WalkGood 2013, 2014 and Beyond

WalkGood · Aug 2, 2013

stickman said:
Hi Ramon,
I'm about as busy as the proverbial one-legged man at an @%$-kicking contest this week, but wanted to let you know your package got through alright, and to say Thanks Big Guy... you rock!
I hope things let up enough this weekend to do a sampling/review for you, but next week for sure. Cheers!

Hope you enjoy and it is always nice to read others opinions so a sampling review would be cool, thanks and enjoy dem brethren ^_^

Devv said:
There's Ramon sharing the pepper love!

Way to go Mon!

I started watering the plants that need it twice a day. If I water the container plants once until the water comes out the bottom they are wilted the next day when I get home. So I give them a little less and then go out before dark and hit them again. I'm thinking this saturates the soil better than the one heavy watering, where in theory it finds the easy way out instead of soaking in like I want it too. Give it a whirl!

Scott great tip on watering, I think I've fell prey to that wilting issue at times too. Hope you get rain, we just had about an hours worth but IMHO we could have used more as the quantity was light but better some than none. Have a great weekend!

Trippa said:
All looking and sounding great Ramon!!

Thanks Trippa ^_^

I believe you once told me to hold off on spraying and let the good guys build up, well I'm happy to report that I have held back to plants demise but Im slowly but surely building the beneficials around the plants and the troops will soon out number da bad guys, tanks for tips Trippa. Hope you have a great weekend!

Had a small harvest after work today, probably the last one for a few weeks now as I picked everything but green, hehe.

Didn't want to freeze any up so I dehydrated what I couldn't eat while picking

Devv · Aug 2, 2013

Very nice!

Nice haul there!

So are you just mixing them or separating them as you dry them?

FreeportBum · Aug 2, 2013

WalkGood said:
Hope you enjoy and it is always nice to read others opinions so a sampling review would be cool, thanks and enjoy dem brethren ^_^

Scott great tip on watering, I think I've fell prey to that wilting issue at times too. Hope you get rain, we just had about an hours worth but IMHO we could have used more as the quantity was light but better some than none. Have a great weekend!

Thanks Trippa ^_^
I believe you once told me to hold off on spraying and let the good guys build up, well I'm happy to report that I have held back to plants demise but Im slowly but surely building the beneficials around the plants and the troops will soon out number da bad guys, tanks for tips Trippa. Hope you have a great weekend!
Had a small harvest after work today, probably the last one for a few weeks now as I picked everything but green, hehe.

Didn't want to freeze any up so I dehydrated what I couldn't eat while picking

Love the colors man very nice!

Sawyer · Aug 2, 2013

Nice haul.

stickman · Aug 3, 2013

WalkGood said:
So can I look forward to reading your Yellow 7 review? I’ve never tried one, was thinking of growing one next year but not sure yet. I sent you a little one (TS) hopefully it will taste like her bigger sister so you let me know how it tastes too.

Thanks for da Tuna kudos, it was definitely delicious.

Yes you are right, frozen pods take me an extra day to dehydrate because they’re so soft and juicy but this time it gave me the opportunity to try some of that juice I strained off. I have some good ideas on how to use that juice as it’s delish. BTW I’ve add a step now because of our high humidity, I make rice packs in coffee filters to put into the powder pack and it absorbs just as good or better as food grade desiccant packs and I can make them as large or small as I wish.

Hi Ramon, back to playing "ketchup"... Sure, I'll do some taste reviews of your pods as soon as I get around to it... this weekend if possible, or early next week.

Huh, I would have thought that if you put peppers in the dehydrator that were previously frozen and thawed it would have speeded up the drying process. How low do you have the temperature set on yours? Nice tip on home-made dessicant for powders. We add a little rice to keep the salt in the shakers pouring in humid weather... I hadn't thought of using it in chile powders too. Thanks!

Nice macro pics of your flowers and pimply pepper pods... those look like they'll be a little "rough" going down...

And a nice pull yesterday segued to pics of full dehydrator trays... you go Ramon!

stc3248 · Aug 3, 2013

Hmmm...exactly 18 Bonnets and 18 Chocolates in that sink pic...You were on track to 36 reds but fell short at 32 :mope:

...but that's not what started my ocd kicking. Somehow Ramon's magic-math makes 18 Whole Chocolate pods turn into way more than what should be 36 halves!!! C'mon mon...where were you hiding the extra pods? "Sir, I'm gonna need you to step out of the Kitchen and keep your hands where I can see them!" You also ended up with a few extra Bonnets...but someone made off with some of your Red ones. I'm gonna let you off with a warning this time sir...but I got my eye's on you! :shocked:

Trippa · Aug 3, 2013

a varitable feast for the eyes Ramon ... Great stuff.

