Stickman's 2015 - That's All She Wrote...

Hi All! It's been an incredibly busy winter dealing with one thing and another, and it's only about half over here.   Still, it's time to get on the stick and put my seeds in the dirt in preparation for plant-out in another 12 weeks or so. I have a Manzano over-wintering inside that's going on its third year. It's next to a sliding glass door with a great southern exposure but the light it gets here this time of year is pretty paltry... I expect it'll start to perk up sometime in March. I have a couple of MoA Scotch Bonnets over-wintering at a friend's house because there wasn't space in front of the sliding glass door for them and my wife's indoor plants... the deal is that if they both survive the winter, we'll split the plants. If not, he'll keep the one that lives. That seems fair since he did all the work.
 
The rest of the list is looking like this...

Pubiscens Varieties
Total bust this year... nothing that germinated survived.

Baccatum:
Ditto

Frutascens:
Tabasco
Hawaiian Bird chile
 
Chacoense:
Ditto

Chinense:
7-pot Yellow Turned out to be a red "Not"
MoA Scotch Bonnet
Beni Highlands... Also turned out to be a "Not"... maybe a Mako Akokrosade cross?
Ja Hab
Trinidad Perfume
Zavory

Annuum:
Cabe Rawit (mouse turd pepper, in Singapore where the seeds were collected they're called Cili Padi)
Red Thai
Biggie Chile Anaheim
Poblano Gigantia
Jalapeno Ciclon
Jalapeno Tormenta
Serrano Tampiqueno
Hungarian Hot Wax
Almapaprika
Ethiopian Brown Berbere
 
I'll also be planting a sweet Criolla de Cucina plants and about 20 sweet Kurtovska Kapijas. The Kapijas have the longest growing and ripening times of any Annuum I know, but they're big, meaty sweet peppers that average around a half a pound apiece... just the thing for making that eastern european condiment called Ajvar.
 
Too tired to say more now, but will pick up later... Cheers!

 

[Devv]

Cool pics of the Hawk Rick! I see some patrolling all the time but have yet to see one eat
 
The snow has gotta go!

 

[Pulpiteer]

We've got a Cooper's Hawk around here too.  Amazing birds, really.  It flies low through the trees hunting.  Nice pics.

 

[stickman]

Brutal! I can't wait to get away from the city and back into nature.
Definitely an interesting list you got going, I'm pretty New so a lot of these I haven't heard of. I'll be paying attention for next years grow. You sure know how to keep everybody on the edge of their seat, we want seeds in dirt!

 
Me too Tom... and welcome to the zoo! I'll be cleaning up the grow space down cellar and digging out the heat mats for seed starting. I have a side job tonight that'll pay for a bale of Pro-Mix, and I'll get things started at the end of next week.
 
Do you have any Falcons in your area? The largest city nearby is Springfield, MA and they have at least one breeding pair nesting on the window ledge of the Monarch Place building and another pair is nesting on top of the high-rise library on the UMass campus in Amherst. I think they mostly feed on Pigeons but may get the odd Rabbit or two.

Awesome 'footage' there, Rick!
 
Guess you won't be planting out this weekend.

 
No... I don't guess so Paul. Lol! We had -15 degrees f. for the overnight low yesterday morning and light snow predicted for the next 3 days followed by more lows in the minus teens. This winter is shaping up to be like the one in '77-'78... if without a perfect storm to dump 3 feet of snow at a whack!  I enlisted in the Army the following spring, and when I shipped out to Basic training on March 21st there were still 3 foot snowbanks out in the yard. Methinks it'll be an indoor grow until sometime in April.

Here in South Africa, some locals call a wall (endeeringly) - "stop nonsense". I think the term may originate from the mines, where all different languages come together and the miners communicate in a communial language called Fanagalo - which is a hybrid of different languages all mashed up together. So yea, "Stop Nonsense" - because it is the boundary to any activities, it is the line that defines the perimeter to any nonsense. Well, that white stuff you have right there is the ultimate Stop Nonsense I guess... we all need our rest and that is it right there untill it melts away, the chilli nonsense stops right there lol Enjoy the rest buddy untill the stop nonsense melts away

 
It's not quite so bad as that Lourens... At least I have my grow spot down cellar.    Growing space is limited by the square footage I can afford to keep lit though. Our PV panels help, but our electric rates went up 16 cents per Kilowatt this winter, and that's one of the reasons I decided to put off seed starting until mid-February.

 
Actually, I was talking about the hawk, but I wouldn't mind looking at some food porn, too.

 
I'll see what I can come up with this weekend...

Cool pics of the Hawk Rick! I see some patrolling all the time but have yet to see one eat
 
The snow has gotta go!

 
Thanks Scott! The pics aren't too sharp, but you get the idea. I'm with ya on wanting the snow gone... wanna trade some New England moisture for some Texas warmth?

