Stickman's 2013 Glog - Time To Pull The Plug on 2013

I'm pulling things together to get ready for my next growing season. I bought NuMex variety seeds from Sandia Seed company in New Mexico, Hot Paper Lantern Habaneros and Antohi Romanians from Johnny's Select Seeds in Maine and Korean varieties from Evergreen Seeds in California. Due to the unbelievable generosity of a number of THP members I've also gotten seeds to a wide variety of chiles from around the world. Special thanks to BootsieB, stc3248, romy6, PaulG, SoCalChilehead, joynershotpeppers, highalt, cmpman1974, smokemaster, mygrassisblue, Mister No, chewi, KingDenniz, orrozconleche and most recently and spectacularly, Habanerohead with a great selection of superhots and peppers from Hungary!

There are eleven varieties of Hungarian peppers in here, mostly the early, thick-fleshed, sweet ones that range from white through yellow to purple and red.., plus Aji Lemon Drop, BJ Indian Carbon, Naga Morich, Bishop's Crown and TS CARDI Yellow! Now I just have to go through my seed bank and match the space available to what I want to grow. Thanks Balázs!

 

[stickman]

Nice! I just finished curing about 20 red onions I pulled from the garden. I put them in a single layer in a milk crate under a covered portion of my deck for almost 2 weeks. With these cooler temps a pot of french onion soup might be in order. Next season I am going to double my onion crop and also add garlic!

Ya know Chris... if you plant in a block instead of a row, you can grow more onions in a smaller space. I grew mine in two 4'x4' blocks and alternated rows of carrots in between the onions... maintaining the proper spacing between them all, I just left out the space between rows since I have planks laid out around the blocks to walk on. It looked like a mini-jungle until the onion tops died and fell over. I grow yellow storage onions to put away for the winter, and I was really happy with the Patterson variety I got from Johnny's Seeds in Maine.
   Love that French Onion Soup too! There's nothing like it to really warm you up after a day fishing out on the ice.

Lookin great Rick!  I haven't grown the Brown Eggs, just tried the ones that Jay sent over.  I am gonna be adding them to my grow list next season, and I think they will be a great contrast to all the heat. 
 
The pollo looks delish, you always have mouthwatering food shots!

Thanks Matt, you do right well yourself!
 
And so it begins... the constant battle between growing area limits and ambitious plans for it!   We hear ya brother... we're all in this together...

Tasty looking chicken and nice going on the first ripe Manzano! Your Guajillo pods look a lot different then mine... is het possible that these have various podshapes as the Chimayo does to? Mine have been pretty big, thick walled and I don't really detect any heat at all. Got the seeds from someone who got them from a buddy in Mexico.

Thanks Stefan!
I couldn't really tell you about the Guajillos... this is the first year I've grown them, and I haven't sampled my own yet. I've bought the dried pods before, and they seemed thin fleshed with mild heat and a sweet, berrylike flavor... perfect to add to a Mexican chocolate ice cream (with cinnamon), or mango ice. It sounds like yours might have crossed with another Annuum.

 

[Devv]

 
Thanks so much for that box o' pain Scott! I took one of the pods over to a neighbor's house tonight and cut us each a sliver to try... WHOOEE... That's a spicy pod! At least as hot as the Butch T. I grew this year. I guess I increased my tolerance a bit since I sampled the BT, because I was able to sit with the reaper until it faded. A very strong chinense aroma and flavor and a creeping heat that took 30 seconds to register and kept building for about 5 minutes. Plateaued for about 3 minutes and faded to a warm glow in the mouth and throat down to the stomach that lasted about half an hour. I had half a dozen hiccups 3 minutes into the burn, but a swallow of cool water Scotched that... I'm thinking the best use for these pods is smoked and powdered, or diluted in some kind of sauce. That way it's easier to regulate how much of a dose you get.

Your more than welcome!
Yes sir, a spicy pod for sure, what I like about it is you get to taste the pepper before the heat kicks in. They give me hiccups too, usually right after I swallow it. I broke into one with my son a while back, he said never again! And I agree great in powder and sauces, good headache treatment too...LOL Don't know if it's a distraction or endorphins....

 

[Stefan_W]

Mmmmm, French Onion Soup!

 

[PeriPeri]

Wow man Rick, nice job on the chicken. We do our periperi chicken like this... marinaded for a good 24hrs... magnifique!

 

[SeanW]

Rick - been a while since I've had a chance to read your glog, so I'm trying to catch up. Looking good! The cool temps you've been having worry me - if what happened in the spring holds true, I should be that far behind you, and I still need a lot of growing left in the season. Sounds like I'm breaking out the hand truck to get some of the potted guys inside. I wonder if my wife would let me spring for some of those big propane heaters

 

[stickman]

 Don't know if it's a distraction or endorphins....

 
It's a little of both I think...
 