JJJessee · Aug 3, 2013

Looks beautiful, Ramon. They are so meticulously de-seeded and de-placenta-ed too. Do you use a spoon to scrape them out?

WalkGood · Aug 3, 2013

Devv said:
Very nice!

Nice haul there!

So are you just mixing them or separating them as you dry them?

Thank you Scott, I bet you will have hauls on the level of Shane’s or larger, mine tend to be small and not often over a pound but enough for da family. I will be separating them as I like the individual colors for salts or spices. Next time around I’ll have to grow mas colors like Doc did, what beautiful colored powders he produces … Have a great Saturday mon!

FreeportBum said:
Love the colors man very nice!

Thank you Devan, I can’t wait to see how the red Trinidad Scorpions look once powdered, should be one hot mofo compared to the JA Hab powder, lol. This is the first haul of the TS, amazing how thick the pod walls are compared to my JA Habs. Thanks for stopping in and I hope you have a great day!

Sawyer said:
Nice haul.

Tanks mon, you gotz some killer pods on the way in your grow too … I’m dying for my white Bhuts to ripen, wish I had a ton to powder some of them. Needless to say I’ll be growing a few more of them next time around, I also have 3 clones going but they're not ready to produce anything for a long while. I should be potting one later today if it's not raining, I hope to take some pics of her as she's looking good in her red coke cup, lol. Regardless they’re so tasty they might never make the powders in our house, lol. Have an awesome day mon!

stickman said:
Hi Ramon, back to playing "ketchup"... Sure, I'll do some taste reviews of your pods as soon as I get around to it... this weekend if possible, or early next week.

Huh, I would have thought that if you put peppers in the dehydrator that were previously frozen and thawed it would have speeded up the drying process. How low do you have the temperature set on yours? Nice tip on home-made dessicant for powders. We add a little rice to keep the salt in the shakers pouring in humid weather... I hadn't thought of using it in chile powders too. Thanks!

Nice macro pics of your flowers and pimply pepper pods... those look like they'll be a little "rough" going down...
And a nice pull yesterday segued to pics of full dehydrator trays... you go Ramon!

Rick, I hear you … I’ve been so busy that I’m feeling bad because I’m behind on many glogs, I might just focus on the ones that post here and I’ve fallen behind on them too. I’m not sure this will let up for a while as work seems to be getting busier and more complicated. No need for any review when you too busy, as long as you enjoy dem I’m fine with dat.

Yes rice works great, I’ve even saved two of my wifes cell phones that decided to go swimming on their own

When it comes to frozen VS fresh it’s only my belief I stated, time probably depends on the pod wall thickness too and how much moisture/oils they have to dry up but I’ve never tried to time one VS the other, YMMV. What is your experience of one VS the other and have you timed them?

Tanks for the picture kudos, you’ve certainly topped off your pics as well with your new lightbox, I love their effect but don’t always use mine unless I need the effect. Some times I use light diffusing, drop cloths for light correction and so on. Wishing you a great day mon!

stc3248 said:
Hmmm...exactly 18 Bonnets and 18 Chocolates in that sink pic...You were on track to 36 reds but fell short at 32 ...but that's not what started my ocd kicking. Somehow Ramon's magic-math makes 18 Whole Chocolate pods turn into way more than what should be 36 halves!!! C'mon mon...where were you hiding the extra pods? "Sir, I'm gonna need you to step out of the Kitchen and keep your hands where I can see them!" You also ended up with a few extra Bonnets...but someone made off with some of your Red ones. I'm gonna let you off with a warning this time sir...bit I got my eye's on you!

ROFLMAO seems we share the same OCD traits I see and we too busy with work and families for all dat … Although I’m not impressed you noticed, I expected it

To be honest the dehydrator has been running over a week now and I have been adding and removing pods without ever shutting her down to the point I’ve lost count myself. This is because my harvests are small, so I work on building inventory over time. Last time I did frozen and it took me a few months to save up a full batch but these are all fresh except a small hand full of chocolates. I also shipped out a few …

Not sure how much electricity this burns but I hope she doesn’t burn much or burn out

Hopefully I be done by Sunday or Monday and then she’ll get the long deserved rest she needs, lol.

On another note I’ve noticed that this second pull of chocolate scorpions have thinner walls compared to the first pull, any reason you can think of for dat?

