JJJ Glog 2014.....in summary

Whew!
2013 Swirling down the Drain of Time.
 
Washing the 10x20s for a New Year.
 

 
 
By last October I was so peppered out  -40 some superhot plants and over twice that many mild and sweets. Didn't think I'd ever see the end of it. But, an early surprise freeze caught me off guard and I lost several mild and sweeties. I did get almost the entire superhot crop, dried, smoked, fermented, frozen or pickled. so I should have no dearth of heat to see me through to 2014 harvest.
 
I owe most of my pepper success in 2013 to YOU.
All the folks here at THP helped me from seed, to advice, to encouragement, to inspiration.  Couldn't have done it without y'all.
 
Some changes for 2014:
 

 
I'm moving my Cappy 1000 Pepper Incubator into my  basement utility room. Last year I had it in a minimally heated out building and the night times often dipped into the 50s or lower. And come to find out, baby peppers don't much care for that. They survived, they were just slow growers.
 
 
Dirt:
 
Fox Farms Ocean Forest will be my potting mix. It's organic and hopefully will be as good as the Miracle Grow Moisture Control and it can't be any worse than my home-brew last year which wasn't horrible but coulda been better.
 
Timing:
 
Instead of putting most of my seed in the ground in early February, I'm going to hold off until later on the Annums. The Chinensis at least some in early - mid January and some Manzano seeds earlier than that if I can find them.
 
How Many for Plant Out?:
 
Not 140.
I'm devoting 2 raised beds -a 4x30 and a 4x16 to Sweet Peppers -Jimmy Nardello, King of the North, Gaint Marconis, Aji Dulce. About 26 plants. 
100' in my row garden. Probably 40 plant's. Haven't decided on the balance, Bhuts, 7 pot, Habs, Bonnets, Jalas, the usual suspects and a few odd balls.
66 plants +/- total. I totally neglected my maters last year(which given the season didn't make much difference), but this year I vow to do better by tomatoes. I hope to do 50 or so -all heirlooms, mostly paste.
I'll start several more of both than needed for selling and give-aways.
 
 
 
In related news....
 
My buddy up in Richmond grew a lot of peppers last year. He has a geodesic dome greenhouse. At the end of season he just dug up several of his pepper plants and moved them in inside.
 

 
They're looking pretty good for late December.
 
My last "harvest" of 2013 was 12/22/13; some Thai Chilis that I'd pulled the whole plants in October and just laid up on a table outside. Most had dried leather-hard.
 
I pulled, cooked, seasoned, ground and strained them into a sauce for Pad Thai for this winter.
 

 
 
Everything subject to change without notice.
(But I'll keep you posted)
 
Thanks for reading,
JJJ
 
 

 

[JJJessee]

Thanks, guys.
 
We've got a drop or two of color today.
 
The fatalli-not
 

 
Looks like an annum, tastes like a chinenses, or at least did when it was green.
 
 
And F.roxa
 

 
I was looking at how the plant did not transition well to soil and the energy of those big suckers behind the pods by-passed the traffic jam of pot-bound, flowering foliage and gave the plant a lop-sided look. 
 
Well, chartreuse  is a color
 

 
This plant likes to pod.
And it's alright with me.
 
I think this counts as a harvest.
 

 
I've picked the third gallon of the snow peas. The size is not consistent, but some of that could be the heat.
But still, this variety is an excellent snow pea if you're into that sort of thing. The biggest ones have been about as long as my hand.
 
 
 But peppers...
I took 2 Arledge, half a medium onion, diced them with a short handful of cilantro,  mashed it up in the ol' mocajete, with juice of a lime, salt, black pepper, and pinch of cumin powder.
 
It got the coveted MrsJ stamp of approval.
 
Now those 6-4s are blister size. Or closer.
 
So, guess what I'm having for breakfast on whole wheat toast with goat cheese .
 
 
 
 
I got that pile of pots counted and in boxes, so I'm looking to get the next season started.
 

 
Which is summer.
 
Emboldened by a so-far-so-good effort with eggplant, I'm actually going to give fall cabbageses a whirl.
The cabbage worm is a terror in these parts as in many others I assume. I'm going to try row cover plus manual on the spot executions.
My ambition is to sow 3 waves and hope one wave jives with the summer-fall season change.
So, keep it under cover and well watered.
 
