So I went to the Land Down Under...

This will probably be the last post for a couple of weeks, as university work once again begins to pile up.

I never thought it would end up being as much work as this, but heck, I guess sometimes it is possible to have too much school work while at the same time having to work in full time employment...

:-(

I can confirm the first pods of the season!

Hazzah!

They are from the Lemon Drop. I am well and truly chuffed. This means the season is ON!

Booyah!, as the people say.

It's Pimms' O'clock and all that jazz!

I moved the Fatalii's somewhere sunny, but I will have to move one of them again, as that room is being turned into a student study room, and the last thing I want is to be blamed for a person of university-level education's lack of common sense in trying to taste a chilli pepper...

...but if there's something I have learned in all my years in the magical realm of 'academia', it's that a university education and common sense can sometimes be akin to oil and water.

I planted the two Cashew Apple seeds (that would be two unopened cashew nuts to everyone else) yesterday. Each seed is larger and heavier than probably all the packs of orange habanero seeds I have combined...

Now it's just a waiting game.

As I had said in the previous post, Almapaprika and I recently traveled to the land Down Under.

I have to admit, it was a wonderful and spectacular place.

But then again, we did travel during the Oz autumn, and were not subjected to the 40C temperatures of summer.

And, of course, while I was there, I could not help myself when I went to one of our gracious hosts' homes and discovered they too loved chillies:

Ah, there is something about growing your chillies outdoors that is so rewarding!

They also had a lemon tree and some passion fruit vines!

It was heavenly, even though the Oz Magpies are large (twice as large as the British ones) and rather fearsome looking with their red eyes.

Oh, and here's a treat:

Couldn't really go to Oz without taking a photo of a 'Roo.

Well, with any luck the next post will include photos of the pods back in the UK.

:-)

What a Planning Pickle

Wow...

Exams are over and a new semester of studies has begun.

I am going to be up to my armpits in work!

:-(

Politics of 'Big Society' and 'New Localism' asides (when I first heard of them I though they were games for my PS3, to be honest, and I thought 'gee! Is Big Society a cool cartoony game like Sim City?' but like Consuela from Family Guy, the answer as 'Eh nooooo...' It is all some cheeky and dangerously problematic new wave of 'let's re-define the role of planners' from the Planning Pickle, who is sadly also not a character of a PS3 game), this means I will be dedicating even less time to the chillies...

:-(

The seedlings are doing quite well, and what's even better, another of the Trinidad Scorpion x Giant White Habanero seedlings has also sprouted, along with the last of the Ring of Fire Cayennes!

:-)

Even one of the Strawberry Guavas looks to be germinating (and this time it's the real deal, not my foolishness).

I had to throw away two bags of dried chillies on Thursday because mould got into them!

:-(

Meaty chillies are difficult to dry. And even the slightest bit of moisture means mould. Away went about two dozen pods.

Even more disheartening, I used one of the Thai Dragons I grew last summer in a pot of Caribbean curry Almapaprika and I made on Thursday to spice it up...no heat! I ate a bit of the dried pod to make sure it wasn't a fluke.

No heat... good flavour, mind you. But there just wasn't any bite to it. It was a bit of a let down.

On a separate bit of news, those of you in the UK take note: selected Home Bargains are selling the 100ml Tabasco Chipotle sauce bottles for just 39p!

:-D

If you're wondering why I'm happy, it's because the 250ml bottles sell in world food stores and expensive delis for £5.00!

:-O

So if your nearby Home Bargains has them, I recommend you get the case they put out on the floor.

I can see clearly now, the label's on...

At last, some form of clarity!

I have to admit to my own personal stupidity in not properly labelling the coir pellets when I put the seeds in.

It has made for an interesting two weeks of guessing what has 'hatched'.

But finally, I can see it clearly, since what could have been either a Kumquat or a Stromboli Chilli has germinated:

Both did and I can confidently say they are chillies and not citrus.

I'm a bit sad, mind you. I was quite excited at the prospect of having little Kumquat plants.

But I guess them's the yams, as they say.

