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!

 

[Trippa]

Yeah Rick I have moved to New Zealand been here just over a month... It's good to be back home after nearly 9 years in Australia.... Lots of work to do to get my garden sorted ... But plenty of scope once I do ... Can't wait!

 

[stickman]

getting busy brahhhh, those raised beds are awesome, and your wifey will be happy with her new raised bed    

 
She surely is Jericson.   She got the strawberry plants moved to the raised bed on Sunday and straw laid down around the plants. They're planted about a foot apart, so they may be a bit too close together. I think a 2 foot spacing would have been a bit healthier, but she didn't want to throw out any of the healthy plants.

 

Trying bush beans for the first time down here too. Pretty excited to have all the taco ingredients coming out of the community garden beds. A lot to learn still, and space is very constrained, but experience and THP is the only way to go.

You're efforts are to be emulated, my friend.

 
Oh yeah... planting the things you love is where it's at Adam! Intensely cultivating a small space is a different sort of challenge, but one I really enjoy.
 

Wow, Rick, things dried out in a hurry once the snow melted, didn't it?  We've had such frequent rains here, more often than not, it's too wet to get in the garden. 
 
 
I love it!  Gardening in the front yard.  That's where my comfrey, apple trees and blueberry bushes are.  I'll soon have a lot of potted peppers there, too, or maybe I'll just go ahead and till the whole thing.
 
Speaking of beans, I'm moving away from bush beans and focusing more on pole beans.  They are a little slower to start bearing, but the overall yield is greater.  And I have plenty of bamboo for poles and trellises.  I will plant some bush varieties for an earlier harvest, Calima, Calypso, Cantare, Carson, and/or  Concador.  I have many more varieties of pole beans to try, but two in particular I'm enthusiastic about are Good Mother Stallard (another link) and Major Cook's (another link).

 
After a good bout of sunshine and warm temperatures here, it's cooling off and raining. The condo association turned on the water to the community garden on Sunday but I don't like the look of the overnight low temperatures as we get closer to the weekend. I guess I'll have to wait a bit longer to plant outside. I've planted both bush beans and pole beans in my garden, and I seem to get a better harvest from bush beans succession-planted. My wife and I are especially fond of the French filet beans...

 

An orchard varied Rick! It will be nice to see the planters filled. 

 
We're working on it Fabian...

Yeah Rick I have moved to New Zealand been here just over a month... It's good to be back home after nearly 9 years in Australia.... Lots of work to do to get my garden sorted ... But plenty of scope once I do ... Can't wait!

 
I can just see it... you're gonna be the next capsaicin world power!
 
I've been reading Dave DeWitt's "The Whole Chile Pepper Book" and especially the chapter about growing chiles. Granted, he lives in the southwest, but I thought I'd try his methods in my sweet pepper bed... planting in raised rows and flooding the ditches in between them. Scott seemed to have good luck with them in Texas. So far I've got the spot cultivated, amendments added and the raised rows made. I'll still be using the IRT plastic mulch on the planting rows but haven't had time to lay it on yet.

 
Lastly, I finally used some of my dried Peri Peri pods to make some marinade with a Portuguese recipe and fired up the grill to cook a spatchcocked chicken. It was hot enough for anybody, and quite tasty in a spicy/garlicy/citrusy way. Very simple recipe too... next time I'll have to try a SA recipe to see if they differ greatly.
 
Portuguese Piri Piri Sauce:
 
2 Tbsp dried whole Piri Piri chiles, stems removed
1/2 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp white wine vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp brown sugar
 
Put all the ingredients in a blender and blend at high speed for one minute. Let rest overnight in the refrigerator and use as a condiment or brush on chicken or seafood for grilling.

 

[tctenten]

Garden prep work looks great, chicken looks great....the train is a rollin'

 

[Jeff H]

 
 
 
I've been reading Dave DeWitt's "The Whole Chile Pepper Book" and especially the chapter about growing chiles. Granted, he lives in the southwest, but I thought I'd try his methods in my sweet pepper bed... planting in raised rows and flooding the ditches in between them. Scott seemed to have good luck with them in Texas. So far I've got the spot cultivated, amendments added and the raised rows made. I'll still be using the IRT plastic mulch on the planting rows but haven't had time to lay it on yet.

