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Stettoman '23: Had ya wondering, didn't I?

Yep, I'm going to take a stab at resurging my passion. Only 40 starts this year, and that may be ambitious for the space I'm allotted, but compared to the TWO I grew last year? Way.

So this year I'm doing the GIP Serrano Magic Powder again. Some of the farmers in Pueblo are growing some limited numbers of Serrano, so I may be able to augment to the 7 plants I'm doing myself. I had great aspirations to ship out some of that to a number of you guys, but somehow I dumbthumbed my address lists out of existence on the PC. I apologize and intend to follow through this year. I'll have the Rocoto/chokecherry jelly coming out my ears again, though I've got batches stored from previous seasons and plenty Aji Oro and chokecherries frozen to make more now.

The current lineup: Note that all but the Serrano are Rocoto...:)

Serrano Tampiqueño (Sandia)--7
Manzano Orange (Sandia)--4
Rocoto Rojo (stettoseed)--4
Arequipeño (stettoseed)--5
Gelbe Riesen (stettoseed)--5
Ecuador Sweet (stettoseed)--5
De Seda Yellow (stettoseed)--5
Turbo Pube (stettoseed)--5

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The "stettoseed" is merely my own saved seeds from 2-4 years ago, all of which originated as gifts and trades with members here. My Prevagen deficiency doesn't allow me to credit those members adequately...sorry.

There is an absence of a number of varieties I just don't have space for this year: Aji Amarillo, Allepo, Jimmy Nardello, etc., etc., etc...But it's a start. I'm going to visit the Pueblo folks this year and see if I can find a marketing partner for the jelly.

And I blah on...I've been away. Now I'm back, missed you guys!!

Another thrilling episode to come!!
 
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That wouldn't have been too great for the little ones! Hopefully the weather holds better after you plant!

Side note - I own psychosuperhero.com if you ever get a band going (or know someone) that would like that name!
 
All it takes is 20 minutes of marble sized hail.

It's bright & shiny like a billygoats hiney outside today, partly cloudy and 73 degrees. A light thundershower came up, I'm thinking "good, the ladies could use some nitrogen infused rain". I went into my studio to work on some music...

And I was playing too loud to hear the pounding begin. By the time I noticed and almost swallowed my tongue in blind panic, it was coming down so hard I couldn't see the neighbors' houses.

Here's what it looked like on the radar

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The blue dot is me, this was taken after the thickest and darkest part of that red-orange blob passed.

This is what the insult added to the injury looked like--The damned sun had the gall to come out while it continued to hail...

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...this is what my Serrano crop looks like after I got them in. The Rocotos were also out, but I had them under the deck railing, so the damage was minimal. O, the poor babies!! They were flowering a lot by this time, I only wonder what would be left if I had planted them out like I planned last Sunday...

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As you see, hail remains in their little 3" X 3" cells. I know they'll come back, but instances like this can be very discouraging, knowing this can happen again and again in this part of town...

I may also look for Serrano starts at the usual outlets, I know the stores haven't been picked clean...yet.

OK, no more updates like this, please...:pray::pray::pray:
 
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Hail like that is always scary. I'm happy that kind of hail is very rare where I live. Nevertheless I'm always a bit scared when a thunderstorm passes by... Let's hope your plants recover!
 
Thought I'd have them in dirt by now, but I guess I'm gun-shy regarding hail. They continue to forecast severe weather, with much larger hailstones. They (nor I) can predict where that hail may (or may not) appear.

But I guess I'm ready to do...uh...you know...the Thing

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I went out on a limb and spent some coin on a local "legend soil" from a place called Don's Nursery here in town. No, this was nowhere near the price of the Fox Farm products, but for me right now, a lot nonetheless.

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I miss digging a hole in the half-an-eighth-acre and dropping seedlings in, but my conditions have changed, so no whining from me. It was posed to me to mix in lava sand in order to promote faster, more robust growth and production, but I want to learn up a little more on it...

I did pick up a couple of nursery-grown Serranos, no idea the strain, but they should add to overall yield

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In the spirit of not getting "Pepper Joed", These two will be isolated from the Tampiqueño grow. I do, after all, save seeds.

So now I go to get a blood-letting for my doc and continue submitting applications (yep, Don's Nursery got one yesterday). Us old goomers seem to have more going for us, considering we got an entire generation sans the classic American work ethic (certain exceptions do apply 😉😉
 
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The perseverance I'm witnessing in these Serranos is nothing short of miraculous. Though war--er--weather ravaged, they continue.

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And this: hanging literally by a thread, this small branch insists upon perpetuation.

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I gotta get these guys in some damned soil.

But for the hail. My next door neighbor told me yesterday that July is the worst month for it...
 