Shane, here’s some of the MoAs I pulled before the last reload. The little white bag is my home made rice desiccant while they wait for their sisters in a large container. For the paper I use coffee filters, seems to work well and it’s dirt cheap as we buy rice by 50lb. bags for a better price.

Thanks again everyone for stopping in and commenting, I always appreciate the feedback and information you all share with me. Hope everyone, even the lurkers has a great day!

stc3248 · Aug 3, 2013

Hmmm...maybe hotter and less water??? I dunno? Mama throws the dried pods in ziplocks for me when I am not home...and if I am home they go straight to the grinder even if its a small batch. I label my bags and am careful to roll the air out of them and just add as I go. Saves me space, and I found that when I store them...I get behind. Same thing with the freezer. I really try to get as much done as I can without freezing them, but once I must throw some pods in there it gets easier and easier to just throw them in there when done...now the brand new chest freezer is almost full...it sure is a sight though! It's a smallish Chest freezer but it is FULL of peppers. Mama's gonna be mad in a week or two when I have to start invading the standup freezers...still hoping she'll cave in and let me get an industrial dehydrator. If I started selling some, she'd be more receptive I think. That makes it too much like WORK though! :rofl:

Jamison · Aug 3, 2013

Things are rocking along in Walkgood territory! Rock steady mon!

WalkGood · Aug 3, 2013

Trippa said:
a varitable feast for the eyes Ramon ... Great stuff.

Thanks Trippa now if the taste is there I’ll be set, only kidding da taste is there AFAIK

JJJessee said:
Looks beautiful, Ramon. They are so meticulously de-seeded and de-placenta-ed too. Do you use a spoon to scrape them out?

Carl I normally don’t do that unless I need to build some seed inventory. When I leave them in a good 50% of the seeds drop to the bottom of the dehydrator and I toss them, but they look like you could plant them. In fact I have a small test going now for a few days to see if they germ, not that I want to grow more JA Habs, lol … too many of them already in da grow. The seeds that do stay in get ground up super fine and you wouldn't even know they are there. How do you do it?

The placentas that I could save are near the center in the dehydrator so I can grind them in with the dehydrated pods for their extra heat. I only use a knife but the spoon idea is a good thought. Maybe I’ll take an old spoon and put it to the stone to sharpen a knife like edge, that might be faster.

Thanks for da comments and idea Carl, hope you have a great day amigo

stc3248 said:
Hmmm...maybe hotter and less water??? I dunno?

Thanks, that’s a good point, don’t think they’re hotter but probably less water till today as the rain has returned from an off shore squall.

stc3248 said:
Mama throws the dried pods in ziplocks for me when I am not home...and if I am home they go straight to the grinder even if its a small batch. I label my bags and am careful to roll the air out of them and just add as I go. Saves me space, and I found that when I store them...I get behind. Same thing with the freezer. I really try to get as much done as I can without freezing them, but once I must throw some pods in there it gets easier and easier to just throw them in there when done...now the brand new chest freezer is almost full...it sure is a sight though! It's a smallish Chest freezer but it is FULL of peppers. Mama's gonna be mad in a week or two when I have to start invading the standup freezers...still hoping she'll cave in and let me get an industrial dehydrator. If I started selling some, she'd be more receptive I think. That makes it too much like WORK though!

I store the same once done grinding, in this case I’m waiting to grind the likes all at the same time, thinking it will save me the time of cleaning the grinder between flavors. I keep the individual ziplocked powders in a large air tight plastic container with the rice baggie or more on tope of the individual powders, not inside the ziplock.

I hear you on the freezer, it does get easier to toss dem in once you have a bag going but in my case it’s a must as my individual hauls are much smaller than other folks. Thanks for the feedback on pod walls, have an awesome day!

GA Growhead · Aug 3, 2013

Nice dried pod picts! I am planning on cleaning the freezer out and dehydrating them with some fresh pods myself today. Can't believe you have ran yours week long. Thats some peppers!
Really good idea with the rice bags. Going to have to borrow that one! My dried pods that sat overwinter in gallon Ziploc bags, absorbed some moisture came spring. That would have helped im sure. I like to keep them dried until i need to re-up and then grind, the powder seems fresher. Freshly ground powder just smells so intense, and seems to loose some of that smell overtime. But... also thinking of using jars this year, so that would probably eliminate the need to wait to grind. Air tight and your rice bags would surely stay fresh. Think im going to give it a try.
Of course... more borrowed ideas from everyone here!

