Windchicken Grow 2011

[PIC 1]

Thanks Greg! How do find the flavor and heat of the Cajamarca?

Gary,
the Cajamarca's were some of the most prolific plants I grew this year, mild heat with that "raw habish" flavor which was fine with me, as I was able to prepare many different dishes with them, although at the peak of their ripened red stage they take on a sweet citrus flav, prior to the burst of heat, that's the taste I prefer...
Unfortunetly the peppers take so dog-gone long to ripen, and the seasons long gone before I get enough of them.....

Greg

 

[windchicken]

I've got plenty, if you need some, PM me your mailing address. Most of them are green or purple right now, but there should be a metric buttload of red ones in a couple of weeks or so...

 

[romy6]

Everything is looking sweet as usual Gary. I have to agree about the Chiltepin. Once you get them going they are one easy pepper to take care of. I prefer sucking the juice out of them one by one while I am watering my plants

Hope the cold stays away for a couple more months

 

[PIC 1]

I've got plenty, if you need some, PM me your mailing address. Most of them are green or purple right now, but there should be a metric buttload of red ones in a couple of weeks or so...

Gary,
Thanks for the generous offer, and I'd gladly take advantage it if I wasn't already overwhelmed ...with other picked pods

How do you like the flavor of the cajamarca?

Greg

 

[windchicken]

Wow, Jamie, I do that very thing in my garden just about every day. Chiltepin is also a fun one to spring on guests while we're just standing out on the patio drinking and shooting the breeze: "Watcha eating there man?" "Oh, just some tiny little chiles. Here, try one."

I've got my fingers crossed for the weather. Either it holds or it doesn't...There's always next season!

Greg, after I made that post I looked at your grow thread and saw that crazy harvest pik, and thought, "Okay he's got a ton of chiles to deal with right now, maybe I should retract my offer." But I left it up anyway.

My Cajamarca chiles are probably about the heat of a medium Jalapeño, which is a nice contrast to the strong pungency of the Trinidad types. However, I don't get a whole lot of flavor or aroma from them. I suspect I may be leaving them on the plants too long. Now that I said that, I'm heading down to the garden right now to try a few more. Impressions here later.

 

[PIC 1]

My Cajamarca chiles are probably about the heat of a medium Jalapeño, which is a nice contrast to the strong pungency of the Trinidad types. However, I don't get a whole lot of flavor or aroma from them. I suspect I may be leaving them on the plants too long. Now that I said that, I'm heading down to the garden right now to try a few more. Impressions here later.

Cool...

 

[windchicken]

Okay, I could not have been more wrong about my Cajamarca chiles. I just picked the pod you see here, a dark orange one from near the top of the bush, so I know it's one of the newer ones. As you can see from the color of the placenta, there is plenty of capsaicin in this pod. The taste test bears that out—Heat level is as strong as any Orange Habanero I've ever tasted, and the taste and aroma have a good punch—as you said, Greg, kind of hab-ish, but with another type of spice flavor I can't identify. So why did the earlier chiles taste much milder? Don't know. Why do the darker red, riper pods seem to have less flavor? Don't know that one either, but it seems that most all the chiles in the garden taste better, and are larger and hotter, since the weather cooled off.

 

[PIC 1]

Okay, I could not have been more wrong about my Cajamarca chiles. I just picked the pod you see here, a dark orange one from near the top of the bush, so I know it's one of the newer ones. As you can see from the color of the placenta, there is plenty of capsaicin in this pod. The taste test bears that out—Heat level is as strong as any Orange Habanero I've ever tasted, and the taste and aroma have a good punch—as you said, Greg, kind of hab-ish, but with another type of spice flavor I can't identify. So why did the earlier chiles taste much milder? Don't know. Why do the darker red, riper pods seem to have less flavor? Don't know that one either, but it seems that most all the chiles in the garden taste better, and are larger and hotter, since the weather cooled off.

Yea, its always pretty bizarre towards the end of the season, different sizes, shapes and heat levels....

Here's a different comparison, (non chilli) my Roma Tomatoes were averaging 2/3" all season but these were picked 2 weeks ago from the same plants......go figure

 

[windchicken]

Pretty! The difference in size is dramatic.

I believe what we're seeing is a short period of ideal growing conditions right after "too-hot-summer" and just before "too-cold-winter." Here in North Louisiana that period has become so short in recent years that only quickly-maturing or "short season" varieties have a chance to set fruit and fully ripen. My cherry tomato vines are heavily loaded with green fruit, but I am unsure whether I will see many red tomatoes or not. Never mind that I've got over 100 chile plants in the garden heavily loaded with their first true crop of the year, patiently ripening day-by-day, as the first freeze draws ever closer....

I don't know the answer to the problem.

 

[meatfreak]

Thanks Meat! Trying to second-guess the first freeze here is a roll of the dice. Last year it came November 5, but in 2009 it came in early December. Most of my crop is green right now, so I'm proceeding on as if I have plenty of time....

Well I hope you get the chance to harvest alot before frost hits you, we've had a night with frost last week and since then the temperature went up again around 8C.

 

[windchicken]

Thanks, Meat!