DWB said:
It will be different not having ag planes buzzing your garden.
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Heh yeah, now I got all manner of commercial and private a/c buzzing the place, not to mention F22s, C17s, C5s, C130s, fueling planes, F16s, WWII vintage, and even now and again a large white 747 with a blue stripe down the side, a blue chin and an American flag painted on the tail.

But if anyone knows, how come an F22 is 5-10 times louder than ANY other aircraft coming over the house? It sounds like glass may shatter!!
 
Well, at least none of those give you pesticide drift. Too bad about all the hail and late spring blizzards,. I see that hasn't changed at all since we lived up north of Denver in the 80's.

Have you been to Salida? That used to be a very interesting place.
 
No, not Salida. Not yet. The local news stations sure like the place.

I haven't even been to Pueblo yet. Shame on me.

We did spend a pricey week in an air b&b just south of Breckenridge though...that was interesting...
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Oh, and a weekend @ Mt. Princeton. Best French Dip I've had maybe ever.
 
Nice beds!
We don’t get hail like you guys on the front range. I’m in Rifle, Colorado. Western Slope. Near Utah. I’ve had hail damage like crazy though. Looked like I went out and shot them with buck shot. They rebound and had a great season that year. Those Serranos are strong. I think they actually like the abuse. Masochist of a pepper. Lol
 
OCD Chilehead said:
Nice beds!
We don’t get hail like you guys on the front range. I’m in Rifle, Colorado. Western Slope. Near Utah. I’ve had hail damage like crazy though. Looked like I went out and shot them with buck shot. They rebound and had a great season that year. Those Serranos are strong. I think they actually like the abuse. Masochist of a pepper. Lol
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Thanks, the Darlin Bride wanted something nice instead of "what I might try to get away with" 🤨

I've no doubt the shock will pass and these guys will shoot to the moon. There's eventually going to be a greenhouse built over top, but not "what I might try to get away with"...

Rifle, eh? Heard some nice things about the place. A certain cafe comes to mind.
 
stettoman said:
Thanks, the Darlin Bride wanted something nice instead of "what I might try to get away with" 🤨

I've no doubt the shock will pass and these guys will shoot to the moon. There's eventually going to be a greenhouse built over top, but not "what I might try to get away with"...

Rifle, eh? Heard some nice things about the place. A certain cafe comes to mind.
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Nice. Looking forward to seeing how they turn out. Keeeping my fingers crossed for no more Hell, I mean Hail.


Yeah, I know the cafe. It’s out of business. The new landlords didn’t approve of the owners of the cafe. The town is to big for me. I want to leave and live outside of town where there are no sidewalks. If there are sidewalks, there are to many people for me. It’s not a bad town. It still has a authentic Colorado feel. How Colorado use to be before outsiders took over Denver. I feel I may be selling my house someday and moving to another State.
 
I'd heard the landlord wouldn't renew the lease, I just thought Lauren would've found new digs by this time.

I get ya on the Colorado feel. Not really what I remembered from the late 80s when I passed through regularly. We've been in the Springs a year and a half now, and just bought a tiny but REALLY overpriced house on the east edge of town, and the wife, born and raised here, is already talking about moving to the Texas coast and starting a t-shirt shop on the beach.
 
So then. Not sure, but I believe it was a combination of meteorological anomalies and maybe mismanagement, but as of today, July 26, my 2023 grow is just about as close to a total bust as I've ever had. The Serranos, though sporting a half dozen small ripening pods, are no more than an inch taller than they were on May 28. The L Orange Thais are unchanged as well. The Rocotos, including my Rocoto Rojo overwinter, are doing better growth-wise, but not a blossom between them. I cant even find the hint of buds coming from the nodes.

Not for lack of rain, for sure, but the heat has been constant in the mid 90s. The hail tore through them twice devastatingly, and partially a third time. I know that the Pube's like a nice cold mist sometimes to trigger flowering, and unless one of you fine people know of any other paths to podness, i think I'll be buying bulk Serranos this fall, the Rocotos are another story...😥😢

But the band is doing great
 
That's a bummer about the peppers, stetto - though glad to hear the band's doing well. The raised bed in particular looked so awesome it seemed things were off to a great start. Hope they start doing better for you. Your season should last a little longer now.
 
CaneDog said:
That's a bummer about the peppers, stetto - though glad to hear the band's doing well. The raised bed in particular looked so awesome it seemed things were off to a great start. Hope they start doing better for you. Your season should last a little longer now.
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Won't matter if they produce nothing.

I'll keep working them till the frost, but the two overflowing Rocotos from last season were Cinderella. I think this cat needs to relearn gardening. I assumed way too much.
 
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