avoid with fog!

Long way to home:

FreeportBum · Jul 30, 2017

Essegi said:
Thanks, Scott! Serrano are a great choiche. I don't know if i had been ulucky or what but i've never seen Jalapeno remotely produictive as this one!

Here a small harvest: 4 serrano, 2 7pod primo orange and 2 CAP363

I stored primos and ate others with cheese and prosciutto, not cooked. Good!
@Rick: CAP363 were noticeably hotter than Serrano, so maybe they are something more than little heat in spite of what i said last time.

Front CAP 363

Avenir.

Gift from a friend:

From left: Armageddon, Bhut Caramel, 7 Pod White, Billyboy Douglah

Ok, now i'm fine with heat.

That weekend hike has been a cool one.

On day 1 we climbed Bolver Lugli ferrata

That has been a long one, about 3 hours.
We were too much people and we lost too much time so we didn't make for the peak, still we surpassed 3000m.
Not much photos, too cloud/fog.

Here day 2 on Pale di San Martino plateau, dominated by Fradusta.

Here Fradusta

This is the remnant of the glacier and the lake, close ot extintion.
That place has cold record of Italy: -49,6°C on 10 february 2013. Though i believe it was in a really delimited place and i don't know if it has been recorded on shotted place.
But yesterday it was nearly hot.

There were some steinbocks:

In that pic there are 3 but the family was of six or more.

Some sight of that plateau:

For sure that is a special place, not everyday i see something like that... And better to avoid with fog!

Long way to home:

Looking good my friend! those 7 pod primo orange pods look wicked, cheers.

stickman · Jul 30, 2017

Essegi said:
Thanks!
If you have the chance visit Dolomites. Maybe sleeping on a shelter instead of an hotel that can be expensive. You get a truer experience and the couple i've tried had excellent food. It's better to make a reservation a couple of days before.
On the other hand Slovenian alps looks excellent too. I'd like to visit at least Triglav.
To be honest i've never been to western alps (maybe in the night on a train a lot of time ago so i can't really tell). Hannibal crossed a Monviso pass that is even more impressive since western alps are bigger. Also, if i remember well, those mountains are mainly igneous while dolomites are of dolomite that is sedimetary and look different. Western alps are more majestic but many say Dolomites more beautiful with unique colours, light contrast and shapes.
Btw apricots are all gone now!

Essegi said:
Thanks, Scott! Serrano are a great choiche. I don't know if i had been ulucky or what but i've never seen Jalapeno remotely produictive as this one!

Here a small harvest: 4 serrano, 2 7pod primo orange and 2 CAP363

I stored primos and ate others with cheese and prosciutto, not cooked. Good!
@Rick: CAP363 were noticeably hotter than Serrano, so maybe they are something more than little heat in spite of what i said last time.

Well, I guess I ended up with a mild cross then. Dale says his have good heat, and yours does too. The bees must have been busy...

Those poppers look good! Have you tried roasting your Serranos and putting them in rice? I bet they'd make a good risotto with lots of garlic. :drooling:

I grew up in Dolomite country too, but the Appalachians are an ancient and heavily eroded range. The Berkshire hills in western Massachusetts that are part of them are mostly dolomitic limestone and blue shale. Mount Greylock is the tallest at a little over a thousand meters, and there are a few karst areas. If they hadn't been polluted by heavy industry, the Housatonic and Hoosic rivers would be the best trout streams in the state due to their limestone water. They both have good populations of trout and smallmouth bass, but you can't eat any. :rolleyes:

Cheers!

Essegi · Aug 6, 2017

Thanks FB and Rick!

stickman said:
Well, I guess I ended up with a mild cross then. Dale says his have good heat, and yours does too. The bees must have been busy...

Those poppers look good! Have you tried roasting your Serranos and putting them in rice? I bet they'd make a good risotto with lots of garlic.

I grew up in Dolomite country too, but the Appalachians are an ancient and heavily eroded range. The Berkshire hills in western Massachusetts that are part of them are mostly dolomitic limestone and blue shale. Mount Greylock is the tallest at a little over a thousand meters, and there are a few karst areas. If they hadn't been polluted by heavy industry, the Housatonic and Hoosic rivers would be the best trout streams in the state due to their limestone water. They both have good populations of trout and smallmouth bass, but you can't eat any.

Cheers!

