Windchicken 2014

Got some sheet pots in from Grower Supply a couple days ago. I got this type so I could pull out the individual containers and replace them if need be, and they fit perfectly in my 11" x 22" Permanest Trays. Anybody in NW Louisiana need a couple of these? If I keep growing the same size garden every season these sheets should last me around 12 years:
 

 
These are the only C. chinense I'm growing this year: The NagaBrain, now in its F3 generation, is the happy accident of Florida THP mentor and all-around good guy romy6; seeds for the F2 Chocolate NagaBrain are from the talented and skillful Florida grower Tmudder; Bonda Ma Jacques x 7 Pot Yellow, the F3 generation, is the creation of the THP breeding wizard Spicegeist; Both 7 Pot Yellow and Naga Morich are from THSC seed; Dystopia is a project of North Texas grower joemomma; and Madame Jeanette comes courtesy of the incredibly generous Netherlands grower Meatfreak :
 

 

[windchicken]

Cool, Mike.   Looks like I'm going to have a field of basil, then…

 

[JJJessee]

 I'm glad somebody at least reminded me to sow basil.
It don't come up by it's  self you know.
(well some times it does)

 

[windchicken]

 I'm glad somebody at least reminded me to sow basil.
It don't come up by it's  self you know.
(well some times it does)

 
What kind of basil you grown' JJJ?

 

[JJJessee]

Genovese. I grew some thai and "purple Thai"  last year,  but not much impressed as a basil.
Guess I have kind of bland taste buds when it come to basil.

 

[Devv]

Gary,
 
Yours didn't come with seeds? I would complain..

 

[windchicken]

Genovese. I grew some thai and "purple Thai"  last year,  but not much impressed as a basil.
Guess I have kind of bland taste buds when it come to basil.

 
I love both of those...This year I've got 15 plants of Siam Queen Thai basil, the staple of pho restaurants everywhere, and my favorite food in the world.
 

Gary,
 
Yours didn't come with seeds? I would complain..

 
I know, lame, right? It's a good thing I've already got plenty of 7 Pot going...I need to check out your awesome NagaBrain plants.

 

[capsidadburn]

Gary,
 
     Talkin with you last season, I and my Daughter got the itch to grow several basil's.  I purchased a couple Spicy Globe Basil plants last year and thought it was heavenly.  Smell wise that is.  I'm not quite the connissuer yet so don't know how to compare flavor.  I thought it was very nice and did have a mild spice to it.  I think I sent you some seeds.  It germinated well for me this season along side some Emily, Cinnamon, Genevese, Lemon, and Cardinal Basil.
 
The spicy globe basil, in a nice bed will reach two feet in diameter.  In containers they were a bit smaller.  Never enough room around here!
 
I potted up one of the Pequins today to #5 pot.  I have 5 more here at home that will probably all go into pots unless I can find more in ground homes for them..  Gave one away and stuck one in the dirt behind my work away from mowers and landscapeers.  It is well isolated there and I water it as needed.  I'll get a pic of it once it takes off.  The soil is a little alkaline so we will see.
 
Siam Queen Thai sound interesting...  15 plants demands it I guess!
 
Hope you have a great weekend!
 
Mike

 

[windchicken]

Cool Mike! Now that I think about it, you did send me seeds for Spicy Globe...I forgot I had them...Next year for sure!
 
Siam Queen is just the basic Thai basil all phở restaurants serve with their wonderful noodle soup. It's got a nice strong anise/licorice flavor and aroma, and the flower heads are a dense purple/maroon color....My friend Danh, a Vietnamese restaurant owner, just takes the leftover stalks from his customers' plates and puts them in moist potting soil. He says it's way faster than starting from seed, and that I'm a dummy for growing basil that way.
 
I like to use 8 or 10 plants along the back side of my flower bed. It really attracts the hummingbirds, and the aroma of that many plants on a hot summer day is heady. The other 4-6 plants are for my brother, who likes to make pesto with it. 
 
I need to check your glog for those Pequins...I've got 9 plants, and there are several more volunteers coming up in the container that froze last winter. I can't wait to see a whole long row of those babies!
 
You have a great weekend, too, man! I'm still potting up from the 2" seed cups...Only 50 left to go!
 
Gary

 

[Datil]

Updates?
What about those annuum/baccatum trays Gary?
 
Cya
 
Datil

 

[windchicken]

Hey Fabrizio! It's great to hear from ya! The annuums are spankin' it—Three trays are already outside in full sun, waiting for me to get their beds ready, very many are in the shade tent getting hard, and yesterday I just potted up the last few in preparation for their trip outdoors. The Karpathos Market plants are big and strong, sitting in the shade tent on my patio as I type this...Pix real soon. 
 
