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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. :rolleyes:  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!
 
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Wow!
 
Busy at the feeder!
 
I'm sure that feeder really helps them make it through the winter up there.
 
We don't have a bird feeder here, but it's interesting to watch them hit the dog food. We have a wide variety of visitors come by. My favorites are the Green Jays; simply a striking bird with it's coloration. But very shy, I've been trying for 2 summers to get a pic.
 
Awright, Rick - got dem seeds in the dirt!  
Here's to great germination rates   :cheers:
I think you will like the Brown Eggs pepper.  
Unique plant with lots of smooth brown pods.
They dry very well, and make a great powder
for mellowing out super hot chocolate powders.
 
Thanks for the kind words all! Going into 5 days since sowing here and no hooks yet, but I have the flat on a heat mat in my kitchen windowsill and it shouldn't be too much longer. If my experience of previous years holds true, the Baccatums will be the first to pop. I talked to my buddy who started some of my seeds for his contract garden, and he's put aside 6 MoA Scotch Bonnet plants, an Orange 7-pot and  Naga King plant for me. Until the seeds I've sowed germinate,  I won't start up the grow box down cellar, but when they do I'll get those plants and put them all down under lights.
 
Essegi said:
Wow, great start! I didn't knew the existance of Brown 7-pot Bubblegum!
Hawk photos really caught my eye, i believe somewhere around here there's a nest of some hawks but no chance to see something like that!
I dig also fish taco!
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Hi Giancarlo, and welcome to the zoo! I'd be willing to bet that if you have Hawks nearby you've seen evidence of their kills, like Pigeon feathers blowing in the wind. If the Cooper's Hawk hadn't been hungry and taken a chance on the birds around our feeder, I doubt I would have been able to get as close.
    I got my BBG7 seeds from brother Jamie. He says it's a recently developed variety, so I don't know how stable it is yet. We'll see when they set pods.
I love Baja-style fish  tacos too! They're a study in complementary textures and flavors. :drooling:
 
Devv said:
Wow!
 
Busy at the feeder!
 
I'm sure that feeder really helps them make it through the winter up there.
 
We don't have a bird feeder here, but it's interesting to watch them hit the dog food. We have a wide variety of visitors come by. My favorites are the Green Jays; simply a striking bird with it's coloration. But very shy, I've been trying for 2 summers to get a pic.
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I got a chuckle at your description of the birds eating your dogs food before Scott. I never saw Green Jays when I lived in Colorado, but I saw lots of black-and-white Magpies. Do you have them in west Texas?

PaulG said:
Awright, Rick - got dem seeds in the dirt!  
Here's to great germination rates   :cheers:
I think you will like the Brown Eggs pepper.  
Unique plant with lots of smooth brown pods.
They dry very well, and make a great powder
for mellowing out super hot chocolate powders.
Click to expand...
 
Excellent! I won't be growing any Douglahs this year, but thanks for the info on the Brown Egg as a modifying influence on the supers in powder.  Last year my seeds died of a fungus before they'd really taken off, so I'm really looking forward to trying them this year. Thanks for the tip!
Trippa said:
Best of luck Rick ... Stay warm with all that Snow !!
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Hey, Tristan's in the house! Good to hear from you buddy, and thanks for the good word! I hope your season has been a good one so far. How has your balcony grow been?
 
I don't know if they inhabit West (West Texas) of here. The first time I saw one was when I was hunting in Sabinal, which is 45 minutes West. Then I saw a few at the house. I'm dying to get a good pic of one, maybe one day..
 
Yeah the dog bowls supply quite a bit of wild life around here. I'm reasonably sure that's what bring skunks in the yard. Otis has killed 9 so far in less than 2 years. I just wonder where they keep coming from??
 
PeriPeri said:
Your snow looks fantastic... It's just too hot here at the moment :D
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You're entirely welcome to some of it if you like Lourens... Just leave some of your heat before you go. ;)
Devv said:
I don't know if they inhabit West (West Texas) of here. The first time I saw one was when I was hunting in Sabinal, which is 45 minutes West. Then I saw a few at the house. I'm dying to get a good pic of one, maybe one day..
 
Yeah the dog bowls supply quite a bit of wild life around here. I'm reasonably sure that's what bring skunks in the yard. Otis has killed 9 so far in less than 2 years. I just wonder where they keep coming from??
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Yeah, I can see that... we had a downstairs neighbor when we lived in an apartment in Holyoke, MA that used to put out cat food for the feral cats. It used to also draw Skunks, Raccoons and 'Possums. It used to make it interesting sometimes if I came home late and walked past her porch in the dark...
 
