First pepper seeds are sown into peat pellets. Now the anxious waiting starts. One seed already showed signs of new life with a tiny root. I should stop poking the peat pellets daily and let the seeds sprout, but I just can resist the urge to follow their development.

First ones for starting were C. pubescens, C. baccatum and C. chinense varieties. Annuums will be started a bit later.

Sown seeds are:
- pubescens:
Aji Mongol
CAP 363
CGN 1924
Grif 9343
Grif 9345
Rocoto Rojo

- baccatum:
Aji Andean
Aji Cristal
Aji Habanero
Aji Orange
Brazilian Multicolor Acorn
Brazilian Red Pumpkin
Brazilian Starfish
Christmas Bell
Dedo de Moca
Dong Xuon Mkt.
Inca Red Drop
Lemon Drop
Mexican Red
Peru Yellow
PI 267729
PI 439409
PI 441551
Pimenta Cambuci
Rain Forest
Rocotillo
Yellow Russian

- chinense
Red Savina
Rocotillo
St. Lucia Seasoning
Trinidad Perfume
Trinidad Seasoning

- ?
Sus Biberi

I have also some overwintering potted peppers in basement and at living room window. One Rocoto does not look promising but other ones may make it, if I just could get rid of all aphids.

Looks like you and "Femmefatalii" are going to have a competition about the coolest North American chili garden present here at Inferno..! ;-)

It looks like we here in Finland just have to answer to that challenge somehow... Perhaps by developing a native wild chili "Aji Perkele" for our Northern climate..? Something to surprise mushroom-pickers of the future with...

:-)

Best of growing season to the Americas!

Hi, Sari.

Great list for 2006. I notice we have some overlap--the JohnF effect perhaps? You too have a fondness for the seasoning peppers. Please let me know how the St Lucia Seasoning does for you. I was unable to locate some seeds for this year. Didn't you grow it last year as well?

What information do you have on the Yellow Russian? Very interested in that one. Thanks!

Cheers and best wishes for a great growing season!
Jennifer, who knows for sure that JohnF's garden will be the coolest

Lainaus käyttäjältä: "Femmefatalii"
What information do you have on the Yellow Russian? Very interested in that one. Thanks!

Yellow Russian should be quite similar to Lemon Drop and Peru Yellow.

Lainaus käyttäjältä: "Femmefatalii"I notice we have some overlap--the JohnF effect perhaps?

Jennifer,
You are right, I got baccatum and pubescens seeds from JohnF. Yellow Russian is one of them, so I have no experience with it yet.

I bought a St. Lucia Seasoning plant from chileplants.com last year. I saved seeds from it and now I am germinating those. In the end of the last season, it was my favorite mild chinense. I did not protect the peppers from cross pollination, so if you are willing to take the risk, I can send you seeds for it.
My 2005 growing list is still at http://home.wi.rr.com/vallinmaki/plantlist2005.txt
Last year was first, when I started going nuts with the peppers. I saved seeds for most peppers or I may still have seeds from the original source, so if there is anything interesting, let me know.

Happy growing!
Sari, who should be working and not daydreaming about spring...

Lainaus käyttäjältä: "bassino"

Lainaus käyttäjältä: "Femmefatalii"
What information do you have on the Yellow Russian? Very interested in that one. Thanks!

Yellow Russian should be quite similar to Lemon Drop and Peru Yellow.

Hmmm... Might be the baccatum also called as "Aji Blanco", PI-594138, a fine "Lemon Drop" variety somehow connected to Russia. You can see pics on Inferno's "baccatum" section.  I didn't put it under "Russia" despite the seeds originating there because it's highly unlikely that a baccatum like this would have been cultivated in Russia... If someone knows better, please correct me!

Sari, thanks for your kind offer of seeds! I'm thinking about how I can truly justify getting more seeds at present....I'll be in touch over the weekend. If nothing else, I am very curious to find out if that Orange Russian tomato is the one I (re)introduced from a remote Doukhobor community in northern Saskatchewan. And I have lots of seeds, tomato, pepper and otherwise, to share if you are in need (or simply desirous :>)

Thietavu, I can understand your reluctance to assign Russian provenance to a baccatum. My feelings are perhaps a bit different.

First, there is a lack of information about what species and cultivars were brought back to Europe, carried along the Silk Routes, or introduced during colonization in the near and far east. The arbitrary political/national borders we have now are not those from even a century ago, especially in the northern far east. Where in Russia is this baccatum from? What incarnation of Russia? Plus, who knows what a single intrepid chilehead explorer/immigrant might have brought with them.

We know and, I believe, accept that there are at least 2 baccatum from Bulgaria (recorded as deposited in the USDA by 1978). We accept various species as coming from Malaysia, understanding that they were introduced at a very early date by the Dutch. Bosland notes that in Nepal frutescens have naturalized in the wild; annuum and chinense are grown in most Nepalese kitchen gardens. I have various species which I know came to Canada--and remote areas of Canada too--as part of our immigration in the 19th century. One pepper of particular interest is originally from Manchuria. Can I call it Canadian? It came here long enough ago to be consider an heirloom by most collectors.

I suppose the question might be: if something has been grown in a particular location for some time, even to the extent of becoming a unique strain, can one identify it with that new location or is one forced to ignore a possibly lengthy part of its history and only associate it with its point of origin? The answer to this has implications in many directions.

I'm not sure that I've expressed myself particularly well today. I keep having difficulty getting into and staying in the forum. Please forgive me if what I've written doesn't make complete sense.

Perhaps this might be a better read:
http://www.fiery-foods.com/dave2/siberia.asp

I find the geographic, cultural and culinary histories as fascinating as the biology and actual plants. And also worth documenting in full. This is something I can see is very much done in Finland and not so much in other places. This site would be well worth translating, Thietavu. Please let me know if I can be of any help.

Jennifer, ending her rambling hijack

Lainaus käyttäjältä: "Femmefatalii"Thietavu, I can understand your reluctance to assign Russian provenance to a baccatum. My feelings are perhaps a bit different.

First, there is a lack of information about what species and cultivars were brought back to Europe, carried along the Silk Routes, or introduced during colonization in the near and far east. The arbitrary political/national borders we have now are not those from even a century ago, especially in the northern far east. Where in Russia is this baccatum from? What incarnation of Russia? Plus, who knows what a single intrepid chilehead explorer/immigrant might have brought with them.

We know and, I believe, accept that there are at least 2 baccatum from Bulgaria (recorded as deposited in the USDA by 1978). We accept various species as coming from Malaysia, understanding that they were introduced at a very early date by the Dutch. Bosland notes that in Nepal frutescens have naturalized in the wild; annuum and chinense are grown in most Nepalese kitchen gardens. I have various species which I know came to Canada--and remote areas of Canada too--as part of our immigration in the 19th century. One pepper of particular interest is originally from Manchuria. Can I call it Canadian? It came here long enough ago to be consider an heirloom by most collectors.

I suppose the question might be: if something has been grown in a particular location for some time, even to the extent of becoming a unique strain, can one identify it with that new location or is one forced to ignore a possibly lengthy part of its history and only associate it with its point of origin? The answer to this has implications in many directions.

I'm not sure that I've expressed myself particularly well today. I keep having difficulty getting into and staying in the forum. Please forgive me if what I've written doesn't make complete sense.

Perhaps this might be a better read:
http://www.fiery-foods.com/dave2/siberia.asp

I find the geographic, cultural and culinary histories as fascinating as the biology and actual plants. And also worth documenting in full. This is something I can see is very much done in Finland and not so much in other places. This site would be well worth translating, Thietavu. Please let me know if I can be of any help.

Thanks, Jennifer! :)  Yes, I do agree with you regarding the "nationalities" of chili varieties. The reason (I'm not sure if it's a good reason...) for me not having accepted that baccatum as "Russian", is that whereas most "Asian" capsicums are widely, commercially grown there, I somehow thought it'd be unlikely that a baccatum (!) would hold the same status in Russia. I have to confess that I kind of automatically thought that it's a question of someone (perhaps a scientist) from Russia (?) having visited South America and brought some seeds with him/her back home, etc...

After reading your words, I have to question that train of thoughts, though. It is, indeed, possible that varieties like that baccatum have been introduced to Russia even long ago, and perhaps even become fairly wide-spread. We just don't know. Still, even USDA's vague information ("Russia") is better than my own wild guessing about something I don't really know. So, I'll change that info on this site, and will consider these questions more carefully in the future, too... ;)

Lainaus käyttäjältä: "Femmefatalii"I am very curious to find out if that Orange Russian tomato is the one I (re)introduced from a remote Doukhobor community in northern Saskatchewan. And I have lots of seeds, tomato, pepper and otherwise, to share if you are in need (or simply desirous :>)

I promised myself last fall to limit my tomato varieties this season to maximum 10 and amount of plants to max 30. I had way too many tomato plants growing last year and now I need more space for peppers. The Orange Russian is one, which I will keep growing. I ordered the seeds last year from http://www.tomatogrowers.com. I liked the shape and color of these tomatoes and they also tasted OK.
(http://www.tomatogrowers.com/2005/5539-sm.jpg) Does it look like the one you have?

Only tomato seeds, which I really need are Brandywines, but I am always desirous for any heirloom tomatoes, which I have not yet tried. Last year I grew Brandywines first time. I got two plants from a friend and the tomatoes were the best tasting of all last season's varieties. I had also some really bad disappointments last year; I did not like taste and look of Ananas Noir and Purple Calabash, so I will not definitely grow them anymore.

Temperature here climbed today to +10°C, it feels like spring. At lunch I ran to local Brew & Grow to buy coir (coconut fiber). I'm going to experiment using coir in potting mix in place of peat moss. I bought also a bag of Jamaican bat guano. The 1 kg bag was almost 8 bucks - that is some expensive poop. I hope it is going to do wonders for my old potted plants.

Yellow Russian came from Redwood seeds a couple of years ago. Couldn't find it in their new catalog so don't know what they say about it.As you can see, pods started out erect. Crisp flesh and very hot.


(http://www.pbase.com/chiles400/image/32016739.jpg)

(http://www.pbase.com/chiles400/image/33360006.jpg)

Lainaus käyttäjältä: "Femmefatalii"
Perhaps this might be a better read:
http://www.fiery-foods.com/dave2/siberia.asp

[OFF_TOPIC] (Sorry! But I just have to say this...)
I was reading that article above, and looked at the second photo. There is something in that photo that looks strangely familiar: the garlics! I have now grown for one year this strange "winter garlic", which is told to be coming from Siberia. And they look exactly the same as the ones in that photo! So it really does come from Siberia... Cool!   :D  This garlic is very different than the normal one, the cloves are placed in preferably clay soil in the autumn and overwintered in ground. They sprout early in the spring, and the stems are very stout and thick, almost tree-like. Produces HUGE garlics with unique taste. Nice one, and easy. I really started to like it, and it seems to enjoy the clay ground I have at my kitchen garden.
[/OFF_TOPIC]

I will go now and be ashamed, to intrude like this.

