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P. Dreadie Memorial Group Grow 2016

Long-time THP veterans mourned the loss last August of Amarillo, Texas musician/songwriter/silversmith/chilehead Erin Mason, known to us here on the boards as P. Dreadie. Erin was an enigma, one of the most interesting and creative, yet gentle and loving guys I ever knew. Many of us may be unaware that he played harmonica in one of the original Austin, Texas bands of the early 1970s "Cosmic Cowboy" era, Alvin Crow and the Pleasant Valley Boys. When Erin decided to step off of Alvin's perpetually-touring bus and return to Amarillo, he travelled to Jamaica, fell in love with the Reggae beat, collected the best Scotch Bonnet fruit he could find, and his alter-ego Papa Dreadie was born.

In 2013 Erin sent me a few pods of the Scotch Bonnets he had been breeding, carefully selected descendants of the original fruit he brought back from the Caribbean all those years ago. I harvested every single seed from those pods, and stored them away, as I focused increasing attention on other varieties. When his wife Liz gave us the news last August that Erin had passed, I knew what I had to do with those seeds: a community grow in his memory. I have already shared about half of them, and I will continue to share them with experienced growers of the Scotch Bonnet until they are gone.

Papa Dreadie Scotch Bonnet Select, grown by Erin in 2013:

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Lifetime memories posted by Liz Mason on Erin's FB page. Liz is an extremely talented professional photographer:

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The legendary bus:

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Malarky said:
Gary is the man! Are these P.Dreadie Select? Dedicated garden space to these guys next year!
Edit: these things taste amazing! I will be spreading a lot of seed around
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Thanks for the shout-out Matt! Yes, those are the P. Dreadie Select pods...
 
Thank you for your offer to send seeds to Blister. He's on my "send seeds" list, but if you would take care of that for me it would be really great. By the way, I've sent plenty of seeds to Canada, without any problems. Just use a padded mailer, and don't write anything about the contents on the outside...
 
windchicken said:
 
 
Thanks for the shout-out Matt! Yes, those are the P. Dreadie Select pods...
 
Thank you for your offer to send seeds to Blister. He's on my "send seeds" list, but if you would take care of that for me it would be really great. By the way, I've sent plenty of seeds to Canada, without any problems. Just use a padded mailer, and don't write anything about the contents on the outside...
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Yeah I'll send them on to Blister. just paying it forward. I've got more seeds for more peppers than I'll ever possibly be able to grow thanks to this community
 
Malarky said:
PM me and I'll have seeds from my pods, from Gary...on their way to you as soon as they're dry
 
edit:hmm i see your up north...i've never mailed anything there? is it more difficult than sending a card?
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Thanks for the offer. I haven't had a problem sending or receiving seeds to/from the US in the past. I've always bubble enveloped the seeds and claimed it as a birthday card when sending. Even sent some to the Phillipines.

Neil
 
P.Dreadie SS-Kiwi Sweet Pepper Jam
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Recipe
This stuff is pretty good. Its a small batch, so not a big commitment.
I used 5 P.Dreadie bonnets and most of a yellow sweet pepper to make the 1 cup of minced pepper.
It took about 3 kiwis to get a cup of crushed kiwi.
If anything I think it could be a little sweeter.
probably could use more hot pepper as well, didn't know what to expect
 
Mitzi said:
Interesting that none of the photos of your pods have the spiky phenotype shown in the early photos of what they should look like.  Do you think the spikes have been lost?
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I don't think they have be lost ... the photograph Erin sent me posted earlier is an excellent phenotype one that hasn't been replicated ... but if you look hard at other peoples pod photographs you can see bumps and spikes but not as prominent as Erin's ... as for what causes the pods to produce bumps and spikes I am not sure but heat and humidity must play a part
 
windchicken said:
 
 
Those look great, John! Can you characterize the textural/sensory experience of biting into one of those pods? I'm wondering how the P. Dreadie Standard compares with the Select in that regard, and I don't want to influence your impressions... :P

 
S7, it's possible that the Dreadie and the MoA are genetically very similar, but the two varieties could not have been bred in more different environments, one in the Caribbean, the other on the high plains of Texas: the MoA at the Jamaica Ministry of Agriculture, and the Papa Dreadie by our late friend Erin Mason, in Amarillo, Texas...

It would be very interesting to do a side-by-side grow of the two...Something that definitely needs to be done, in several locations around the world...
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For comparison there is a coffee Paupa New Guinea who original source was the Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee bean.
The two coffee's are similar but with distinct differences.
 
windchicken said:
 
 
The fruit of the Select, while bright and sweet as well, is also thick, crunchy, and juicy, like no other pepper that I can recall. Maybe a proper MoA pod is like that, but it's been several years since I grew that one, so I can't really say...
 
