Stickman's 2014 Glog- That's all folks!

Hi All,
   I've got Manzanos sprouted and my Bhuts, Lotah Bih and Donne Sali seeds planted so it looks like time to leave 2103 behind and begin to concentrate on 2014. Last year I started some of my late-season varieties right after New Year's Day, but our season was too short to bring the pods to full ripeness so this year I started 2-3 weeks earlier.
 
Manzano seedlings...

 
Fruts and Bhuts ...

 
There are many more varieties yet to plant in the proper turn, and I have 4 overwintered pepper plants from 2013 that I'll report on later. Have a great weekend all!

 

[maximumcapsicum]

Interesting that your MoA's have stingers. They look tasty.
 
Garden shots are looking great. How long do you wait before busting open those almas?

 

[OCD Chilehead]

Nice looking Aji plant. Pickled peppers look great. I'm going to try my luck at pickling this year. I buy pickled Pequin and Habs. As Tony the Tiger would say "There Grrrrrreat". I would like to do some pickled supers and eggs. Until them these will have to do.

Happy Friday!

Chuck

 

[georgej]

loving the look of those pickles! mmmm....
pods are looking beautiful too! love a bit of friday night pod porn!

 

[stickman]

Nice, Rick! Looking longingly at that quart of pickled Almas. (Pickled "souls."?) Yeah, what gives with KNaga's being white at first? But they do turn darker green, or mine did, what little able to get out and look yesterday. For second thought I had a lot of white bhuts (seed blunder) but not. Glad to see the sprawl on Aji Limon! Mine shot straight up once in dirt, worried me, then sprawled. Nice to see those wax waxing to picked! And of course, my manzano envy of you continues! Am gonna try a "red rock" next year in pots to OW if necessary. Bluebird eggs are so pretty. Here, we have a few who visit, briefly, but only the meanest birds can compete with blue jays. OTH, bjs are dive-bombing--when they cease-fire on in-fight (for battle nourishment) the gardens for nasty bugs. BTW, what's difference with Guwahati Bhut and others? And LOVE, LOVE the BOC!!! Have a great Friday, sweetie!

 
Welcome back miz Annie! Glad to see you're feeling a bit better now and cruising the glogs again.
 
Guwahati Bhuts were collected there I assume... I got the seeds from Chris (cmpman1974). Reading on the net, I see there are some Tea plantations there that pulled out the Tea bushes and planted Bhuts in their place. Hopefully these are the same strain... the people growing them are selling the pods to the folks making Capsaicin grenades for the Indian military. The BOCs and King Nagas are both supposed to ripen orange, and even have a sort of orange/citrus flavor. It's my first time growing them though, so I'll have to wait a while yet to sample ripe pods and speak from experience.   Thanks for the heads-up on the King Naga... it's my first time growing one of those too.
 
Your elevation makes it quite a bit cooler than it is down by the coast, so I'd think you would have good luck growing  Pubiscens chiles where you are. They grow slowly in the first year and have a low, spreading habit. In succeeding years they reach for the sky and really produce. Good luck with your efforts to get one (or more) established. I'll be keeping an eye out to see how it goes for you. Cheers!
 

 
those look great, care to share your recipe?

 
Sure Asher... pm sent

Interesting that your MoA's have stingers. They look tasty.
 
Garden shots are looking great. How long do you wait before busting open those almas?

I'd say at least a month Adam... last year I only made 1 quart in September as an experiment, and opened the jar at Thanksgiving... that's what convinced me to double the number of Almas and pickle the whole crop.
 

Nice looking Aji plant. Pickled peppers look great. I'm going to try my luck at pickling this year. I buy pickled Pequin and Habs. As Tony the Tiger would say "There Grrrrrreat". I would like to do some pickled supers and eggs. Until them these will have to do.

image.jpg

Happy Friday!

Chuck

 
That's cool Chuck... I may have to try that for some of the MoAs as well. the Pequins are definitely gonna be dried whole for storage.
 

loving the look of those pickles! mmmm....
pods are looking beautiful too! love a bit of friday night pod porn!

 
We aim to please G... Thanks for stopping by!

 

[Devv]

Thanks Scott. Do you remember how many days from pods sticking to ripe for the MoAs?

 
Rick, I must confess I didn't even know the pods were there. I just got back on my feet July 3rd, and that was a travel day, when we got back I figured if I could handle the airports I could put some garden time in. In going through the rows I lifted the skirts on every plant and behold they were there. Wish I had a better answer

 

[stickman]

 
Rick, I must confess I didn't even know the pods were there. I just got back on my feet July 3rd, and that was a travel day, when we got back I figured if I could handle the airports I could put some garden time in. In going through the rows I lifted the skirts on every plant and behold they were there. Wish I had a better answer

 
Well, no matter Scott... guess I'll just have to keep looking under the MoAs skirts to catch it when the pods ripen. The plant has the densest leaf canopy of any Chinense I've ever grown. I wonder if it was bred for that trait so it would protect the pods from sunscald.
 
