Stefan_W's 2013 Pods A-Ripenin'! Glog

I am going to start the new glog for my upcoming growing season on a bit of a personal note. One year ago tomorrow (January 3rd) is the one year anniversary of the day that my daughter was diagnosed with a tumour that is lodged in the middle of her brain. The past year has involved treatments and hospital stays, and there were at least three different points when we were pretty sure she was not going to make it. But she is a fighter, and nothing could keep her down for long.

Sofia has personally planted every pepper and tomato seed that I have started in the past three growing seasons. She beat the odds last year to help me, and once again she is defying what medicine has to say to help me out this year.

We started a jalapeno plant about a week ago just for the sake of watching it grow, because we both love it so much. One of the jalapenos grew to the point that it had its firt couple of leaves, so we transplanted him into a bigger pot. While we were at it I decided to put in some aji lemondrops, partly because they take a long time to fruit up and I wanted to give them a huge head start.

This is the jalapeno plant. I pulled the second one out because we did not need it, and discovered that the roots had grown all of the way down to the bottom of the cell.

My daughter personally doing the transplant.

Her aim is better than mine, and so it turned out perfectly.

Next up was taking out the lemondrop seeds from peppermania.

I need a few extras of this type, so I asked Sofia to plant two seeds in each of the four cells. Two plants will be for us, and whatever else grows will be given away to good friends.

Two of the three tiers in my lighting stand are currently being used as toy shelves, which is cool for now. The lights are adjustable, and moved down to get close to the seedling.

The heating pad works extremely well, and once the cells are covered the top clouds up in no time.

A happy early jalapeno seedling in his new home. I thought I heard "feeeeeed meeeeee" coming from that direction, but I'm not sure.

That's it for today, folks! Welcome to my new glog

 

[GA Growhead]

Hoping you feel better today!
Plants look amazing, and glad no real storm damage.
That tobasco is off the hook crazy!

 

[Stefan_W]

Nice pics Stefan! I especially like the one of you and Sophia in the garden... it's obvious the apple didn't fall too far from the tree, eh? I'm picking a handful of each type of Baccatum every day now, so you've got that to look forward to. Never having grown Bhuts before, I had no idea they would grow pods this big this quick... yours seem to be doing the same.
   Hope you recover from the root canal quickly. I'm sure they pumped you full of anesthetic before doing the job, and it'll make you feel logy for a few days until you can clear it out of your system.
 
Cheers!

 
I only had local freezing for it. The pain of the root canal was not all that bad. It hurt a bit more when she put in the posts to set up for a new crown (back of the tooth was damaged), but I was fine with it. The worst part for me is when I have freezing in my mouth it feels like I can't swallow, especially when it is being held open for a procedure. I had to fight my panic reflex for most of it. 
 
To top it all off though, the icing on the cake was getting a parking ticket. The guy just finished punching it in as I was walking out the door after the root canal was done.

The entire garden looks happy to have your daughter (and you I am sure ) tending to it ... positive energy knows no bounds ... keep on growing !!!

 
Thank you very much! It is hard to be too upset over anything when we are still able to do the gardening together

Awesome picture of you and Sofia.  Very touching anecdote about her illness last year.  I remember you posting about that.  So happy that she pulled through. 
 
Your OW Bhut is looking locked and loaded, the tabasco also.  Even though you had the setback you had with the weather this year, it looks like you still have some sizable harvests coming your way.  Awesome.  Quite a few other varieties look like they are going to give you some heat before the end of the season, as well.  Glad you are making do with the occasional Jalapeno!

 
It sure does look like I'll get a sampling of most of them. The only ones that are iffy at the moment are the jonah and the brain strain. To be honest, if I only missed out on trying two of the varieties I would consider this season a success. Thanks for your positive thoughts.

Hoping you feel better today!
Plants look amazing, and glad no real storm damage.
That tobasco is off the hook crazy!

 
The tabasco is definitely gone wild. I can't wait for my home made tabasco sauce in the fall!
Just to change the topic for a moment, I noticed that the bee population is better this year than it has been for years now. Bees have taken a huge hit right across N America, and it is huge problem for food production. I went through all of last year without seeing a single honey bee. Other crappy pollinators will work out sometimes, but bees are the best. 
 
This year I see a bee or two every time I go out to garden or to just look at the plants. I made a mental note to snap pictures of my little pollination helper, and I managed to get that done today when I was making my "just got home fro work" rounds.
 

 
No real need to say anything other than I am incredibly happy to see these guys again!