So, what I should have germinated at the moment is now definitely:

1 Goats Weed

1 Trinidad Scorpion x Giant White Habanero (F1 hybrid. Like a Liger or a Tiglon! So exciting!)

1 Gold Cayenne

2 Aji Lemon Drop

2 Stromboli

3 Ring of Fire Cayenne

10 out of 22 isn't that bad. I might be temped to do one or two more seeds of different varieties if there is space available, but one of the offices I use at work for growing chillies is being converted into a seminar room, so that will unfortunately limit space.

:-(

Two exams down, one exam and one report to go.

Las cosas en las que me meto yo... :-/

And we're off!

The first seed of the 2011 season has germinated!

And no surprise here, it's a Cayenne Ring of Fire. I have to admit that for the past three seasons these have been the most consistent performers for me. And they are good producers, so more to boot. They don't suffer as much with the mild temperatures of the UK, and thus tend to start setting fruit much earlier than the capsicum chinenses, which means that, though the plants grow a little smaller than the chinenses (though this is in part because I put them in smaller containers), I do manage to get a second harvest from them. The heat from them is also much more manageable for people than that of any of the Habaneros or 'super hots', which means I can more readily incorporate it into regular dishes.

I guess if you're short on space and want to grow a chilli which gives you 'edible heat', this would be my number one choice.

The first chilli seed germinated yesterday, but there was also another little one which germinated this morning: The Strawberry Guava.

Last year this particular plant was also quick off the blocks, but succumbed to damp because I kept it in the little greenhouse in the cupboard for too long.

I am hoping there will not be a repeat this year.

Once fully grown, this shrub/small tree can be frost hardy to an extent, which means it can be kept outdoors in the UK (except in severe weather), so it will hopefully make a very good large container plant.

Two out of 22 so far in less than a week. A promising start. Let's hope by next week I hit double digits.

Now, back to my meagre attempts at studying (revising to the Brits)

The 2011 Season Begins today!

At least for me, anyways.

Some folks have started already.

This will not be a heavy season for me (not like last year. I still have bags of chillies drying all around the flat, and jars of chilli related jams in the fridge.), because Almapaprika and I will more than likely be on the move once again, which means I can't have twenty-odd plant pots following me.

With that in mind, I've decided to make the 2011 season a bit more manageable.

I have just finished sowing:

-2x Goats Weed Chillies (c. annuum)

-2x Trinidad Scorpion x Giant White Habanero (c. chinense)

-2x Gold Cayenne (c. annuum)

-2x Lemon Drop (c. baccatum)

-2x Stromboli (c. annuum)

-2x 'Peppermo' peppers (c. chinense? they were an unidentified pepper from a forum pal I even forgot what they look like)

-2x Kumkuats (citrus japonica)

-4x Ring of Fire Cayenne (c. annuum)

-2x Cayenne (c. annuum)

-2x Red Strawberry Guava (psidium littorale)

I'm only growing two types of chinense this year! what gives?!

Oh, I do have two overwintered Fataliis at work, hoping THIS year I might get a pod off them...

As usual I am including the odd 'non-chilli' so that I can have a bit of variety. I guess I'll find out if citrus seeds keep viable for more than a year, since the kumkuat seeds are from 2007 (I really should check my box o'seeds more often.

I also apologise if this year the entries are fewer and further in between, but I'm in the middle of university stuff, which means spare time is a luxury rather than a commodity (though organisational skills are still a necessity of mine). It's also been the reason why I've been away from almost every single forum I belong to. The responsibilities of further education!

Hope you've all had a good holiday season, and let the growing commence!

:-)

Photo Update Numero Cuatro

Trinidad Scorpion mature pod.

A very curious immature Trinidad Scorpion pod.

Mature and immature Royal Gold Habanero pods.

That's about it for now, but will try to get the video of Dr. J eating the Barrackpore 7-Pot uploaded soon.

:-)

Photo Update Numero Dos

From the top, clockwise: Chocolate Habaneros, Orange Habaneros, Naga Morich, Datil, Ring of Fire Cayenne, and Madame Jeannette (yep, they do look like Orange Habs, but they all taper towards the end)

Chocolate Habaneros

Orange Habaneros. The largest one there was bigger than the BIG Chocolate Habanero in the previous post. It was amazing!