Which by the way,
 

 
Made it to about 1950 gallon on the stick today  mostly from last Friday night's rain, my guess.
Temps hit ~90 today and will be close the next three.
I used 500gal today, and may just do the row peppers and maters tomorrow.
 
Thanks for reading.
 
Keep cool and don't play out in the lightening.

 

[stc3248]

Cisterns and mead....wow, you're taking it WAY back!!! I always learn something when I stop in here. Great job Triple "J"!!!

 

[PIC 1]

Color in the garden..........in all respects.
I dig all the pepper photos with the captions..........its the combo of those and all the extra's...that makes this a highly respected glog !
 
Tell me you have a few extra hands helping you with all the maintenance..................lol
Way to stay ahead of things by getting the containers ready for next season......That's one thing I neglected last season...it does make a difference to have a clean start.
 
How are your MoA Jamaican Bonnets doing.....any pods hiding under the leaves ?

 

[Devv]

Yeah it counts as a harvest!
 
Well done JJJ.
 
I just have to have one of those tanks for storing water.
 
Have a great week!

 

[JJJessee]

Yeah it counts as a harvest!
 
Well done JJJ.
 
I just have to have one of those tanks for storing water.
 
Have a great week!

 
Thanks, on researching that project I came across a Texan that had 40k gallon of storage capacity. That's all the water they used 
 

 

Cisterns and mead....wow, you're taking it WAY back!!! I always learn something when I stop in here. Great job Triple "J"!!!

 
Thanks, 
Anachronism is my middle name.
 
 

Color in the garden..........in all respects.
I dig all the pepper photos with the captions..........its the combo of those and all the extra's...that makes this a highly respected glog !
 
Tell me you have a few extra hands helping you with all the maintenance..................lol
Way to stay ahead of things by getting the containers ready for next season......That's one thing I neglected last season...it does make a difference to have a clean start.
 
How are your MoA Jamaican Bonnets doing.....any pods hiding under the leaves ?

The little bonnet pods are growing and more are setting. I finally stumbled on my last, mis-placed stash of drip tape. Enough to  finish  my sauce tomato bed, the sweet pepper bed, the Big Bad Bhut Bed, and almost enough to add the MoA/JA Hab row and Melon/Gourd row if I can round up enough 1/2" scrap  PVC pipe to splice into the trunk line.
 

 
I would have sworn they hadn't grown a lick in the last 5 weeks.
I gave them some fish juice(store-bought) today.
Only the whites has set a few pods, but the others are finally getting "buddie".
 
We have us a mystery to unravel.
Heads up, Stickman.
 

 
The seeds were brought back from Indonesia or Sri Lanka last winter
along with several other varieties some friends happened up on. I'll try to get a picture of their Rawits to see if the mix-up is between us.
There's a lot of confusion at large around what is a Cabe Rawit. A lot of peppers get the "Rawit" label it seems.
As a seedling, it was paler than any chinense I've seen, but I could tell it wasn't an annum.
 
Anyways...
These are starting to kick into 2nd gear. 
 

 

 
few flowers though.
 
 
 
 
 
 
I had the string trimmer(my extra hands) going for a little while today.
 
 

 
Between the rows where some oats were still standing.
Along the tater row where my tiller conked out.
 
And on the lower edge of the buckwheat to give the maters some breathing room.
 

 
 
Ready to chill

Thanks for reading.

 

[Beerswimmer]

Wow, nice land you have there!

 

[stickman]

Very cool cistern for catching rainwater to water your plants with JJJ! I have a plastic barrel that I'm eventually going to modify  and hook into the drip irrigation system, but nothing as big as yours. Good on ya for having the patience to make mead... I brewed beer from grain mash and liquid yeast for 20 years, but eventually let it go as it turned out I had too many "Whiskey Friends". I never had the patience to wait a year for the final product.
 
I don't really know enough about Asian chiles from that part of the world to talk smack about them. The best info I could find on the net was from this wiki site...  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird%27s_eye_chili
They seem to think the Cabe Rawit is the same Annuum strain as the Thai Prik Kee Nu and the Malay Cili Padi. The Siling Labuyo is a Frutscens varitey that looks a lot like the Cabe Rawit, and apparently gets around quite a bit, since it can be found throughout southeast asia, southern India and the spice islands. I agree that the leaves on your plant look like Chinense, so I couldn't really guess what you've got. I'd be curious to see/hear about it when you get ripe pods.