Thietavu, I have additional comments--I don't think your logic/assumption re the 'Russian' PI baccatum was flawed--but I'm filled with a nasty cold and cannot think straight enough to respond properly at present. I will write again soon.

Sari, apologies for not being in touch when I said I would. I will make contact as soon as my head doesn't feel like it's going to explode. Your Orange Russian is actually Orange Russian 117--the 117 being an important part of the name. More later...

Jennifer the miserable, grumpy one

JartsaP, what do you know about garlic being good for colds? :wink:  Thanks for making me smile!

Lainaus käyttäjältä: "JohnF"Yellow Russian came from Redwood seeds a couple of years ago. Couldn't find it in their new catalog so don't know what they say about it.As you can see, pods started out erect. Crisp flesh and very hot.

Another fine "Lemon Drop" variant, apparently. These non-sweet, very hot baccatum variants are quite interesting... It seems to me that there are at least three distinctive domesticated baccatum basic forms:

Type A: "Aji Type" - large or huge plants, big leaves & flowers, typically brown petal spots, sweet, large, orange or red fruit, mild or average heat. Growing habit strange, very tall w. few leaves, needs support.

Type B: "Lemon Drop Type" - medium-height plants, smaller flowers with green spots, very hot, non-sweet fruit, often rather small or of Cayenne shape. Many types yellow, but forms with roundish fruit can be of any color. Growing habit bushy, lots of smaller leaves. Doesn't necessarily need support. As plant, appears closer to wild baccatums.

Type C: "Brazilean Type": often huge, a bit tree-like plants, fruit non-sweet, hot, small, red (?) berry-like (Pequin type), appears to be closer to wild forms of baccatum/praetermissum than other types.

etc...

Süs Biberi... I got some seeds myself too. They have now germinated and i am anxious to see how they grow and in what form. Have you Svalli or anyone else grown it? I´ve tasted it and liked it very much. The taste reminded me of a cigar humidor, a little sweeter though. It had just the right burn for my mouth :lol: .

I have not grown Süs Biberi before and the plant and pepper shape are a total mystery to me. I have not tasted a cigar humidor  :wink: so I do not know if I will like it.
My first Süs Biberi seed did not germinate, so I will have to try it again. Some seeds in peat pellets seem to take long time to germinate. I tried the Yellow Russian baccatums inside a wet coffee filter and two of four seeds sprouted in  less than a week. I will give one more week for the peat pellets and then I will start unsprouted varieties inside coffee filters.

First seedlings are growing well and I had to transplant some of the peat pellets to plastic cups. I added mixture of coconut fiber, earth worm castings and bat guano around the peat pellets when filling the cups.

Wet coffee filters inside ziplock bags proved to be better method of germinating than the peat pellets. All of the Yellow Russian seeds sprouted and finally the one in a peat pellet started growing too, so now I have five of them growing. I may have to give some of the plants away, so I will have room for other ones too.

I am still battling with aphids in some of the overwintering varieties. I have been using soap spray and it seems to keep the population in control, but I have not yet totally got rid of the pests. I have to keep my new seedlings in a  different room and hope that there will not be any flying adults flying around.

Darn, I was logged out when I wrote previous. For some reason I got suddenly difficulties logging in with Firefox.  In MSIE I have no problems, but I just do not like to use it anymore. :x

Lainaus käyttäjältä: "svalli"Darn, I was logged out when I wrote previous. For some reason I got suddenly difficulties logging in with Firefox.  In MSIE I have no problems, but I just do not like to use it anymore. :x

Try Opera. Still my fav, although Firefox is nice, too. :)

I bought a cheap wire shelf thing, which came with a plastic tent, so it should work as a small greenhouse. Right now I have just the shelf part on top of a desk, so I can get the plants close to the light.
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/svalli/Chili/seedlings060301.jpg)

One Medusa seedling must have a genetic defect. The first leaves are totally white and it has not grown any true leaves. It could be neat to grow an albino plant, but it may not grow at all since it has no chlorophyll and can not function as plants normally do.
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/svalli/Chili/albinomedusa.jpg)

I noticed that some of the C. baccatums have nice smell on their leaves. Aji Habanero seems to be the strongest one. It has some hairs on the leaves and when I touched them, I smelld the familiar baccatum scent.

Speaking of scent... Many Rocotos have faint one, but absolutely nothing beats capsicum galapagoense... Just one touch and the whole room is like a perfume shop... Incredible plant, in many ways. And bloody tricky one, as well. ;)

I have several plant with a great smell, but my C. Galapagoense do not have any! I tried Galapagoense from several source, but all look the same and noone has any smell!
Are there different varieties of Galaapgoense?

Riccardo

Hi

I noticed the smell thing going on with my Tepins last year, very fragrant!! The galapagoense did not however, like Riccardos..not surprisingly really, as the seeds came from Riccardo. I noticed a very faint smell on the Manzano leaves too but much less pronounced than the tepins.

This year I have a lot more Pubescens than last year and have been pleasantly surprised by the fragrance of some of them. I just wish the chinenses smelled as good as they taste..;but I suppose you cant have everything.

Happy sniffing

Guy

Lainaus käyttäjältä: "Guy"
I noticed the smell thing going on with my Tepins last year, very fragrant!!

I've noticed the same with Tepin. The smell remains C. pubescens a little but it's more intensive and not so sweet.

Some of my C. baccatums smells too. If I remember right, the CAP 1151 has quite noticeable smell.

I have one fuzzy tepin plant and I tried touching the leaves today. It has that nice fragrance too. It seems that most chile plants, which have hair on the leaves, emit a scent when touched.

I put first seeds in the peat pellets on January 3. There is still some that have not sprouted and I have kept them under the plastic dome on the heat mat, since I started remaining pepper varieties between coffee filters and did not need the starting tray. Yesterday I checked the tray and to my amazement Pimenta Campuci had sprouted after two months. I will need the tray soon for tomatoes, but I may have to keep the unsprouted pellets in the tray too, since there may still be hope for some of the seeds.

I got the spring fever and started the tomato seeds yesterday. Last fall I promised my self that I would limit tomatoes to 30 plants and 10 varieties. I ended up with 17 varieties and 50 plants. I also ordered the seed potatoes. I found a place (http://www.milkranch.com/), which sells Peruvian Purple potatoes and some other unique ones too. I ordered 7 different varieties. This season my garden will have quite many different Solanaceae families represented with many different varieties.

How does Peruvian Purple potato pancakes with Peruvian Purple Pepper and Purple Tomatillo salsa sound like? It would be a great dish today.
Happy St. Urho's Day! (http://www.brownielocks.com/urho.html)

Saturday we had freak +19 C temperature and thunderstorms. Today we have Winter Storm Warning and it has been snowing whole day. I will never get used to this totally unpredictable spring weather here in Midwest.

Interesting indeed... I had never before heard of St. Urho nor his day... but why not, another reason to celebrate is always welcome.
:D
Hell, I had never even heard that there's actually a place called Finland in Minnesota...
http://www.sainturho.com/index.htm
Grasshoppers demolishing Finnish grape harvest... how drunk has the inventor of this story been?

For non-Finnish people: grapes are rarely grown in Finland, because only during last few decades some hardy-enough grape hybrids have been bred. These are mostly hybrids between common grape V. vinifera and V. riparia (riverbank grape) and/or V. labruska (Concorde grape). Grasshoppers, though, DO live even in Finland (well, in southern parts at least), but they're mostly small and pretty harmless. For more information on grasshoppers and bush crickets in Finland: http://hepokatti.net/grasshoppers.html

Sounds like you are going to eat a lot of tomatoes this year? I promised myself not to grow tomatoes at all this year, but now I have a few seedlings growing anyway. Only three or four, all of different variety. LAst year I had half of the greenhouse filled with tomatoes, but only one or two plants cropped well. This time I wanted to have more room for the more interesting plants like eggplants, exotic Solanaceae and, of course, chiles!

Last few days have been all sunshine here. Temps around zero centigrade daytime and -10-15 night. Greenhouse temperature reached +24c one day and went down to -11 next night. A few days more and I can start heating it up, I'm only waiting for the night temps to rise a little.

I have the same attitude with tomatoes; luckily I`ve managed to keep the number down to one this year. They take up a lot of space and effort,and even then you aren`t guaranteed to get a good harvest.

I'm also planning to reduce the quantity of my tomato plants dramatically this year, and tomato size too. I'm going to grow only Solanum pimpinellifolium ;)

I wish peppers were as easy to germinate as tomatoes. First tomato seeds showed sign of life just after two days! Even older seeds germinate fast.
The window starts to be crowded with peppers. I may have to get another shop light, so I can get all seedlings close to the light.
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/svalli/Chili/plants060318.jpg)

One of the peppers I dug up last fall from the garden was an Aji Omnicolor. It has been by living room window without any other light than the sun. Now it has started to bloom and fruit even it has not grown much. There must be at least 100 buds on it.
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/svalli/Chili/AjiOmnicolor060318.jpg)

Right now it is the night between Good Friday and Saturday about 1:20 am, temperature outside is about 12°C and I am sitting by a fire at our back yard.  It is getting a bit chilly in just a T-shirt. Today we had 29°C in shadow, which may be the record for this date (I did not watch the news today).  Everyone else went to sleep, but I want to enjoy the night and listen the frogs and Eppu Normaali, playing on my laptop.

I moved my Aji Omnicolor, Tepin, Bird Pepper and Poinsettia outdoors today, because I do want to get rid of the aphids in house. I hope there are enough hungry ladybugs outside. Tomorrow should be also fine weather so I may bring some other plants outdoors.

Now it is time to go to bed, so I can do some gardening tomorrow.

Two of days ago I moved most of the smaller pepper plants outside into my temporary coldframe with tomato seedlings. Most of the C. baccatums are still inside, because they are too tall for the coldframe and they are still in the tiny cups, which could dry fast during a sunny day. I may have to plant them to bigger containers, before planting them on the ground. Some of them may end up being container grown, but I have not yet decided, which ones. The C. chinenses are also inside waiting for warmer weather.

