Highalt's 2012 Grow Log

I haven't made it to the super hot level yet, so not sure how interesting you guys will find this, but I like having one place to post all of my pictures throughout the season, so here goes.

2012 Preliminary Grow List:

Aji Yellow
Alma Paprika
Ancho Gigantia
Ancho San Luis
Barker (NuMex)
Big Jim (NuMex)
Black Hungarian
Chile de Arbol
Chile Hidalgo (don't actually have seeds for this one yet)
Chilhaucle Rojo
Chimayo
Cosa Arrugada
Costeno Amarillo
Fish
Fresno
Georgia Flame
Giant Szegedi
Habanero Chocolate
Habanero Peach
Hawaiian Sweet Hot
Inca Red Drop
Jalapeno 'Biker Billy' (The only hybrid on the list)
Jaloro
Japone
Jimmy Nardello
Lemon Drop
Melrose
NuMex Espanola Improved
NuMex Pinata (don't have seeds for this one yet either)
Patio Red Marconi
Piment 'd Espelette
Rain Forest
Rocotillo
Sante Fe Grande
Serrano Tampiqueno
Tollie's Sweet Italian

*Disclaimer - this list is subject to change ... hourly

I host an annual group pepper seed swap on another site, so I'm sure I'll probably add to this list once that gets going, but this is the bulk of what I plan to grow anyway. The problem with adding to this list isn't where to plant them, it's finding enough cat-free space indoors to start them all!

If you check out my post on early season Serrano substitutes you'll see I'm still looking for information on a few of the peppers I"m thinking of growing. It's so much better hearing from someone that has actually grown a variety, rather than going by a description on a seed vendor's website!

The habaneros may get started in the next couple of weeks, but I'll probably wait until February to start the rest. I'll be back with pictures once the seeds are in the dirt.

 

[KiNGDeNNiZ]

Wow, that's strange that so many of you folks have been having mild Jalapenos instead of the hot ones you expected. The ones I got from a local farmstand last week were brutal! I'll have to ask them for the source of their seed. I grew Coyame Jalapenos from Burpee this year, and thought they were plenty hot. I got some Zapotec seeds in a swap with mygrassisblue so I'll see how they do next year.

my purple jals were heatlesss...

as always bonnie. your harvest and photos inspire people.. cant wait to make use of my zuchinnis

 

[Indiana_Jesse]

My jalapenos were/are brutally hot this year! I never imagined jalapenos could be so consistently hot as the ones I grew this season. I grew Zapoteca, TAM Vera Cruz, Jalapeno M, Mitla Hybrid, and seeds from a Mexican market jalapeno, ALL were incredibly hot! I think the Zapoteca had a little bit more flavor than the others, but all were amazing. My wife and I eat spicy food everyday, and we can barely handle these things. I'll even dare to say that they seem to be hotter than the serranos? I wish they would grow this hot every year. I attribute our very hot and dry summer and my lack of watering as often as I should of. Plants and pods were much smaller than usual, but they still produced a good number of pods. Anyway, sorry, probably should of posted this in my own glog.

 

[highalt]

Bonnie, I was trying to make a post on my phone, while I was at work. Didn't turn out to well...You
mention zapotec jalapeno, and how hot was it. I grew it this year and saved seeds. I waited until
they turned red to eat them. Sweet and good flavor, and it was hot to me. Very good to eat fresh.
I don't know if beth will be selling them next year, that's why I made sure to save some seed. I'll
send you some if you want.

I'd love to have some of the Zapotec seeds! As soon as I get caught up on things, I'll PM you, and we can set up a trade.

Nice Harvest!
Great selection.
So how much longer do you think your season will last?

We usually have our first hard freeze the first or second week of October, but it's not unusual to get a couple of light frosts in September. Enough to ruin the basil, and other tender stuff.

How about you? When does your season end?

Another excellent looking harvest. Your pods are doing so well.

How are your tomatoes doing? Mine have about run their course. Only 63 quarts this year.

"Only 63 quarts this year." Thanks for rubbing it in!!!

Um, I think I've harvest maybe half a dozen tomatoes all summer! Looks like most of mine will ripen on the kitchen counter, or in a box in the garage. It's been a crappy tomato year for me.

Great question, I am working on a name to copyright. :

Seriously though, I think they will all fit in each other. I might just do it for sport.

I'd like to see a picture of that!

My jalapenos were/are brutally hot this year! I never imagined jalapenos could be so consistently hot as the ones I grew this season. I grew Zapoteca, TAM Vera Cruz, Jalapeno M, Mitla Hybrid, and seeds from a Mexican market jalapeno, ALL were incredibly hot! I think the Zapoteca had a little bit more flavor than the others, but all were amazing. My wife and I eat spicy food everyday, and we can barely handle these things. I'll even dare to say that they seem to be hotter than the serranos? I wish they would grow this hot every year. I attribute our very hot and dry summer and my lack of watering as often as I should of. Plants and pods were much smaller than usual, but they still produced a good number of pods. Anyway, sorry, probably should of posted this in my own glog.