All good stuff! :-)

Photo Update Numero Uno

It has been a while since I posted photos, so I shall try to play catch up.

Having said that, here are some photos from 5&6 July:

A BIG Chocolate Habanero. Un Habanero Chocolate bien grande.

A Cayenne Ring of Fire. Un 'Cayenne Ring of Fire'.

From top to bottom: Chocolate Habaneros, Ring of Fire, Naga Morich (Bottom Left), Orange Habanero (Bottom Right). El Naga Morich se ve distinto al tradicional. Esta temporada todos los ajies de la planta de Naga Morich han crecido de esa manera. Pero no crean que son menos picantes. Para nada! son lo mas picante que he probado (casi).

More of the same :-)

Update 'Numero Dos' will be up shortly.

The Diversity of Life

Occasionally when growing plants, or indeed whenever you study life, you get the chance to see the intricacies of genetics at work.

One of the plants growing this season at the office is a Royal Gold Habanero. I planted and thankfully germinated two seeds. The plants have had very good, bushy growth, and unlike some of the other C. Chinenses at the office, this plant has not only flowered profusely, but produced a generous quantity of pods.

The pods in question have not been at all similar to the ones I saw on the chileman database, which is the same photo from the nursery which originally sold the plant (whether or not the nursery is the origin of the plant is unknown to me). I got the seeds from one of the thehotpepper.com forum members, so there might have been the possibility of cross-pollination (not that it bothers me much, to be honest).

The pods themselves have been 99.9% arrow-head shaped, about an inch and a quarter long by three quarter inches wide at the widest. I must be too much of a movie buff, because the pods remind me of the explosive arrowheads from Rambo III.

:-P

Nevertheless, they are quite attractive pods.

Now, I said 99.9% because the main plant, the one in full production (the second plant has only now started producing, as it was considerably smaller than the first), has produced on pod significantly different than the rest of it's brethren:

I find this amazing.

Astounding.

Downright cool.

:-)

How fantastic is it to watch a plant produce lovely pods all over, and then, just as a small surprise, it goes ahead and gives you one pod completely different from everything else! Genetic variation at its freshest!

Candy-Candy @ The World Cup

Couple of quick things, since updates have been few and far in between:

1. I have recently purchased a new website domain, which I will soon be turning into a snazzy new website. But until I do, stay tuned to this channel.

2. New experiment: I am in the process of candying Orange Habaneros.

Yes.

You heard correctly.

Candying.

Turning Orange Habanero slices into candy by an osmotic process whereupon a sugar solution replaces the liquid inside the pod walls. The new 'sugarpods' are then dried to produce the candying effect, and the yummy and extremely hot syrup left over shall be utilised for a variety of things.

3. First few days of the World Cup have left me with some interesting one liners:

a) England are not as bad as their first match; nor are they as good as everyone hypes them up to be. Lay off Robert Green. Lay off Fabio Capello. The English media have the uncanny ability to punish coaches who don't take risks and coaches who DO take risks. Whinge-whinge-whinge-whinge! let the players play and shut it!

b) Raymon Domenech should change his name to Raymond D'Oh!menech. I actually fell asleep watching France-Uruguay.

c) Germany are contenders IF and ONLY IF Mezut Ozil is running the strings at midfield, and he's already shown flashes of Rooney-esque petulance in the first game. Knock him out of the game, and it's curtains for Deutschland.

d) Ghana look strong. Serbia look like a wounded animal, and Australia look like someone just told them it's not Aussie Rules.

e)South Africa are playing with spirit. Mexico are tricky. Uruguay are deceptively good. France are only to blame for their ineptitude.

f) Argentina are using a midfielder at wingback. Do they not have such a player among their 23 man squad? Jonas Gutierres will be prematurely aged (into retirement) by the industrious Koreans.

g) Greece look more like the 1998 team than the one that won the European Championships.

h) Could the Panini album predictions be.....WRONG?!

Green houses/Invernaderos

I finally got annoyed enough by our balcony to go out and buy a mini-greenhouse.