I ordered some more pepper plants from chileplants.com to supplement some, which I did not have seeds for or had hard time germinating. My order arrived yesterday. Good looking sturdy plants, but they had some aphids, so the plants went into my doghouse size temporary greenhouse with the overwintered peppers. I really did not need anymore aphids, it has been really hard to try to get rid of them. I'm hoping that soon there will be enough predators outside, so I do not have to start spraying the plants.
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/svalli/greenhouse.jpg)

Day time temps have been around +20°C and nights around +10°C. Next couple of nights have been forecasted to be cooler, but still there should not be frost, so I am planning to leave the plants outside. I may have to add some heat sources into the coldframe and the greenhouse or just cover them up with blankets.

----------------------------
My Garden Journal (http://home.wi.rr.com/vallinmaki/gardenjournal.htm)

Saturday morning we had frost on the lowest spots of the yard. Luckily I had covered the greenhouse and the coldframe with plankets and had put Christmas lights inside them. I had 15x7W sets in both of them. Temperature outside had dropped to +0.4°C and the lowest inside the greenhouse had been +5.9C° and my plants looked happy.

Today was warm and sunny, so I spent whole day outside working on the yard. I also potted the tall C. baccatums to bigger pots and moved them to the temporary greenhouse. I mixed my own potting mix from unfertilized peat, coir, composted manure, organic humus, kelp meal, perlite and a bit of tomato fertilizer. I hope the mixture works fork for the plants.

We have wind advisory for tomorrow, so I moved all my plants from the temporary greenhouse to garage. The greenhouse thing may fly to the next county or at least the light row cover fabric would have been torn down in the wind and the tall plants could have got damaged. I hope the weather does not get so bad, but better to be safe than sorry. It could be bad to loose the plants now. It is still totally calm outside, but overnight it should get windy and the gusts can be 23 m/s tomorrow.

The flimsy shelf thing I purchased earlier came now handy. I was able to get a lot of plants on small area.
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/svalli/Chili/backinside.jpg)

The plants may have to stay indoors couple of days, because Friday should be quite cold. Northern Wisconsin may even get some snow.

#@%&#*@% One of the C. chinenses, which is still inside has started to look really bad. The leaves have brown spots on them and have started to yellow and drop off. First thing in my mind was that it had got some disease transmitted by the bat guano, but some recent posts on the forum made me to take a closer look. I had to look really hard, until I saw something tiny and pale moving on the stem. I checked also the plants which still look good and saw these tiny pests moving on them too. My peppers have MITES!!! :x

I searched information and found out that these must be Broad Mites, which are known greenhouse pest on peppers. I sprayed pyrethrin canola oil mix on the plants yesterday evening. This morning I still found moving mites, so I may have to find something stronger. Some websites recommended dunking the plants to 45°C warm water for 15 minutes. This should kill the mites, but not the plants. I may have to try that with the worst looking plant first. These plants are my favorite mild seasoning peppers, so I do not want to throw them away, without a fight. This is a declaration of war against the mites!  :evil:

Happy hunting!  :D

I do not recommend the warm water bath as remedy against mites. I tried it last week with four plants and it almost killed them. The mites seemed to die and the plants looked  good even the next morning, but in the evening the leaves were hanging down. There still seems to be life in the stem and the tiny leaf buds are still green, so I will try to nurse the plants back to life. I sprayed the plants with Harpin, hoping that this new miracle product will make the plants grow faster and still be able to produce this season.

I was going to plant tomatoes and some of the peppers in the garden last weekend, but luckily I checked the weather forecast before starting. We had still frost last night. By the house the lowest temperature had been +0.9°C, so in the lower spots it might have gone below 0°C. Many people in the area have been telling me not to plant tomatoes until Memorial day (last Monday in May). I have been usually planting at Mother's day. This year I am glad that I did not hurry, since we have had these late frosts.

What a difference a week makes. Week ago Sunday the high temperature was about 15°C and now we have 33°C in shadow. Garden beds are ready for planting, but I it is too hot to plant right now.  I may have to try to do it just before sunset or wake up early tomorrow and start working right away.

This may be a record hot Memorial day weekend in our area.

We found the first ripe strawberry!  :D  May has been so rainy that this year we may get good strawberry harvest.

I have finally started to plant peppers into the garden. Annuums are now in and tomorrow I will plant the rest. I have to get everything planted this weekend, because next Friday I will fly to Finland for two weeks.

I came back from Finland just before Juhannus (mid summer). DH had watered the plants and all had survived. Naturally I have now a lot of weeding.
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/svalli/Chili/chiles060625.jpg)

One Aji Habanero grew quite large inside, so I left it in the house, since I did not want to risk it to the wind. It has grown quite large and there was already one ripe pod. For some reason it has been dropping most of the flowers.
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/svalli/ajihabanero060625.jpg)

Most pepper plants in garden have started flowering, only chinenses have no buds opening yet, which is natural for them. Some annuums and baccatums have nice size pods already.

This is a bloom in the plant which I have believed to be Black Hungarian. I collected seeds from last year's pods. The original seeds were sold as Purple Serrano, but the pods were not Serranos.
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/svalli/Chili/blackhungarianflower.jpg)

First Yellow Russian (C. baccatum) is getting ripe. The green ones seem to get dark on the sunny side really easily.
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/svalli/Chili/yellowrussian.jpg)

----------------------------
My Garden Journal (http://home.wi.rr.com/vallinmaki/gardenjournal.htm)

I had to eat the first ripe Yellow Russian. Really flavorful with nice baccatum aroma. This is much better than Lemon Drop. Heat was enough for me, my lips are still burning.

It is amazing what good rain and warm weather makes happen.  My Beaver Dam peppers have had quite many small fruits set and I was already worried that there had been a mix-up in the seeds, because the pods stayed small and quite round.  Yesterday evening I checked the plants and the pods had grown at least 5 cm in two days.

Beaver Dam is a small town north of us in Wisconsin. Beaver Dam pepper is a hungarian heirloom pepper, which was brought to Wisconsin by a hungarian  immigrant family. These peppers should be mildly hot and have good flavor. I can't wait to get the first ripe one.

This weekend should be really hot, so I hope the chinenses will finally spurt to growth. Saturday we should have over 35°C with high humidity and Sunday should be even hotter.

About that pic of the "Purple Serrano": how come it looks like there`s black lines drawn on the edges of the corona? Or does it really look like that??

I did not draw the picture, that is how the flowers are. They look pretty cool with the strong contrast of the dark purple and white.

Couple hot days and warm nights have made wonders for some of the peppers. Chinenses have grown a lot. I should have taken before and after photos.

There is a cooler air coming from north tonight, which will cause thunderstorms, when it hits this warm and humid air. Some of the thunderstorms could be severe. I hope we will be spared from the hail again. Week ago we had thunderstorms, which caused golf ball size hail in the town next to us. Some gardens were destroyed quite badly.

My homepage garden Journal (http://home.wi.rr.com/vallinmaki/gardenjournal.htm)

The thunderstorm passed us last night with just an awesome lightshow. We got no hail and no rain either. I did not water the plants in the evening; even they looked a bit wilted in the heat. I was certain that it would rain, but we did not get even a drop. So this morning I had to get up early and water the garden.

The excessive heat is now over but it is still plenty warm. Temperature should get close to 30°C, but not too much over.

Tomatoes have started to ripen. Todays harvest was quite modest, but these very first ripe tomatoes are the best. Ripe ones were Dwarf Gem, Jelly bean Hybrid, Opalka, Paul Robeson and Sun Sugar Hybrid.
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/svalli/tomharvest060725.jpg)

I have been wondering, if it is normal for one year old plants to grow shorter and more dense than first year plants. I have Aji Cristal, Christmas Bell and Aji Omnicolor plants, which grew in garden last summer, now growing in pots. They were pruned fall time and spent the winter quite dormant in the basement. Last year these baccatums grew much taller and the leaves were bigger. Now they are thick bushes and all of them are full of flowers and have set some fruit too.
Link to photo (http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/svalli/Chili/overwinteredbaccas.jpg)

The heat is on again and it will just get hotter before we get any relief. On Monday we may get up to 37°C. We got heavy rain and strong winds during a really bad thuderstorm last week. Downtown of Waukesha flooded and there were a lot of trees down. Luckily our yard and garden did not have any damages.

Aji Cristal in the garden is looking really good. Lower part of plants has quite many mature size pods and the top part is blooming well.
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/svalli/Chili/ajicristal060729.jpg)

Last year I grew three Purple Largo plants. One of them looked different and I saved seeds from that. The original plant (http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/svalli/Chili/hybridpepper06.jpg) had strawberry shape and size peppers and a bit purple on the flowers. The peppers were nicely hot and were good pickled. Now I have three plants growing from the saved seeds. One looks like a small purple bell pepper (http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/svalli/Chili/hybridpepper1.jpg) and the flower has purple edges. An other one (http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/svalli/Chili/hybridpepper3.jpg) of the plants has a bit original shaped pods, but larger and more ruffled. Third one (http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/svalli/Chili/hybridpepper2.jpg) has elongated pods and totally white flowers. The most mature pod has changed to reddish brown color.
The last years plant may have been F1 cross and this years plants show clearly what happens in F2 generation. (Photos behind the linked text.)

----------------------------
My Garden Journal (http://home.wi.rr.com/vallinmaki/gardenjournal.htm)

Today should be the last day of this extreme heat for now. We may get some thunderstorms later this evening before the refreshing cold front. For three days temperature has not dropped below 25°C and it has been really humid.

The first of my Purple Largo hybrids had ripen to red and it was time to taste it. It looked like small marconi pepper. Walls were thin and there were quite many seeds inside. I cut the placenta and ribs off before tasting. The tip of the pepper was already quite hot, so I did not take a bite of the stem end until doing a little trick. I know that this sounds like cheating, but I rubbed a bit of Orajel (benzocaine cream used for toothache relief) on my tongue and inside mouth. It numbed my mouth so that I did not feel the heat of the chile at all. Taste of this chile is average with some sweetness. These could be good for smoking and drying.

I wonder if the bell pepper shaped ones are also hot.

Lainaus käyttäjältä: "svalli"
I have been wondering, if it is normal for one year old plants to grow shorter and more dense than first year plants. I have Aji Cristal, Christmas Bell and Aji Omnicolor plants, which grew in garden last summer, now growing in pots. They were pruned fall time and spent the winter quite dormant in the basement. Last year these baccatums grew much taller and the leaves were bigger. Now they are thick bushes and all of them are full of flowers and have set some fruit too.

