Windchicken 2013

WalkGood · Feb 22, 2013

windchicken said:
Hi Stefan! Glad to see you back!

If you haven't read about it elsewhere on THP, the Jamaican Ministry of Agriculture Scotch Bonnet (MoA for short) came to us from THP member STEVE954 in Fort Lauderdale. The story of how he wore the people at the Ministry down until they finally agreed to give him some of their seeds is better told by him, but it is a testimony to perservernce for the greater good of the chile head community and evangelism for one of the world's great agricultural treasures, the True Jamaican Scotch Bonnet. (Please take a moment of reverent silence now. I'll wait.)

Any of us here who has dreamt of growing and enjoying the legendary Scotch Bonnet in the form which gave it its fabled mystique knows the frustration of working all season long only to end up with peppers which fall far short of their expectations. The Ministry has apparently been working for 10 years to return the quality of the seed stock to its historical excellence, by season after season successively selecting seeds for the attributes which gave the Scotch Bonnet its reputation in the first place...

I don't know how many THP growers there are nurturing MoA Bonnets as I type this, but there are several, and their skills and care are considerable. Very many of us are visualizing huge, verdant bushes loaded with tennis-ball-sized, cup-and-saucer-shaped, four-lobed yellow pods of Caribbean ecstasy...

Damit THP tells me I've used up all of my "Like This" for the day, well hopefully they can't stop me from saying: Gary this is a great post and I'll be sure to come back and "Like This" once I get my next allotment, long live and prosper da MoA mon!

Edit: Hat’s off mon \o_

meatfreak · Feb 22, 2013

windchicken said:
Hi Stefan! Glad to see you back!

If you haven't read about it elsewhere on THP, the Jamaican Ministry of Agriculture Scotch Bonnet (MoA for short) came to us from THP member STEVE954 in Fort Lauderdale. The story of how he wore the people at the Ministry down until they finally agreed to give him some of their seeds is better told by him, but it is a testimony to perservernce for the greater good of the chile head community and evangelism for one of the world's great agricultural treasures, the True Jamaican Scotch Bonnet. (Please take a moment of reverent silence now. I'll wait.)

Any of us here who has dreamt of growing and enjoying the legendary Scotch Bonnet in the form which gave it its fabled mystique knows the frustration of working all season long only to end up with peppers which fall far short of their expectations. The Ministry has apparently been working for 10 years to return the quality of the seed stock to its historical excellence, by season after season successively selecting seeds for the attributes which gave the Scotch Bonnet its reputation in the first place...

I don't know how many THP growers there are nurturing MoA Bonnets as I type this, but there are several, and their skills and care are considerable. Very many of us are visualizing huge, verdant bushes loaded with tennis-ball-sized, cup-and-saucer-shaped, four-lobed yellow pods of Caribbean ecstasy...

Sounds good, Gary and a very epic story indeed. Ever considered being an storyteller? :lol:

windchicken · Feb 22, 2013

Jamison said:
EPIC explanation! Well wrote my friend! I now bow my head in silence.

Thanks Jamison!

STEVE954 said:
Must say(tear'n up a bit), Well said ol' chap!

Thanks Steve! You da man!

WalkGood said:
Damit THP tells me I've used up all of my "Like This" for the day, well hopefully they can't stop me from saying: Gary this is a great post and I'll be sure to come back and "Like This" once I get my next allotment, long live and prosper da MoA mon!

Edit: Hat’s off mon \o_

Thanks Ramon! All "Likes" are greatly appreciated!

meatfreak said:
Sounds good, Gary and a very epic story indeed. Ever considered being an storyteller?

Thanks Stefan! ...The story really speaks for itself, like we are all of us here at a watershed moment in chile history.... :cool:

STEVE954 · Feb 22, 2013

"Gary the Chili Oracle"

In Classical Antiquity, an oracle was a person or agency considered to be a source of wise counsel or prophetic predictions or precognition of the future, inspired by the gods. As such it is a form of divination.
The word oracle comes from the Latin verb ōrāre "to speak" and properly refers to the priest or priestess uttering the prediction. In extended use, oracle may also refer to the site of the oracle, and to the oracular utterances themselves, called khrēsmoi (χρησμοί) in Greek.
Oracles were thought to be portals through which the gods spoke directly to people. In this sense they were different from seers (manteis, μάντει&sigmaf

who interpreted signs sent by the gods through bird signs, animal entrails, and other vaious methods. -Wiki

Clearly the pepper gods speak through the good man we call windchicken!

windchicken · Feb 23, 2013

meatfreak said:
Sounds good, Gary and a very epic story indeed. Ever considered being an storyteller?

(Edit 8:30 am, to add back the parts I deleted right before Steve made the response above.)

Thanks Stefan! ...The story really speaks for itself, like we are all of us here at a watershed moment in chile history.... :cool:

There's more to the story, and it really sounds better coming from Steve, but you can't make this stuff up!

In talking to Steve on the phone yesterday I was impressed at how much tenacity it took to wheedle those seeds out of the Ministry. They refused him again and again, over a period of several months, but at no time did he consider turning away from the task he had set out for himself. Maybe he will tell us whether a chile oracle came to him in a dream to deliver a holy mandate for him to acquire the seeds and place them in the hands of the growers who he most trusted to grow them well...or maybe he's just hard-headed...

I think it's a story worth telling, and it's far from finished....

capsidadburn · Feb 23, 2013

Great words Gary! You get my vote. Loved the acid drop pic. Goofy foot too? I'll be posting more glog stuff today with some old 1/4 pipe ramp pics. I'm not working today and I slept till 8:00!