I have gotten sick and tired of watching plant after plant simply keel over and die out side of our flat in what can only be described as the sort of place where only Scottish Heather or wind resistant grasses from the Hebrides can grow. Living less than 200 metres from the waters of the Mersey in what effectively is a wind tunnel is frustrating. Nothing you grow seems to be able to settle in. Add to that the fact that thanks to the Hilton brand of hotels and their Hamptons by Hilton we no longer get sun in the mornings, and only a few hours of direct sunlight in the afternoons, and you can have a sort of feeling why I get so miserable when I look at what would ideally be a beautiful wood-decked balcony.

But no more. I just simply couldn't let the nice white climbing Rose wither and die, or watch the Hibiscus try for the fourth year running to have more than just some crappy little leaves.

No sir.

I have just seen my three blueberry bushes wither and die thanks to the new balcony and it vexes me.

So, in comes the new greenhouse.

It is nearly six feet tall, and has four shelves, though I am only using three since the Rose and the Hibiscus are fairly tall twigs.

Looking at them now, the wind is causing considerably less stress on the plants. I even feel confident enough to move the very healthy Mint plant I had in the window outside. I've placed the Lilies Almapaprika bought inside, along with the ones I bought a few months back, and watered everything in the greenhouse.

I might buy some cheap digital thermometers to keep track of whether or not it also makes it more bearable for the plants temperature wise.

I've not been able to update the blog as often as I would like because I've been a little busy at the moment.

I am slowly re-potting all the plants into their final, 8-inch pots. I still have to re-pot the two Fataliis, the two Black Nagas, the two Jamaican Red Hots and one Royal Gold Habanero.

I think I may be seeing the first of the Cayenne Ring of Fire pods next week, as the plant has started to flower now.

I treated all of the overwintered pots to some Epsom Salt (Magnesium Sulfate), which is helpful in replenishing magnesium in plants. Apparently peppers plants are deemed to be 'Magnesium hungry'. I'm hoping this will help the Rocoto Rojo, which has been great at growing, but exceedingly poor at producing pods.

The Royal Gold (the already re-potted one) is doing quite well, and may produce flowers in the next fortnight. The Madame Jeannette, on the other hand, is already weeks ahead of every other plant of this season. The first node of flowers numbers a cluster of 9, which is prolific. No buds have opened yet. Should be doing so next week. The Thai Dragon has split brilliantly into three even main branches, all growing straight and up. Lovely growth, but no flowers yet.

The two Red Squash...grumble grumble...are anything BUT Chinenses. They have started to flower, and are following the traditional Annuum growth pattern of one flower per node, as well as showing all the physical characteristics of an Annuum. If it was my mistake, then the only other possible pepper that could have been mistaken in the labelling were the peppers next to them, Almapaprika peppers (not my wife ;-P). I only had four Annuums growing this season: Cayenne Ring of Fire, Regular Cayenne, Almapaprika, and Thai Dragon.

I only hope it wasn't the seed company's problem, because they are generally a good seed company.

But I will only find out once the first pods set in.

I was planning to make some pie today for dinner, but I've gotten a bit lazy... :-(

Algo no me huele bien...

Yep, something is fishy here.

These are the chillies and plants that are still going strong in this year's crop.

2x Red Squash

3x Maize Morado

1x Cayenne Ring of Fire

1x Thai Dragon

1x Madame Jeannette

1x Aji Umba Red

1x Barrackpore 7-pot/7-pod

1x Brazilian Starfish

2x Jamaican Hot

2x Fatalii

2x Royal Gold

2x Black Naga

1x Trinidad Scorpion

1x Roselle

Plus the overwintered:

1x Orange Habanero

1x Chocolate Habanero

1x Naga Morich

1x Rocoto Rojo

Now, all seems according to plan with all the plants. Some of them (the Fataliis) seem to be growing very, VERY slowly, while others (Madame Jeannette) are growing like there is no tomorrow.

The interesting thing is that two of the peppers don't seem to match their descriptions...

The Brazilian Starfish is supposed to be a Baccatum, and yet the leaves looks strangely like those of a Chinense. It's growing shape is much more elongated and elegant than any of the Chinenses of similar age growing alongside them, but it is nonetheless strange. Still, this is the first Baccatum I have ever grown, so I might be wrong.