Looks like you have managed to create some kind of bonzai effect... those are really dwarfs... constant prunning may create similar symptoms in my experience... heavy prunning, transplanting to the pots and basement dormancy maby made the plants to switch on the survival mode... smal leafes and fruits to make few seeds... just a gues

Sounds pretty warm there... we had only + 4 C one night in garden (mid-Finland)... you may have been heard thet it's been very dry summer here in Finland... only gravel in our garden well...

I think you are right about the hybrids beeing f2's... but that would mean the parent plant of yours was f1... did it look like the variety should?

would be nice to see some pictures more from the outdoor chiligarden... :D

looking good

Lainaus käyttäjältä: "cornell".. smal leafes and fruits to make few seeds... just a gues

An interesting thing is that the pods are not smaller. Aji Cristal for example has couple of monster ones, compared to the new plants in the garden. I'll take a picture of that soon.
Christmas Bell is still growing its fruits, so I do not know what size they will end up being.

Lainaus käyttäjältä: "cornell"would be nice to see some pictures more from the outdoor chiligarden... :D

I have to go out to the garden and snap more pictures. I hope to have time for that this weekend.

Temperature overnight should drop to +15°C, finally we can sleep windows open. Day time temps are still close to 30°C, but that will feel refreshing after the hot and humid days. For the whole year we may also be behind from normal rain amounts, but lately we have had so many storms, that I have not had to water the garden much.

It's kind of interesting to compare the weather conditions... I lived for some time in Atlanta, GA, USA, getting used to almost daily, magnificient thunderstorms - and sometimes even tornadoes. To tell you the truth, I really missed them back here in Finland! ;) Here in Vantaa, close to Helsinki, there has been no single storm during the whole summer. Zero. The rest of Finland has been blessed (?) with rain and storms, but for some reason, the Helsinki area seems to be "storm-free" area. Some people might think that's just great. I think it just sucks. ;) Why? Because there's nothing like a truly mighty thunderstorm approaching - and making you realize how mighty mother nature really is!

This is bloody BORING, if safe as well... ;-)

I'd say there haven't been a single big storm in finland, at least what i've heard. A couple of tornadoes, or should I call them trombies, have passed but that's it. Well it is well known that we're experiensing a very dry summer here in Finland. I believe there will be hardly any mushrooms or berries in the forest. Damn.. I just love those rouskus(in english??).

Storms or not outside of the capital city area, there haven't been even any proper rains inside. I don't remember hearing the thunder anymore than once. The temps have also been abnormally high.

Just weard. I wonder does this drought have anything to do with the global warming. But should it effect this quickly? I hear that in famous country of rain, in UK, there haven't been very much that rain either. Any other country having droughts? If so, it would really give some proof for the global warming. I guess we will just have live with it. Let's just hope that The Summer of 07's will be rainier or at least a little bit cooler.

Ofcourse we, especially we, should think of the bright sides. Our lovely plants, must be mostly loving the weather. Sun, sun, sun and only sun.
So, tell me, have the outside and greenhouse plants grown any quicker because of this sunny summer? Too bad I don't have any memories to compare my plants with as I still am a first year grower.

Well, it certainly was a perfect year to start this hobby!

EDIT: Sorry for the misspellings but I just don't have the patince to hunt them down right now. And I'm pretty tired too.

Lainaus käyttäjältä: "cornell"
I think you are right about the hybrids beeing f2's... but that would mean the parent plant of yours was f1... did it look like the variety should?

The original seeds were for Purple Largo and the plant I took the seeds from looked different than other two, which looked like the description on the seed packet. So I must have collected the seeds from a hybrid plant.

Lainaus käyttäjältä: "thietavu"I lived for some time in Atlanta, GA, USA, getting used to almost daily, magnificient thunderstorms - and sometimes even tornadoes. To tell you the truth, I really missed them back here in Finland! ;)

I have to admit that the storms may sometimes be exiting to follow, but when there is a threat of golf ball size hails or strong winds destroying my garden or a tornado sucking up our house, it can be quite frightening. So far we have been lucky, even there has been destruction few kilometers away.

Lainaus käyttäjältä: "svalli"The original seeds were for Purple Largo and the plant I took the seeds from looked different than other two, which looked like the description on the seed packet. So I must have collected the seeds from a hybrid plant.

jep, i see... you had already answered my question in your original post...
Crosses are an intresting source of variation indeed... i'm just wondering is it posible that same pod has self and crosspollinated seeds?

Some super size hails rained over Savo -area in july... i'm happy it's not more common around here... i remember your storm reports from previous growing season... huh...

One good thing about drought is that the f***ing mosquitos aren't able to multiply... it's really nice to lay in the hammock without netting!!!
The other is that humidity related plant diseases are not problem this year... there it might be otherwise...

have you fertilized your bonzais? would guess that they start growing with extra N ... or not...

Lainaus käyttäjältä: "tupakka"Any other country having droughts? If so, it would really give some proof for the global warming.

In my hometown in Brazil (and the rest of the south of Brazil), it has been very dry too.  The fields and crops are suffering very badly.  Even the migthy Iguassu Falls has dried out almost completely! I've seen some pictures that are actually hard to believe...

In any case, these draughts are a common periodic occurence in the South of Brazil, called La Niña.  This phenomenom is the opposite of the famous El Niño.  It causes droughts in the South and floods in the North of Brazil, while the latter causes flood in the South and draughts in the North...

As growing medium for the overwintered plants I have used mixture of peat, coir, perlite, bat poop, worm poop, kelp meal and tomato fertilizer. I have been fertilizing them with sea weed extract, fish emulsion and a bit of liquid tomato fertilizer. The plants are located by a south side wall where they get a lot of sun. Leaves look paler than in the plants on east side of the house; all of them are fertilized same way so I suspect that more sunlight makes them light green?

This is the Aji Cristal
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/svalli/Chili/pottedajicristalplant.jpg)
This is one of the pods on the Aji Cristal. I noticed that the new plants in the garden have some same size pods, this one just looked so huge.
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/svalli/Chili/pottedajicristal.jpg)
Christmas Bell will soon be filled with dangling bells.
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/svalli/Chili/pottedchristmasbell.jpg)

I took some pictures from garden and now I have to figure out how and where to publish them. I do not want to put too many picture files on this forum because it may slow down the download. I have to find out how to make better gallery on our home page.

Global warming seems to come up on many discussion forums and lately there has been quite many TV documentaries about the issue. In my mind earth's climate is definitely changing and part of it may be results of increasing CO2 levels in the atmosphere due to burning of the fossil fuels, but main reason for the changes may be that the earth is constantly changing and going through cold and hot periods. Our actions may just speed up the natural process.

Here you can see some pictures of my garden in slideshow format:
http://home.wi.rr.com/vallinmaki/photogallery.htm

I am not a Java progammer, but I was able to copy and modify some code, which does a slideshow. This way I can put slidshow of selected pictures hosted by Photopucket on our home page. I was trying to add caption, but could not figure out how to make it visible. I would like to have array of text strings, which would show under the correct picture. I am an old ansi C programmer, so this Java stuff is new to me.
If someone knows how to add the caption texts, without adding them to the picture files, I would greatly appreciate any hints.

I did little searching on the web and found some code I was able to learn from and create the captions on the garden photo slideshow (http://home.wi.rr.com/vallinmaki/photogallery.htm).

I tasted now the other Purple Largo hybrids and all of them are hot. Anyone interested on seeds of a hot bell pepper? Naturally there is no guarantee that the F3 generation will produce silmilar shape or hotness.

I know that this is not a chile, but I am so excited about our large pumpkin that I have to brag about it here. This is not yet any competition size pumpkin, but for a novice grower like me it is an achievement. You can see my toes below the pumpkin for size comparison.
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/svalli/garden06/giantpumpkin060813.jpg)
Last year we lost all of our pumpkin plants to bugs. This year we have three different kind of pumpkin plants and all of them have survived and have fruit growing on them. The big one is Prizewinner Hybrid. The pumpkin has already started to change color, so it may not grow much anymore.

I found just two ripe peppers today; one Hot Large Cherry and one Dedo de Moca. Ripening seems to be really slow. The plants have grown, so that they need more support. I had to lift Chile de Arbol branches up and was amazed by the pods it is growing. They are like green beans, hard to see between the stems of the branches. It is interesting how the plant looks totally different than other annuums; leaves are long and narrow and it has much more branches, it almost reminds me of some baccatums. I got the seeds in a trade; originally they came from Mexico.
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/svalli/garden06/ChiledeArbol.jpg)

Sorry for the bad quality of my photos. DH is three weeks in Finland and took the digital camera with him. I was already going to buy some cheaper     camera to take pictures with, but then I remembered that our digital camcorder can take stills. I just forgot how bad resolution it has...

I found something quite unique and strange today. I was checking the chile plants in garden and took a closer look to my second Chile de Arbol, which grows in the middle of other plants. It has been hidden by the bigger Chile de Arbol, which is really bushy. I was looking if the smaller one had yet any pods and when I looked at the flowers I noticed that they were double. All of the flowers in that plant have double petals, like there is a one flower inside an other.

Flowers are creamy white, not such bright white like in the other Chile de Arbol. The stamens inside the flower are tiny and twisted.  I could not see the pistil at all and I could not see any parts which would clearly had pollen. I searched for pods, but could not find any. There were two flowers, which had faded and it looked like there could be a pod forming.

Stems of this plant are purple and leaves have purple veins and there is thin purple line on the outer edges of otherwise green leaves. The leaves are quite narrow.

Has anyone seen a double Capsicum flower? It really looks strange, when I am used to all of them being single.

I wish I had the camera, so I could take photos of the flowers and the plant. Hubby will still be gone for two weeks, so the proof of my observations has to wait, unless I can borrow a good camera from someone.

I noticed a double flower today, it already lost its petals, has two pistils and two starting pods emerging from one flower, I'll take a picture and post it here later today :)

Here it is, sorry for the bad quality, the pod(s) is located in a hard to reach spot on the plant.

(http://maxpowa.telenet.be/two_headed.jpg)

This is on a Habanero Caribbean red by the way, from commercialy bought seeds. There are a few other odd shaped flowers on this plant, so it might be something genetic.

Steve

Steve,

You have cool siamese twin pods forming there. I have seen tomatoes doing a lot of that and this year I had one summer squash, where two squashes grew from one stem. My double flowers in the Chile de Arbol are a single flower having two layers of petals, like in the fancy petunias or some other hybridized flowers. If they produce fruit there should be only one pod forming.

