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]

Time once again for the report of the Dawn Patrol...
 
It's a foggy morning outside and 57 degrees at 5am. We had a warm day in the mid 80's yesterday and a thundershower with a half inch of rain in the afternoon. It looks like things are finally beginning to warm up to something like normal for the growing season here.
 
The Chinense all have at least got flower buds now, but it'll need to warm up enough for overnight lows in the 60's for them to set pods that'll stick.
 
Magnum Orange Hab

 
Yellow Bhut

 
Chiero

 
Peruvian Purple pods are looking nice on a tall and lanky plant. They have a great Annuum smell too.

 
Urfa Biber seems to be in a hurry to catch up. It only had buds yesterday morning, and this morning it has a dropped skirt and 2 open flowers...

 
Manzano's absolutely covered in blooms!

 
Butch T has finally forked, and looks to be moving forward!

 
Another Vesena pod

 
Hungarian Tomato pepper getting bigger... it should start ripening soon as I think it's about full size.

 
Have a good Tuesday all!

 

[WalkGood]

Rick, fantastic comes to mind, love your hot sauce recipe and it’s very similar to one I make other than celery and sun-dried tomatoes (I use fresh pealed whole) which I’ll give a try. Also I use much less vinegar but that’s no biggie, great job mon!
 
Awesome on the pod close ups, love that horizontal corking ^_^

 

[highalt]

Okay, I have to admit it.  I'm a little jelly of your Manzano blooming and podding already!  Seems like just yesterday, you couldn't even get one to sprout for you, and look at that thing now!  Good job!!!

 

[stickman]

Thanks Bonnie, but don't make me out to be more virtuous than I am... lol! Hopefully I learned enough this winter to get them to sprout for me next year. I'd say that the biggest part of the equation is getting the freshest seeds possible that have been properly processed so there are no pathogens present in them.  Quite a few of my seeds actually did sprout, but ended up with rotting cots before they poked up above the soil. Some of that may have also had to do with the growing medium... I've learned that it doesn't pay to economize there either.

 

[Devv]

Well as usual things are looking good up north!
 
Like the corking on the Vesena and glad to see the Manzano has mucho flowers.

 

[stickman]

Thanks Scott! More good news on the home front... the Aji Panca has finally started budding up!

 
It looks as if the lone pod on the Maya Red Hab is starting to color up too. It's really small still... just the size of a pencil eraser.

 
It looks like the variegated Chilhuacle Negro is gonna pass the trait on to its pods... this one has a nearly albino stem and lighter streaks running down the sides.

 
Anybody know how to put two pics side by side?

 

[Devv]

Yes, they have to be 640x480...or smaller, I typically use 800x600 unless I want that effect.

 

[stickman]

Yes, they have to be 640x480...or smaller, I typically use 800x600 unless I want that effect.

Thanks Scott... I've resized them. Do you know if I can I put them side-by-side in photobucket?
 
I've pulled a few ripe Criolla Sella pods from the potted plant, so that one wins the pool for first chile to ripen. The color is a deeper orange than it looks in this flash picture.

 
Weather is still cool here... it's 51 degrees at 5am. Overcast after another day of rain showers, but clearing as the wind shifts to the north. It's supposed to get down to the mid-40's tonight, but then slowly warm up to the 60's by Sunday night. I hope so, we're ready! I have nothing against Canadians... heck, I married one, but could you please take back that jet stream?

 

[stc3248]

I'll shoot an email to the Secretary of State and begin negotiations with our Canadian neighbors STAT!
 
Ripe pods...loads of flowers...life is good at Rick's Casa! The Manzano looks stellar! It should really love the warmish days with cool nights so the timing is probably about perfect on those flowers! Great job!

Went back up to do a double take on the Manzano...looks to have at least 3 or 4 set now!!! That is way better than I expected this soon!

 

[stickman]

I'll shoot an email to the Secretary of State and begin negotiations with our Canadian neighbors STAT!
 
