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

 

[Stefan_W]

Great pull, and good on ya for getting your Paprika production underway Stefan!

 
I was a bit worried because the first half of the ripened pods were small and some were poorly shaped. But the last week or so has been nothing but perfect pods, which makes me happy. I just love fresh ground paprika powder

Great Harvests you are having and you were so worried before, it's great to see things work out. Love the pics, pods & colors mon, keep it up!

 
Thank you very much! I was definitely worried for the longest time about whether I would have any pods to show for this season. But nature always seems to find a way.

Very nice pulls sir! It is crazy how fast one can get behind on processing...I am feeling that all too well! I am out of room in the freezer and hunting season is a month away. 

 
I hear you. My dad had an extra lay down freezer in his garage when I was growing up, which really came in handy for fall deer. It is amazing how fast you can fill even a large sized freezer up during hunting season. 
 
I can just imagine what you are going through. Just be sure to process my favourite powders first so I can do up another order

 

[JoynersHotPeppers]

You can count on that, just ordered 10 new labels for new things I'll be doing this year. A ton of powders for sure!

 

[Stefan_W]

Just a quick update of some of the plants that I have not shown lately.
 
The tabascos are starting to ripen, which is wicked good. They are still may favourite peppers for sauces.

 
The ghost pepper plant is really getting red. About half the pods are pretty ripe already, and I will have to start picking these soon.

 
The prodigal jonah pods are starting to turn. I am really looking forward to trying these out.

 
The yellow brain was a teeny stick with one leaf on it well into June. It exploded a couple of weeks back, and is not my largest plant. I loved how it looked, but figured it would be way too late for pods to develop and ripen. Well, a week or two later and it is filled with gnarly pods, many of which are full size. Still not ripe, but the plant is in serious overdrive right now so who knows what will happen. I have faith that I will taste a couple of these bad boys.

 

[stickman]

Whoa... Katy bar the door... Gorgeous freakin' plants and pods Stefan! Really amazing that you went from a "biblical" spring to a miraculous harvest. It's certainly confirmation that our plants are tough buggers if we don't love them to death in the first place. Cheers!

 

[Stefan_W]

Whoa... Katy bar the door... Gorgeous freakin' plants and pods Stefan! Really amazing that you went from a "biblical" spring to a miraculous harvest. It's certainly confirmation that our plants are tough buggers if we don't love them to death in the first place. Cheers!

 
Thank you very much! I am really happy with how things worked out, all thing considered. I figured you would like to see more of the paprikas, so I just snapped some pictures a couple of minutes ago right after I took them out of the dehydrator. All that work all season long for a small bag of the stuff! I like to keep them in this form and grind as I use to preserve freshness, which I find matters for paprikas in particular.

 

[WalkGood]

Wow your plants are fully loaded or should I say fully up! Could another pod even fit on any of them, hehehe … great job!  
 
Dam you should have enough paprika to last all winter

 

[Devv]

Nice haul Stefan!
 
Beautiful pics of the pods too!
 
Glad you have so many you're having to put them in the freezer!

 

[Stefan_W]

Wow your plants are fully loaded or should I say fully up! Could another pod even fit on any of them, hehehe … great job!  
 
Dam you should have enough paprika to last all winter

 
Thank you very much The overwintered plants really do haul butt when it comes to podding up. 
 
I was thinking that I may not have enough paprika to last me until next year, but we'll see. I always think we need more than we actually do. 
 
Thanks for stopping in!

Nice haul Stefan!
 
Beautiful pics of the pods too!
 
Glad you have so many you're having to put them in the freezer!

 
I'm amazed at how things developed at the end. I was hoping for a late growth spurt, but never in my wildest dreams did I think this sort of production would happen. 
 
The biggest bag in the freezer this year will be the bhuts. I have not picked many of them, but I can already envision a couple of large bags and maybe even more. That's plenty for me

 

[Devv]

Hmmm. I missed the last page before....simply awesome poddage you have going on there!
 
I can already feel the pain!
 
And I need to grow some Paprika too...

 

[Stefan_W]

Hmmm. I missed the last page before....simply awesome poddage you have going on there!
 
I can already feel the pain!
 
And I need to grow some Paprika too...

 
Thank you very much! If you want some paprika seeds just let me know, I saved a pile of them taken from the largest and best formed pods.
I was inspired by my namesake's glog, which is fantastic and I'm kicking myself for not finding it sooner, and decided to post a pic of a 1 kilo mater we picked last week. It fed five us for BLTs for dinner one night a week ago, plus second and thirds, and there was one BLT leftover at the end.
 
 

 

[Devv]

 
Thank you very much! If you want some paprika seeds just let me know, I saved a pile of them taken from the largest and best formed pods.

I was inspired by my namesake's glog, which is fantastic and I'm kicking myself for not finding it sooner, and decided to post a pic of a 1 kilo mater we picked last week. It fed five us for BLTs for dinner one night a week ago, plus second and thirds, and there was one BLT leftover at the end.
 
 
Attached Thumbnails

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I love the pic of the proud master grower! The smile says it all!
 
Thanks for the seed offer! Let's chat about it as the season winds down, hopefully I'll have something you will want to grow as well!

 

[Stefan_W]

I love the pic of the proud master grower! The smile says it all!
 
Thanks for the seed offer! Let's chat about it as the season winds down, hopefully I'll have something you will want to grow as well!