I see,

would like to see a picture of that, sounds very intresting :)

Does it have a full set of stamens? I read somewhere that there are flowers with a genetic fault (developed on purpose) that causes stamens to develop into petals, thus giving a double (or triple or etc...) row of petals.

Steve

I borrowed camera from the office and took photos of the double flower chile.

Here is a flower bud:
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/svalli/garden06/doublearbolbud.jpg)

Flower from the side:
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/svalli/garden06/doublearbolflower1.jpg)

Flower from the front:
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/svalli/garden06/doublearbolflower2.jpg)

Tiny pod forming:
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/svalli/garden06/doublearbolpod.jpg)

Leaves on the top have more purple:
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/svalli/garden06/doublearbolleaves.jpg)

I can not take a picture of the whole plant because it is in quite tight place. Now I saw in the photos that the stamens have pollen and there is a pistil, so these should be self fertile. I will try to root cuttings of this plant because I want to keep it growing over the winter and maybe the seeds will not produce similar plants.

Has anyone seen or heard about this type of a chile? Is this a C. annuum or something totally else?

Looks like that double petal flower has not so many stamens... at least with roses multilayer petal flowers lose their stamens... or stamens are replaced by petals... seems to be same case in your flower...

Finally the peppers in the garden have started to ripen. I had my first ripe Jimmy Nardello. It looks like it could be a hot pepper, but it is so sweet and totally delicious.

I had also a ripe PI 441551 today. Taste and shape is same as the Christmas Bell; these may indeed be same variety. I'll do more comparison, when the CBs start ripening.

This evening I picked some peppers and tomatoes for salsa. One Beaver Dam had got a bit of red so I picked it. These peppers are described as mildly hot and I agreed to that after tasting one unripe. When gutting the peppers and discarding the seeds and the mid part I usually test how hot the mid is by touching it with my tongue. This time I had also my lips touch it and they were in intense pain immediately. I tried milk, but it did not help. I was walking around in the kitchen and cursing my stupidity and wondering what to do, when I remembered the Orajel. I ran to the bathroom and rubbed Orajel on my lips and got almost an instant relief. I have to remember to buy more of that stuff, because it will be needed when the pepper crop starts ripening. I like testing the taste of peppers, but I do not want any fiery face experiments. I have to remember to test, if that same cream works on skin because in the morning I chopped some baccatums to be used with lunch and accidentally rubbed the juice of the peppers on my face with my fingers. I tried a normal wrinkle cream and it just made the burning under my nose worse.

In all the fuss I forgot to taste the Beaver Dam pepper itself. I just threw it into the Tupperware chopping thing with couple or jalapenos, sweet banana peppers, onions, tomatoes and cilantro. I do not like to go to the Tupperware parties, but this chopper thing has been worth the money and 'suffering' through a party. I just put my ingredients in and wind the thing by hand and "voilà" the fresh salsa is done.  I have electric food choppers, but they make everything too fine easily, so the manual one is great for chunkier salsa.

By the way the salsa is extremely good and has perfect hotness. The Beaver Dam seems to be perfect salsa pepper. It is large, productive and hot. I will be saving seeds from these.

A perfect late night snack:
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/svalli/latenightsnack.jpg)

I tasted my first Brazilian Multicolor Acorn today. It was not totally ripe, but it had still the wonderful fruity baccatum flavor. I was actually able to test the flavor before the heat kicked in and it felt like my heart is stopping. These are quite nice little fire bombs. Plant seems to grow similar way as Aji Omnicolor. I should have planted this one in a pot and not in the garden where it is shaded by the taller baccatums.

http://www.orajel.com/

That product sounds useful for chile 'accidents'. Does anybody know if it's available in Finland?

I found some more ripening Beaver Dam peppers today. One of them is huge; it is 20 cm long, 8 cm wide and at the stem end it gracefully tapers to the tip, scale showed 207 grams. It is partially ripe with bright red and light green coloring - totally gorgeous pepper. Unfortunately the camcorder battery died so I could not get the picture out.

Taste of these peppers is sweet and they are crunchy. Heat in the flesh is slow, first I could not feel it and seconds later my lips and mouth started to burn more and more. These are the absolutely best salsa peppers for making fresh salsa. If anyone wants seeds of this American-Hungarian heirloom, let me know.

Hep, here's one!  :D

Kaitsu

Me too! I have been looking for a good big & relatively mild pepper variety for some time...

With pleasure!

Yesterday I found first ripe Sweet Datil. Even the smell of it was aromatic, when I cut in half. Taste was heavenly and I could detect a tiny amount of heat. Unfortunately my mild chinenses have not grown as well as I wanted. There are some pods growing but they will get eaten right out of the plants and I may not have enought for preserving.

Last night we had quite strong thunderstorms with hail. I have not checked the garden yet. I hope there is no bad destruction.

The rain, rain, rain came down, down, down...

Rain and thunderstorms have been going on now for three days. Luckily there has not been any damage, since there do not seem to be high wind with these storms. It has been raining a lot and there has been flooding in low areas. Our house is on top of a hill so we are safe from floods, but sometimes the lightning can get really scary.

It is raining hard even at this moment and the thunder makes it sound like we are in middle of a war zone. The radar map shows that  there is a long thin line of storms approaching us and  they will keep going over our area. It may continue be like this the most of the day.
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/svalli/radarmap.jpg)

Tomorrow should be finally sunny again and I can go to pick ripe peppers and tomatoes from the garden. The ground will surely be well watered.

Lainaus käyttäjältä: "svalli"The rain, rain, rain came down, down, down...

Rain and thunderstorms have been going on now for three days. Luckily there has not been any damage, since there do not seem to be high wind with these storms. It has been raining a lot and there has been flooding in low areas. Our house is on top of a hill so we are safe from floods, but sometimes the lightning can get really scary.

How I ENVY you - in a weird way! ;) For some reason, I love the power of thunderstorms. While living in Atlanta, I always looked forward to the almost daily, magnificent storm... Here in Vantaa, Finland, there are practically no thunderstorms at all. Actually, although Finland is a very good place to live in, I have two irrational complaints:
1) No real mountains
2) No real thunderstorms
= Boring! ;-)

Well, I might reconsider if egg-sized hail had turned my car into a modern piece of art... Or a tornado had taken my roof off. And so on. The people of New Orleans might also have a word or two about the "fun" of storms.

That's the thing about Mother Nature. It's magnificent. And it's something to respect - because its power is beyond our technology and understanding... That's the beauty of it, too. The thing I love about America is that it's (still) a wild, wild place. ;) Dangerous currents for swimmers. Severe storms and winters. Very hot. Very cold. Very everything... Wonder what Russia is like? Probably very similar.

My C. pubescens have finally set fruit. I have four potted plants, which have been flowering some time, but it may had been too warm earlier. There should be at least one more month of outdoor season left, so maybe there is enough time for the pods to grow.

I have 22 chile pots around the house. There will be too many to try to bring indoors to overwinter, but it is hard to decide, which will be keepers. We should build a sun room, where I could keep all the plants during winter.
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/svalli/Chili/pottedpepperplants060829.jpg)

This is my year and half old Aji Omnicolor. It has quite nice color show at the moment.
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/svalli/Chili/AjiOmnicolor060829.jpg)

I updated couple of pictures on the garden journal and the photogallery.
http://home.wi.rr.com/vallinmaki/gardenjournal.htm

Giant Marconi peppers are true giants again. I like their sweet taste much better than bell peppers and these are also easier to grow and more productive. The one on the top is a sweet banana pepper named Bounty Hybrid.
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/svalli/Chili/giantmarconis06.jpg)

I had not checked the Sweet Datils for a while and was happy to find all these unripe pods.
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/svalli/Chili/sweetdatil.jpg)

I found some first ripe ones from varieties, which I have not had yet. Puerto Rican No burn is so awesome that I may just eat them as they ripen. These small chinenses have the most taste of all my seasoning peppers so far. There is just enough heat to warm my mouth, but I do not need anything to cool it down.
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/svalli/Chili/PuertoRicanNoBurn.jpg)

First Mexican Red C. baccatum was also ripe. I did not dare to taste it yet, because I have no idea about the heat level. Maybe tomorrow I'll slice it into a sandwich
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/svalli/Chili/mexicanred.jpg)

And the ones I have been afraid of are starting to ripen too. My very first Chocolate Habanero. I may have to eat it like that to feel how painful chiles can be. I will first remove the seeds for saving before savoring the taste of this treat, so it may not be the real chilehead experience, but for me it will be close enough.
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/svalli/Chili/ChocolateHabanero.jpg)

Looking nice!!!  Btw: what kind of mixture u have in your soilbeds? My first habas are ripening too...  haven't decided yet how to prosess them...

The raised beds in the garden are  made with collapsible frames, which I will move around each year.  We can till the whole garden before arranging the frames. Our soil is sandy and the garden is in a slope, so it dries quickly and I use the frames to prevent the water from running down the hill. I during the years I have added a lot of organic matter to the garden and finally now it starts to be good for growing. Couple of springs we ordered a truck load of commercially made compost and I have been adding smaller amounts of peat moss and bagged cow manure compost when planting. I use grass clippings as mulch and that also adds some organic matter to the soil every year and helps the ground from drying too fast.

I ate the Mexican Red baccatum last night. The inside of the pepper looked interesting. The placenta went through the pepper all the way from stem to the tip, so the lobes were separated inside with a wall. Some of the seeds were tiny and had turned black; for some reason I get this many times with the first pepper on a plant. I do not know if this affected the taste, but this was not the best tasting baccatum in my mind. It had the baccatum taste, but no sweetness. Heat was strong and had nasty sting, but I still ate the whole thing and this time without any unsensitizing products 8).

Lainaus käyttäjältä: "svalli"I ate the Mexican Red baccatum last night. The inside of the pepper looked interesting. The placenta went through the pepper all the way from stem to the tip, so the lobes were separated inside with a wall. Some of the seeds were tiny and had turned black; for some reason I get this many times with the first pepper on a plant. I do not know if this affected the taste, but this was not the best tasting baccatum in my mind. It had the baccatum taste, but no sweetness. Heat was strong and had nasty sting, but I still ate the whole thing and this time without any unsensitizing products 8).

Interesting... You would probably *love* PI-260460... See the description from Inferno's "info" section in Finnish... :)  Also Pilange is very, very good! Both are hot ones, truly...

Lainaus käyttäjältä: "Aji Inferno"You would probably *love* PI-260460...

