Mezo`s "super hots" Glog including the 'big' solar dehydrator.

The is thread with the humungous solar dehydrator.

G-Day, im Mez or Mezo & im new to this part of Australia having come from Perth (Western Australia) where growing chili peppers is so easy (except the heat).

I live in the border ranges in northern New South Wales (bordering Queensland) and its a mixed bag of temperate & tropical conditions, the summers are very hot, wet & humid, the winters are dry & sunny.



Average daily temps.

And average monthly rainfall.

Aussies reading this will already know this, but people in other country's probably paint a picture of Australia as a hot dry/dusty land but this is far from the truth, up north its full blown tropics with a wet season & 100% humidity (yuck). Down south its freezing cold & snow during winter, out west its a dry heat like in the Mediterranean & in the middle of Australia is desert country.

So im now growing for the first time "Super hots" and for a very important reason, whilst working away in Perth i had a double heart attack wich has left me permanently disabled, sadly they are unable to operate on me (bypass/stent) as its to far gone, so having worked all my life (Electrician) im now at the age of 45 claiming a disability pension & i hate not being able to work.

Now i take shovel fulls of dam tablets to keep my heart pumping & id rather not be taking any but right now there no option i have to take them or ill drop dead on the spot. After much reading i found out that cayenne powder has all sort of benefits to your health & well being, especially to your cardio vascular system. I had read that cayenne powder can stop a heart attack in its track & i put this to the test (twice) and yes it does work where the medication (Nitrolingual) had no effect.

So anyone reading this who spots a friend having a heart attack just flick some chili powder in a glass of water as fast as you can & get them to drink in right down, fast. It works within 30 seconds of drinking it & it saved me from two more attacks already.

So there's my life story in a nutshell & some sound advice on how to save a heart attack victims life.
And this ladies & gentlymen is why im growing "Super Hots" to make high heat cayenne powder for cooking to improve my circulation/remove fats & as a "just in case of emergency"

OK on with the first of my "Hots" the Bhut Jolokia, the reason i chose this was simple i just Googled "whats the hottest chili" and up popped the result, however further reading on the interweb i found threads from this forum & names like the Butch T, the Douglah & Brain Strain.

So ive ordered them from pepperlover.com after so many people gave such great reviews, Bhut in the meantime lets look at my Jolokia`s.

Must admit i just love the shape & color of these babies.

More soon,

Mezo.

 

[Trippa]

Mezo, NICE F!#$ING HEATER MAN!! If that doesn't help with your winter I don't know what will

Aaron

Winter is an over statement. More like a cool summer for the majority of the world when you are still getting regularly into the high teens degrees Celsius during the depth of 'winter'

 

[nee]

well my weekly trip to town & i found some of this stuff (cheers Nee)

No pwobs brudda..

Did you add to vinegar as per the recipe i sent over?
I have found that it's stopped fizzing (after only an hour or 2) and i'm now left with a heap of browny liquid on the top and a load of undisolved lime on the bottom. Not sure how long this stuff takes to complete, but i can't seem to rouse it into doing anything more....even after stirring etc Just wondered if you've tried this and found the same?

 

[habaneroheat81]

Winter is an over statement. More like a cool summer for the majority of the world when you are still getting regularly into the high teens degrees Celsius during the depth of 'winter'

We don't really get that luxery up here. Lately its been mid 50's with a lot of rain, and winter if the power goes out its a minimum of 5 days before they decide to fix it. 2 years ago it was out for 9.
One of those heaters would be great for us to stay warm and our plants. If I'm not mistaken I think Mezo only gets 2 bad months of the year then its 65 degrees or higher.

 

[Trippa]

We don't really get that luxery up here. Lately its been mid 50's with a lot of rain, and winter if the power goes out its a minimum of 5 days before they decide to fix it. 2 years ago it was out for 9.
One of those heaters would be great for us to stay warm and our plants. If I'm not mistaken I think Mezo only gets 2 bad months of the year then its 65 degrees or higher.

Yeah Mezo has roughly the same climate as I do (around an hour away at a guess of his rough location) minus a couple of degrees colder and no doubt a couple of degrees warmer in summer. But basically the same.

 

[Mezo]

Did you add to vinegar as per the recipe i sent over?
I have found that it's stopped fizzing (after only an hour or 2) and i'm now left with a heap of browny liquid on the top and a load of undisolved lime on the bottom. Not sure how long this stuff takes to complete, but i can't seem to rouse it into doing anything more....even after stirring etc Just wondered if you've tried this and found the same?

Do you need to do the vinegar trick then Nee? the packet says just sprinkle it on the soil?

Didn't even get a chance yesterday arvo, had to fill the tanks with water (bone dry) we have six tanks with a total of 3600lts which we use for general use, chooks & ducks, showering, washing & hand watering plants.

Then we was tossing around with the heater until dark, which i tested fully at 6am this morning. It wasn't frosty but pretty chilly none the less (steam out your gob style) so i peeked in the tent & it was slightly warmer but still steam out your mouth, so i thought id fire up the burner & see how long it takes to warm it up. I jammed a pencil it the knob to hold it on & let it run for ten miins & warm as toast in there. We do have a couple of kerro heaters floating around somewhere? but ive been told kerro is real expensive now? plus i read on here you cannot be classed as organic if you keep you plants warm using that stuff? not that im getting certified organic or anything but it must be for a reason.

Sun has just peeked up over the mountain behind me so it will carry on warming the tent nicely, and that's the thing where we live here like Trippa said, Its not a true winter like in the northern hemisphere (or south of me) its a mixed bag of temperate & sub tropical here.

Winters are dry & sunny and it doesn't last very long either, the sun rises at 7am & sets at 5pm (even in winter) unlike where i used to live (UK) where if your lucky the sun rises at 9am & sets at 3pm & that's if you even get any sun & that goes on for months & months. The summers here are very wet, hot & humid (dominated by the tropics up north) the wet season.