I just got home from work a little while ago, and had a sausage grinder for supper with  sauteed peppers and onions... the peppers were the Almapaprika pods left  over after pickling the rest, and they all must have been the variety called "Nagykuti" that Balazs sent from Hungary... he warned me that they would be the spiciest Almas I'd ever tried, and he was right!

 

[DocNrock]

73 pages and it is only July!   

 

[stickman]

73 pages and it is only July! 

Hey, Brent's in the house... Thanks for stopping by Doc! I checked out your "unexpected" glog... pretty cool you had 30 plants OW despite total neglect. That's SoCal for ya.
 
It's another bright and sunny Saturday morning and time once again for the Dawn Patrol report...
 
The Peri Peri seems to have "bottomed out" on the first story, and is working on the second story now.

 
My tallest plant... a Thai Red Demon hybrid that's almost 4 feet tall. The chile to the right of that is about a quarter of the Takanotsume.

 
Now that the Tabasco is feeling happy with the weather, it's starting to kick out the jams

 
The DST is ripening up in an interesting way... Ivory yellow to reddish purple, and now back to a mottled yellow before the next stage.

 
Donne Sali is also really kickin' in now with multiple pods at each node as often as not.

 
A better pic of the Pritamin peppers turning yellow before red.

 
First of the Dedo de Moca pods to begin ripening... it looks like it'll get there before the Aji Lemons

 
Lotah Bih is beginning to set pods now. They're still too small to take pics of, but here's what the flowers look like.

 
A couple of "nons" to finish up... My inner perimeter has been secured by Ladybugs and Lacewings. I'll keep trying to get a pic of a Lacewing, but the Ladybugs are much easier to spot.

 
The tallest of the Tomatillos Verde is up about 5 feet and the others are catching up fast. The first fruits are about 2 inches around now, and should be ready to harvest next weekend in time for my family's visit.

 
Have a great weekend all!

 

[tctenten]

All of your hard work continues to reward you. Everything looks great Rick.

 

[Spicegeist]

Lotah Bih is beginning to set pods now. They're still too small to take pics of, but here's what the flowers look like.

 

 
 
Looks good... the Lota Bih I had that turned out to be a cross had bigger flowers than that, maybe yours will grow true.

 

[stickman]

 
 
Looks good... the Lota Bih I had that turned out to be a cross had bigger flowers than that, maybe yours will grow true.

 
Most excellent... Thanks for the heads-up Charles!

 

[Devv]

What a transformation your garden has made Rick!
 
Things started slow and the plants looked a bit rough at first, but dang they sure have come around and are taking off now.
 
That says a lot about your skills.

 

[maximumcapsicum]

I am probably going to do a couple more pickle batches. Can't wait till I can figure out what I like the most. Right now I am mostly salsaing since my tomato production seems to be peaking. I really should have grown more tomatos, but they just eat up so much space.
 
Have you ever tried preserving peppers in honey? DeWitt recommends just sealing habaneros in a can with honey. Says they infuse the honey with heat and are perfectly preserved after rinsing. Expensive way to preserve a bunch though.

 

[stickman]

What a transformation your garden has made Rick!
 
Things started slow and the plants looked a bit rough at first, but dang they sure have come around and are taking off now.
 
That says a lot about your skills.

 
Thanks Scott, but don't say that too often... I'd have to buy bigger hats...
 

I am probably going to do a couple more pickle batches. Can't wait till I can figure out what I like the most. Right now I am mostly salsaing since my tomato production seems to be peaking. I really should have grown more tomatos, but they just eat up so much space.
 
Have you ever tried preserving peppers in honey? DeWitt recommends just sealing habaneros in a can with honey. Says they infuse the honey with heat and are perfectly preserved after rinsing. Expensive way to preserve a bunch though.

 
I hear ya Adam! I need to get more Almas and Jals to pickle myself... Cucumbers are beginning to kick in in a big way, so I've been making New York half-sour pickles for the weekend party. No vinegar in the recipe, just water and salt, and whatever flavorings you want. I put crushed garlic cloves and fresh dill in mine. They sit out on the kitchen counter for 4 days fermenting, then I put them in the 'fridge until ready to serve.

 
 
I've never heard of preserving peppers in honey, but I make a killer peach-serrano jam when the peaches are in season.
 
Have a great rest of the weekend all... I've gotta work until 2:30 today.