We've got a Cooper's Hawk around here too.  Amazing birds, really.  It flies low through the trees hunting.  Nice pics.

 
Welcome aboard Andy!     It was kinda cool to have a ringside seat at the kill... the Hawk must have came skimming in low, using our house to block the line of sight, then popped up over the ridgeline and dove down steeply to strike the Mourning Dove... just like an A-10 or an Apache gunship hunting tanks. We like to think of ourselves as being "the" innovative species, but pretty much everything we do is done elsewhere in nature.

 

[Devv]

That's a negative on the trade, except for June through Mid September. I'll give ya 10°   Highs of 89-90° would be sweet!
 
I feel some of our best technology is that which mimics nature.

 

[stickman]

I feel some of our best technology is that which mimics nature.

 
Pretty much always Scott...
 
I hear ya 'bout not wanting to give up any warmth outside this time of year. We've got about 2 feet of snow on the ground outside right now and some real Arctic air moving in to "set for a spell."

 
The good news is that the OW Manzano is doing well!   It's putting out lots of healthy-looking leaves and beginning to grow out flower buds too!

 

[PaulG]

The Manzano is looking great, Rick!  
Should provide a ton of pods this season!

 

[Pulpiteer]

Glad to hear about the manzanos! What a great pepper.

 

[Jeff H]

 
 
 
No... I don't guess so Paul. Lol! We had -15 degrees f. for the overnight low yesterday morning and light snow predicted for the next 3 days followed by more lows in the minus teens. This winter is shaping up to be like the one in '77-'78... if without a perfect storm to dump 3 feet of snow at a whack!  I enlisted in the Army the following spring, and when I shipped out to Basic training on March 21st there were still 3 foot snowbanks out in the yard. Methinks it'll be an indoor grow until sometime in April.
 
 

 
 
Damn Rick, Is it that bad out east? I was just commenting earlier tonight that the midwest is having a milder winter than last year. Sux to see that MA is getting hammered as bad as 1977, the snow hit the news, but I didn't know it was that cold.
I still have memories of the winter of 1977 and I was only 4 back then. Brrrrr!!!!!! Keep those seedlings warm.

 

[romy6]

Manzano looks great  . Wish I could say the same about your current 7 day weather forecast   

 

[JJJessee]

Manzona does look excellent. Mine didn't re-start, so I'm going with two with a 60 day head-start over last years plants
I think it has been 20 years seen we've seen 2' on the ground. It after a while I know it gets old, but I like to see a good one like that every few years.

 

[Sawyer]

I like a good, deep snow about as often as we get them here, which is not very often at all.  A good 4" or 5" snow, though, and it's time to go rabbit hunting.  We don't even get those every year.  Haven't had more than a dusting so far this winter.  (I just jinxed myself, didn't I?)
 
"Biomimetic" and "bio-inspired" are real buzzwords in nanoscience and nanotechnology these days.  The new nanoscience building (for which I was member of the design team) at the local U has almost an entire floor devoted to just that.

 

[stickman]

The Manzano is looking great, Rick!  
Should provide a ton of pods this season!

 

Glad to hear about the manzanos! What a great pepper.

 

Manzano looks great  . Wish I could say the same about your current 7 day weather forecast   

 
This plant has been a real workhorse! It's going into its third season and it just keeps on chuggin' along. Shane mailed it to me when I was having trouble starting some from seed. I think it's easier to OW one than it is to start from scratch.
 

Manzona does look excellent. Mine didn't re-start, so I'm going with two with a 60 day head-start over last years plants
I think it has been 20 years seen we've seen 2' on the ground. It after a while I know it gets old, but I like to see a good one like that every few years.

 

I like a good, deep snow about as often as we get them here, which is not very often at all.  A good 4" or 5" snow, though, and it's time to go rabbit hunting.  We don't even get those every year.  Haven't had more than a dusting so far this winter.  (I just jinxed myself, didn't I?)
 
"Biomimetic" and "bio-inspired" are real buzzwords in nanoscience and nanotechnology these days.  The new nanoscience building (for which I was member of the design team) at the local U has almost an entire floor devoted to just that.

 
With the exception of the Housatonic River where I grew up in the Berkshires, all the rivers and streams in Massachusetts are "Freestones", and depend on the melting snow to recharge the aquifer and reservoirs. I grumble about shoveling too much snow like everyone else, but I'm still glad when we get enough snow to do that... as long as we don't get a warm rain that melts it all away before the ground has a chance to thaw.

 
 
Damn Rick, Is it that bad out east? I was just commenting earlier tonight that the midwest is having a milder winter than last year. Sux to see that MA is getting hammered as bad as 1977, the snow hit the news, but I didn't know it was that cold.
I still have memories of the winter of 1977 and I was only 4 back then. Brrrrr!!!!!! Keep those seedlings warm.

 
It's still not as cold as I remember when I was that age... we used to have -20 degree weather for weeks at a time... anytime from early January to the third week in February. The ski areas were doing really well back then, but they've been falling off since.