Now, the Red Squash on the other hand, doesn't look AT ALL like a Chinense, even though the seed company I bought them from said it was. If anything, the plant so far screams Annuum. It is just starting to produce flower buds, so I shall have to wait and see if it's just me (after all, I could have mislabelled things when I planted seeds originally. Unless they end up looking like nothing I ordered for this season).

No photos this week, as I am in the middle of slowly re-potting all of the seedlings into their final pots (have done so thus far with the Trini Scoprion, the Red Squash, the Brazilian Starfish, Madame Jeannette, Aji Umba Red and the Roselle.

Others will be done next week. I just need to get more containers from Home.

On another note, last weekend I cooked Chocolate Habanero, rum soaked cherries, pecan and ginger brownies.

Man Alive!

Those are some really good brownies!

:-)

And Cameroon Wins the World Cup!

It's the start of the 'countdown' to the 2010 World Cup.

How can you tell?

Simple. The Panini World Cup Album is here!

Yeah, I am one of those sad people who spends endless amounts of time (and unfortunately money) completing a sticker album for the World Cup. Been doing so for about five World Cups now, and it's just part of the whole World Cup celebration.

One of the silly things I tend to do is 'predict' who the winner of the World Cup will be, based on, of all silly things, whose team I complete first. Mind you, I am fully aware that quite a few of the players which are in the album will not be in the World Cup.

Beckham's sticker?

Worthless, to be honest.

But I won't take away from my fun. So, I shall take you on a step by step guide of how the groups will pan out (based on this weekend's sticker count):

Group A: Buoyed by hosting the first African World Cup, South Africa win a very tightly contested group, barely edging out France, who also pip Uruguay to qualify. Mexico discovers that African soil is unforgiving.

Group B: The Koreans prove that their third place in 2002 was no fluke, surprising everyone and topping group B, followed by Argentina. Greece prove tough opponents for everyone, and Nigeria disappoints once more.

Group C: England win the group by a mile! (the cards do not lie). Algeria surprise many by claiming second, while the US manages to edge out Slovenia out of the basement.

Group D: Serbia powers through as group leaders, with Ghana close seconds. Germany disappoints, while the Ausies finish last (sorry, the cards again. I merely interpret them).

Group E: Cameroon steal the hearts of World Cup fans by winning the group, with the Danish narrowly edging out a slumping Dutch (more internal problems again), while it's bottom for the Japanese.

Group F: If the Italians are involved, you know it will be boring, low-scoring, and odds are they will win. They do here, with Paraguay second, and New Zealand and Slovakia joint last.

Group G: El Grupo de la Muerte. The Group of Death. As predicted, Brazil make it first, but the big surprise is to see the Ivory Coast second. A shocked Portugal only barely manages to get past North Korea.

Group H: SHOCK! (Or maybe not) Honduras wins the group! Switzerland comes second! Chile third and Spain last (again, the cards in the album do not lie...sort of)

Last 16: A spirited South Africa take Argentina to the wire, before losing in the penalty round. England powers through a determined Ghana. Serbia steam roll Algeria. South Korea does the same to France. Cameroon sets African hearts racing by overcoming Paraguay. Brazil barely edges out Switzerland, and Italy barely survives a late Danish comeback. In a pulse racing game, Honduras edges out Ivory Coast.

Quarter finals: Argentina meets their makers in the form of England. Serbia edges out South Korea in the penalty round. Cameroon stuns the world by knocking out Brazil, and Honduras continues the trend by knocking out Italy.

Semi finals: England just manage to lose out to the darlings of the tournament, as a last minute winner give Cameroon the victory. Serbia finally ends the Honduran's dream World Cup.

3rd Place: In a good old fashioned slug-fest, England beats Honduras.

Final: A tense, vibrant final sees Cameroon become the first African World Cup champions!

And there you have it.

Remember, before you start criticising this, it is a prediction based on stickers in an album.

And if it does come true, just remember who told you so!

;-P

Now for some pics!

The Maize Morado is getting HUGE! Close to four feet high!

Orange Habanero pods. Yup, it has started again. :-)

The Orange Habanero (left) and the seedlings for this growing season already showing good growth.