 

[PeriPeri]

Awesome harvest there Stefan & Sophie. The smile on your faces says it all! You took on the frost and look at the yield... man that is amazing!

 

[WalkGood]

Thank God for bees ... I see you have plenty a pod on previous page, great photos and you were worried, I guess you must be stoked now. Great job and have a fantastic weekend mon!

 

[Stefan_W]

Awesome harvest there Stefan & Sophie. The smile on your faces says it all! You took on the frost and look at the yield... man that is amazing!

 
Thank you It is definitely getting close, and it looks like there will be a harvest after all!

Thank God for bees ... I see you have plenty a pod on previous page, great photos and you were worried, I guess you must be stoked now. Great job and have a fantastic weekend mon!

 
I wouldn't say stoked, because a lot can still happen as the pods are ripening (like our overnight lows dipping to 8 again), but I am quietly confident that things will turn out well enough for the majority of my plants. Considering where I was in May and June that would be a small miracle.

 

[Trippa]

Is the bee shortage up there due to the vaerroa mite that has caused issues world wide??

 

[Stefan_W]

Is the bee shortage up there due to the vaerroa mite that has caused issues world wide??

 
Government researchers here are linking the deaths to pesticides first, followed by disease. I don't normally put up links like this, but seeing as this is such a complex issue I'll just direct to a very well researched pieces that appeared in the US a little while ago, but covers the Ontario area as well: http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2013/05/26/environment/pesticides-suspected-in-minnesota-bee-deaths

 

[Devv]

We have a lot of bees around here, sometimes I wait until the afternoon to pick because of the high numbers.
 
We provide water for them and winter feed, no chems are used around here.
 
I know that the constant handling of the hives, pesticides, and the mites are contributing factors in the decline.
 
Edit: Just saw your post above, the links broken..

 

[Stefan_W]

Thank you, I edited my post and fixed the link. I must have cropped something from it the first time around. 

 

[Devv]

Very interesting and informative article. Also scarey...
 
No one is farming within a few miles of here, so we have a large area of native land. It has a nice mix of flowering plants almost year round, I guess that's why we see so many bees.

 

[roper2008]

That's  a great picture of  you and sophia.  Glad she is doing well.  When I remember to say my prayers
at night.  I always include little sophia.
 
That tabasco is loaded.  I may have to grow one again next year.

 

[Stefan_W]

Very interesting and informative article. Also scarey...
 
No one is farming within a few miles of here, so we have a large area of native land. It has a nice mix of flowering plants almost year round, I guess that's why we see so many bees.

 
It sure is scary. We live close to farming communities, and we definitely have noticed the changes in the bee population. Luckily most of the farms here are slowly converting to more organic methods, which will help a lot in the long run. 

That's  a great picture of  you and sophia.  Glad she is doing well.  When I remember to say my prayers
at night.  I always include little sophia.
 
That tabasco is loaded.  I may have to grow one again next year.

 
Thank you for your prayers My tabasco is second year, and I hope to bring it inside again in the fall. The difference between the main plant and the other two that I grew from seed this year is like night and day. I dont even bother taking pictures of the other ones, and I considered just pulling hem because I know they will not have enough time to ripen pods. 

Ok, time for some foodie pics. We are starting to re-watch Battlestar Galactica today (on Blu Ray this time), so I decided to pull up a bunch of jalapenos for our snack. I found a recipe online that sounded really good so I decided to give it a shot.
 
Crumbled bacon, jalapenos, cream cheese, mayo, marble cheese, and chives. This is the main part of the dip.

 
Crumbled ritz crackers, flaked parmesan, and some melted butter mixed together form the topping.

 
Put together in an oven safe dish. 

 
Cook at 350 for 30 mins, until it bubbles up on the sides, and voila!

 
I sampled it, and it was all right. I would definitely change some parts of the recipe next time around. It needed way more than 6 jalapenos, and the idea of taking out most of the seeds to keep the heat reasonable was nonsense. I would probably switch it up with some lemondrops if I did it again, leave out the mayo (it did nothing), switch to a mix of cheddar and monteray jack cheeses, and do some sort of pimped out topping with some hotter stuff mixed with paprikas.  I give it a 6.5/10, with the potential to get up to a 9 or even higher with a few selected changes.

 

[Stefan_W]

I haven't been around much, mostly because things sort of stalled out with my peppers and there was no real point to posting an update. II think the main issue was a string of really cold nights that put the peppers in a holding pattern. 
 