Mezo.

 

[Mezo]

Seems im talking to myself here.

Nah i know it goes dead as a doornail on all forums over the weekend (admins time off).

So i thought id fire up & test (again & why not) the big arse gas burner in the tent, just for the pretty picture..

And movie of course (spooky kiddies).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKQnSPXPm3E&feature=youtu.be

Mezo.

 

[Ferrero]

hope your getting up at 2am to warm the tent looks warm mate

 

[Mezo]

hope your getting up at 2am to warm the tent looks warm mate

If i have to get up at 2am to save my little babies so be it, im always checking the overnight temp forecast & at least i can sleep easy knowing if there is a frost heading my way i can kill it in its tracks.

The gas burner is there "just in case of emergency" id love to run it every night but just not worth it financially, its there if everything is looking like turning to shit one night.

Mezo.

 

[Ferrero]

Yea nah its a good Idea I reacon if you closed up the tent and let it run for a little, it would probably hold the temps up a few degrees in the wee hours. It got down to 0 here last night my little morugas in my makeshift greenhouse didn't like it to much but it kept the frost of them and they bounced back when the sun came out.

 

[stickman]

OK Matt just for you & i like to keep my audience happy, a touch of "Convict" just for you.

I can just see North Americans scratching there heads now?

Mezo.

Mailbags and Porridge? Or is that just the Pommies?

I grew up next to Lee, Massachusetts where the Lee Lime quarry is. They are one of the biggest distributors of Dolomitic Limestone in the US. If you have enough humus in your soil or it's acidic enough, you shouldn't have to dissolve it in vinegar first. The humus has enough tannic and humic acid to do the job for you. Don't know what your water source is, but if it's a surface reservoir, rainwater collected there is also slightly acidic. That's one reason everything looks greener after a rain... more dissolved nutrients!

 

[Mezo]

Yea nah its a good Idea I reacon if you closed up the tent and let it run for a little, it would probably hold the temps up a few degrees in the wee hours. It got down to 0 here last night my little morugas in my makeshift greenhouse didn't like it to much but it kept the frost of them and they bounced back when the sun came out.

Cant afford to run that thing all night (not even on tickover) they suck a bottle of gas in no time, but they are brilliant at raising the temp in a very short period (just a few mins).

Mailbags and Porridge? Or is that just the Pommies?

I grew up next to Lee, Massachusetts where the Lee Lime quarry is. They are one of the biggest distributors of Dolomitic Limestone in the US. If you have enough humus in your soil or it's acidic enough, you shouldn't have to dissolve it in vinegar first. The humus has enough tannic and humic acid to do the job for you. Don't know what your water source is, but if it's a surface reservoir, rainwater collected there is also slightly acidic. That's one reason everything looks greener after a rain... more dissolved nutrients!

The picture is Wentworth Detention from an old Aussie show called "Prisoner"

I stirred that dolomite in by hand in all the pots that looked like they needed it, had some yellowing on the mature Bhuts & some leaf drop, and the younger plants had some wrinkle to there leaves. The wrinkle could have been from over watering (not on my part) we had a week of heavy rains.

Mezo.

 

[Ferrero]

lol hey mezo is this it? this is the one I was thinking of http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0CERdbw21U

 

[Mezo]

Cant believe i just watched that

Must be 20yrs since i watched that, oddly its strangely compelling viewing & even better viewed drunk.

Mezo.

 

[Trippa]

I am pretty sure this is still on TV (I think it is on 111 hits on Austar every day). Almost as bad as Sons and Daughters or The Young Doctors but nowhere near as good as Shortland Street

But truthfully a highly recommended light hearted/but somehow serious series to watch from start to finish is Outrageous Fortune especially if you are familiar with Kiwi Culture in any way shape or form. One of the better series from go to woe that I have watched in a long time (And only 6 seasons long so didn't drag)

 

[Mezo]

Video just taken of Loco 3237 passing past my front door.

"Choo Choo"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KkD_HjGGDE&feature=youtu.be

Mezo.

 

[nee]

That's ace, that is...!!

 

[benzo]

Like the steam train there Mezo, havent seen one since I was a kid. thnx for sharing

 

[Mezo]

Like the steam train there Mezo, havent seen one since I was a kid. thnx for sharing

I just posted the train coming back past today (on YouTube) id like to be able to say more of what happened but id get some nice blokes in the shit if i did, all i can & will say is Trish (who owns the place) met the very nice drivers of the train in person.

So from now on all them guys (freight & passenger pilot/drivers) will be tooting there horns as they pass by.

I must update this Glog, so busy trainspotting ive neglected it, but i did take this pic today of Kermit the Frog.

Ive had a plague of mice, well had i should say have still, hundreds of them & ants by the thousands.

Mezo.

 

[Trippa]

Ants and Mice because of the cooler weather and the Rain Mezo ... you always know if its going to be a wet few days when you see the ants on the move and always know its getting cooler when the mice start creeping into the sights ... hope they don't drive you too nuts bro.
Nice Frog by the way ... but what happened to his Beret??

 

[Mezo]

Im not sure if the ants are damaging the plants? i keep finding them in the crown of the plants (new growth) and where the flowers are developing (going for the sweet stuff?) ive been knocking them off & i made a coffee soup up from the grounds i scored, i doused the whole tent with it but it made no difference (tent just smells like Starbucks now)

The mice are a pain as they keep eating through my Jiffy`s, they are not after the seeds but there must be something in the peat they like? ive baited the whole place over the weekend but there are so many of them. We have to real careful where we put the bait as well as we have dogs, so its a matter of cable tying them up high where they can reach them.

Mezo.