The Madame Jeannette. It is growing seriously fast.

Black Nagas growing up strong!

One final item before I go (nursing a really awful headache at the moment). One of the blog readers (Hola Cote) wondered about learning about how to control 'pulgones' (aphids). This was one of those things I sought advise from when I started growing peppers. Best of that advise I can pass down is this: Pulgones are the sort of annoying pest you cannot eliminate 100%. Bet you can do is keep them under control. I pick them from the plants by hand using a brush with some tape on the top third of the stick. I carefully go all over the plant searching for the little annoying pests, and afterwards, I spray the plant with a little soap water solution. It is labour intensive, but you do get a bit of a sense of accomplishment after squashing the little pests.

Solo espera a que tengas que controlar caracoles y babosas. ;-P

Back from the Break

I am making a short entry today as I am back from my break...

...no longer a single pepper, but now as a married pepper (Almapaprika and I have joined in holy capsicumony).

I put a small entry about a pre-wedding happening with chillies in THP forum, as the first entry I've put as a pepper related event since I last made an entry.

Had no honeymoon, as the lovely Icelandic volcano cause havoc all over Northern Europe, making it impossible for us to leave on our mini-trip to Rome.

Que tragedia griega!

Worst of all, brother never brought me the seeds of Aji Chombo I asked so many times about!

:-(

Dad, on the other hand, did manage to leave with half my supply of Ring of Fire and White Habaneros. Not a lot of seeds, mind you. But he was happy to see his son enjoying growing chillies.

:-)

The plants survived, thanks to the peeps at the office who kept them well watered.

The Orange Habanero even has some pods on it, which is great considering it only produced pods in July last year.

The rest of the plants are doing very well, specially the Black Nagas, which I left under the little domes. They were a wee bit crammed into the little domes, but they look much, MUCH bigger than the last photos I took of them.

I wrapped all of the little plastic bottles with tin foil (kitchen foil for the Brits) so that if the roots reached the edges, they wouldn't get scorched by direct sunlight (since I would not see the plants for about 10 days). It also reflected sunlight back at the leaves of the plants. I have read that foil mulch can help plant growth and productivity.

I will probably have to start re-potting some of them to permanent pots soon, just like I did with the Trinidad Scorpion before I left a fortnight ago to prepare for the wedding.

The sad bit has been that the hydroponics at home has been a disaster, with only one plant currently surviving...

:-(

I will probably take photos of the plants at the end of the week to post the growth updates.

The Maize Morado is now almost 3 feet tall! I can't wait to see it reach 8 feet!

Some comparisons

I decided to try to upload some of the photos I've not been able to upload for the past two weeks up, and put them next to one another to compare growth between 1 April 2010 and 9 April 2010:

I'll Start off with the Purple Corn (on all photos, the top one is 1 April, the Bottom one is 9 April)




Not sure it's the best of comparisons, but it gets better, I promise!

These are the Black Nagas.



The Barrackpore 7-Pod



The Trinidad Scorpion



The Ring of Fire Cayenne



And just for goodness sake, here's the progress of the Madame Jeannette (9 April)


And the Aji Umba Red (9 April)


Well, I'm off to be 'domestic' and attempt to try to clean the house a bit, before people start arriving this week for the 'Union of the Peppers' between yours truly and Almapaprika.

;-)

The Ice Cream Bean Cometh!

I spent the better part of a conversation on Easter Sunday attempting to remember the name of a particular fruit eaten in Central America with a friend from that neck of the woods.

After much searching (in our minds), we were unable to actually remember the name of it, to our collective frustration.

This morning, however, I have finally remembered the name of said fruit:

The Guaba.

At least that is the name given to it in Aji Chombo Land. The Scientific name for it is Inga edulis. The English name for it is apparently the Ice Cream Bean, which I find funny, though strangely appropriate.

I remember having some as a child, and what a fantastically strange fruit it was. Imagine if you will a very large tree with pods nearly a foot long by about an inch and a half. Inside these pods are large black seeds wrapped in what looks like dense, white cotton, or cotton candy. The taste is a bit like banana, but sweeter, and with a slightly more fibrous texture.