I heard about Appalachians due to the famous trail. That one looks really hardcore. Too bad about pollution. My dad sometimes tell me how people were used to fish on rivers but now fauna is heavily damaged and on a lake somehow some kind of wels catfish has been brought and had been a disaster.
Thanks for risotto idea, why not? Sound like a good one!

Well, i have tasted a bit of Aramageddon and, guys, that lives up its name. For sure hottest pod i've tasted that year...

Also those 3-4 days weather has been insanely hot, i guess at least 39°C.
Not long ago there has been some rain and plants are still good, even rocotos. Luckily next week temps will be much lower, and toady there has been a tiny rain, i hope more on next days.

First backyard CAP363, last front CAP363. I guess that backyard ones are on an hotter places and at begin of summer they thrived more... But in the end they look better. Maybe more Sun exposition, more heat aside, has been good on long term. But front one prodduced more. Hopefully hottest days are gone and i hope they'll set more.
On center Serrano. Still producing. I've not counted but they could be already over 100 pods per plants considering that this is round 2. Dunno if i've been unlucky with Jalapeno but to me it seems that Serrano is on another league.

Some pods:

Avenir is a nice producer. On bottom left there's the biggest pod and it weighted 18g, not bad.
I've eaten 2 rocotos of first pic... Maybe due to weather heat, i felt them hotter than usual.

That week i had 2 days of holiday and i visited a couple of natural labyrinths. Those places are one of a kind!

1st one: Castelloni di San Marco.
Those are at around 1800m above sea level:

Even if as far as i konw there's something man made, it's really an amazing place. It's quite complex and there's a path featuring 48 road sings to visit most of the place.

Again:

Some good mountain cheese and butter!

After a day i went then to a place called Spurghe. I knew that one since someone celebrate his birthday here lol (maximum respect for that).
Here photos were more difficult to take, since the place is dark and not mantained.
Castelloni di San Marco are on medium mountain and relatively isolated from civilisation. Spurghe are on an hill near homes and farms and they are much more wild and dangerous. For sure exploring that place requires care (not for the danger to lose but cause there are many places where you can fall).

It's quite complex and in some places there are rooms connected. Partisans took advantage of that against nazis.

Then i returned to some more standard hiking in Piccole Dolomiti:

I've never sweated so much, even here it was so hot.
I've been told that here there ara many marmots but i haven't seen any. I've heard one whistling though.

Returning i diverted to some trenches that are really well mantained and relatively long.

Random pic:

My home is on the left.

PaulG · Aug 7, 2017

Nothing to complain about here, Giancarlo!

Foodies. Scenics. Poddies.
Everything first class. Way to go!

Essegi · Aug 15, 2017

Thanks Paul!

First harvest:

I added Avenir of my first pic of my last post (just the first quarter of the pic), total of about 180g of deseeded peppers, 90g of garlic, 100g of pecorino romano, some evo, blended all. I put some on freezer and the rest here:

It's really really hot with some persistance, i am not eating that sauce fast like others. Next time i have to try a 4:1:1 ratio (peppers, garlic, cheese) that's twice pepper parts that this one. Great taste, i think half of garlic/cheese should still do. Pecorino romano is great because tastes good and salt is not needed.

Then:

I stored primos orange, but others:

Yeah! Serrano are better than CAP363, still they were a nice variant.
Serrano were small btw, too liittle rain...

That weekend another via ferrata and thanks to the weather sight was awesome. Ranging from Col Del Bos to Lagazuoi in Tofane group.

From Sorapis to Marmolada.
The second mountain from left, the pyramid one, is Antelao that is called the king of Dolomites, so you have king and queen (Marmolada). In the middle, among others, there are Pelmo and Civetta.

stickman · Aug 15, 2017

I guess you like those poppers, eh Giancarlo?

I never thought of pepper pesto before, but why not? I think I'll use the milder strains for it though.

You haven't gotten much rain, but the scenery you shared was just gorgeous! When I was in Colorado along the front range of the Rockies it looked a lot like that... just lots of red sandstone rather than dolomite. We got so little rain there that cactus like Cholla and Prickly Pear grew everywhere.

Essegi · Aug 28, 2017

Rick, here some more!

Serrano is amazing!
I tried some excellent buffalo ricotta but for that use Philadelphia is better!

A small harvest:

That week it has been a good hike, too hot for me but it was quite wild and in 2 day we didn't see much people.