 

[Devv]

My last year in the Northeast was 78. And I remember in January it snowed 18"s and a few days later 36"s (if I remember correctly, 70's ya know I was driving a $50 65 caddy back then waiting for my new ride to come in. LB and I dug it out at midnight, the next morning it was gone, just the antenna was showing in the morning. There was no hump where the car was, it was level snow...I got it out at 5PM. Boy I had fun! Snow piled up 6-7' high between the lanes, driving down the road cut hard left, snow flying everywhere. My brother had tears running down his face, he said "you're crazy!" "Well yeah"   Youth is great and I'm glad we lived it....
 
Although nowadays you can keep the cold and white stuff   But If I lived where it snowed I can guarantee you I'd find a golf course to catch a ride on a sled!

 

[PeriPeri]

Hey Rick buddy, good to see your OW plants doing so well! Hell, they are even flowering lol

 

[meatfreak]

Great job on that OW Manzano, sorry to hear about the cold strike. Hopefully spring will come soon. Ours has been a bit colder this year but still not worth calling winter, so I hope it stays this way and only keeps getting hotter in the following weeks

 

[stickman]

My last year in the Northeast was 78. And I remember in January it snowed 18"s and a few days later 36"s (if I remember correctly, 70's ya know I was driving a $50 65 caddy back then waiting for my new ride to come in. LB and I dug it out at midnight, the next morning it was gone, just the antenna was showing in the morning. There was no hump where the car was, it was level snow...I got it out at 5PM. Boy I had fun! Snow piled up 6-7' high between the lanes, driving down the road cut hard left, snow flying everywhere. My brother had tears running down his face, he said "you're crazy!" "Well yeah"   Youth is great and I'm glad we lived it....
 
Although nowadays you can keep the cold and white stuff   But If I lived where it snowed I can guarantee you I'd find a golf course to catch a ride on a sled!

 
Yeah, I hear ya 'bout a mis-spent youth... As a teenager I used to spend some of my summer hanging out with my cousins in Washington, MA which is about as rural as you get here. My cousin Dan knew an older boy that had an old Volkswagon Beetle. I remember one time we crammed it full of kids (7 of them) and got it up to about 50mph on a dirt road with a high crown. The driver cut the wheel sharply and rolled the car a couple of times. We climbed out whichever door we could, rocked it back up on its wheels and did it a few more times...
 
 

Hey Rick buddy, good to see your OW plants doing so well! Hell, they are even flowering lol

 
I know, I was as surprised as you were... the plant didn't do that last year, but then I had it down in an unheated cellar all winter.  We learn something new every year, eh?
 

Great job on that OW Manzano, sorry to hear about the cold strike. Hopefully spring will come soon. Ours has been a bit colder this year but still not worth calling winter, so I hope it stays this way and only keeps getting hotter in the following weeks

 
I wish you all success Stefan! The way things are going here it'll probably be the early April before the snow melts and the ground thaws enough for soil prep but you can bet I'll be itching to get my hands in the soil then! I'll be looking at the prices of bone meal and crushed lobster shell, and getting whichever is cheaper. At least with the irrigation line run out to the community garden I can run a soaker hose underneath the IRT plastic mulch so I won't need to take the plastic off the low row cover to water the plants. After work today I'm going to go through the 10x20 trays, discard the ones that are cracked and bleach the ones I keep. I got a bale of Pro-mix yesterday, so I'm almost ready to get the seeds in the dirt.

 

[maximumcapsicum]

Love the manzano Rick! My OWs got wiped out by aphids this year. Kept my 2 yo bonchi, hand picking the jerks off it.

I tried to sprout some yellow manzanos this ear but they all died in helmets. I do seem to have a couple of viable red rocotos thoigh. I think they'll like my porch.

 

[meatfreak]

Sounds like you got your game plan all ready, Rick I hope to bring the plants to the poly tunnel early April but you never know, I might as well freeze again at that time

 

[stickman]

Love the manzano Rick! My OWs got wiped out by aphids this year. Kept my 2 yo bonchi, hand picking the jerks off it.

I tried to sprout some yellow manzanos this ear but they all died in helmets. I do seem to have a couple of viable red rocotos thoigh. I think they'll like my porch.

 
I had to spray twice with pyrethrin twice to knock the little bastiges down or that would have happened to me too Adam... I also find that the aphids really love my Manzano too. So much so that they'll pass by other pepper varieties to get at it. Good luck with the Red Rocoto... I haven't tried them yet, but if they're as good as the Manzanos they should be hot 'n tasty! Is your porch a shady place?
 

Sounds like you got your game plan all ready, Rick I hope to bring the plants to the poly tunnel early April but you never know, I might as well freeze again at that time

 
Sure enough Stefan... are you about ready to launch too?

 

[PaulG]

Sounds like you are about ready to get rollin', Rick.  Good luck, buddy!