misc Some Memories from Many Years Ago

[NJChilehead]

Mods I hope this is in the right subforum! Apologies if it isn't!

Every year around this time I go through my stash of pepper seeds, and every year I take a moment to look at the seeds that were sent to me by friends who I've lost touch with or who are no longer with us. I thought I'd share some photos because I know there are some others on here who'd been in the same circle back then. Sad how fast time goes.

Some gifts from Beth, I grew some out but saved some seeds.

Seed from John Fiedler:

Another gift from Beth, back in the day. These Foodarama Scotch Bonnets were successfully grown out by others and are now in rotation.

Some seeds from Eddie Kelley, who I lost touch with. Anyone know if he's here?

Some of Steve Foster's seeds:

I think this is Chris Phillip's writing. Cmpman-this is you right?

Seeds from Darlochileman.

Some seeds from the Red Savina Habanero taken from pods grown at Open Fields in 2007:

A poem that Steve Foster wrote me back in about 2006 when I sent him seeds for the Trinidad Scorpion:

I don't like those Scorpions,

they've treated me so bad!

Eating one fresh was quite literally the,

worst burn I ever had!

I know they came to me from you in Jersey,

and it kind of makes me sad!

Please pack their fiery asses up,

and ship them back to Trinidad!

They scorched me once, they scorched me twice,

And in grinding some today they've scorched me thrice!

I wish the burn would go away,

and though I know in time it will,

there's no longer any room for them

inside my pepper mill!

So I'm sending the rest of what I have,

smoke dried to Georgia,

with them I'm absolutely through,

So Habanero Eddie can learn to hate them too!

 

[NJChilehead]

One more: a rant that I went on late one night on the old GardenWeb forum after spinning my wheels for a few hours about the common names of some peppers. Note that this was back in about 2005 or 2006, so some things have changed since then!

"The thing that gets to me about scotch bonnets, is the d*%$ morphological characteristics that define them as scotch bonnets. Now, if you go on chileplants.com, and you look at the picture of a scotch bonnet yellow, you will see that they look like a woman's head with a bonnet on it. Ha! Evidence to support the nomenclature! If you look, however, at the scotch bonnet red, it looks like an habanero after a wrestling match with a bowling ball, or a Caribbean red with an identity crisis.

Pink scotch bonnets are yellow and orange scotch bonnets aren't 'true' scotch bonnets but are yellow, but look nothing like the yellow scotch bonnets which are 'true', and sort of a deep gold. At least they are C. chinense.

The scotch bonnet, Tobago sweet, is not sweet, it's hot as hell.

In fact, you have congo black habaneros, which are the same as chocolate habaneros, which are different from chocolate congo peppers, yet both have the name congo in them. Congo pepper is a term given to peppers by Trinidadans, but the congo black habanero isn't from Trinidad (it also isn't black). It also isn't from the Congo region of Africa. The congo red, however, is from Trinidad, as well as the is Trinidad pepper, which doesn't have the name congo in it. You have Trinidad scorpions, Trinidad purples, Trinidad reds and Trinidad bird peppers. No mention yet of congo peppers. You have scotch bonnet peppers, yellow are the only ones shaped like a bonnet, right? Well, unless you are looking at a Jamaican red, otherwise known as a red mushroom pepper, which is an annuum anyway, so it can't be a scotch bonnet, despite looking more like one than a red scotch bonnet, which looks like an habanero. Go figure.

Scotch bonnet reds aren't shaped like bonnets but Jamaican reds are, Jamaican hot chocolates aren't and neither are chocolate scotch bonnets. Habanero is a term given to peppers from Mexico, except for Caribbean red habaneros, which aren't from Mexico, they're from the Caribbean, and they are red (someone was paying attention). You have orange habaneros, red habaneros, yellow habaneros, mustard habaneros, and golden habaneros. You have golden habaneros which ripen to orange, mustard habaneros which ripen to golden, golden habaneros which ripen to yellow, and yellow habaneros which are gold, and shaped like fatalii peppers, which aren't supposed to be from Africa, because chinenses aren't native to Africa, but are, like the Safi.

One particular seed distributor has a lot of peppers in his garden that go in as one variety and come out renamed when they bear seed.

If this makes sense to you read this carefully: if I had six fingers on each hand I wouldn't turn thirty until I was thirty-six, I wouldn't turn fourty-five until I was fifty-four, and I would singlehandedly turn thumbwrestling into an olympic sport.

I think the people who created the naming systems for chinenses were trying to make money and drive everyone crazy at the same time. I'm sticking with annuum, baccatum, chinense, frutescens and pubescens."

 

[MarcV]

Interesting read though .

Foodarama "bonnet like"? As in "looks like a bonnet but isn't actually"? But you do have some original seeds which would make them invaluable to me. Wonder if they are still viable...