 

[windchicken]

My babies dodged another hard freeze last night, and I thought it would be good to get some more photos while I still can:

Habanero de Arbol:

Birgit's Locoto. Seeds from Wayright:

Aji Amarillo. No pods or flowers all year, and then it FINALLY cooled off in October:

Aji Limon, a big juicy one like you only get when it cools off:

Guampinha de Veado. Yesterday I finally found a guy who likes these as much as I do, so now I'm going to keep growing them:

Lumbre, seeds from Chileaddict, a wonderful, very spicy New Mexico chile. I planted these real late, but now they are bearing nicely:

Thai Chile. I just can't seem to stop growing these little guys. This year they are Tabasco-hot:

Once again, ladies and gents, the Cajamarca, much larger than when last we met:

Trinidad Scorpion. I finally ate one of these—There is no sense in anything being that damned spicy—I mean, really?

Congo Trinidad. A real beauty, and still my favorite:

 

[Siliman]

Man, just beautiful photo work as usual. Your plants are enjoying the Fall Wx! The Guampinha de Veado is really striking. How long are those pods, how do they taste, where do you get seeds and how do you pronounce it??....

 

[Spuds]

You have some awesome chillies there sir.

 

[PIC 1]

Gary,
Very nice photos as usual!

I have to agree with ya, the Congo Trinidad is also my favorite, not just because I grow more of that variety than any other, but it has the perfect mix of heat and flav.
I make a "Red Congo" sauce with them and it's the perfect condiment.......especially on pizza!
But I have to say the Scotch Bonnet is my 2nd most planted pepper. I enjoy the raw citrus smokey flav that they have.
I also whip up a "Calypso" sauce with both the red and yellow S.B's, completely different tasting sauce than the congo, since big on the Jamaican, Caribbean spice influence,...plus its mustard based.

Hey good luck with the remainder of your season

Greg

 

[windchicken]

Man, just beautiful photo work as usual. Your plants are enjoying the Fall Wx! The Guampinha de Veado is really striking. How long are those pods, how do they taste, where do you get seeds and how do you pronounce it??....

Thanks! Yes, the cool weather really increases production, and the pods are much larger, too—My Cajamarcas finally look like the photos in the catalogs!

Guampinha de Veado, from the Campanha region of Brazil, translates as "Deer Antler" from the Portuguese. I don't really know exactly how to pronounce it, except as one would in Spanish, which I believe must be pretty close to accurate: "gwahm-PEEN-ha day vay-AH-tho." The length averages 1.5 to 2.0 inches. Flavor has that same fruitiness as the other small C. baccatums, such as Aji Limon and Birgit's Locoto. However, it is a cleaner, sharper flavor than Aji Limon, with a nice strong bite. Similar in heat level to Thai Chile, but again cleaner and brighter. They set fruit several weeks before Thai Chile, and are quite productive, as you can see from the photo. I'm very seriously considering replacing my annual large grow of Thai Chile with Guampinha exclusively...

If you PM me your mailing address I will send you some seeds.

You have some awesome chillies there sir.

Thanks, Spuds!

Gary,
Very nice photos as usual!

I have to agree with ya, the Congo Trinidad is also my favorite, not just because I grow more of that variety than any other, but it has the perfect mix of heat and flav.
I make a "Red Congo" sauce with them and it's the perfect condiment.......especially on pizza!
But I have to say the Scotch Bonnet is my 2nd most planted pepper. I enjoy the raw citrus smokey flav that they have.
I also whip up a "Calypso" sauce with both the red and yellow S.B's, completely different tasting sauce than the congo, since big on the Jamaican, Caribbean spice influence,...plus its mustard based.

Hey good luck with the remainder of your season

Greg

Thanks, Greg! The sauces sound awesome! Yes, I agree with you on the heat level, strong aroma, and flavor of the Congo chile; and besides that I love the big, red, shiny pods, and the prodigious interior construction of them, like the soaring arches of a European cathedral.

I think the Caribbean flavors must be my favorite. So you are in good company—I believe Congo Trinidad and Scotch Bonnet will definitely be my largest plant-outs next year. I'm still waiting on some hog meat from my co-workers so I can make Jamaican Jerk Pork with those Stinger Bonnets. The waiting is driving me crazy!

 

[romy6]

Very nice looking poddage. Great pictures too

Hopefully you can squeeze a couple more weeks of grow time before old man winter really shows his teeth

 

[RedtailForester]

Great looking pods Windchicken! I've been dodging hard freezes here in Pennsylvania for the last month now.

 

[windchicken]

Very nice looking poddage. Great pictures too

Hopefully you can squeeze a couple more weeks of grow time before old man winter really shows his teeth

Thanks, Jamie! We made it through this round of cold, now I feel real confident that we can go all the way to Thanksgiving...I'm happy with that.

Great looking pods Windchicken! I've been dodging hard freezes here in Pennsylvania for the last month now.

Thanks, Dan! This must be what it's like to be a farmer...eh?

 

[svfd1118]

Gary,
the Cajamarca's were some of the most prolific plants I grew this year, mild heat with that "raw habish" flavor which was fine with me, as I was able to prepare many different dishes with them, although at the peak of their ripened red stage they take on a sweet citrus flav, prior to the burst of heat, that's the taste I prefer...
Unfortunetly the peppers take so dog-gone long to ripen, and the seasons long gone before I get enough of them.....

Greg

I can't wait, I've got 4 caja plants aready about a foot tall and will be using grow lights to make them as strong as possible for the spring. I've heard really good things about these, the citrus tang sounds very interesting.