 

Wow man Rick, nice job on the chicken. We do our periperi chicken like this... marinaded for a good 24hrs... magnifique!

 
Sorry Lourens : ... I didn't have the PeriPeri sauce so I had to make do with Yellow 7s...
 
 

Rick - been a while since I've had a chance to read your glog, so I'm trying to catch up. Looking good! The cool temps you've been having worry me - if what happened in the spring holds true, I should be that far behind you, and I still need a lot of growing left in the season. Sounds like I'm breaking out the hand truck to get some of the potted guys inside. I wonder if my wife would let me spring for some of those big propane heaters

 
Hey Sean... Haven't caught ya in awhile buddy! It sounds like you had quite a steep learning curve this season, but while we live and learn we can always do better next year...  Good on ya!
 
The last few days have been kind of a blur... I picked up a free chipper/shredder for the compost, and it needed a new spark plug, air filters, an oil change and the chipper blades sharpened... getting the thing apart to do that was a joy...  :  worked at my job on Saturday and my Honey-do list Sunday to get the place ready for the fall. Last night the weather people predicted overnight lows in the mid to upper 30s for the next couple of days, so I picked all the beans, peppers, tomatoes and eggplant that were ripe (or close to it), and I've been processing them as the sunlight allows. Roasted all but the last few green Kapia peppers, which made for a little over 16 pounds or roasted peppers after peeling and seeding them (that's almost 7 kilos!), and made another batch of smoked "kitchen sink" powder.

 
Still got a few more Gochus too... they're coming in in dribs and drabs.

 
Tomorrow I'll can salsa with the tomatoes and make Ajvar with the roasted peppers. Thursday, I'll roast and freeze the purple eggplant. Friday I'll be getting ready for a fishing trip to the Rhode Island shore to surf fish and I'll be away for the weekend, trying to get some Bluefish or Striped Bass for the freezer for the winter. I'll be in and out here, but probably won't have time to catch up on all your glogs until sometime next week.
 
The Manzanos are all ripening up... I'll try to get a good picture tomorrow morning. The Butch T. and the potted Choc. Habs have pretty much shot their bolt. I have 3 pods left on the Douglah and then it's done for the season too.  The Orange Habs, Not Yellow Bhut, Not Scotch Bonnet and Yellow 7 are still chugging along, and the Omnicolors are freakin' insane!

 

[stickman]

Here's a pic of the ripening Manzanos... not too many for powder, but plenty for seed if I leave them on the plant long enough to really develop. At the rate they're ripening in the cool weather, it'll probably be another 2 weeks before I can pick them and save the seeds.

 

[Stefan_W]

Wow, that is a lot of skinning! I don't envy you, the worst part of roasting is having to skin everything afterwards. 
 
It definitely looks like the Manzanos will have time to ripen, good work!

 

[Ausmith]

Manzanos looking good. How are they as a powder?

 

[stickman]

Wow, that is a lot of skinning! I don't envy you, the worst part of roasting is having to skin everything afterwards. 
 
It definitely looks like the Manzanos will have time to ripen, good work!

Roasted pepper spread is definitely worth it though... If you can get an afternoon to do the work and a case of ripe sweet peppers at a good price, do it... it's definitely worth it! You can use it as a spread on sandwiches or crackers, mix it in with hummus to give it a  whole 'nother flavor dimension or use it instead of tomato sauce on a homemade pizza. I occasionally see jars of commercially made ajvar on the shelves in stores, but it's much better if you make it for yourself.
 
I'm thinking the reason I had such a problem germinating my Manzano seeds was that the pods they came from may have looked ripe, but the seeds inside weren't fully developed, so with this variety you need to leave them on the plant until the pod gets over-ripe and flabby when saving the seeds.

Manzanos looking good. How are they as a powder?

Pretty darned good Clayton... especially on fish or savory dishes made with chicken, veal, pork, eggs, cheese or eggplant. It gives enough heat to be interesting without overpowering the other flavors in the dish. The pods are thick-fleshed though, and sun-drying in our cool northern climate is problematic... I'd use a dehydrator if that's your aim.
 
Came home from work today to find an unexpected SFRB from Matt (MGOLD86) with lots of great-looking pods and a sample of his own "kitchen sink" powder... Thanks Matt, you sly dog... not a  peep from you, it just appeared in the mailbox! It's much appreciated, I assure you. I don't remember which variety of Ajis you have planted, but I'll page back through your glog to find out. You rock guy!

 

[Devv]

Rick I'm sorry to see your season winding down, but with that said a much needed break is overdue I'm sure.
 
Glad to see you have the dehydrator working overtime and some time left for those Manzano's to ripen, I'm thinking they're a bit hardier than the rest of the crew.
 
Enjoy the fishing trip and load up your coolers!

 

[stickman]

Rick I'm sorry to see your season winding down, but with that said a much needed break is overdue I'm sure.
 