 
Lastly, I finally used some of my dried Peri Peri pods to make some marinade with a Portuguese recipe and fired up the grill to cook a spatchcocked chicken. It was hot enough for anybody, and quite tasty in a spicy/garlicy/citrusy way. Very simple recipe too... next time I'll have to try a SA recipe to see if they differ greatly.
 
Portuguese Piri Piri Sauce:
 
2 Tbsp dried whole Piri Piri chiles, stems removed
1/2 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp white wine vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp brown sugar
 
Put all the ingredients in a blender and blend at high speed for one minute. Let rest overnight in the refrigerator and use as a condiment or brush on chicken or seafood for grilling.

 
 
 
Interesting. I'll be keeping an eye on your sweet peppers to see how they perform. Chicken looks very tasty. I should try that soon.

 

[Trident chilli]

Rick nice recipe ... any thoughts on what varieties are going in the raised rows

 

[PaulG]

The new garden space looks great, Rick.  
Good luck with the raised rows and flood irrigation.

 

[randyp]

     Well it took awhile but I am caught up on yer glog and it's great to see ya getting some work in Rick.Seems the better the weather the longer the to-do lists get.
Good luck this season buddy.

 

[FreeportBum]

Looking good Rick! Still 5 weeks until I plant out here. Hope to,get onions and potatoes in this weekend with a little luck from Mother Nature. All the best

 

[romy6]

 You never let me down with excellent gardening and cooking skills Rickster 

 

[Essegi]

I love the garden!
Also, thanks for sauce recipe, it's simple as i like!

 

[stickman]

 
 
 
Interesting. I'll be keeping an eye on your sweet peppers to see how they perform. Chicken looks very tasty. I should try that soon.

 
Definitely do it Jeff! Be warned that Piri Piri chiles are at least as hot as Tabascos so this recipe will light you up good! I like it though... maybe not as much for fish since it kinda overpowers the flavor, but great on chicken.
 

Rick nice recipe ... any thoughts on what varieties are going in the raised rows

 
I'm gonna set Kapijas in the raised rows John. My hot chile "usual suspects" will go into their usual places. I think my favorite sweet pepper is the Kapija since MisterNo introduced me to them a few years ago. They're long-season for sweet peppers... about 110-120 days to maturity, but they're big and meaty and the sweetest peppers I've tasted outside of the much smaller Hungarian Pimientos. You might be interested to know that the British Army in WWII used to issue tubes of red pepper paste made from a variety of the Hungarian Pimiento called "Pritamin" to its troops. This is the commercial variety available today... http://www.courierpress.com/entertainment/secret-ingredient-hungarian-pepper-paste
 

Garden prep work looks great, chicken looks great....the train is a rollin'

 

The new garden space looks great, Rick.  
Good luck with the raised rows and flood irrigation.

 

     Well it took awhile but I am caught up on yer glog and it's great to see ya getting some work in Rick.Seems the better the weather the longer the to-do lists get.
Good luck this season buddy.

 

 You never let me down with excellent gardening and cooking skills Rickster 

 
Thanks for the good vibe guys!
 
 

Looking good Rick! Still 5 weeks until I plant out here. Hope to,get onions and potatoes in this weekend with a little luck from Mother Nature. All the best

 
Wow, so you're waiting for Memorial Day weekend to plant outside!? I would have planted outside this weekend, but we had some overnight lows in the low 30's... still too cold yet. The next 5 days call for lows in the upper 30s, so I'll begin to harden off my peppers this week and hopefully get them in the ground next weekend. Good luck with your grow!
 

 You never let me down with excellent gardening and cooking skills Rickster 

 
We aim to please brother Jamie... cheers!
 

I love the garden!
Also, thanks for sauce recipe, it's simple as i like!

 
Sure thing Giancarlo,   I'd be interested to see/hear what you make of it when you do.
 
Dang! This last week has been very chilly compared to the same time frame within the last 4 years... Things are moving, albeit slowly...The Blueberry plants my wife ordered finally came on Friday, and when she gets back from a morning errand we'll get them planted in the front yard today.  
 
Have a great weekend all!

 

[FreeportBum]

Yep I feel like it doesn't do them any good putting them in the cold wet ground here earlier. Pretty much they just stall until the night temps get up over 50 every night. I will have them outside hardening off before that but bring them in at night. If I had a good cold frame I would maybe put them out sooner. All my plants are bigger now then the plants I planted out last year on May 30th, should be a good year. All the best and happy growing Rick

 

[SeanW]

Hi Rick! Glad to see you survived the winter. I got utterly thwacked, 114" total for the winter, not counting the little bit we got last fall and the 6 or 8" we got after Winter officially ended. It just didn't stop, did it? We got over 30" in one storm alone. But hey, I survived and there's green sprouting up everywhere. The countdown to plant out is running! 