This was the original plan, Sass De Mura

But then bosses decided to make it simpler so i could join.

Here a nice valley:

Those are some of the places i like most.

This is rifugio Boz, we slept in higher house:

On the second day we hiked a part of alta via 2, called delle leggende (of legends). This was one:

The round place is called la piazza del diavolo (devil's plaza), once it was rumored to be a place of devils and witches.

Some strange mushrooms called manine. Maybe those in particular aren't edible, but still cool looking.

moruga welder · Aug 28, 2017

Beautiful Pics my friend ! :party:

Essegi said:
Rick, here some more!

Serrano is amazing!
I tried some excellent buffalo ricotta but for that use Philadelphia is better!

A small harvest:

That week it has been a good hike, too hot for me but it was quite wild and in 2 day we didn't see much people.

This was the original plan, Sass De Mura

But then bosses decided to make it simpler so i could join.

Here a nice valley:

Those are some of the places i like most.

This is rifugio Boz, we slept in higher house:

On the second day we hiked a part of Altavia 2, called delle leggende (of legends). This was one:

The round place is called la piazza del diavolo (devil's plaza), once it was rumored to be a place of devils and witches.

Some strange mushrooms called manine. Maybe those in particular aren't edible, but still cool looking.

PaulG · Aug 28, 2017

Hey, Giancarlo - those are coral mushrooms. There are about 120
different kinds, a number of which are edible. Not sure about yours,
but it looks a lot like some images of coral mushrooms on google.

The one you pictured also grows here in Oregon. At first I thought
it was lion's mane, but they hang down rather than growing upright.

Here's a page that looks like yours:

http://gourmetforagables.blogspot.com/2012/06/coral-fungus-poster-child-for.html

More info:

http://www.picquery.com/coral-mushroom_0aPzxA1B4uB55k*1LFF*AZ6a7vqXDKbH1rbLgH6xaVw/

Essegi · Sep 5, 2017

Thanks guys! I must catch up with other glogs but it has been busy time!

Paul, i don't remember if i've seen those mushrooms on hills near my home, thanks for the links btw!

Btw there has been some bad hail... Let's say that potted rocoto has been pruned.

Those has been cooked on combined microwave and oven. I went to a friend's place and then he said he could't use oven and that we had to use microwave... That was a bad new, really. But with combined function it was still great, much better than expected!

Those are from Fanes-Sennes-Braies natural park:

Those mountains look amazing.

After some hours at the Lavarella shelter:

Second day:

Not bad for a summer hike.

Trident chilli · Sep 6, 2017

Always an absolute pleasure to catch up with your glog ... scenery including a summer hike to the snow line, food and chillies what more could anybody ask for ... great work my friend

Essegi · Oct 31, 2017

Thanks John!

Rocoto decided to give some pods:

Probably too late now, i'll see what i can do. But it's promising for next year.

My dad found those 2 weeks ago:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armillaria_mellea
Then he found some more.

New toys!

I would have never bet i started climbing that year... Just indoor for now.

Last mountain shots.

This is Lago del Bus at Cima D'Asta:

Pretty lone place, especially when wet... Luckily slabs were enough dry and yet they were hard to climb...

Here again Sasso Di Bosconero (i have some photos on previous pages), that time we managed to reach the peak:

There were no airplanes, i've never heard so much silence. Mountain in the middle is Pelmo.

That group is an hidden, unknown, gem,

Well, i guess that's all for this year, i just hope to harvest something from Rocoto...
Today also arrived seeds for next year, all from Semillas:
Datil
Brown Japaleno
Dedo De Moca

No supers next year. to be honest i was a bit tired of them, i take a break from extreme heat. But i'll be sure to plant many jalapenos to cook them with bacon and cheese!

Thanks for following my glog, i hope to catch up with other ones soon!

Devv · Oct 31, 2017

I always enjoy a visit to your glog Giancarlo.

You have it all, good food, scenery and a nice grow.

Good luck next season!

stickman · Nov 1, 2017

+1 on #138... Thanks for sharing pics of your garden, food and homeland. They're all stellar! Good luck in 2018. [emoji3]

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tsurrie · Nov 2, 2017

What? The season is over? Nooo

great glog Giancarlo and I'm looking forward to your next seasons one. Stay safe and enjoy those fruits over the winter.