 
She really loves her maters She is actually a bit frustrated at the amount of hots and superhot peppers this year because she can't try them all, so I am re-working my balance for next season. In the end though, this look, and the fact that she goes out with me every day for mini-harvests, is what it is all about. She planted every seed for every tomato and pepper plant, and she takes great pride in the fact that they are all kicking butt right now. 

 

[Devv]

 
She really loves her maters She is actually a bit frustrated at the amount of hots and superhot peppers this year because she can't try them all, so I am re-working my balance for next season. In the end though, this look, and the fact that she goes out with me every day for mini-harvests, is what it is all about. She planted every seed for every tomato and pepper plant, and she takes great pride in the fact that they are all kicking butt right now. 

And that's what it's all about, getting the kids interested in a hobby, but hobby doesn't hit it right...perhaps lifestyle is more inline. My oldest grandchild loved it when she lived here. Her dad and her planted acorns a few years back, and now the trees are beautiful. every time she visits she wants to go into the garden and help. And her dad gardens too now...it's just plain contagious.
 
So I can understand that you want her to be able to eat everything you plant...well not everything
 
I wish you two many more years of this joy....

 

[WalkGood]

Think I’m loving Sofia’s smile better dan the 1 kilo mater, na I love dem both \o/

 

[Stefan_W]

And that's what it's all about, getting the kids interested in a hobby, but hobby doesn't hit it right...perhaps lifestyle is more inline. My oldest grandchild loved it when she lived here. Her dad and her planted acorns a few years back, and now the trees are beautiful. every time she visits she wants to go into the garden and help. And her dad gardens too now...it's just plain contagious.
 
So I can understand that you want her to be able to eat everything you plant...well not everything
 
I wish you two many more years of this joy....

 
I see it as values, and a way of approaching life. There is more to what we are than just hopping in a car, going to the supermarket, and picking out crappy genetically modified stuff. I love the Earthiness of growing things, and getting in touch with our nature.
 
I definitely agree with you 100%. 

Think I’m loving Sofia’s smile better dan the 1 kilo mater, na I love dem both \o/

 
Awww, thanks man

 

[stickman]

 
I see it as values, and a way of approaching life. There is more to what we are than just hopping in a car, going to the supermarket, and picking out crappy genetically modified stuff. I love the Earthiness of growing things, and getting in touch with our nature.

 
Agreed! Big corporations don't care about us as individuals and try to steer us toward the choices that will make them money... even if they're not the healthiest choices. If we're to take control of our own lives we need to do more for ourselves, and growing as much of our own unmodified food as possible is one of the best ways to do that.

 

[Stefan_W]

Yup. Big corporations are there to make money. We are out to make healthy choices for ourselves and our families. If those two sets of goals line up, then it is great. If they don't, they we have to take back some control over what we are eating if we decide that sort of thing is important. Beyond all of that I really do enjoy it, and I love the bonding moments with my daughter. There are so many rewards to having an active garden.

 

[roper2008]

Sofia and I had what was easily our best harvest of the year this evening. We picked well over 100 pods. It took me a week to get to 40 aji lemondrops to make the pepper jelly on the weekend, and tonight alone we picked another 45 ripe lemondrops. It was fantastic!

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The 7 pods are huge producers, and I am getting quite a few per day between my two plants. I filled a large basket already, and there are too many to use right away so I plan to freeze them soon.

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We picked another couple of Madame Jeanettes. It took me months to track down seeds, and I have been patiently waiting for the better part of a year now to taste these lovely ladies. I decided to sample them and make a bit of sauce.

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When I cut open the pepper I was a bit disappointed to find the basic type of hab scent. Not that it is terrible, it is just that after a while that type of smell gets boring. I cut a piece lengthwise and popped it into my mouth. There was nothing boring about the taste, which was fruity and very pleasant without any hint of harshness. This is the best tasting hot pepper I have ever tried. Wow. It was so good I asked our house guest to try it out as well. She is not into very hot peppers, and the first thing she noticed was the heat. But after a few seconds she said putting it into a sauce is wasting it, and it should be served raw on a plate. That is a pretty huge compliment coming from a non-chilihead. 

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Because it tasted so good I went for my most basic sauce. I cut the three pods that I had, put them in a pot with a whole head of garlic from my garden, added vinegar until it barely covered the stuff in the pot, put in a dash of sea salt, and brought it to a boil for a few minutes. 

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The sauce was very cool looking. The picture does not completely do it justice, but it was an off white sort of like an eggshell colour.

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Easily the most addictive sauce I have ever made. The heat was medium, which meant we could all dig in. We polished off a big bowl of it by dunking in plain unsalted taco chips while watching TV. I wish I had the words to describe how good this stuff is. 

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This is the type of harvest I would expect at the end of July or early Aug, so we are still a few weeks behind. But things are completely ramped up, and there are no more worried about having anything to harvest.
 
Thanks for stopping in and having a look!

 
Those MJ's sound really nice... That's a huge tomato sofia is holding.  What variety is that?

 

[Stefan_W]

 
Those MJ's sound really nice... That's a huge tomato sofia is holding.  What variety is that?

 
The MJs are fantastic! I highly recommend them. 
 
The tomato is a Dixie Golden Giant. Most of the ones I have grown this year are about a half a pound or so, but this one was enormous.

 

[Stefan_W]

I was walking through my garden at lunch time and I noticed this bee sitting on a ghost pepper pod, and it looked like he was trying to decide whether to take a bite.

 
Don't do it, little bee! Take off while you still can!
 
I hope everyone is having a great long weekend