Well, I do not know if I am that brave or masocistic. :lol:

The first hot bell pepper was ripe to be harvested for tasting and seed saving.
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/svalli/Chili/hotbellpepper.jpg)

The pepper flesh is a bit thinner than in bigger bells, but has the same taste. The heat in the flesh is slow and quite enjoyable. The ribs have yellow layer on them, which I believe is capsaisin. I cut the ribs off and took a bite of one.
It was a big mistake. Those yellow drops on the surface must be pure capsaisin and it does hurt!
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/svalli/Chili/capsaisin.jpg)

There are signs of fall in the air. Today was much cooler than normal, so it was pretty good day for harvesting and juicing some frozen berries from the freezer with the steam juicer. Tomorrow I am planning to make the first patch of hot pepper jelly, by using just C. baccatums. I picked also 27 kg of pears from our tallest tree and those have to be processed too. I wonder if I could spice up the pear sauce with some peppers.

For dinner our son wanted the favorite food of most American kids: Mac & Cheese. DH left for a hunting trip this morning, so I did not feel like cooking something else just for me. The cheesy macaroni stuff becomes quite courmee food, when I mixed fresh diced Trinidad Seasoning peppers and an Aji Cristal to my bowl, before eating.

I got quite bored tonigh and watching same old movies from TV did not sound really fun. So for my own amusement I seeded and ate a ripe Chocolate Habanero. Here is the thing before consuming it.
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/svalli/Chili/chochaba.jpg)

Since being alone (son and cat were already sleeping) I had no witnesses, so as a proof of my bravery I captured a video  (http://s2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/svalli/?action=view&current=Chochaba.flv)of it with the computer. As a modest person I did all the worst suffering off from the camera. This must be the hottest and one of the best tasting peppers I have ever eaten whole. I admit that I am quite sissy, since I removed the seeds with the excuse of saving them. :wink: Even the flavor of these is really good, I may not eat an other one just like that.

Now my stomach starts to hurt and it is time to go to bed. I hope the pain in my stomach does not get any worse than it is now.

nice to have a face to you too...chocolate habanero is one mean berry.. brave woman....

Fiery face (tm) -video  :)

You should get a medal or something for that act :shock:

But what is that weird mumble-jumble -language you're speaking ?  :roll:

Great video, Sari! :)

It's nice to be able to put a face to a nickname. Perhaps a separate thread with pictures of us would be great.


-Sale

Nice video, looks like somebody was hurting.... :twisted:
Actually I was expecting more face expressions, but it was ok anyway.
While chewing the last piece, you looked like some 90 year old having a stroke. :D
But it was good to see who's hiding behind the nick....

Kaj

That video was really something, congrats! :)

Now that's a clip I won't watch when I'm thinking of eating a Habanero. Loved the authentic agony...  :twisted:

And I bet you'll have to eat your words someday on that last note about never going to do that again...

Thanks guys! Since the camcorder was connected directly to the PC, I was not able to move it with me, when I ran to the kitchen to take a sip of the gallon milk jug and after that to the bathroom to keep my tongue under a running tap. I was so much in pain that I did not find my magic numming gel tube, so I did not use it at all. I ran around the house drooling, sneezing and crying, until I remebered that milk is the best remedy. It is amazing how holding milk in my mouth made the pain to fade.

During the night I woke up because by stomach was burning badly. I had to take painkillers, so I could get back to sleep. The pain was not the worst I have had in my life, but the idea of me causing it myself by my own actions made me feel worse. I just wonder if eating so hot peppers is good for health...

Lainaus käyttäjältä: "svalli"I just wonder if eating so hot peppers is good for health...

It might not be good for your gastric track.  :evil: According to this study you can eat chilies often, but you should limit the amounts somewhat. Chew the habanero and spit it out?  :wink:

Chili Pepper Consumption and Gastric Cancer in Mexico: A Case-Control Study
Lizbeth López-Carnllo, Mauricio Hernández Avila and Robert Dubrow
American Journal of Epidemiology Vol. 139, No. 3: 263-271

Laboratory studies indicate that capsaicin, the hot-tasting component of chili peppers, may be carcinogenic. A population-based case-control study was conducted in Mexico City during 1989–1990 to evaluate the relation between chili pepper consumption and gastric cancer risk. The study included 220 incident cases and 752 controls randomly selected from the general population. Information was collected by interview. Chilipepper consumers were at high risk for gastric cancer compared with nonconsumers (age-and sex-adjusted odds ratio = 5.49, 95% confidence interval (Cl) 2.72–11.06). Among consumers, there was a highly significant trend of increasing risk with increasing self-rated level of consumption (low, medium, and high) (p = 2 × 10-7). The odds ratio for high-level consumers compared with nonconsumers was 17.11 (95% Cl 7.78–37.59). However, when consumption was measured as frequency per day, a significant trend among consumers was not observed. Multivariable adjustment increased the magnitude of the chili pepper-gastric cancer association, but a significant trend among consumers (measured as frequency per day) was still not observed. Chili pepper consumption may be a strong risk factor for gastric cancer, but further studies are needed to test this hypothesis.

Lainaus käyttäjältä: "svalli"Thanks guys! Since the camcorder was connected directly to the PC, I was not able to move it with me, when I ran to the kitchen to take a sip of the gallon milk jug and after that to the bathroom to keep my tongue under a running tap. I was so much in pain that I did not find my magic numming gel tube, so I did not use it at all. I ran around the house drooling, sneezing and crying, until I remebered that milk is the best remedy. It is amazing how holding milk in my mouth made the pain to fade.

The makers of Blair's sauces etc claim on their website that while milk etc is fine for surviving the heat, the best cure is actually strong booze! ;)

And that is correct. Because though capsaicin dissolves in fat as we know, ethanol has actually similar solvent characteristics.

Source: Wikipedia

Lainaus käyttäjältä: "Thp"And that is correct. Because though capsaicin dissolves in fat as we know, ethanol has actually similar solvent characteristics.

Source: Wikipedia

What does this mean..? So far it's (often) been: first get comfortably drunk, then get capsaicined, then yell for help (& milk)... From now on, it sounds even more frightening. Again, get drunk enough to eat that damned Habanero... Then get capsaicined. Then get even a lot more drunk in order to calm your stomach and bowels down...

Am I the only one here who can see some *serious* potential trouble..? ;-)

After all, perhaps the ideal thing is to drink chili booze... Still, after seeing what happened in our Vaasa chili-meeting (that HORRIBLE bottle with zillions of Habaneros crushed in!), I have my doubts...  :twisted:

:lol:

But as said earlier, ethanol only chops the capsaicin, it doesn't neutralise it. Therefore it wouldn't be of any use to drink before eating chilis, except for the possible numbness. But a manly sip of vodka should at least help your tongue to cool off a bit.

Only speculating here.

:mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: you leave no other option for the rest of us .... habakaste... it's almost a ritual

If that was meant for me, I'm doomed. :mrgreen:

Lainaus käyttäjältä: "Thp"If that was meant for me, I'm doomed. :mrgreen:

Whatever you guyz are talking about, it's 1) extremely suspicious, 2) highly fiery and 3) something someone just *has to* shoot on video! ;)

Brutal video clip.   I couldn't even imagine doing what you did.   You are very brave.  There should be medals for that accomplishment.

Chris

We had again three days of almost constant rain. On Tuesday my workplace almost flooded, it is good that our home and my garden is on a hill. Usually from August to mid September we do not have to do much mowing and the grass turns brown, but now it is lush green and grows a lot.

Yesterday I was finally able to check the garden. I picked one plastic grocery bag of sweet peppers, one of hot. peppers and a bag full of cucumbers. I took a day of vacation today to do canning, freezing and dehydrating. So I better get to work now!

I tasted the first ripe Pimenta Cambuci. It had no heat and tastes and looks just like PI 441551 and Christmas Bell, so I wonder if actually all of them are the same variety. Only way the Pimenta Cambuci differs from the PI 441551 that it is not as productive and seems to be later. The pods are also a bit bigger, but there is just few of them. I have only one plant growing of this variety, so this individual plant may just be a bit late.

This week we got much cooler temperatures than normally. Sunday it was still almost 30°C and today it way be only 11°C. West side of the state has frost warning for overnight. I hope we will not see any killing frost yet, because the garden is full of ripening peppers. Somehow I'm tired of the tomatoes, so I would not mind if they go. In the end of the season the tomato plants start to look quite ugly, while the peppers are green and lush. Again I am promising my self not to plant so many tomatoes next spring...

Cambuci and PI 441551 are not the same.  They are quite similar, but Cambuci (which is the same as chapéu-de-frade or friar's hat or bishop's hat) is bigger and the pods are generally more round than PI 441551.  The taste is quite similar, but I found the PI 441551 to be a bit sweeter.  Also the PI 441551 has a hint of heat in some pods, while the cambuci is non-pungent.  This is at least my observations from plants I had.

Anyway, very similar varieties from the same region in Brazil (Minas Gerais), so it might be that they're closely related or even that some varieties known as Cambuci are actually a bit mixed with PI 441551.  Hard to say...

Lainaus käyttäjältä: "luca"Also the PI 441551 has a hint of heat in some pods, while the cambuci is non-pungent.  This is at least my observations from plants I had.

:?:  I think PI441551 I am growing has a lot more than just a hint of heat in the pods...  It may, of course, be not pure variety.

Lainaus käyttäjältä: "JartsaP":?:  I think PI441551 I am growing has a lot more than just a hint of heat in the pods...  It may, of course, be not pure variety.

"A hint of heat" is a relative concept ;) But since you're a seasoned chilehead, I'll take your comment as something rather hot to the initiated ;)

I have two PI 441551 plants (seeds from Fatalii) and both have the exact same looks, both in the growth habit and in leaves/fruits shape.  Also the taste and (almost total) lack of heat is the same.  Some pods were slightly hotter, but they were still very mild.

Of course these variations can occur depending on the growth environment, so maybe your plants have received a lot more sun and heat than mine, which could have caused the extra heat ;-)

My (Fataliis) PI441551 was practically heatles in the beginning of harvest, but after warm july and harvesting one half of the pods the rest got quite pungent

Lainaus käyttäjältä: "luca"Cambuci and PI 441551 are not the same.  They are quite similar, but Cambuci (which is the same as chapéu-de-frade or friar's hat or bishop's hat) is bigger and the pods are generally more round than PI 441551.  The taste is quite similar, but I found the PI 441551 to be a bit sweeter.  Also the PI 441551 has a hint of heat in some pods, while the cambuci is non-pungent.  This is at least my observations from plants I had.

Thanks for the information Luca!

So my observation about the Cambuci being larger than the PI 441551 is because they are different varieties. So Cambuci should be safe to give to children if they have no heat, like the PI 441551, which can sometimes be surprisingly hot. I like the surprise factor of the heat, because it usually is not too pungent, but for a child it may be too much.