I do find that frozen pods, once dehydrated, are much thinner and powder finer with less effort. I think freshs pods retain a bit more flavor though. That's my observation.

Have a great weekend!

WalkGood · Aug 3, 2013

Jamison said:
Things are rocking along in Walkgood territory! Rock steady mon!

Tanks Jamison, your point reminds me of a tune »» Foobar2k ::: Bob Marley & The Wailers - One Love (CD2) (1994) - 20 - Rocking Steady ::: 0:45/1:51 (••••••••••) ::: 431 kbps «« [SIZE=12pt]♪ ♫ ♪ ♫ ♪ [/SIZE]Yea I know it’s a very old album but some seriously cool tunes before dem wailers decided to go full on reggae probably more considered da sky times …

So how are your well isolated MoAs mon? I’m betting you are going to have some killer big plants and great pods. Are you going to eventually dig dem up to OW once winter comes?

Have a great day brethren and thanks for halting by mon

GA Growhead said:
Nice dried pod picts! I am planning on cleaning the freezer out and dehydrating them with some fresh pods myself today. Can't believe you have ran yours week long. Thats some peppers!
Really good idea with the rice bags. Going to have to borrow that one! My dried pods that sat overwinter in gallon Ziploc bags, absorbed some moisture came spring. That would have helped im sure. I like to keep them dried until i need to re-up and then grind, the powder seems fresher. Freshly ground powder just smells so intense, and seems to loose some of that smell overtime. But... also thinking of using jars this year, so that would probably eliminate the need to wait to grind. Air tight and your rice bags would surely stay fresh. Think im going to give it a try.
Of course... more borrowed ideas from everyone here!
I do find that frozen pods, once dehydrated, are much thinner and powder finer with less effort. I think freshs pods retain a bit more flavor though. That's my observation.
Have a great weekend!

Jason they don’t last too long in our freezer, lol. I wanted to run 4 trays of JA Habs so I saved them there for a few months as my harvests have been small but steady so I needed to save up. The reason I’ve been running the dehydrator for a week is as pods are ready to pull I’ve had another tray ready to add on and two days later there’s a few more pods off da bush that I say “what the hell I’ll just cut and throw dem on, lol.”

Good observation on fresh VS frozen, guess I'll have to pay closer attention next time I do a big batch of frozen compared to the fresh I'm doing now ... Thanks for liking my rice idea, I posted it so others can use it too. I’ve been using rice for salt and taking the humidity out of our portable electronic gear for years. Funny the first thing that people do when they drop a phone or DAP into the water is to turn it on and that is what fries it. If you pull the battery, dry it best as possible, even better if you can take it apart and leave it in a jar of rice for a week it comes back to life just fine. Sometimes the battery needs to be replaced, although much cheaper than buying a whole new unit. I feel rice works great as our humidity is super high here in the summer and without it the powders absorb too much liquid from the air once out of the sealed container.

I hear you on jars, I’ve tried that and might go back … I kind of like how the freezer ziplocks work because in the end they are disposable and less clean up, hehe, lazy me. Thanks for the kudos and stopping by, hope you have a great weekend!

thegreenman · Aug 3, 2013

R, Looks like that Chocolate hab is doing well now...

Sweet haul.

I have to wait until my wife goes away for a weekend to do my dehydrating, as she can't stand the smell/fumes.

WalkGood · Aug 3, 2013

thegreenman said:
R, Looks like that Chocolate hab is doing well now...

Sweet haul.

I have to wait until my wife goes away for a weekend to do my dehydrating, as she can't stand the smell/fumes.

Chris the chocolates on the dehydrator tray are actually Chocolate Scorpions from seed I got from Greg (PIC 1). That said, your Chocolate Hab is doing well, shes now housing the largest grouping of ladybug eggs Ive ever seen so I have to wait till they hatch before uppotting her. Hopefully I'll be able to take a picture of that, placement was very well thought out by Ms Ladybug and I might not be able to get a pic ...

I have some seed, pods and plant for you if you want, let me know if you going to be on the east side of town anytime soon. I should also have a little powder to spare if you want. This weekend isnt good as we have guests but most weekends or even a weekday is ok with advance notice.

Thanks for stopping in and have a great weekend mon!

Al-from-Chile · Aug 3, 2013

WalkGood said:
Thanks again everyone for stopping in and commenting, I always appreciate the feedback and information you all share with me. Hope everyone, even the lurkers has a great day!

GOLD! great color

Devv · Aug 3, 2013

Those dried Bonnets look great!