No. it's interesting to me to hear how other growers' stuff turns out. I guess I must treat my Jalapenos too nice, 'cause I have tried several varieties, including some of the same ones you're growing, and none of them have ever had much heat at all.

UPDATE:

Didn't get anything done in the garden the past couple of days. Things are just crazy around here between soccer, football, mother-in-law visiting, and Praise team practice. I had just enough time to throw some water at the plants yesterday, and I could see that there were lots of ripe peppers, but just didn't have time to pick them. And now it looks like I may be starting a part time job while the kids are in school. It should only be 10 - 20 hours a week, but that will cut into my gardening and THP time!!! We need the money though, so I'm not complaining about the work.

I did manage to puree a quart bag full of peppers the other day. Then I put them into an ice cube tray till they were frozen, and bagged the cubes up. Ended up with 1 1/2 cups of puree. The thick, juicy Patio Red Marconi's did the best. Some of the other varieties didn't have quite as much moisture, and ended up more finely chopped than pureed. Guess I could add a small amount of water next time.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!!! I'm off to make some jam. Unfortunately, it's cranberry pear, no peppers this time, but it will still be tasty on some warm bread on a cold winter morning.

 

[stc3248]

Busy busy! Congrats on the Job...momma just started working again on this end too. Really throws the schedule around here in a tailspin when she's working. I'm sure its the same on your end. The family has learned to function without me due to my frequent absences. Good luck with work. The garden will take care of itself just fine for the last bit of season.

Always something cooking at your house! I bet the whole neighborhood walks by every day just for the smell...

 

[highalt]

I'd like to think the neighbors were walking past my house to admire my flower garden, but it's probably just to let their dogs poop in my yard! OK, that's not really funny ...

Cranberry Pear Jam (8 half pints)

Spiced Caramel Pear Jam (5 half pints) Sorry about the blurry pic. Tried several times, but camera would not cooperate.

I think I have enough Aji Chinchi Amarillos, and NOT Hawaiian Sweet Hots to make another batch of Hot Lemon Jelly. Small problem though ... just ran out of half pint jars.

 

[midwestchilehead]

Did those Not Hawaiian sweet hots come from me? RTF said the ones I sent him turned yellow. I wonder if I got my labels mixed up.

 

[highalt]

Did those Not Hawaiian sweet hots come from me? RTF said the ones I sent him turned yellow. I wonder if I got my labels mixed up.

No, I'm pretty sure they came from Peppermania.

Your seeds arrived today! Thank you for your generosity!!! Can't wait to grow them!



Well, speaking of NOT Hawaiian Sweet Hots, I used a few, along with a pile of Aji Chinchi Amarillos to make another batch of Hot Lemon Jelly today. I think this batch turned out better, and hotter than the last one.

Like my new $8 blender?

Oh, crud, the date stamp on the camera is off a day, LOL. Oh, well ...

Took me an hour and a half to harvest and water down at the garden this morning. The plants are looking pretty rough now, so I guess it's a good thing the season's almost over. Got the biggest harvest so far this year though.

A few close-ups.

Chilhuacle Amarillo. I'll give these a couple of days to finish ripening, and then I think they will be dried and powdered. Lost a couple due to BER, so I'm picking them a little early now.

Tobago Seasoning

Comparison of Serrano Huasteco (on the left) with Chile Hidalgo (on the right). They are probably destined for jelly, but I will try and do a taste comparison when I use them.

Trinidad Perfume

... and my favorite shot, the bowl full of peppers.

Not pepper related, but also got my first batch of pesto made today. Used Lemon Basil, pine nuts, olive oil, garlic, pepper powders, and some salt. Poured it into an ice cube tray and put it in the deep freeze. I'll store it in a freezer bag later. Started with 4 cups of leaves, and ended up with a little over 1 1/2 cups of pesto.

 

[HillBilly Jeff]

Nice looking lemon jelly. What did you use to keep it so yellow looking?

Once again a great harvest.

 

[ColoradoRonin]

Congrats on a great harvest!
Not too much time left for our outdoor season...
I'm already trimming back some plants in prep for overwintering.
Any plans on trying to extend your season? (hoop houses, frost curtains)
I'll probably be playing the nightly pepper shuffle to the garage for the next couple weeks..
Good luck with the rest of your season!

 

[RocketMan]

Looking really tasty there Bonnie, I bet that Hot Lemon Jelly would go really great with some lamg or some really good fish

 

[highalt]

Nice looking lemon jelly. What did you use to keep it so yellow looking?

Once again a great harvest.