 

[Devv]

Nice update JJJ!
 
Lot's of nice looking plants you have, soon you'll be pulling like crazy!
 
The Pubs are looking especially good too!
 
How many square feet have you planted? It sure looks like a bunch from here.
 

 
Thanks, on researching that project I came across a Texan that had 40k gallon of storage capacity. That's all the water they used 

 
When we go to SA we pass a place that has a large metal building with two downspouts going into two separate tanks. They're quite large I would guess 8x8' each.

 

[OCD Chilehead]

The hard work is paying off. Thanks for the update. Hope your finding relaxation.

 

[Jeff H]

I'm amazed with the progress every time I come here. Keep it up.

 

[Devv]

Funny (to me) you have Technicolor in your title. My Father retired from that company, they treated him well

 

[maximumcapsicum]

Great update JJJ! How's the taste of that locoto? Looks like a good one for saucing.

Keep it going man! Got to get my pots cleaned and organized like you did.

 

[JJJessee]

Very cool cistern for catching rainwater to water your plants with JJJ! I have a plastic barrel that I'm eventually going to modify  and hook into the drip irrigation system, but nothing as big as yours. Good on ya for having the patience to make mead... I brewed beer from grain mash and liquid yeast for 20 years, but eventually let it go as it turned out I had too many "Whiskey Friends". I never had the patience to wait a year for the final product.
 
I don't really know enough about Asian chiles from that part of the world to talk smack about them. The best info I could find on the net was from this wiki site...  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird%27s_eye_chili
They seem to think the Cabe Rawit is the same Annuum strain as the Thai Prik Kee Nu and the Malay Cili Padi. The Siling Labuyo is a Frutscens varitey that looks a lot like the Cabe Rawit, and apparently gets around quite a bit, since it can be found throughout southeast asia, southern India and the spice islands. I agree that the leaves on your plant look like Chinense, so I couldn't really guess what you've got. I'd be curious to see/hear about it when you get ripe pods.

Thanks, Rick.
I'd love to make a run of likker, starting with seed corn. It might happen some day now that my son-in-law is no longer a Federal Agent
Yeah, I'm thinking rawit gets applied to a plethora of little Asian peppers. It'll be fun to see how "mouse turdy" these chinense stay. The guy who gave me the seed has plants that look the same.
 
 

Nice update JJJ!
 
Lot's of nice looking plants you have, soon you'll be pulling like crazy!
 
The Pubs are looking especially good too!
 
How many square feet have you planted? It sure looks like a bunch from here.
 
 
When we go to SA we pass a place that has a large metal building with two downspouts going into two separate tanks. They're quite large I would guess 8x8' each.

Thanks, Scott.
 
My row garden is abut 50-60' by 100', but that has 3 row of berries on about 8' centers.
My raised beds total ~1100 sf. Then I have a 5' x maybe 60' strip that has my MoA and JA Habs and a parallel row of gourds and melons.
 
That 8' high x 8' dia. holds about 2500gal 
 
 

The hard work is paying off. Thanks for the update. Hope your finding relaxation.

 
 
Thanks, OCD.
 
It looks like hard work, but seems more like play.
But I like to play hard.
 
 

I'm amazed with the progress every time I come here. Keep it up.

 
Thanks, Jeff.
 

Great update JJJ! How's the taste of that locoto? Looks like a good one for saucing.

Keep it going man! Got to get my pots cleaned and organized like you did. 

 
I not a huge fan of B. Locato flavor. Maybe I just haven't used it right. Maybe I should powder some this year.
 
 
Last Thursday night a big wind storm blew out of the east and smashed a mater in a SIP bucket and took out a couple of 24-30" trees next door to us and the power for about a day.
The mater's trying to hang on, but who knows.
 

Broke almost  all the way
 
 
 
Some are getting ripe. Gonna be a pretty mater.

I have some of these in the row garden if this one conks out. 
 
The garden is 20 miles away and no harm done there.
 
 

We took a 3 day weekend for out 35th anniversary and got fair amount of rain while we were away.
 
In the row garden...
I haven't grown cayenne in a while

this one has a nice pod form.
 
 
This is the mate of the Arledge I've been getting some nice sized peppers from for my green salsa monkey....
With oodles of small pods 
 

 
That been that way for a while and don't seem to be growing.
 
