Stickman's 2016 Gochu Glog- Transplanting is Finished

Hi All, I'm back again after quite a while and more than a few changes. Health issues got in the way of being active here after Christmas, but I've resolved those and am ready to plug in here again, albeit with less time than I had before. Anyway... on to the chiles!
 
My friends with a CISA farm have started 6 MoA Scotch Bonnets, what I hope are 2 King Nagas and a couple of Jalapenos. I have three 1020 trays worth of 3inch pots planted with 4 varieties of Gochu peppers. I sowed them a week ago and they're just now starting to sprout. I also have 12 pots of Texas Wild Pequins and 6 pots of Guwahati Bhuts planted that haven't started to sprout.
 
In addition to the solar food dryer, I picked up a stainless steel 10-quart pressure cooker at Christmas time, so I'm planning on experimenting with using it to process purees and sauces to hopefully make them more shelf-stable. Any input on that would be gratefully accepted.
 
Gochus starting...

 
Chinense varieties and Jalapenos

 
That's all for now... see ya all later!

 

[stickman]

 
no need to catch up my friend , if theres some i got ,and you would like , just let me know . Happy to share !    

 
Cheers Frank! I'm good for heat... just commenting on your excellent grow this year.
 

Looking great Rick! It seems like your weather is usually similar to ours over here in Michigan.  We've been hot and dry too.  Looks like you've gotten some rain along the way though?  We are having one of those years where storms miss us north or south be like 20 miles either way.  Weather patterns can be strange.
 
Anyway, the peppers look great.  Those bhuts do look gnarly.  Very cool.  I liked the Aji Pineapple when I grew it.  Very similar to the Aji Lemon, I thought.

 
Thanks for the good vibe Andy, and thanks for stopping by! We've been having the same weather pattern here... Southern Massachusetts and southern Vermont have been getting the rain mostly, but at least we have a water line run out to our community garden so I can irrigate as necessary.
 

All the best pollen painting ...

 
Cheers John! I've got my paintbrushes labeled and the first unopened blossoms bagged. Once they open fully, I'll go out with the paintbrushes and do the nasty with them.
 
MoA Bonnet

 
Lady Choi Gochu

 
Lady Hermit Gochu

 
Finally got enough cukes to make a batch of New York half-sour fermented pickles. They taste just like the ones from the lower East Side delis!

 
My Wife's gone to be with her relatives until August 4th and I'm taking a mini "stay-cation" here until Tuesday to get a little fishing and gardening in. Have a great weekend all!

 

[moruga welder]

 
Cheers Frank! I'm good for heat... just commenting on your excellent grow this year.
 
 
Thanks for the good vibe Andy, and thanks for stopping by! We've been having the same weather pattern here... Southern Massachusetts and southern Vermont have been getting the rain mostly, but at least we have a water line run out to our community garden so I can irrigate as necessary.
 
 
Cheers John! I've got my paintbrushes labeled and the first unopened blossoms bagged. Once they open fully, I'll go out with the paintbrushes and do the nasty with them.
 
MoA Bonnet

SANY1588.JPG
 
Lady Choi Gochu

SANY1589.JPG
 
Lady Hermit Gochu

SANY1590.JPG
 
Finally got enough cukes to make a batch of New York half-sour fermented pickles. They taste just like the ones from the lower East Side delis!

SANY1591.JPG
 
My Wife's gone to be with her relatives until August 4th and I'm taking a mini "stay-cation" here until Tuesday to get a little fishing and gardening in. Have a great weekend all!

 
Cukes look Delish !  Ahh yes , good ol' stay cation , just got off a 16 day one and 4 day one myself , gonna do another 4 day on next week . A man needs a charge up from the grind . ENJOY MY FRIEND !   

 

[stickman]

Heh... you just can't leave those darned vegetables alone out there... if I get any weird crosses I'll know who to blame...

 

[twilliams386]

Heh... you just can't leave those darned vegetables alone out there... if I get any weird crosses I'll know who to blame...