I learned a lesson the other night. I touched some dry Chocolate Habaneros with my bare fingers and then made a sandwich for our son. While eating he started complaining that something is burning his lips. First did not realize what could have caused such until I put one of my fingers on my tongue. My fingertips were covered with capsaicin and I had got it also in the sandwich.

I harvested most of the potatoes today and now my back hurts really badly. For dinner we had then traditional Finnish style browned ground beef in gravy with pink potatoes (pink also inside), ripe green tomatoes and Beaver Dam peppers. Quite simple meal with fruits and tubers of three different solanaceae family plants from our own garden. It is quite amazing that all these edibles originated from same area and are now cultivated and eaten all around the world.
Photo of the harvested potatoes is in my journal (http://home.wi.rr.com/vallinmaki/gardenjournal.htm).

Long waited first Aji Orange was finally ripe. I took the seeds out for saving and ate the pod. Taste is really fruity with hint of mandarin orange and heat is a bit more than in PI 441551. This is really tasty baccatum.
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/svalli/Chili/AjiOrange.jpg)

There is threat of frost for Thursday night, so I went to harvest all ripe peppers. I got one grocery bag of sweets and an other one of hots.
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/svalli/Chili/pepperharvest060927.jpg)

Tomorrow I am planning to cover the garden plants and carry all pots to garage. Baccatums are full of green pods, so I hope this is not the killing frost, since the weather should get warmer after Friday.

We did not get frost week ago and there has been even some thunderstorms earlier this week. Now we have again cold air coming and tonight we may see the first frost. I covered all peppers in the garden, because they look still so good. I built some kind of a greenhouse over the chinenses from the cheap greenhouse frame and plastic sheet. The original greenhouse did not fit over my beds, so I had to modify the construction.
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/svalli/garden06/chinensehouse.jpg)

Some of the potted plants look a bit sad, but this pequin is in good shape.
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/svalli/Chili/pequin.jpg)

The year old Tabasco Greenleaf looks like a bonzai tree with the thick trunk. The small pot where it is growing may have kept the plant so small.
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/svalli/Chili/tabascogreenleaf.jpg)

PI441551 may be difficult to identify if you have only one pod. I have picked these on the same plant.
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/svalli/Chili/PI441551pods.jpg)

There was frost on the roof and lawn this morning. We had to leave from home so early that I could not go to remove the covers from the garden. When we got home in the evening I was happy to find all pepper plants in good condition. Even the tomato vines seemed to survive without covers.

Next frost threat is forecasted for Wednesday night. This weekend should be sunny and warm, I hope it speeds ripening of the green chile pods.

My Garden Journal (http://home.wi.rr.com/vallinmaki/gardenjournal.htm)

First patch of peppers are in the smoker. I am using cherry wood for the smoke and trying to keep the temperature low. I used both some ripe sweet peppers and hot peppers to get medium hotness. Next thing is to dehydrate them and the grind to powder. I will leave the dehydrator outside overnight, because the smoke smell from the drying peppers is quite strong.

I checked the weather forecast and was shocked. Wednesday night I will be busy picking peppers, even if they are not ripe, if this forecast holds.
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/svalli/garden06/forecastoct08.jpg)

I cut up and froze quite many Chocolate Habaneros. I found a good use for the seeds and placenta; I rubbed them on the surface of the colorful dried indian corn cobs, which we have outside as fall decoration. Last year squirrels ate the corn in couple of days. Now the critters will get a big surprise... :twisted:

I deseeded mild C. chinenses for jelly. I should have enough for a batch to cook tomorrow night. I can't wait how it will turn out. If more heat is needed I can use some of the Chocolate Habaneros. I just love the chinense aroma; I find it somehow erotic and exiting. Baccatums have totally different fresh and fruity flavor, which is nice too, but there is something sensual in the chinenses, specially the mild ones. If hot peppers are considered in some cultures as aphrodisiacs, it must be the C. chinenses. If I succeed with the jelly, I will use it to make filled chocolates. The end result could be something extraordinary; dark chocolate filled with chinense jelly could be better than sex... :D

Lainaus käyttäjältä: "svalli"I found a good use for the seeds and placenta... Last year squirrels ate the corn in couple of days. Now the critters will get a big surprise... :twisted:

Or they are feeding in your chiligarden next year !!!

LainausI deseeded mild C. chinenses for jelly. ... I just love the chinense aroma; I find it somehow erotic and exiting. ...If hot peppers are considered in some cultures as aphrodisiacs, it must be the C. chinenses. If I succeed with the jelly, I will use it to make filled chocolates. The end result could be something extraordinary; dark chocolate filled with chinense jelly could be better than sex... :D

So, Svalli what's your jelly recipe???  :)

I made the jelly last night and it is heavenly. It is my best hot pepper jelly so far. Heat in the jelly may be too much for some people or too little for the experts, but in my mind it is just perfect. I put a drop of it on top a chocolate piece for taste testing and it was sensational.

I used just C. chineses for making this. The used peppers were: Trinidad Seasoning, Sweet Datil, Aji Cachuca, Puerto Rican No Burn, Long Chocolate Habanero and dried Red Savina flakes. I pureed all fresh deseeded peppers in blender with lemon juice, apple cider vinegar and a cup of sugar. Before starting the blender was full of the pepper halves (about 1.2 litres). I poured the puree to a kettle and got it boiling, then I added the rest of the sugar. About 1/3 of the sugar was such raw turbino sugar, which has more flavor. A taste test after adding the sugar indicated that I need more heat so I put in good teaspoon of dried Red Savina flakes. After the sugar had dissolved I boiled the mixture a bit before adding liquid pectin. Rest of the process was according to the original recipe instructions. (http://www.kraftfoods.com/recipes/JamsJelliesPreserves/Savory/CERTOHotPepperJelly.html)

Sari's Heavenly Habanero Jelly

1.2 litres of seasoning peppers deseeded
1 deseeded Long Chocolate Habanero
1 tea spoon Red Savina flakes
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 cup apple cider vinegar (5% acidity)
4 cups granulated sugar
2.5 cups raw turbino sugar
1 pouch of Certo liquid pectin

(1 cup is about 2.5 dl)

Now when I have this jelly made, I will not be so sad that the season is ending soon.

LainausURGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI
751 AM CDT TUE OCT 10 2006

...FREEZING TEMPERATURES WEDNESDAY NIGHT TO THURSDAY MORNING...

.A STRONG LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM IS FORECAST TO ROTATE OVER LAKE
SUPERIOR WEDNESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. VERY COLD CANADIAN AIR WILL
POUR INTO WISCONSIN WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND THURSDAY ON BRISK WEST TO
NORTHWEST WINDS AROUND THE LOW. TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO DROP
INTO THE 20S OVER MUCH OF SOUTHERN WISCONSIN LATE WEDNESDAY NIGHT
AND THURSDAY MORNING...EFFECTIVELY ENDING THE GROWING SEASON
ACROSS SOUTHERN WISCONSIN.

Gardening season has now ended abruptly. This morning the temperature outside was -2.4°C. It is amazing how quickly the cold weather came. Still on Sunday we had 23°C and even the night was above 15°.

I picked yesterday evening as many green pods from the plants as I could. I got one full shopping bag of green mature size PI 441551 pods, an other one mixed baccatums and one of hot annuums. I do also have big basket full of green sweet peppers. There must still be hundreds of green pods on the plants, but it got too dark to find them from the jungle of the stems and leaves. I did not pick the chinenses, because they are in the temporary plastic greenhouse, now I think that they may not have had any chance for survival, because it got so cold. Tonight I have to go to see if I can still salvage the green pods from them; I hope they have not got mushy.

Now I should find ways to use the green ones. I like all peppers ripe, but I do not want to let these go to waste. I may pickle some and maybe try smoking part of them. What do I do with a lot of green PI441551?

Here is a picture of the sad sight in the garden; all the pods on the plants are mushy. I must be grazy growing these tropical plants in Wisconsin without a proper greenhouse. I start to believe that the hydroponics or some super huge conatiners are in place for everything else than early annuums. I still have the potted plants in garage, but they do not produce at all like the plants in the ground.
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/svalli/garden06/frozenstarfish061012.jpg)

That's sad.  :(

How big proportion of your harvest was wasted?

I would estimate that I was able to harvest only 1/4 of the baccatums. Annuums I got almost all, because the pods started to ripen earlier and there were not so many green left. The baccatum plants grow much bigger in the garden than in pots and pods start to ripen later, but the possible harvest is huge, if the season is long enough. Even in this area they do really belong to pots and/or in a greenhouse and so do chinenses too.

Best greenhouse for this area would be such that I could get the walls off during the hot months and back up during fall.

I have learned my lesson this season. :cry:

Season is alsmost over for me now. I picked all ripe and green peppers from the potted plants on Thursday evening. I still have some plants in garage in hopes for ripening the pods. It has been much cooler and rainier than normally so I have not moved the plants outside for the day.

I'm not sure if I will try overwintering any plants, since it was such a struggle with aphids last winter. The year old tepin and pequin plants are in so good shape that I will bring them in by a south side window.

For those who I have promised seeds, but have not received them yet: do not worry, I have not forgotten what I have promised. Most of the seeds have been dried and packaged and are waiting for mailing. I have just been quite lazy lately...

Sorry to hear you lost your late harvest ... if you don't want to build a massive greenhouse into your garden why not use those cheap ones you have? They are quite handy and easy to build... you could use them only in spring and autum... combined with hydroponics you would harvest a lot! :lol:

LainausFor those who I have promised seeds, but have not received them yet: do not worry, I have not forgotten what I have promised. Most of the seeds have been dried and packaged and are waiting for mailing. I have just been quite lazy lately...

:)

Remaining live potted plants are again enjoying sunshine outdoors. We got warm weather for few days, so I moved the plants out from garage. I am hoping to get the C. pubecens to ripen in the pots. Last year I got few ripe Rocotos, but this year they just keep staying green.

We have still been eating the pods I picked before the killing frost. It is amazing how long the fresh ones keep in plastic bags in cool area. Some of the green ones had ripened, so I smoked and dehydrated annuums and just dehydrated baccatums. Last week I cooked hot pepper jelly from Lemon Drops and Yellow Russians. This beatiful yellow jelly is the most brutal I have ever made. The heat is sharp and intense and even the sweetness of sugar does not subdue it. This is not a jelly be enjoyed on toast or crackers, I do not know how I am going to use it...

