Sawyer '16 - Memorial Day update

Trident chilli · Jan 18, 2016

John sorry I probably didn't explain myself ... Late last year Pulpiteer sent me some "Arkansas Peach" seed in a trade so I have just sown them as his have grown true I am looking for great things this forthcoming season

Sawyer · Jan 18, 2016

Oh, I get it. Now that I look at my notes, I see that I haven't sent anything your way. I know I have sent to the UK in the past and just made an assumption. The seeds from Pulpiteer are a generation further along, so you should have a better chance of getting some the correct color. I'll be following your grow with interest. BTW, that's an awesome selection of bonnets you have.

meatfreak · Jan 18, 2016

Good luck with the 2016 season, John. PM me your address again and I send you some next generation seeds of those projects

HillBilly Jeff · Jan 20, 2016

I will have to go through my stash, but I believe I have the JA Hot Chocolate, White Hab, and Fatalii. PM me if you need these, and I will dig through and ship down what I've got.

Sawyer · Jan 20, 2016

CheriLBW said:
Very cool spider. Tuesday I am getting a tattoo of a photorealistic 3d brown widow on my leg.
Maybe I like them a little more then is sane lol

That tat gives me the shivers just looking at your avatar. As a child I had a phobia about spiders due to a couple of traumatic experiences. I know spiders are great gardening allies and I've largely overcome the phobia, but I still don't want one crawling on my skin, much less in my skin.

Deano5x said:
Whoa what a grow !

So far, it's just a list.

Stay tuned to see what actually becomes of it.

Oban said:
Very impressive list, it's hard to choose between so many varieties.
Good luck for your 2016 season!

Thanks, Oban. Good luck to you, too!

Sawyer · Jan 20, 2016

meatfreak said:
Good luck with the 2016 season, John. PM me your address again and I send you some next generation seeds of those projects

Thanks, Stefan. Following up on the PM, I just checked and I have two MFPJ15 plants that I'm trying to OW. I don't have a very good track record on OWing, but here's hoping for the best.

HillBilly Jeff said:
I will have to go through my stash, but I believe I have the JA Hot Chocolate, White Hab, and Fatalii. PM me if you need these, and I will dig through and ship down what I've got.

Thanks, Hillbilly. I'll check and get back to you. I saw you started your 2016 glog and you're trimming your grow to only 72 plants!? Heresy! Seriously, though, you should consider doing a grow log in other for your tomatoes. I would follow that with interest. Someone else here, I forget who at the moment, is doing that and I think I will, too. I've got 4 or 5 dozen varieties I want to evaluate, whites to blacks and everything in between.

HillBilly Jeff · Jan 20, 2016

Sawyer said:
Thanks, Stefan. Following up on the PM, I just checked and I have two MFPJ15 plants that I'm trying to OW. I don't have a very good track record on OWing, but here's hoping for the best.

Thanks, Hillbilly. I'll check and get back to you. I saw you started your 2016 glog and you're trimming your grow to only 72 plants!? Heresy! Seriously, though, you should consider doing a grow log in other for your tomatoes. I would follow that with interest. Someone else here, I forget who at the moment, is doing that and I think I will, too. I've got 4 or 5 dozen varieties I want to evaluate, whites to blacks and everything in between.

Not getting crazy with the tomatoes either, I experimented with some varieties last year. Doing some paste, slicing, canning, and cherry varieties. I did like the chocolate cherry tomatoes I tried last year and will be adding them to the sun sugar I grow every year. Other than those, it will be mainly boxcar willie and better boy. And probably amish paste.

Looking to grow more other veges this year too.

Sawyer · Jan 23, 2016

HillBilly Jeff said:
Not getting crazy with the tomatoes either, I experimented with some varieties last year. Doing some paste, slicing, canning, and cherry varieties. I did like the chocolate cherry tomatoes I tried last year and will be adding them to the sun sugar I grow every year. Other than those, it will be mainly boxcar willie and better boy. And probably amish paste.

Looking to grow more other veges this year too.

Yeah, if I grow everything I want to grow, I won't be doing much else this year. I have a bunch of tomatoes to evaluate for potential use in the pepper sauces I'm developing. Beyond the peppers and tomatoes, I have a bunch of different squash I want to try.

Runescape · Jan 23, 2016

Sawyer said:
I've got 4 or 5 dozen varieties I want to evaluate, whites to blacks and everything in between.

Holy cow, do you mind posting the list?

Sawyer · Jan 23, 2016

Runescape said:
Holy cow, do you mind posting the list?

I will, in the "growing other" subforum. Gotta get the peppers going first.

Runescape · Jan 23, 2016

Sawyer said:
I will, in the "growing other" subforum. Gotta get the peppers going first.

Alright, I'll keep my eyes open for it.

