Windchicken Grow 2012

Looks like I'm getting a late start again this year...Should be setting seeds to sprout in the next few days....Anyway, here's the order I made from Beth this morning. It's not really my complete grow list, because I'm planting lots of saved seeds (from my 2011 Grow and from trades with my THP friends) for the first time this year. Also, I don't know that I will plant everything from this order, but I am excited about some of the new varieties:

Absent from the above list but going in the ground this year:
Trinidad Scorpion
Congo Trinidad
True Jamaican Scotch Bonnet
Thai Chile (Garden Bird Seed variety)
Nambe Pueblo
Birgit's Locoto

Several bird types from THP friends, including, but not limited to (because I can't remember them all right now):
Texas Chiltepin
Prik Ki Nue
Siling Labuyo
Cumari do Para

Edited 1/9/2012 to add the following:

Last minute order from Hippy, plus some other trades I had forgotten about:
Yellow 7 Pot
Douglah
Malagueta
Pusa Jwala

 

[windchicken]

Great looking Jalapeno's you got there, Gary. Love the corking and shape on those babies

Wow, thanks Stefan! That means a lot to me...Maybe one day I can achieve the corkiness of your jals!

Hey Gary,
I like the color of those Poblano's. The ones we find around here are dark green...and I mean dark almost black. They taste fine roasted but diced up and added raw to a dish taste kind of twangy-bitter. Different from the ones we use to get. Do you remember where you got your seeds. I'm sectioning off an area next season strictly for "Hatch, Serranos, Poblanos, and Jalapenos".......I just need to find the right Poblano seeds.

Thanks Greg! In previous years I have always grown the Poblano from Baker Creek, which get quite dark before ripening to bright red. This year I just grabbed some seeds from Home Depot, I believe they were Burpee. The few that ripened turned a beautiful deep burgundy color, and gained a savory-spicy-sweetness that was damn near narcotic. The aroma emanating from this tray of green pods is insane. When I pass by it the smell grabs me and whips my head around.... This one is definitely a grow-again. I will check my seed stash to confirm that they are Burpee.

I also grew one plant of Mulato, from the CPI. Very similar to this particular Poblano in shape, color, and flavor, but the germination rate was very low. There seems to be a bit of ambiguity around the Poblano/Ancho taxonomy. (I'm using "Ancho" in the Mexican "wide chile" sense rather than the North American "smoked Poblano" sense, just to nip that discussion in the bud!) It may take us quite a bit of research (in the garden!) to straighten it out...

Like you, I am developing a deeper appreciation for the Mexican "seasoning" chiles. Chilhuacle Rojo from Peppermania is another hot-sweet-meaty type that I believe I will grow from now on...I've always thought I should grow a nice New Mexico type, especially for green chile sauce, but I can't get them to grow well in Louisiana. So far I've tried Española Improved and Nambe Pueblo...I've shied away from the southern NM varieties, though, so maybe that's my problem...

As to the collateral damage -the assassin bugs will eat a bee right now-they can actually fly off with em....every damn time I get the iphone in focus on'em!

Haha! The turd knockers....They should just get stink bugs!

 

[romy6]

G Money. I finally got a ripe pod from your scotch bonnet with a tail. I will post some pics tomorrow. That is the tastiest bonnet I have ever had. Wife loved it too!!!

 

[windchicken]

Thanks J Man! Those are some super-tasty chiles....I need to grow it again.

 

[romy6]

Pics of the scotch bonnet with stinger.

This pepper is pure love and super tasty

Thank you for the seeds.

 

[windchicken]

Those are beautiful Jamie! I can almost smell their awesome aroma...

Home garden hasn't frozen yet, although the country garden, 40 miles to the south, was complete toasted by 5 frosty nights in a row...Go figure. Here's a nice Zapotec Jal shot from today:

 

[romy6]

That is pefect corking Gman!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[meatfreak]

Real threat, Gary. Silly Jalapeno making new buds I see

 

[windchicken]

That is pefect corking Gman!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks J Daddy!

Real threat, Gary. Silly Jalapeno making new buds I see

Thanks Stefan! They just won't stop...There was a cold spell of 7 consecutive nights of frost, but somehow my backyard garden escaped with minimal damage. We're in a warming trend now, but I have no illusions that the little pods will ever see maturity, but maybe some of the larger ones...

Yesterday I smoked some ripe Zapotec Jalapeño with pecan. A Louisiana type of Chipotle. In the back left are the raised rows of Bonda ma Jacques and Aji Umba:

Wilds Mix for the dinner table, will put a kick in any meal—Cumari do Para & Chiltepin:

This is what the NagaBrain mother looked like this morning right before I stripped her:

The obligatory harvest photo. Pod count—136 ripe, in this pile (still some unripe pods on the bush):

 

[romy6]

Man that is one tasty update. 136 pods. That is ridicerous

All hail the mighty nagabrain

 

[windchicken]

Fear the NagaBrain. It is plodding inexorably toward you...Get the kids in the house.