A couple of days ago the tobago treasures started to ripen, and all of sudden there was some colour on my pepper plants! I waited for a while for them to ripen, and was surprised to find the pods turning red. I noticed earlier in the season that 2 of my treasures were small with a particular leaf shape, while the third was larger and had a very different leaf shape. Well, the small ones actually are not tobago treasures. 
 
Here is today's harvest. You'll notice they are red instead of yellow, and they are about 1/2 to 2/3 the size of treasures. 

 
When I cut them open they had a very strong hab smell, and although they were not quite as hot as an ordinary red hab they were getting pretty close. Here is a pic of one of them after I cut it open for a taste test.

 
I don't really like habs, but at this point I am just happy to have things ripening. My wife actually liked the taste of this, and said it registered as a smoky taste to her. She also does not usually like habs, so this gave me hope that these will be put to good use soon. There's another 30-40 that will ripen in the next week or so, and it would be nice to make up a few dishes with them.
 
I noticed a couple of the aji lemondrops have a touch of bright yellow right at the tail of the pods, so I'm hoping those ones are next.
 
Thanks for taking a look!

 

[stickman]

Woo Hoo! Ripe pods! Glad to hear your chiles are finally starting to ripen up Stefan. Your wife liking the taste of the "not Tobago Treasure" pods is a super bonus. Once my Ajis start to color up, it usually takes them about a week to ripen, so I'll be looking forward to pics this time next week. Cheers!

 

[PIC 1]

That's a colorful looking dip..........not hot enough, spice it up with some hot powder.
Tobago Treasures look pretty interesting, at least theres some heat to them. The Tobago Seasoning has none.

 

[Stefan_W]

Woo Hoo! Ripe pods! Glad to hear your chiles are finally starting to ripen up Stefan. Your wife liking the taste of the "not Tobago Treasure" pods is a super bonus. Once my Ajis start to color up, it usually takes them about a week to ripen, so I'll be looking forward to pics this time next week. Cheers!

 
Thank you! I'm hoping to get back on board the pepper train shortly

That's a colorful looking dip..........not hot enough, spice it up with some hot powder.
Tobago Treasures look pretty interesting, at least theres some heat to them. The Tobago Seasoning has none.

 
I would put the heat level of the not treasures at just under orange hab heat. I was hoping for a bit less with these so more of my family could eat them, but I guess I should just be happy that my wife did not spit them out and run screaming to the bathroom.

 

[Devv]

Looking good Stefan!
 
Great thing when you finally get to start pulling in the harvest.
 
The dip looks interesting! If you need some powder to kick it up a notch pm me and I'll get some headed your way.
 
AND, when you get the bugs worked out on the dip, feel free to post the final recipe
 
I know what you mean about trying to make something with peppers that you can share with the family...

 

[Stefan_W]

Looking good Stefan!
 
Great thing when you finally get to start pulling in the harvest.
 
The dip looks interesting! If you need some powder to kick it up a notch pm me and I'll get some headed your way.
 
AND, when you get the bugs worked out on the dip, feel free to post the final recipe
 
I know what you mean about trying to make something with peppers that you can share with the family...

 
Thank you so much for the offer to send powder! I am still working my way through a pile of powders I ordered last year so I am set for now, but I'll let you know if I need more down the road
 
Yeah, growing superhots just is not a family friendly activity. I am actually considering scaling back my supers to about 3 or 4 plants next year and adding more low heat ones that everyone can enjoy. 

 

[Stefan_W]

I figured I would take a few pictures of peppers as they are ripening. Last year at this time I was picking ghost peppers, so yeah it is all way behind. But, as my glog title says, better late than never.
 
Not tobago treasures are ripening fast. I pick between 2 and 4 per day now, and I'm sure it will get going faster soon.

 
I have one tobago treasure plants that is true to the phenotype. We tried one of the peppers last night, and it was not quite as hot as the red "not" ones that we tried a couple of days back, but the taste was better.

 
My aji lemondrops are showing some colour at the bottom end of a few pods. 

 
I was shocked to see a hint of red starting on the shoulders of the largest Butch-T pod that I have. This was not the first super pod that came out, but it is the biggest by a mile and it appears to be ripening the fastest.

 
I have this large peach scotch bonnet plant that is all podded up. The pods started an off white eggshell type colour, and now the pods are turning pure white. I'm sure it will look amazing when the colour starts to shift to peach, but I'm still waiting.

 
Thanks for having a look!

 

[stickman]

Everything's looking great Stefan! Hope the Peach Bonnets and Butch T.s do well for you. My Butch T. is starting to color up too... kind of a streaky orange ATM, but it looks like yours are right behind. Cheers!