Nothing in particular about that house, but the image is real evocative for some reason...As I child many of my now-gone aunts and uncles in rural Texas and New Mexico lived in such houses, so it's probably just that. Or maybe that all old houses have many stories to tell...
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Old houses have character that these new modern houses lack
I understand where your coming form Gary growing up in rule Missouri & summers spent in Texas brings back old memories.
The P Dreadie select sounds awesome hope one of the saved ones at moms is one of them.
The little plant on moms windowsill has very wrinkled leaves.
It will be a very impressive plant next season.
 
Pepperhead1989 said:
Can't wait to join up for the 2017 grow! Windchicken hooked me up good with some seeds!
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Thanks PH!
 
Mitzi said:
Interesting that none of the photos of your pods have the spiky phenotype shown in the early photos of what they should look like.  Do you think the spikes have been lost?
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The spikes are definitely still there, Mitzi...Bear in mind that all the "Select" pods in this grow were grown from seeds harvested from the 3 spiky pods in the original photos. I got spiky pods in my grow, but I for my photos was attending more to the cup-and-saucer pod shape. Next time I take Dreadie shots I'lll be sure to include some clear photos of the spikes.
 
Trident chilli said:
I don't think they have be lost ... the photograph Erin sent me posted earlier is an excellent phenotype one that hasn't been replicated ... but if you look hard at other peoples pod photographs you can see bumps and spikes but not as prominent as Erin's ... as for what causes the pods to produce bumps and spikes I am not sure but heat and humidity must play a part
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Thanks John! As you say, environmental factors are the only difference in the generations subsequent to Erin's.
 
Plantguy76 said:
For comparison there is a coffee Paupa New Guinea who original source was the Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee bean.
The two coffee's are similar but with distinct differences.
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Thanks PG!
 
Plantguy76 said:
Old houses have character that these new modern houses lack
I understand where your coming form Gary growing up in rule Missouri & summers spent in Texas brings back old memories.
The P Dreadie select sounds awesome hope one of the saved ones at moms is one of them.
The little plant on moms windowsill has very wrinkled leaves.
It will be a very impressive plant next season.
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Thanks for that PG!
Pr0digal_son said:
I thought the P.Dreadie selects were supposed to have a spiky and warty texture? I remember talking with Erin about them and thought that is what he was selecting for. Mine didn't have the classic cup and saucer appearance,definitely bonnet flavor,but with a nasty skin to them.
 
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As I said above, John, I definitely got the spikes and warts, but didn't bother to photograph those pods, as I was more focused on the perfect "cup-and-saucer" phenotype. Some of the pods also presented with the stingers, as in your photo. I didn't get any with thick skin...
 
My appologies,Gary. I guess I treated it like a teen with a Playboy,some picture gazing and skimming.

My conversations with Erin were atleast 4 years ago so I probably shouldn't comment too much. I do remember growing two versions and one was definitely spikey. Surprising for a bonnet to conform,I know. The only thing that typically conforms for me is the flavor.

Maybe keep this open for a couple years and continue growing out plants for the proper "selects",along with the memorial grow which is pretty damn cool.


*edit* I also remember these plants being super compact with juicy elephant ear leaves like your typical bonnets. One thing besides flavor that I have noticed with bonnets is they have a very stout frame.
 
Pr0digal_son said:
My appologies,Gary. I guess I treated it like a teen with a Playboy,some picture gazing and skimming.

My conversations with Erin were atleast 4 years ago so I probably shouldn't comment too much. I do remember growing two versions and one was definitely spikey. Surprising for a bonnet to conform,I know. The only thing that typically conforms for me is the flavor.

Maybe keep this open for a couple years and continue growing out plants for the proper "selects",along with the memorial grow which is pretty damn cool.


*edit* I also remember these plants being super compact with juicy elephant ear leaves like your typical bonnets. One thing besides flavor that I have noticed with bonnets is they have a very stout frame.
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Thanks John! Lol, I love that metaphor! No offense taken, by the way...
 
I agree with your comments about the plant habit...The foliage is incredibly dense and the plants are quite stout. My plants are quite large as well, very nearly 6 feet in height and probably 4-5 feet wide. It is truly unique among C. chinense varieties, and, it seems to me, among Scotch Bonnets. 
 
Something else quite special about the P. Dreadie, it seems to me, is the capsaicin content. These peppers are some serious crackers! Normally I can eat 2-3 Scotch Bonnets in one sitting, but I can barely handle one of these, and then I must nibble around the seed core...
 
Please do continue to grow out the P. Dreadie Select. We very much need your considerable skills on this project!
 
p.dreadie will be top of my grow list next season and i will do my bit to keep the strain pure by sending 6/8 plants to my uncles as he has a large heated greenhouse and can isolate the plants to keep the  special p.dreadie " select" as pure as we can . :dance: :dance: i told Gary today not only should he be proud of keeping the memory of Erin going but sharing a superb memorial grow all across the planet.
 
Well done Gary and John ( trident) :clap: :clap: :clap:
 
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