Thanks Chief, I knew I could count on you!
 
Ripe pods...loads of flowers...life is good at Rick's Casa! The Manzano looks stellar! It should really love the warmish days with cool nights so the timing is probably about perfect on those flowers! Great job!

Went back up to do a double take on the Manzano...looks to have at least 3 or 4 set now!!! That is way better than I expected this soon!
 
Thanks also for the good vibe and the info on the Manzano... If I can get them sprouted during the winter it looks like they'll do well here. Cheers!

 

[romy6]

 Wow 57 in the am . Up to 80 in the pm . Sounds like a typical December day in my parts. 
 
Plants are loving it though. How is that Douglah plant doing ? 

 

[GnomeGrown]

Looking good, Stickman.
 

 
Happy Harvests!

 

[stickman]

Looking good, Stickman.
 

 
Happy Harvests!

Hi Gnome... welcome to the zoo!

 Wow 57 in the am . Up to 80 in the pm . Sounds like a typical December day in my parts. 
 
Plants are loving it though. How is that Douglah plant doing ? 

Heh-heh... Douglah's doing well Jamie, it's starting to put out a few more flowers, but waiting for it to really heat up before it commits fully.

 
It's starting to look a little yellow to me, so I'm gonna make up some more epsom salts foliar spray. I'm sure it's connected with all the rain we've been getting lately.
 
The sun has been back all day today and I'm in a mind to grill something... Koubideh Kebab and skewered veggies.

 
I've got another reason to celebrate... Rocketman send a couple of bottles of his sauces that came today. Thanks for spreading that chile love Bill!

 

[Devv]

Nice score from Rocketman!
 
Rick, to side by side when they are 640x480 just put the cursor to the right top of the first pick, the THP software will do the rest. Now when I post a pic I ship it to my website in the images folder and link to it using the image button on the THP toolbar. I put in the URL, example: "http://www.devtex.net/images/400.jpg"
 
I can only assume how everyone else does it.
 
Had to Google the Koubideh, sounds really good....OK where did you learn all this food stuff?

 

[stickman]

Nice score from Rocketman!
 
Rick, to side by side when they are 640x480 just put the cursor to the right top of the first pick, the THP software will do the rest. Now when I post a pic I ship it to my website in the images folder and link to it using the image button on the THP toolbar. I put in the URL, example: "http://www.devtex.net/images/400.jpg"
 
I can only assume how everyone else does it.
 
Thanks Scott... I'll give it a try.
 
Had to Google the Koubideh, sounds really good....OK where did you learn all this food stuff?
 
Oh, here and there... I think I was started on this path by some Belgian neighbors. They were college professors at Columbia University who had married but had no kids of their own and had lost their families in the war. They bought a small cabin just down the road from us to go to during the summer  and academic holidays, and they both loved to entertain and cook haute cuisine. Every now and then they'd invite us over for a dinner party, and I asked a lot of questions. It's been a hobby of mine ever since.

 

 

[Devv]

That just has to be gooooddd!

 

[stickman]

That just has to be gooooddd!

Oh yeah! Grilling or roasting veggies makes 'em nice and sweet... especially the onions. The one on the skewer tonight was a Vidalia onion, and it was like candy...

 

[Peptacular]

Those Peruvian purples and omnicolors look cool as all get out man. And the manzano blooms are beautiful.

To top it all off you look like one hell of a cook. Keep up the great work bro.

 

[georgej]

want kebab NOW!! 

 

[stickman]

Thanks Guys! That was fun... it was the first time I was able to make Koubideh without if falling off the skewers. I found out that the real trick of it is to squeeze out as much juice as possible from the grated onion before mixing it into the ground meat. Having the meat run through the grinder twice also makes for a denser texture that stays together better. I've been using ground beef while I was getting the technique down, but next time I'll feel ready to use the more expensive ground lamb.