Sawyer · Jan 24, 2016

I updated the OP list to reflect some seeds traded to me by mpicante. She's generously helped fill in some gaps with 7P Brainstrain, 7P Large Yellow, 7P Barrackpore, Sepia Serpent, Yellow Fatalii, and JA Hot Chocolate. Thanks, Florisa!

HillBilly Jeff · Jan 24, 2016

Sawyer said:
Yeah, if I grow everything I want to grow, I won't be doing much else this year. I have a bunch of tomatoes to evaluate for potential use in the pepper sauces I'm developing. Beyond the peppers and tomatoes, I have a bunch of different squash I want to try.

I made my Autumn Fire hot sauce with squash. Had Thanksgiving type ingredients in it. Everyone that has tried it has like it. Told it went well on wings.

I've only made one sauce that had tomatoes in it, and then I used paste just to help tighten it up a bit.

stickman · Jan 25, 2016

Another ambitious list John... Good luck with 2016!

Did you ever get any ripe peppers from the Kapija seeds I sent you last year? If so, how did you like them?

Sawyer · Jan 25, 2016

HillBilly Jeff said:
I made my Autumn Fire hot sauce with squash. Had Thanksgiving type ingredients in it. Everyone that has tried it has like it. Told it went well on wings.

I've only made one sauce that had tomatoes in it, and then I used paste just to help tighten it up a bit.

"Autumn Fire" is a great name for a hot sauce. Part of my intent with squash this year is to evaluate some butternut-type varieties for use in a sauce. I'm also looking for a superior variety for storage through the winter. Will be growing mostly C. moschatas for their disease and insect resistance.

The only sauce I have near production right now that uses tomatoes is a red sauce that is heavy on cumin and uses a mix of red superhots. I used juice in the initial development, but will likely switch to something more concentrated for the final recipe.

stickman said:
Another ambitious list John... Good luck with 2016!

Did you ever get any ripe peppers from the Kapija seeds I sent you last year? If so, how did you like them?

Thanks, Rick. I'm resolved to do a better job with things than last year, regardless of weather. Plan to have nearly as many in pots as in the ground.

No, the Kapija fell to the same issues as the rest of last year's grow. I may have some in one of the over-wintering trays, but in any case, have plenty of seed thanks to you. Will probably start those around mid-Febuary. I'm really looking forward to trying my hand at some Ajvar.

HillBilly Jeff · Jan 31, 2016

I used butternut in mine. It has a mild flavor. I seem to remember acorn squash holding their own quite well in storage.

PaulG · Jan 31, 2016

Wow, John, you have a serious grow planned!
Glad to hear you made progress in the pepper
business last season; good on ya.

Good luck this year - I'll be interested in seeing some
of your great pics!

moruga welder · Jan 31, 2016

Helluva list ! wish you the best ! :onfire:

Sawyer · Jan 31, 2016

HillBilly Jeff said:
I used butternut in mine. It has a mild flavor. I seem to remember acorn squash holding their own quite well in storage.

I had a big crop of acorn squash one year, and yes, they did keep pretty well. They're a C. pepo, though and, as a general rule, don't grow as well here as C. moschata (such as butternut). I've got seeds for 16 varieties of squash, summer and winter varieties combined. Doubt I'll get them all planted, but we'll see.

PaulG said:
Wow, John, you have a serious grow planned!
Glad to hear you made progress in the pepper
business last season; good on ya.

Good luck this year - I'll be interested in seeing some
of your great pics!

Hey, Paul, thanks and good luck to you, too. Good to see you back here on THP. Yeah, hopefully this year I can accomplish what I set out to do last year in terms of growing. Plan to have things roughly evenly divided between in-grounds and pots. Pictures will depend to some extent on how my new phone performs. Finally took the plunge and ordered a smart phone, LG Nexus 5X. Folks I've talked to who have them seem to like them.

I saw you started your 2016 grow log. I'll have to get over there and check it out soon.

moruga welder said:
Helluva list ! wish you the best !

Hey, Frank, thank you! I don't know that I'll get everything on the list planted, but I'm going to give it a try. Congrats on the scratcher. Most I ever won was $10.

I've spent all day navigating the USPS.com website, trying to figure out the best way to ship 8 oz. jars of sauces (more like jelly jars, not woozies). Seems like the Regional Rate Box A is the best deal for 2-6 jars. I think using my own packaging (3" diameter mailing tube cut to length) will be best for a single jar and the Regional Rate Box B will be best for more than 6. Anyone have any experience or insight on this? (I'll stop by FedEx on the way to the post office tomorrow and see what they would charge to ship the same sort of packages (minus the USPS packaging, of course.))

Now that I have a couple of test shipments configured, time to plant at least 1 flat. Where'd January go?

JoeFish · Jan 31, 2016

Dropping a care package in the USPS tomorrow.[emoji109]