 

[Jeff H]

Rick, I had a few pages to catch up on. Wow, everything is looking real good. Pod pics are fantastic. Food pics are always great. Love the pickles. That reminds me, I have several cucumbers ready so I'll need to bust out the canning jars this week, but mine will be in vinegar, a either a bhut or scorpion and some garlic.

 

[HabaneroHead]

Hi Rick,

I've been away for a couple of weeks, and man...you are harvesting Almapaprikas... :-)
Good job! :-)
My Mom also grows the Nagykúti variety, I can't wait to try them out.
I saw you were harvesting a couple of pods from the Rapires. Did you have a chance to taste them? They are very good with sandwiches, or just with smoked bacon...like I wrote before, these are one of the most popular ones in Hungary. They are available during the winter as well, if we are looking for some heat.

Balázs

 

[PIC 1]

Really impressive Rick...
I see a huge difference from the cooler Springtime temperature photos until current. The weather must be warm cause your plants are looking mighty healthy and green. 
That's cool to see some canning and pickling process so soon.
I haven't pickled anything yet....but I do have a small watermelon in the fridge and some Arugula, maybe I'll peel/slice  and pickle the melon rinds on the stove in a hot pep vinegar brine with mustard, cumin seeds, salt and amchur   cube the melon flesh, add chopped shallots, almonds, feta cheese.............chop the pickled rinds half the size of the mellon cubes, toss all together..........adding some of the strained pickling brine. That could..will be a starter for dinner
Best of luck with the rest of your season...

 

[stickman]

Rick, I had a few pages to catch up on. Wow, everything is looking real good. Pod pics are fantastic. Food pics are always great. Love the pickles. That reminds me, I have several cucumbers ready so I'll need to bust out the canning jars this week, but mine will be in vinegar, a either a bhut or scorpion and some garlic.

 
Go for it Jeff! I think a Bhut or TS might be a little bit too much in pickled Cukes, but I do put some Gochus or Cayennes in some of the jars I put away for the winter.
 

Hi Rick,

I've been away for a couple of weeks, and man...you are harvesting Almapaprikas... :-)
Good job! :-)
My Mom also grows the Nagykúti variety, I can't wait to try them out.
I saw you were harvesting a couple of pods from the Rapires. Did you have a chance to taste them? They are very good with sandwiches, or just with smoked bacon...like I wrote before, these are one of the most popular ones in Hungary. They are available during the winter as well, if we are looking for some heat.

Balázs

 
Hi Balázs!   I definitely like the Rapires pods... I fried them up with an onion and had them with some pulled pork tonight.   I'll definitely plant them again next year. Thanks for turning me on to them!
 

Really impressive Rick...
I see a huge difference from the cooler Springtime temperature photos until current. The weather must be warm cause your plants are looking mighty healthy and green. 
That's cool to see some canning and pickling process so soon.
I haven't pickled anything yet....but I do have a small watermelon in the fridge and some Arugula, maybe I'll peel/slice  and pickle the melon rinds on the stove in a hot pep vinegar brine with mustard, cumin seeds, salt and amchur   cube the melon flesh, add chopped shallots, almonds, feta cheese.............chop the pickled rinds half the size of the mellon cubes, toss all together..........adding some of the strained pickling brine. That could..will be a starter for dinner
Best of luck with the rest of your season...

 
Thanks Greg! The stragglers are beginning to set pods this weekend, and I'm psyched! I've never pickled watermelon rind... I don't suppose it tastes of much besides the brine, does it?
 
My wife came back from Canada last night, so the primary camera is back again
I got some pics of the first pod on the OW Douglah

 
Guwhati Bhut

 
Bhut Orange Copenhagen started dropping skirts

 
a better pic of the King Naga

 
and the ripening pods on the Dilley Street Tamwork

 
Dedo de Moca

 
Chimayo's are looking much happier!

 
The first Goat's Weed pods are starting to lose some of their black color and go green... I suppose that means they're starting to ripen.

 
the two Donne Sali plants side-by-side

 
and the largest of the Lotah Bih

 
That's 10... a few more for a bump...

 

[tctenten]

Bump

 

[stickman]

Bump

 
Thanks Terry... back atcha!
 
Thai Red Demon Hybrid... the plant not shown is bigger, but fewer pods for now... this is a canopy shot looking straight down. The plant is actually about 3 feet tall.

 
I'm really liking the habit of the Takanotsume... the ends of every branch have a cluster of pods, and I don't doubt the pattern will repeat at each node.

 
 a pic of the Tabasco oriented the same.

 
Shane's Texas Pequin... both of these plants have bushed out bigtime, and pod production is slow but steady. By the end of the season they should both be covered with tiny pods.

 
True Chintexle... Chintexle cross is to the left.

 
That's all for now... enjoy the week all!