Not confidential at all John. I'm not sure who came up with the idea first, but there's a lot of them around here. It's also called Community Supported Agriculture, and this web page explains it pretty well... http://www.localharvest.org/csa/
 
My friend Rob is the guy holding the chicken in the photo of this web page... http://www.farmfresh.org/food/farm.php?farm=2097
 
The good news from today is that I came home for a quick lunch and find that one of RonnieDeb's El Oro de Ecuador seeds is hooking up! I thought it might be a Baccatum that would make the first appearance! :dance:
SANY0148_zps7678c858.jpg
 
Oh, okay, cool.  My neighbor does CSA, organic certification and all.  Seems to make a living at it.  He's got two big poly-houses, plus an acre or two of open space.  He's done well enough he just bought one of these BCS tillers.  I'm not sure which model, a 740 or higher.
 
In fact, I'm going to set him up with some jalapeno plants this year.  I met a fermenter at a food-processing workshop who is looking for a good supplier of organic jalapenos.  Seemed like an obvious match.  I'm too small of an operation to worry about getting certified.
 
Edit:  Nice hook!  What's that, six days to germinate?
 
Sawyer said:
In fact, I'm going to set him up with some jalapeno plants this year.  I met a fermenter at a food-processing workshop who is looking for a good supplier of organic jalapenos.  Seemed like an obvious match.  I'm too small of an operation to worry about getting certified.
 
Edit:  Nice hook!  What's that, six days to germinate?
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I hear ya John... I'm kinda in the same boat. I don't have enough space to grow enough plants to be a regular supplier to say a pickler or sauce-maker, but I can light up around 20 people for a whole year.
 
Yup... 6 days from sowing to first hook. The Baccatums have been first for the last 3 years, so I wasn't surprised now. ;)
 
Devv said:
Congrats on the first hook, pretty soon you'll be loaded down with young plants!
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Thanks Scott! From your mouth to God's ear, eh? ;)
 
tctenten said:
Alright Rick!!  You are on your way, we just need to get rid of this arctic chill hanging over the northeast.
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Cheers Terry! I tried to persuade Lourens to trade some of his late summer heat for some of this snow, but I haven't heard back from him yet... :P
 
I found another use for Ajvar... I made a soup from a pint of it, a couple chopped onions, a couple cloves of minced garlic, a teaspoon of Adam's crushed chile flakes, a teaspoon of salt, a ten ounce can of fire roasted, diced tomatoes and a ten ounce can of coconut milk. Saute' the onions, garlic, salt and pepper flakes in a couple tablespoons of vegetable oil until the onions are translucent and very soft. Stir in the remaining ingredients, bring to a simmer and puree in the pot with an immersion blender or run through a blender or food processor in batches until smooth, then heat through and serve hot. We had ours with grilled cheese sandwiches and it really hit the spot on this frigid night. :drooling:
 
Alright... that's the ticket!   :woohoo:     Checked in on the seed flat this morning and see I have Tobago Treasure, Brown Egg, Bahamian Goat, Hawaiian Bird Chile and 2 more El Oro de Ecuador hooks up! I buried all the seeds a quarter inch deep and lightly tamped down the soil on top of them, so here's hoping that there's no "helmet-head" this time around.
 
That soups sounds awesome.  All the more reason to make some of my own Ajvar this year.  (Note to self:  start eggplant seeds.)
 
Great results on your germination.  What is the temperature of the seeds?  Does it fluctuate?  I'm still dialing mine in.  It cools off a bit too much at night and gets just a little too warm in the day (lights), but at least it's in the sweet spot twice a day.  Still, I hope to start seeing some hooks by mid-week.
 
I think you'll like it if you make it John, and it's a perfect winter food... just loaded with vitamin C. During WWII the British used to give their troops tins of Hungarian pimiento pepper paste as a dietary supplement. The variety is still around, it's called Pritamin.
 
I haven't any idea what temperature the seeds are at, I just plugged the heat mat into the socket and placed it under a 10x20 tray in my kitchen windowsill, then put a clear plastic top over all. It turns the trick... no fuss no muss. :)
 
Here's the Tobago Treasure hook and the 3 new El Oro de Ecuador hooks...
SANY0150_zps2bc0240b.jpg

 
... and the Hawaiian Bird chile and Brown Egg hooks... I guess I was a little premature with the Bahamian Goat. It was figuratively lying on its back with its "feet" in the air, so I pricked it up with a toothpick and reburied it with the roots down this time.
SANY0149_zpsf184cccb.jpg

 
I see a hook just peeking up in the CAP 267 cell, so that's both Baccatums represented. I see another "helmet-head" in the Bahamian Goat cell... what's up with that? :confused:
 
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