SANY1592.JPG

Saw something like this on a late night infomercial one time..
Lookin good buddy, as usual!

 

[stickman]

Saw something like this on a late night infomercial one time..
Lookin good buddy, as usual!

 
Hey Tom... welcome back!

 

[twilliams386]

Hey Tom... welcome back!

Thanks man, good to be back!

 

[OCD Chilehead]

Cheers Frank! I'm good for heat... just commenting on your excellent grow this year.
 

 
Thanks for the good vibe Andy, and thanks for stopping by! We've been having the same weather pattern here... Southern Massachusetts and southern Vermont have been getting the rain mostly, but at least we have a water line run out to our community garden so I can irrigate as necessary.
 

 
Cheers John! I've got my paintbrushes labeled and the first unopened blossoms bagged. Once they open fully, I'll go out with the paintbrushes and do the nasty with them.
 
MoA Bonnet

SANY1588.JPG
 
Lady Choi Gochu

SANY1589.JPG
 
Lady Hermit Gochu

SANY1590.JPG
 
Finally got enough cukes to make a batch of New York half-sour fermented pickles. They taste just like the ones from the lower East Side delis!

SANY1591.JPG
 
My Wife's gone to be with her relatives until August 4th and I'm taking a mini "stay-cation" here until Tuesday to get a little fishing and gardening in. Have a great weekend all!

Live that second pic of that Bhut on the other page. That's a seed keeper for sure.

Good luck with the crossing. I don't remember who I saw the other day collecting pollen in a little glass container. It'll come to me after u get enough coffee. LOL. I posted the Fatalii link on my page, but I will leave it here for reference as well. http://www.fatalii.net/Growing_chile_peppers/Breeding

I'll be picking picklers in September. Local farm has them cheaper than I can grow them. I'll try pickling whole. My last batch wasn't bad, but a little in the soft side when sliced.

Enjoy your holiday at home. Hope you catch some good ones, my friend.

 

[az1000]

Everything is looking great!
Good luck with your crosses.
Cheers

 

[tctenten]

Pickles look good. How long will you let them ferment?

 

[stickman]

Dang! It's 95 degrees out there, and the water's so hot the fish got lockjaw. Oh well... I cut my losses and went back to my air conditioned house to Make some more Pico de Gallo salsa with a frozen Red Rocoto pod for heat and a cold brewski.
 

Live that second pic of that Bhut on the other page. That's a seed keeper for sure.

Good luck with the crossing. I don't remember who I saw the other day collecting pollen in a little glass container. It'll come to me after u get enough coffee. LOL. I posted the Fatalii link on my page, but I will leave it here for reference as well. http://www.fatalii.net/Growing_chile_peppers/Breeding

I'll be picking picklers in September. Local farm has them cheaper than I can grow them. I'll try pickling whole. My last batch wasn't bad, but a little in the soft side when sliced.

Enjoy your holiday at home. Hope you catch some good ones, my friend.

 
 Yup... the Bhuts this year are the biggest I've grown. I think it's because of the heat this summer and feeding them with molasses and bloom nutes once a week.
 
I won't be doing any crosses this season... I want to collect clean seed that'll grow true in the next generation, but next year I want to try a Chiltepin x Lotah Bih cross.
 
You should like the salsa. We both thought it was good enough for company.
 
Have you tried using a little pickling lime to help them stay crisp?
 
 

Everything is looking great!
Good luck with your crosses.
Cheers

 
Cheers Doc... thanks for the good vibe!
 

Pickles look good. How long will you let them ferment?

 
One week at room temperature for half-sours and then into the refrigerator where the cold temperatures retard (but don't stop) further fermentation. It would be two weeks at room temperature for full sours but mine never last that long and we prefer the half-sours anyway. These are the guidelines I use for fermented pickles...  http://www.chowhound.com/post/finally-real-honest-hashem-method-making-real-east-side-salt-805067   

 

[OCD Chilehead]

I haven't tried picking lime. Will look into that.