They are going to make some pretty powder!

I too have been running the dehydrator all week, been letting the Poblano's turn color and am drying them for Tamales....yum! They sure do take a long time, thick skinned buggers.

I agree with the thinner pepper walls in the heat, when it's cooler growth is way more lush as compared to July-August.

Like the rice idea too!

Have a great weekend!

annie57 · Aug 3, 2013

WalkGood said:
Thank you Scott … Have a great Saturday mon!

Thank you Devan, I can’t wait to see how the red Trinidad Scorpions look once powdered, should be one hot mofo compared to the JA Hab Thanks for stopping in and I hope you have a great day!

Tanks mon, you gotz some killer pods on the way in your grow too …

Rick, I hear you … No need for any review when you too busy, as long as you enjoy dem I’m fine with dat.

Tanks for the picture kudos, you’ve certainly topped off your pics as well with your new lightbox . . . Wishing you a great day mon!

ROFLMAO seems we share the same OCD traits I see and we too busy with work and families for all dat … Although I’m not impressed you noticed, I expected it

To be honest the dehydrator has been running over a week now and I have been adding and removing pods without ever shutting her down to the point I’ve lost count myself. This is because my harvests are small, so I work on building inventory over time. Last time I did frozen and it took me a few months to save up a full batch but these are all fresh except a small hand full of chocolates. I also shipped out a few …

On another note I’ve noticed that this second pull of chocolate scorpions have thinner walls compared to the first pull, any reason you can think of for dat?

Shane, here’s some of the MoAs I pulled before the last reload. The little white bag is my home made rice desiccant while they wait for their sisters in a large container. For the paper I use coffee filters, seems to work well and it’s dirt cheap as we buy rice by 50lb. bags for a better price.

Thanks again everyone for stopping in and commenting, I always appreciate the feedback and information you all share with me. Hope everyone, even the lurkers has a great day!

Ramon, you never cease to amaze me with your gratitude, humility--you grow/create a haul like this and will still ask questions! Dang, what a . . . como se dicen en España o en el sur del pais, tienes "gracia." No English translation. But means to be upstanding, humble, strong, charming, a gentleman, and fierce, passionate, and compassionate. Or at least the way they use the term in Malaga. Actually, they never say somebody has it but that people lack it :rolleyes:

. Honor to know you, querido! Oh, and some gigantic Ramon's JA habs (2) are turning!! :dance:

Thank you!

WalkGood · Aug 3, 2013

Al-from-Chile said:
GOLD! great color

I like the look too but it appears lighter after you grind them till you zoom in, lol. I’ll post some pics after the reply so you can see. Thanks Al, you are always full of complements and I for one appreciate dem brethren

Devv said:
Those dried Bonnets look great!

They are going to make some pretty powder!

I too have been running the dehydrator all week, been letting the Poblano's turn color and am drying them for Tamales....yum! They sure do take a long time, thick skinned buggers.

I agree with the thinner pepper walls in the heat, when it's cooler growth is way more lush as compared to July-August.

Like the rice idea too!

Have a great weekend!

I think you might have some longer processing time than me with that awesome jungle you gotz going on. I’m at the end now and hoping they’re all dry by tomorrow night. I ground the first batch of MoAs and the color is a bit lighter than how the dry pods look dried out. As far as I could tell the color came out the same as last batch from first pull but it’s all about taste anyhow. Hope your drying comes out killer brother and I’m looking forward to seeing your pictures ^_^

annie57 said:
Ramon, you never cease to amaze me with your gratitude, humility--you grow/create a haul like this and will still ask questions! Dang, what a . . . como se dicen en España o en el sur del pais, tienes "gracia." No English translation. But means to be upstanding, humble, strong, charming, a gentleman, and fierce, passionate, and compassionate. Or at least the way they use the term in Malaga. Actually, they never say somebody has it but that people lack it . Honor to know you, querido! Oh, and some gigantic Ramon's JA habs (2) are turning!! Thank you!

Thanks muchacha and back at ya, I just love your stories and the way you share your pepper information. I’ll have to save you a little powder to send when this is all done but I want a few more pods to ripen first so I can send some pods too. We will talk bout it soon and thank you for the compliments ^_^

Hope you have an awesome evening and great day tomorrow!

PS I ran out of "like this" but I'll come back and give you mas pepper love when I have mas. For now I hope these do ...
Hope you have an awesome evening and great day tomorrow!

JA MoA SB first batch, second set of pods should be ready tomorrow night.