I didn't add any food coloring. That is just from the peppers! I used Pulpiteer's recipe, which doesn't strain out the peppers after pureeing like some of the other pepper jelly recipes say to do, so that probably helped.

Congrats on a great harvest!
Not too much time left for our outdoor season...
I'm already trimming back some plants in prep for overwintering.
Any plans on trying to extend your season? (hoop houses, frost curtains)
I'll probably be playing the nightly pepper shuffle to the garage for the next couple weeks..
Good luck with the rest of your season!

I don't really do any season extending down at the community garden. It's just too large an area to try and cover. Like you, I do the garage shuffle with the container plants. Eventually I'll figure out which ones I want to try and overwinter, and will cut those back. I have a couple of row covers I could use on the small veggie bed here at the house, but the plants are so tall now, that I'm not sure how much I'd actually be able to protect. Usually, I just wait until we get our first frost warning, and then I go out and harvest EVERYTHING!

Looking really tasty there Bonnie, I bet that Hot Lemon Jelly would go really great with some lamg or some really good fish

I put a couple of spoonfuls on some Chocolate Zucchini Bread this morning. What a treat! Just the right amount of heat to wake me up.


UPDATE:

Sorry, no pictures the past couple of days. I started my new job, and it's cutting into my gardening time, and I haven't had time to visit anyone else's glog in probably a week. Hopefully, I can catch up on what everyone is doing over the weekend.

I did manage to put a tray of Chilhuacle Amarillos, and a tray of Sandias in the dehydrator. The Chilhuacle Amarillos have more heat than the Sandias, but aren't as sweet. I think they will make an excellent non-red powder. I saved quite a few seeds for sharing.

 

[stc3248]

Love your Bowl O'Peppers shot! The foodie pics look fantastic as usual too! Let me know it I have anything going that you would like to sample and I'll send you some out...

 

[midwestchilehead]

You are welcome. Good looking peppers and eats!

No, I'm pretty sure they came from Peppermania.

Your seeds arrived today! Thank you for your generosity!!! Can't wait to grow them!

 

[stickman]

HI Bonnie
Great looking pics of pods and provender... Good luck with the new job

 

[jsschrstrcks]

Man Bonnie, things are looking great

Its hard to believe I've been here for nearly a year already, which means we are coming back up on the pick a pepper swap yeah? are you planning to do that again this year?

 

[ColoradoRonin]

Pod #1

How did these "Choc hab" turn out for you?
They really look like one of my 7 Pots that turned out to be a brain strain..
I hope you enjoy them whatever they turn out to be...

 

[Pulpiteer]

How did these "Choc hab" turn out for you?
They really look like one of my 7 Pots that turned out to be a brain strain..
I hope you enjoy them whatever they turn out to be...

Yeah, I'm wondering that too, it looks mean there so I'm wondering how it turned out.

 

[highalt]

Man Bonnie, things are looking great

Its hard to believe I've been here for nearly a year already, which means we are coming back up on the pick a pepper swap yeah? are you planning to do that again this year?

I hosted the Pick-A-Peck of Peppers Swap in February, and I am planning to do it again next year.

How did these "Choc hab" turn out for you?
They really look like one of my 7 Pots that turned out to be a brain strain..
I hope you enjoy them whatever they turn out to be...

Yeah, I'm wondering that too, it looks mean there so I'm wondering how it turned out.

It's still green! Waiting for it to show it's true colors, LOL!

I did notice a couple of the Peach Habaneros are almost ripe. No frost in the forecast yet, so maybe I'll prove all those naysayers wrong, and get some ripe habaneros after all!

 

[highalt]

Well, I thought that last harvest might be the last big one before the final frost warning harvest, but I think today's may have out done it!!!

Pretty little peppers all in a row.

A couple of comparisons. The first is Whippet's Tail (Joe's Long) vs. Aci Sivri.

Chimayos. The top row is from the sad looking plant at the comm. garden. The skin is a dull, dark red. The two on the bottom came from the plant here at the house.

A couple of close ups ,,,

Tobago Seasoining (oops, how'd that Inca Red Drop get in there, LOL?)

Trinidad Perfume (still haven't tasted this one yet)

Oh, and what is this??? RIPE Peach Habaneros?!? Oh, yeah, baby!!! There'sa Chocolate Hab. starting to turn now too!

Aji Angelo. These things take forever AND a day to ripen.

Notice the bowl today is almost overflowing.

I've got a lot of drying and pureeing to do this weekend!!!

Now to get ready to celebrate my oldest son's 14th bday. Hope everyone has an awesome last day of summer weekend!!!

 

[stickman]

Most excellent pull Bonnie... that's gotta feel good after worrying about getting a harvest. Good on ya for getting ripe Habs finally. I wish I could have synched your harvest to the peach crop here this year... big juicy peaches with lots of flavor! Have a good weekend and a happy family celebration.