 

[RobStar]

Beth Boyd the chile Queen of Texas. I loved how she always signed off as Beth from Texas " I still have her handwritten notes that she always included with an order. I still treasure her flamboyant handwriting. She was an icon.
Thank you so much for remembering Beth. She was one of the original chile peeps.

 

[Downriver]

One more: a rant that I went on late one night on the old GardenWeb forum after spinning my wheels for a few hours about the common names of some peppers. Note that this was back in about 2005 or 2006, so some things have changed since then!

"The thing that gets to me about scotch bonnets, is the d*%$ morphological characteristics that define them as scotch bonnets. Now, if you go on chileplants.com, and you look at the picture of a scotch bonnet yellow, you will see that they look like a woman's head with a bonnet on it. Ha! Evidence to support the nomenclature! If you look, however, at the scotch bonnet red, it looks like an habanero after a wrestling match with a bowling ball, or a Caribbean red with an identity crisis.

Pink scotch bonnets are yellow and orange scotch bonnets aren't 'true' scotch bonnets but are yellow, but look nothing like the yellow scotch bonnets which are 'true', and sort of a deep gold. At least they are C. chinense.

The scotch bonnet, Tobago sweet, is not sweet, it's hot as hell.

In fact, you have congo black habaneros, which are the same as chocolate habaneros, which are different from chocolate congo peppers, yet both have the name congo in them. Congo pepper is a term given to peppers by Trinidadans, but the congo black habanero isn't from Trinidad (it also isn't black). It also isn't from the Congo region of Africa. The congo red, however, is from Trinidad, as well as the is Trinidad pepper, which doesn't have the name congo in it. You have Trinidad scorpions, Trinidad purples, Trinidad reds and Trinidad bird peppers. No mention yet of congo peppers. You have scotch bonnet peppers, yellow are the only ones shaped like a bonnet, right? Well, unless you are looking at a Jamaican red, otherwise known as a red mushroom pepper, which is an annuum anyway, so it can't be a scotch bonnet, despite looking more like one than a red scotch bonnet, which looks like an habanero. Go figure.

Scotch bonnet reds aren't shaped like bonnets but Jamaican reds are, Jamaican hot chocolates aren't and neither are chocolate scotch bonnets. Habanero is a term given to peppers from Mexico, except for Caribbean red habaneros, which aren't from Mexico, they're from the Caribbean, and they are red (someone was paying attention). You have orange habaneros, red habaneros, yellow habaneros, mustard habaneros, and golden habaneros. You have golden habaneros which ripen to orange, mustard habaneros which ripen to golden, golden habaneros which ripen to yellow, and yellow habaneros which are gold, and shaped like fatalii peppers, which aren't supposed to be from Africa, because chinenses aren't native to Africa, but are, like the Safi.

One particular seed distributor has a lot of peppers in his garden that go in as one variety and come out renamed when they bear seed.

If this makes sense to you read this carefully: if I had six fingers on each hand I wouldn't turn thirty until I was thirty-six, I wouldn't turn fourty-five until I was fifty-four, and I would singlehandedly turn thumbwrestling into an olympic sport.

I think the people who created the naming systems for chinenses were trying to make money and drive everyone crazy at the same time. I'm sticking with annuum, baccatum, chinense, frutescens and pubescens."

So, that was YOU!

 

[NJChilehead]

Interesting read though .

Foodarama "bonnet like"? As in "looks like a bonnet but isn't actually"? But you do have some original seeds which would make them invaluable to me. Wonder if they are still viable...

I do still have a few from that original 2006 batch. I believe that the Scotch Bonnet Foodarama strain is sold commercially now by a few sellers.

Beth Boyd the chile Queen of Texas. I loved how she always signed off as Beth from Texas " I still have her handwritten notes that she always included with an order. I still treasure her flamboyant handwriting. She was an icon.
Thank you so much for remembering Beth. She was one of the original chile peeps.

I'll never forget her. We had some great conversations over the phone. We'd bounce back and forth between small talk and what peppers we were excited about. Did you ever get one of her chili recipes with the care package that had the spices and masa in it?

So, that was YOU!

Do you remember that thread?!

 

[MarcV]

I do still have a few from that original 2006 batch. I believe that the Scotch Bonnet Foodarama strain is sold commercially now by a few sellers.

That is true and I may be growing it this year. But as the seeds spread out among growers and are propagated based on a limited gene pool, I wonder how much the commercially available seeds are still the same as the original. I recently saw Johnny Scoville try a couple of peppers that were supposed to be papa dreadie scotch bonnets. Those peppers looked nothing like papa dreadies at all. That's why I consider original seeds as invaluable as they have the proper genes...