Have a good day! MIke

windchicken · Feb 23, 2013

STEVE954 said:
Clearly the pepper gods speak through the good man we call windchicken!

Thanks Steve...That's a heckuva nice thing to say, and it's likely to make me completely full of myself and run my mouth way too much...but as I said before, you da man!

capsidadburn said:
Great words Gary! You get my vote. Loved the acid drop pic. Goofy foot too? I'll be posting more glog stuff today with some old 1/4 pipe ramp pics. I'm not working today and I slept till 8:00!

Have a good day! MIke

Thanks Mike! Yeah, goofy foot, and I push with the wrong foot, too!

Haha! Yeah I slept in til 7:00 am...the middle of the morning for me! It feels great, right?!!!

I'll be looking forward to the ramp pix...Keep 'em coming! Be ready for some from me, too! Old school skaters, yeah!

windchicken · Feb 23, 2013

Just now (Feb 23, 10:30-11:00 am):

Seeds from capsidadburn:

Seeds from romy6:

Seeds from meatfreak:

Well, damn....When somebody bumps this thread I'll fix the second half...

armac · Feb 23, 2013

hit it

windchicken · Feb 23, 2013

Thanks Rodney! You are THE Armac!

Seeds from meatfreak:

Seeds from FadeToBlack:

Seeds from STEVE954. Note slight damage to cotyledons from helmet head surgery:

Seeds from Datil:

Seeds from kentishman:

Seeds from THP cross-breeding wizard spicegeist:

armac · Feb 23, 2013

I have 2 nice zapotec going and a big bird pepper that is from last year. All from Gary...windchicken

You are going to have a great year Gary.

Jamison · Feb 23, 2013

Beautiful seedlings!

patrick · Feb 23, 2013

Those are without a doubt some of the healthiest looking seedlings I've seen. Excellent work. Looks like you have a mold issue though and may want to get some air movement over them.

Sanarda · Feb 23, 2013

Looks great. They all look healthy with good color. Keep up the good grow

Looks great. They all look healthy with good color. Keep up the good grow

capsidadburn · Feb 23, 2013

Gary, Great looking seedlings! I love the hairy Onza. I had several of those last year while some were furry and some not. I gave a plant to Brian in 2009 or 10 I think to overwinter. He told me a few weeks ago that he still has it. I look forward to watching the various renderings of MoA around the country. I wouldn't mind trying some next season for sure.

Agreed! Charles is certainly a master!

Later Mike

Spicegeist · Feb 23, 2013

windchicken said:
Seeds from THP cross-breeding wizard spicegeist:

capsidadburn said:
Gary, Great looking seedlings! I love the hairy Onza. I had several of those last year while some were furry and some not. I gave a plant to Brian in 2009 or 10 I think to overwinter. He told me a few weeks ago that he still has it. I look forward to watching the various renderings of MoA around the country. I wouldn't mind trying some next season for sure.

Agreed! Charles is certainly a master!

Later Mike

Looks like you got a bunch to germinate... thanks for the compliments guys

... I'm happy I've got such excellent growers to share with :cheers:

windchicken · Feb 23, 2013

armac said:
I have 2 nice zapotec going and a big bird pepper that is from last year. All from Gary...windchicken

You are going to have a great year Gary.

Wow, cool, thanks Rodney! Those are a couple of crazy vigorous varieties, right? Both will be on my "compulsory" list for a long time...

I've been checking my Rennie cells 20 or 30 times a day...I'm like a kid at Christmastime!

Jamison said:
Beautiful seedlings!

Thanks Jamison!

patrick said:
Those are without a doubt some of the healthiest looking seedlings I've seen. Excellent work. Looks like you have a mold issue though and may want to get some air movement over them.

Wow, thanks so much, Patrick!

I think maybe the plants actually dig the mold... :cool:

Sanarda said:
Looks great. They all look healthy with good color. Keep up the good grow

Looks great. They all look healthy with good color. Keep up the good grow

Thanks Pia! And thanks for stopping by!

capsidadburn said:
Gary, Great looking seedlings! I love the hairy Onza. I had several of those last year while some were furry and some not. I gave a plant to Brian in 2009 or 10 I think to overwinter. He told me a few weeks ago that he still has it. I look forward to watching the various renderings of MoA around the country. I wouldn't mind trying some next season for sure.

Agreed! Charles is certainly a master!

Later Mike

Thanks Mike! It's good to hear that about the Onza...Just wondering, how is the heat? My plan with the Mexican chiles was to have a range of heat levels and flavors...

As soon as I get some ripe MoA Bonnets I'm shipping them your way!

Spicegeist said:
Looks like you got a bunch to germinate... thanks for the compliments guys ... I'm happy I've got such excellent growers to share with

Thanks Charles! I've not found another online community like THP.....It's really the best example of how all the others should be, as far as I care.

The Bonda x Y7s really popped...4 sprouts from 4 cells planted, a couple of them with multiple sprouts, like the one in the photo...I believe you've bred a winner!

Spicegeist · Feb 23, 2013

windchicken said:
The Bonda x Y7s really popped...4 sprouts from 4 cells planted, a couple of them with multiple sprouts, like the one in the photo...I believe you've bred a winner!

They are F2, so they're on their way to stability.. I hope you find a winner. How many of the seedlings were you planning on growing out?

windchicken · Feb 23, 2013

Four....So I save seeds from whichever of them produce the desired pods?

STEVE954 · Feb 24, 2013

Lookin proper bud. That kitchen pepper looks like a super bowl champ holding his helmet high after victory!