These are 16 of the 20 NagaBrain plants, going outside as soon as I can make room in the shade tent:
 

 

[Datil]

Great shot and amazing news Gary!
Happy to hear that you sowed the Karpathos seeds, i'd had to skip them because the usual lack of room
Curious to see pics!
 
Cya
 
Datil

 

[stc3248]

Haha...great start Gary, and love the funny spin on the "7 Pots." Pretty sure you knew what was up all along. Lol Anyway, I was watching a Bones Brigade documentary the other day and I thought of you...wonder if you were in some of those scenes??? 

 

[capsidadburn]

Gary told me he subbed for Mike McGill when he was ill from Mctwisting the night away!

Plants look awesome Gary!

 

[windchicken]

Haha...great start Gary, and love the funny spin on the "7 Pots." Pretty sure you knew what was up all along. Lol Anyway, I was watching a Bones Brigade documentary the other day and I thought of you...wonder if you were in some of those scenes??? 

 
Thanks Shane…  I would post my Aji Chuncho pix, but those little guys have only recently been relieved of the shade of some towering annuums, so I sent them to summer camp to get some fresh air and sunshine...
 
I'm going to come out and admit that I was literally a card-carrying member of the Bones Brigade—not the actual skate team, but the "club" where you sent in your money and Powell-Peralta sent you a little membership kit, with a cool T-shirt, some stickers, and an actual membership card…They sent out little newsletters with ramp plans and stuff like that. Much like the "spy clubs" you would find on the back of cereal boxes back in the day…
 

Gary told me he subbed for Mike McGill when he was ill from Mctwisting the night away!

Plants look awesome Gary!

 
Thanks Mike! The SmiterQ Pequins are in full sun now, for almost a week now, itching to get in some real DeSoto Parish dirt. 
 
Nice writing, by the way…Mike McGill was so cool—Not many people know that the Ollie Air was invented in Florida.
 
I almost forgot—My BOCs are growing insanely huge, quite a bit larger that the NagaBrains, even. I got a PM from Søren yesterday telling me that he got an order from a large garden supplier on the Danish mainland for 10,000 BOC plants…Needless to say, he was stoked about it.
 
EDIT: Søren's big customer, Plantorama, is NOT in Iceland, as I earlier stated.

 

[capsidadburn]

I new the ollie was from Florida, but was thinking it was Alan Gefland.
 
I'm jealous of your Bones membership!
 
Thats a lot of BOC!  Glad you got some monster BOC's!  Mine sure started nice but my outdoor adventures just seem to be brutal.  I think I have some lockout issues going on with several plants in the new bed.  Need to check my recycled soil ph.  Have some BOC in the bed and in pots.
 
Have a great week Gary!

 

[maximumcapsicum]

Looking good Gary. What's your plantout date looking like?

 

[windchicken]

I new the ollie was from Florida, but was thinking it was Alan Gefland.
 
I'm jealous of your Bones membership!
 
Thats a lot of BOC!  Glad you got some monster BOC's!  Mine sure started nice but my outdoor adventures just seem to be brutal.  I think I have some lockout issues going on with several plants in the new bed.  Need to check my recycled soil ph.  Have some BOC in the bed and in pots.
 
Have a great week Gary!

 
Aww, dude, you're right, it WAS Alan Gelfland that invented the Ollie Air!   I might still have that Bones Brigade stuff. There's a file cabinet here at the office with plenty of old Thrasher, Skateboarder, etc. mags…If the BB stuff was anywhere, it would be there.
 
I'm really stoked about growing the BOC now…Thanks so much for encouraging me to do that. How many plants do you have?
 

Looking good Gary. What's your plantout date looking like?

 
Thanks Adam! If I can get a truckload of wood chips down here in the next day or so, I'll probably get some of the chinenses in the ground this week. My self-imposed deadline for all plants is April 30. After that it's just too hot in the big garden for the plants to ever develop the robust root systems and leaf canopies they will need for the brutal months ahead.

 

[Roguejim]

Gary, other than the RCW, any other soil amending this season?  What is this, season #3 for the RCW?

 

[windchicken]

Hi Jim! Thanks for stopping by! 
 
At the end of the season I added a nice mulch layer of RCW to the mature beds, which has been releasing its good mojo into the underlying soil since last fall. It's important not to disturb the strata in mature RCW beds, so those only need a fresh mulch layer of chips at plant-out time. The as-yet-to-be-built beds I will need to amend with something else in addition to the RCW, because of the N2 tie-up which occurs in the first 3 months after mixing fresh wood chips into the soil. In years past I used Osmocote 14-14-14, but I'm trying to get away from that…Right now I'm thinking I will use either manure or bagged potting soil...
 
The original RCW bed at my house is entering its fifth season. The beds in the big country garden range from zero years (because I haven't built them yet   ) to three years in age.
 
Hope your grow is going well!

 

[Devv]

The gals are looking stellar Gary!
 
Can't wait to see them hit the dirt!