And now, a few self-indulgent NB pod shots:

 

[meatfreak]

What a monsters are those nagabrains! Great harvest also. How long do you smoke your Jala's? I read on the net that they use Pecan in Mexico to make Chipotle as well. Nice bbq, got exactly the same one

 

[windchicken]

Thanks, Stefan! It won't take many NB plants to grow enough pods for me and all my friends! Probably one plant would easily produce 300 pods per season....

I read the same thing about the Mexicans using pecan for smoking Jals, so I've got that part right, but the Chipotle my wife brings home from the store are whole pods packed in a can with Adobo sauce. So I'm not sure if mine is authentic or not, but it sure smells awesome!

The first time I smoked Jals I left them whole...It went very, very slowly, and took A LOT of pecan branches. After 8 hours I finally just gave up and put them in the dehydrator. This time I split them in half, and it went faster—after 8 hours probably 2/3 of them were completely dried. Zapotec is an especially meaty chile, in the same neighborhood of beefiness as Jalmundo, so there's A LOT of moisture to be removed. The dried pods are very small, about the size of Thai Chile

I'm still learning about smoking chiles...It seems like I always have far more Jalapeño than I can use, so this year I decided to just grow extra and make Chipotle. If you make some maybe we can compare notes...I love my Weber!

 

[KiNGDeNNiZ]

naga brains are tasty hot.. will do a review if youd like =D

 

[windchicken]

That would be cool...Thanks!

 

[Eephus Man]

Thanks, Stefan! It won't take many NB plants to grow enough pods for me and all my friends! Probably one plant would easily produce 300 pods per season....

I read the same thing about the Mexicans using pecan for smoking Jals, so I've got that part right, but the Chipotle my wife brings home from the store are whole pods packed in a can with Adobo sauce. So I'm not sure if mine is authentic or not, but it sure smells awesome!

The first time I smoked Jals I left them whole...It went very, very slowly, and took A LOT of pecan branches. After 8 hours I finally just gave up and put them in the dehydrator. This time I split them in half, and it went faster—after 8 hours probably 2/3 of them were completely dried. Zapotec is an especially meaty chile, in the same neighborhood of beefiness as Jalmundo, so there's A LOT of moisture to be removed. The dried pods are very small, about the size of Thai Chile

I'm still learning about smoking chiles...It seems like I always have far more Jalapeño than I can use, so this year I decided to just grow extra and make Chipotle. If you make some maybe we can compare notes...I love my Weber!

Gary,

FWIW, my observation about smoking is that a little goes a loooong way. Meaning there is a saturation point for smoke flavor that happens a long time prior to the peppers being fully dessicated. If you're going full dry, my suggestion is to split them as you have, smoke them heavily, but for a short time and then finish them in the dehydrator. That is, IF it means an easier time of things for you. It does for me.

YMMV, but my results for powder so far have been pretty favorable. And I cheat WAY worse than most of you. About a half hour in a stovetop smoker, and then a few hours in a convection oven at about 180-200F (babysitting them every half hour or so).

If you're jarring them or preserving them in some other (than dried) way, then I'm a complete ignoramous.

Your peppers look fantastic, buddy. We've mostly escaped death here, too, despite temps hovering just a degree or two above proper freezing. So I still have a boatload of green chinenses just waiting to turn. Hope we both make it! I have some CPI yellow bhuts (that aren't yellow) that are MASSIVE. Can't wait to use them and show them off here...

 

[RedtailForester]

I'm already afraid of those NagaBrains. Is that a cross you did by yourself Gary?

 

[windchicken]

Thanks Eric! Your method makes a lot more sense...Babysitting a fire for 8 hours gets really old. I'm looking forward to photos of those Bhuts.

Thanks Dan! That cross came from romy6.

 

[windchicken]

Got home from work today and this tasty box of Harold's St. Barts was waiting for me, courtesy of kentishman. Nice crunch, clean, snappy flavor, and heat level similar to Scotch Bonnet.

Thanks Tom!

 

[KiNGDeNNiZ]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ag6APCQGG3g

deng the Trini scorched me.. didnt expect it.. as the nagaBrain was mild.....finally settled down after 10 mins!!! thanks gary...

i should say milder compared to the trinidad scorpion

Thanks for the wedding f anniversary gift.

 

[windchicken]

Very nice job Denniz, and mad respect to you for eating that healthy bite of Scorpion with no food! I would never try that...

I'm so glad your father-in-law made it through the 4x bypass...Lots of people live full lives for decades after one of those. My uncle had one 30 years ago, and now he looks way better than I do.

And congrats on your anniversary! I love the photo!

Have an awesome Thanksgiving!

Gary