 

[Trident chilli]

Rick really interesting to read about the use of Hungarian Pimiento during WW11... I served in the British Army 1975-1991 and we had the blandest ration packs ... we all carried tubs of curry powder to enhance taste ... boil in a bag meals cooked in a mess tin over a hexamin block somewhere in deepest Germany

Now the American ration pack was a real treat if we could ever get hold of any .....

 

[stickman]

Hi Rick! Glad to see you survived the winter. I got utterly thwacked, 114" total for the winter, not counting the little bit we got last fall and the 6 or 8" we got after Winter officially ended. It just didn't stop, did it? We got over 30" in one storm alone. But hey, I survived and there's green sprouting up everywhere. The countdown to plant out is running! 

 
Hey, Sean's in the house... thanks for dropping by buddy!    We didn't have your snow totals this past winter but it was just as cold here as there. I don't dare plant outside yet even though I have the solar mulch and materials for a low row cover to protect the plants. Maybe this weekend if I like the extended forecast. Good luck with your season this year!
 

Rick really interesting to read about the use of Hungarian Pimiento during WW11... I served in the British Army 1975-1991 and we had the blandest ration packs ... we all carried tubs of curry powder to enhance taste ... boil in a bag meals cooked in a mess tin over a hexamin block somewhere in deepest Germany

Now the American ration pack was a real treat if we could ever get hold of any .....

 
Was that because of the little bottles of Tabasco sauce...?
 
We got the blueberry bushes planted yesterday and mulched with pine straw.

 
Laid down the IRT plastic (solar) mulch on the raised bed out back. The red lettuce likes it there for now, but we'll eat it and replant with lemon gem marigolds to call in the friendlies like Ladybugs and Lacewings to groom the plants of aphids.

 
Hooked up the drip irrigarion line out back too as you can see... still needs some more work to be dialed in, but there's water to the raised bed and the herb bed anyway.

 
More signs of spring... lilacs will be blooming in 2-3 weeks

 
Rhubarb is coming up

 
and Siberian Squill is out in force.

 

[SeanW]

 
Hey, Sean's in the house... thanks for dropping by buddy!    We didn't have your snow totals this past winter but it was just as cold here as there. I don't dare plant outside yet even though I have the solar mulch and materials for a low row cover to protect the plants. Maybe this weekend if I like the extended forecast. Good luck with your season this year!
 
 

 
Thanks, going forward with mostly hydro for my peppers this year. Should be interesting. Extended forecast has us actually cracking into the 70s after next weekend, but we'll see what actually happens. My little guys aren't ready to go out anyway. This chill just won't go away, the Winter started pretty mild and then took a turn for the icy. Good call on the fencing around the blueberries, I have 2 plants that have done squat in the 2 years or so they've been in there due to regular rabbit maulings. I'm growing a few of the varieties I got off of you this year, I think my glog list is inaccurate (need to find my actual paper list in my garage..), but I've got some paprikas, the urfa biber, douglah and a few others that were from seeds you sent me. Here's hoping for another mild slide into fall so that our grow season is as long as possible.

 

[maximumcapsicum]

Love the prep pictures! Looks like you got some greens coming up. How much does the plastic raise the ground temps?

Wondering if the pubensces ad goats weed call I more pests than others. Haven't seen aphids or notes on em but they sure have ladybugs.

 

[Pulpiteer]

Wow, I've been away from the site for awhile and just trying to catch up... you've got a lot going on!
It's that time of year though, isn't it?  Glad to see things moving along so nicely.  Our rhubarb is coming up too, which has me excited.  It's the first year for it to come back in this new location, so I'm encouraged.  I think our Lilacs are close to blooming too.  We're on similar schedules I think.
Anyway, things are looking great - enjoy the spring!

 

[gnslngr]

Piri Piri....."copy....paste"...love that stuff. I have a similar recipe, just uses more chilis and lemon juice.mmmmmmm
 
Good luck on the raised rows , I think you'll like them.
 
oh man, that Piri Piri shot made me hungry!

 

[Jeff H]

Looking good Rick. Can't wait for Summer.