 
But the Habs are shaping up.
 

 
 
 
In onions.....

 
The large hybrids I count as done.
I pushed the rest of them over for the first phase of curing.
Now they need dry weather.
 
 
Thanks for reading.

 

[OCD Chilehead]

Everything is looking nice and green. Nice size pods forming. Cayenne's are stretching well.

Thanks for sharing.

Chuck

 

[maximumcapsicum]

This is looking great JJJ. Love the stripes on those maters. Have you sampled any yet?
 
I've had a couple of the fruts that were a little too... crisp... for me. Just a kick in the pants heat without much else. I bet they'd ferment good. Pods pop right off the plants... seems like they love to be eaten. 
 
Your farm is really taking off!

 

[stickman]

Thanks, Rick.
I'd love to make a run of likker, starting with seed corn. It might happen some day now that my son-in-law is no longer a Federal Agent
Yeah, I'm thinking rawit gets applied to a plethora of little Asian peppers. It'll be fun to see how "mouse turdy" these chinense stay. The guy who gave me the seed has plants that look the same.

 
I thought the sticking point with the "revenooers" was people selling likker without paying the tax... if you register your still and don't ever sell the product, I understand it's relatively easy to get a permit. I was reading in the National Geographic about a guy near Hershey, PA who was getting the crud they cleaned out of the machines at the Hershey's chocolate plant, fermenting and distilling it himself, and using it to fuel a para-sail aircraft... legally.  My Dad had a friend at work who was an Italian immigrant that made his own wine and grappa. I was interested as a teenager, and helped him make it to see how it was done. He'd crush and sterilize the grapes first, and then squeeze them lightly once to get the sweetest juice... he'd use that to make dessert wine, then he'd squeeze the bejeezus out of them twice more, and that would go for his table wine. The skins and pulp would be mixed with water and sugar, and they would all get a little of the dregs from the last batch of wine. When the buckets with the pulp and skins started fermenting, they would be buoyed up by the fermentation gasses and would float on top of the water like a cake... when the cake broke up and sank, that would mean it had stopped fermenting, and he'd strain the liquid through a couple pairs of his wife's old stockings (suitably cleaned) and run the liquid through a clay pot still to collect the alcohol. I saw a bottle of grappa on the top shelf of the bar in a local pizza restaurant  that they wanted $7 a shot for, and I just laughed.
 
Nice Onions and 'Maters JJJ... glad you dodged a bullet with the storms. Keep up the good great work!

 

[JJJessee]

That's interesting on the grape skins, Rick.  I was on the island of Rhodes a few years ago and that's exactly how they made a local moonshine called Some (so-Mey) -using the grape skins and pressed pulp. They even brought a large column still on the back of a little pickup truck to their fall festival and gave away shots warm from the spigot. It didn't have the stigma that moonshine in this country has. It was very drinkable. Not as high proofed as a grappa.
 
You had to go easy on it though.  

 

[JJJessee]

Thanks, guys.
 
I was out of town last weekend, but the pepper fairy was good to me.
 

 
Woot!
 
 
Tomato fairy too.
 

 
Although she broke  one of the tops of it in two.
This is the plant that came up in my first sowing of peppers in January.
 
It's in the HugelKulture bed with a bunch of stuff.
 

 
I put the bamboo trellis in before the cukes got started really.
They went straight up -no crawling around asking for directions.
 
The rain may be getting out of hand. Before I left last Friday
 

 
I didn't need a measuring stick.
And we had rain on top of that.
 
 
Some poddage.
Color is still a ways off for most things.
 

 

 

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
The rain is not helping the onions at this point.
 

 
I went ahead and pulled them out of the ground.
A few had bad spots. I'll have to use them right away.
I'd like to leave them out a few days but I think it may rain Wednesday.
 
I pulled all but a dozen garlic heads last Thursday
 

 
and have it hanging in my workshop with fan running.
 
Thanks for reading.

 

[Blister]

Simply amazing sir! I've been meaning to pick up a barrel for rain water (nothing like you have mind you). I'll also have to get an eves trough. Right now everything drips on you when you go through our doors.

Neil

 

[OCD Chilehead]

WOW. Lots of poddage. I really like the Jigsaw Fatalli's. Nice bulb harvest.

Thanks for sharing

Chuck