Season 2006 is not yet over! I will finally have a ripe Rocoto in end of November. :lol:
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/svalli/garden06/firstriperocoto2006.jpg)

Remaining plants are again outdoors enjoing fresh air. Temperature outside currently is about 15°C. Later this week we will get snow, so this  warm weather is just temporary.

I tasted the Lemon Drop Jelly on toast and it is actually not so hot, when you know what to expect, but I will not serve it to any non-chilehead friends...

Amazing--you still have peppers outside. Is this typical for your area?

john

Lainaus käyttäjältä: "JohnF"Is this typical for your area?

I have found out the there is no typical weather here in Midwest. This time of the year we can have nice sunny warm day today and freezing cold tomorrow.  It depends which side of the jet stream we are. We had cold earlier, but now it has been quite warm. On Thanksgiving day I had to mow grass before setting up a inflatable penguin and other Christmas stuff on the front yard.

Peppers are coming back in to the garage on Wednesday, when cold air from west is reaching us and it should snow.

At behind that bush is lovely birds eye(?) there is one black Rocoto too.. :cry:
By the way, you have lovely house

Lainaus käyttäjältä: "Maba"At behind that bush is lovely birds eye(?)

The one with red upright pods is my two years old Greenleaf Tabasco, which does not have any leaves at the moment, but the pods are still ripening. I should pick the pods and prune the plant. Stems are still green so there may be a change for survival.

The plants have a lot of aphids, so that's why I have not taken them in to the house. I do not want to spray the plants before the pods are ripe and I have not found enough live ladybugs to get rid of all the aphids. Only one in the house right now is the tepin with fuzzy leaves; aphids do not seem to like it so much as the other ones.

What a week! Wednesday morning we had still +13°C, Thursday it stayed around -5°C whole day and this morning we woke up to a snow storm. December 1st brought us the first Snow Day and schools were closed. I have some unused vacation days, so I too stayed home. Snowing finally ended in the afternoon. We got about 30 cm of snow, which then started to drift in the wind, so in some spots the snow is over 50 cm deep and some spots are bare.

Here is how it looks now. Some dried up medusa peppers are poking through the snow in the planter, which was left out.
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/svalli/garden06/snow061201.jpg)
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/svalli/garden06/medusa061201.jpg)

I had to bring the live plants indoors, because the garage is not warm enough anymore. Now I should find good place for them.

Those Rocotos are really tough with cold weather. I had one still hanging on on the balcony while it was snowing outside!

Lainaus käyttäjältä: "svalli"
Since being alone (son and cat were already sleeping) I had no witnesses, so as a proof of my bravery I captured a video  (http://s2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/svalli/?action=view&current=Chochaba.flv)of it with the computer. As a modest person I did all the worst suffering off from the camera. This must be the hottest and one of the best tasting peppers I have ever eaten whole. I admit that I am quite sissy, since I removed the seeds with the excuse of saving them. :wink: Even the flavor of these is really good, I may not eat an other one just like that.

Now my stomach starts to hurt and it is time to go to bed. I hope the pain in my stomach does not get any worse than it is now.

Wow... that was brave :B
Damn that must have been strong, is there some approximate Scoville on that?

Hi Sari,

looking forward to hearing about your chili year 2007!

Do you have a greenhouse yet for your chilies?

Let us hear about what you´ve planned for 2007, it is always a joy to read about!

Lainaus käyttäjältä: "annesurfs"
Let us hear about what you´ve planned for 2007, it is always a joy to read about!

Thanks!
I have been quiet because there is not much to report. We just got about 30 cm snow overnight, so it feels like spring is far away. This year I have been really slow and have not yet started seeds except some germination experiments. I kept 11 of my potted plants and so far 8 of them look like they could make it. This year I may go with mostly annuums, and that is why I have not hurried.

The overwintered plants have serious aphid infestation and that is one reason, why I have not started seeds yet.  I do not want the aphids to move to the seedlings. This spring I am planning to buy more pepper plants from chilepants.com, their selection is really good and it is saves me from a lot of hassle. The chinenses I ordered from them last year performed quite well in the garden.

I should place my seed orders soon. I have listed 32 tomato varieties and 14 annuum peppers, which I am going to order from tomatogrowers.com .

No greenhouse plans yet, even I have been looking for the ones on different catalogs. This darn place is so windy that construction has to be solid, or the greenhouse will fly like a kite.

The 2007 season will soon be over. I have not had much growing, so there has not been much to tell about and finally now I can tell the reason, because it is quite public knowledge already. The house here in Wisconsin is for sale and we will move to Finland as soon as we can.

This spring I planted just eight tomato plants and nine peppers in the garden and couple of potted plants to be used as decoration. If I had known that the real estate market is so slow at the moment and it takes this long to sell the house, I would have planted more. Anyways I would not have had much time to take care of a big garden, since keeping the inside and outside just around the house in presentable condition takes a lot of time.

I have ordered a lot of tomato and pepper seeds and packed them in plastic containers, so I can take them with me. I will have to learn again how to garden in the northern climate and hopefully there will be enough room on our future yard to have a small greenhouse.

It is sad to leave the house and garden here, but I am excited about moving back after all these years. I know from a previous experience that it will not be easy to get adjusted, but hopefully this time we have the right mindset and better setup than ten years ago, when we came back to Finland and stayed only for a year.

:shock: Tervetuloa takas...just meinasin meilailla, että lähetänkö samaan osoitteeseen noi Murupi Docen siidut... Pitäisikö odottaa, että uus osote löytyy?

Me myytiin just talomme... damned, olis ollu kasvihuone hydroilla valmiina oottamassa !!!

C.

Kannattaa odotella uutta osoitetta, niin on halvempi ja varmempi postitus. Uusi työpaikka on Vaasassa, joten sen lähistöltä on sen asumuksenkin löydyttävä. Kasvihuoneellinen talo olisi kyllä ollut mukava.

Kumpa saisimme mekin tämän nykyisen talomme myytyä...

This is how my pepper garden has been 2007:

In the garden I have one Blocky Romanian, one Jalapeno, one Anaheim, one Sweet Banana, one Cubanelle and four Italian peppers. All of the plants were purchased.
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/svalli/peppergarden07.jpg)

I planted one Orange Habanero, one Cubanelle and one Long Cayenne in same big container. The Cayenne did not make it, but the Habanero has been quite productive, even it has stayed small.
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/svalli/orangehabanero.jpg)

This is my Greenleaf Tabasco growing as a bonsai. It is now on its third season.
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/svalli/thirdseasontabasco.jpg)

Ornamental peppers work well when planted with flowers. This Balck Pearl gives nice dramatic contrast to the other plants.
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/svalli/BlackPearl.jpg)

I do also have a one year old tepin in a pot. It almost died in the spring, but grew back and is now finally start to flower.

I'm dreaming about season 2008, even I am not sure how much room I will have for growing peppers. I listed all pepper seeds in my storage bin and came up with 114 varieties. I do also have 79 tomato varieties plus many other vegetable seeds. It will take many seasons and a lot of room to grow them all.

Very attractive set up you have there.

Thanks John,

I was hoping for the moderate planting and pretty flowers attracting prospective buyers, but it seems that there has not been any gardeners looking for a new place to live.

I wish I had planted more, since this would have been a quite good season. We have not yet had a frost and temperatures are still like in summer.

We had a quite cool summer but ,amazingly, have not yet had a frost either!

Wisconsin showed again its predictably unpredictable autumn weather. On last weekend and on Monday we still had +30°C and high humidity and even during night it did not drop below +20°C. Tuesday was pleasant +20°C day and after that it has barely got to +10°C with nights being around +5°C.  We went again from air conditioning to heating in one day.

Next two nights we have frost warnings, so I picked all peppers and the ripening tomatoes tonight.
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/svalli/Chili/lastharvest2007.jpg)

Top ones are Anaheim peppers; we had eaten all ripe ones already, so that's why there are no red ones. The brown looking ones have just started to turn to red from green. This variety is very sweet when ripe and really mildly hot and quite prolific, all those peppers came from one plant which has already produced ripe ones. I saved seeds from this even it may have been a hybrid.

Pile on the right is Sweet Italians. It also is a very productive and good tasting variety. I will definitely grow it in future. It has the same sweet taste as Jimmy Nardello, but this one was more productive and the shape makes these easier to cut.

Tomatoes are Pink Brandywines and German Queens. Both of them produced this year quite well and I got much bigger and better Brandywines than on previous years. This year the tomatoes were not so crowded and I planted them late, so one or the other (or both) may have made the difference.

This was not the greatest harvest for me, but quite good considering how few plants I had and I did not really have time to take care of them.

The first frost did not come over a week ago, like predicted, but now the weather is really cooling again. This morning the thermometer was showing just 3°C outside. The Dark-eyed juncos have returned to our yard, which is one of the signs of colder weather being here soon. These small birds are also called snow-birds, since they are here only for the winter and move up north to nest when spring comes. During the years I have learned to read the signs of nature here in Wisconsin and even we are eagerly waiting to move back to Finland it is sad to leave the place which has been our home for so long.

I do still have few green jalapenos in the garden, which I will pick tonight and I will move the potted chilies to garage for the night. Habanero is still doing well and is ripening more pods, Tabasco has dropped a lot of leaves, but it has still new buds forming, so it could maybe survive one more year, if I could keep it.

I picked some tomatoes from garden this morning for lunch and found out that they do taste like the ones from grocery store. It must be the cold night affecting. The ones which were picked week ago tasted much better. If tomatoes should not be refrigerated, because it changes the taste, same must apply to cold nights.

Season 2007 is now finally over; I dumped the last plants to compost yesterday. I had kept three pots in garage, where the last orange habaneros and tabasco were ripening. In same wide pot as the habanero I had a cubanelle and it had started to form new peppers. Tepin had a lot of tiny buds on it, but none had yet opened.

I do not know anyone around here who would have wanted to overwinter the plants, so I was forced to throw them out to the cold. It was kinda sad, but hopefully I can soon start new plants in a new place. If my new Harbor Freight 10x12 greenhouse fits on our new yard, the season 2008 looks promising.

We are now happily in Finland in our new home. First overseas containers arrived last week and I got my seeds. I have about 95 tomato and 125 pepper varieties with all sorts of other vegetable and herb seeds. I should start first peppers as soon as we have unpacked most of the moving boxes, but it is quite difficult to determine what to grow this year. I may grow mostly ornamentals and annuums, which will have time to produce before fall. I will also try few smaller chinenses and baccatums as houseplants and in patio containers.

There is a lot of things to do, I will start a new garden diary as soon as I am ready to start serious gardening.