Glad to see you have the dehydrator working overtime and some time left for those Manzano's to ripen, I'm thinking they're a bit hardier than the rest of the crew.
 
Enjoy the fishing trip and load up your coolers!

Thanks Scott,
   There's still too much to do to take many breaks about now, but things usually slow down in November...
 
I ended up roasting my eggplants this afternoon, so I made my first batch of Ajvar. I have enough ingredients to make 2 more batches of around the same size, but they'll have to wait until tomorrow.

 
I won't post a recipe here because DocNrock did such a good job last year and posted it in this thread... http://thehotpepper.com/topic/36298-ajvar/?hl=%2Bdocnrock+%2Bajvar
I did tweak the basic recipe by adding lemon juice and red wine vinegar instead of white vinegar, and I added garlic chives from the garden along with the usual garlic, salt, pepper and roasted eggplant pulp... then canned in the hot water bath canner.

 

[Stefan_W]

That is a great looking sauce! I forgot all about Doc's post, thanks for sharing.

 

[WalkGood]

Wow you’ve been busy and still posting … I’ve slacked off cause of being too busy, hehe. Everything looks great Rick, sad to read season will soon be over for you but with all that processing you’ve been doing … I need a break, hahaha. Na I’ve been processing myself all the frozen pods to make mas room for mama.
 
Hope you have an awesome fishing trip brethren!

 

[FreeportBum]

That looks awesome Rick, love the color my friend.  

 

[stickman]

That is a great looking sauce! I forgot all about Doc's post, thanks for sharing.

Sure thing Stefan... maybe it'll give you some ideas for next year... I did send you some Kapia seeds, yes?
 
 

Wow you’ve been busy and still posting … I’ve slacked off cause of being too busy, hehe. Everything looks great Rick, sad to read season will soon be over for you but with all that processing you’ve been doing … I need a break, hahaha. Na I’ve been processing myself all the frozen pods to make mas room for mama.
 
Hope you have an awesome fishing trip brethren!

I hear ya Ramon... never a dull moment this time of year! After Halloween when we rake up the fallen leaves and put the garden to bed for the winter it'll be time for a break. If I get lucky and bring home some Bluefish and/or Stripers I'll post up some recipes then.

That looks awesome Rick, love the color my friend.  

 Thanks Devan, it tastes even better than it looks! If you ever make it... try using it on a pizza instead of tomato sauce, and tweak the heat levels to your liking.

 

[romy6]

 Man I am so jealous of you are your manzanos. By far the juiciest tastiest pepper I have ever had the joy of eating. 
 
Nice score from Matt. That kitchen sink powder is tasty.   I am quite sure they are aji lemons.
 
 
 Hope you get lots of tight lines and many great pics of the haul on your fishing trip 

 

[stickman]

 Man I am so jealous of you are your manzanos. By far the juiciest tastiest pepper I have ever had the joy of eating. 
 
Nice score from Matt. That kitchen sink powder is tasty.   I am quite sure they are aji lemons.
 
 
 Hope you get lots of tight lines and many great pics of the haul on your fishing trip 

Well, I have Shane to thank for having any Manzanos at all, but thanks for thinking of me Jamie... I really want viable seeds, so I'm trying to be good and leave the pods on the plant as long as possible, but it ain't easy...
 
Thnx for the ID on the Aji pods and well-wishes for the trip this weekend. The full moon was yesterday, so hopefully we'll still be having higher tides this weekend. One good thing about the cold nights is that it gets the bait moving south along the coast and the predators follow 'em all the way there. I haven't seen a blitz yet, but I have had Bluefish whizzing around my ankles slashing at the bait blown against Napatree beach by a strong onshore wind.
 
I tried some of your kitchen sink powder in some salsa verde Matt... it tasted pretty strong in the Chinense area, but not in an unpleasant way... it had a pretty good bite too. An eighth of a teaspoon really perked up a quart of salsa!
 
I tried the Bonda Ma Jacques pod first because I knew the least about it. Nice flavor and manageable burn... I can see growing this one myself... how prolific is it, and how many days to maturity would you say?
 
I also tried a slice of the Bhut Assam... it certainly seemed to be what most folks report in the way of flavor and aroma... strong, spicy off-citrus smell... except for the sweetness of the aroma it almost reminds me of juniper berries or cleaning products. The taste is sweet, fruity and floral with a slow-building heat that took about 30 seconds to register on the tongue and back of the throat. Started salivating heavily after 1 minute... the burn continued to build for 3 minutes, plateaued for a minute and slowly faded, leaving a "sunburned" sensation on the tongue and a feeling of warmth in the stomach.

 

[Devv]

Nice review on the Assam, I too received one and it's rather scary looking!
 
And the sauce looks really great too!

 

[WalkGood]

Well blow me down another great review ^_^ belated pirates day!