 

[stickman]

I haven't tried picking lime. Will look into that.

 
Just remember that  you soak in a pickling lime solution before pickling and rinse thoroughly before adding the brine. Residual lime will neutralize the acetic acid in the vinegar.
 
A light supper with a couple of green chiles and a scallion from the garden, a pound of steamers and a piece of dried Kelp... Korean Jogaetang. With a little rice and kimchi on the side.

 

[Hybrid Mode 01]

     Holy crap your plants look good, Rick! All nice and green and ready to start chugging out come color! I just found some ripe pods in my garden about an hour ago, and I'm paying for it right now. That pod put the "hot" in hotdog! 
     Is that "anatomically correct" vegetable a zucchini?

 

[OCD Chilehead]

Just remember that  you soak in a pickling lime solution before pickling and rinse thoroughly before adding the brine. Residual lime will neutralize the acetic acid in the vinegar.
 
A light supper with a couple of green chiles and a scallion from the garden, a pound of steamers and a piece of dried Kelp... Korean Jogaetang. With a little rice and kimchi on the side.

SANY1596.JPG

Thanks Rick. I'll try that.

I love me some clams. I wish, I had a big bowl of Pho and a few of those right now.

Do you make Pho? One of my all time favorites.

 

[stickman]

     Holy crap your plants look good, Rick! All nice and green and ready to start chugging out come color! I just found some ripe pods in my garden about an hour ago, and I'm paying for it right now. That pod put the "hot" in hotdog! 

     Is that "anatomically correct" vegetable a zucchini?

 
I believe  ya Carl... as hot and dry as this summer is, there's gonna be a lot of stressed chiles out there, and that means more capsaicin production!
 
Zucchini is a close enough guess... it's an illigitimate half-brother from Korea called a Ho Bak Squash.
 

Thanks Rick. I'll try that.

I love me some clams. I wish, I had a big bowl of Pho and a few of those right now.

Do you make Pho? One of my all time favorites.

 
 Sadly, I haven't made Pho yet Chuck... I expect I'll get around to it sometime, but I haven't yet.

 

[Essegi]

Bhuts are going to be spectacular.
That last dish seems really a thing that i'd love.

 

[randyp]

Rick,love the pickles.Your busy season is getting rolling.

 

[stickman]

Bhuts are going to be spectacular.
That last dish seems really a thing that i'd love.

 
Cheers Giancarlo! If you like clams I bet you would too.   When I was a kid, we'd have a family picnic every summer with the relatives on my Mother's side, and in addition to everything else somebody would bring a couple of bushels of cherrystone clams to steam. We'd eat the clams and drink the broth. My Dad, who never liked fish, threw out the clam broth one year, and boy did he hear about it afterwards! Lol!
 
Yup, I suspect this season will be kind to everyone who planted Bhuts here. All the pics I've seen show some really gnarly monskers.

 

[stickman]

Rick,love the pickles.Your busy season is getting rolling.

 
You are only too right Randy! I went out and looked in on the Gochus, and they're all loaded for Bear!

 
Fortunately my plan is to minimally process them. Just dry them whole in the solar dehydrator and put them away in vacuum-sealed bags in the freezer. That way I'll just take what I need at the time and flake or powder as needed while preserving the shelf life of the rest.
 
A little closer view

 
Poblanos aren't quite there yet, but soon I hope.

 
Jwala pods starting to pump up... they look a lot like the Kerinting Thais... I wonder if they're related.

 
Last day of my mini "stay-cation"... I've gotta get out of Dodge while it's still early and do some fishing before predicted thundershowers this afternoon. We could sure use the rain! Have a great week all.

 

[tctenten]

Rick I just read that link on the pickle making.  The pickles only ferment a day or two at room temp, then finish up in the fridge?  I have a bunch of cucumbers that I am going to try this in a gallon fermenting jar.  Would you mind sharing your pickle spice recipe?