Good stuff, and the tree apparently helps replenish nutrients into the soil (in a similar fashion to legumes).

Just if any of you are planning to start crops...

Four days away from the plants seems like an eternity.

Four days away from work however, are bliss.

Amazing how quickly stress builds up again, even though there's hardly anything to do thanks to Easter Break.

I think the lack of things to do just piles on even more stress.

Who would ever have though that?

It's either stress from not having much to do AND being in a very publicly exposed location, or the fantastic combination of under staffing, exposure, and high levels of friction caused by inconsistent (highly, HIGHLY inconsistent) customer service policies. Hopefully things will get sorted out soon (since the higher ups have realised just how stressed we are down in the trenches), but odds are I'll be face to face with the Oriental Yeti (Elvis' Pet) before I see any worthwhile changes...

:-(

But I digress.

The Maize Morado is doing very well. Seems to like it's new 'enclosure.' I really am eagerly anticipating the eight foot tall stalks (as are the people in the office I put them in, since they will act as natural shade).

The Roselle is not shooting up like the Maize Morado, but it continues to grow steadily. I imagine this lack of growth has more to do with the low temperatures in this start/stop spring (since it snowed last week). But it looks healthy so I'm going to keep crossing my fingers. I was actually asked about the progress of the Roselle by one of the girls from the Deli Almapaprika and I go to often.

The sub par spring also seems to be affecting the chillies, leading to a lot of uneven growth. One Royal Gold is on it's third set of true leaves, while the other is only just starting the second. And they both germinated on the same day.

The Trinidad Scorpion, the Madame Jeannette, and the Aji Umba Red lead the way for the chinenses, followed closely now by the Barrackpore 7-Pot; while the Ring of Fire Cayenne and the Thai Dragon are doing their usual thing now (growing fast).

Oh, and the Black Nagas are showing their first true leaves!

That last bit of news is absolutely fantastic for me.

It balances out the disaster of the home grown hydroponics...though I may have figured out what went wrong, but it is too late to fix...

Anywho, enough of my babbling.

Lo interesante de las 'madamas'

Hace unos días atrás me percate de algo sumamente interesante (bueno, por lo menos para mí).

Existen un buen número de leyendas entrelazadas entre la comida y las 'señoritas de la noche'.

En una vida pasada, en un trabajo pasado, mis compañeros de trabajo y yo les conocíamos como 'trabajadoras sociales' (dado a que, en cierta manera, cumplen con un 'servicio social').

Sin entrar en un dialogo intensivo sobre los orígenes y los precipicios morales que conllevan a esta 'antigua profesión', veamos las comidas 'íntimamente' ligadas a estas personas (utilizo el femenino, porque de a memoria no conozco ninguna comida asociado con un 'prostituto', aunque probablemente si existen. Si saben de alguna, por favor comenten en este espacio.)

El plato más famoso nombrado por estas ilustres damas de la noche es Penne (o Spaghetti) alla puttanesca. Aunque su origen es tema de discusiones extensas en el internet, las leyendas tienden a asociar a este plato de pasta con las prostitutas de Napoli (Italia) quienes, o utilizaban el plato para alimentar a sus clientes, o formaba parte de su dieta.

En el mundo de los Ajíes, tenemos a Madame Jeannette, de la familia Capsicum Chinense. Este ají es oriundo de Surinam, en Suramérica. Según va la leyenda, su nombre viene de una prostituta de Brasil (que hacía en Surinam, nunca sabremos). Tengo una pequeña plantita de MJ creciendo en la oficina, y espero poder probar de sus frutos (lo digo sin morbo).

¡Es más!

A lo mejor me da por cocinar Penne alla Puttanesca en el verano y añadirle un MJ para darle sazón.

Hmmm...No tengo más ejemplos...

Quizás son solamente dos que existen en este mundo nuestro. Simplemente el hecho de haberlos encontrado me causo gran interés, pues sigo con la incógnita del porque se les ha nombrado de esa manera.

En una noticia completamente separada, un tío mío ha puesto fotos de mi infancia en su página web por motivo de mi unión con Almapaprika.

Claro está que no pondré estas fotos en este espacio, ya que pretendo mantener la poca dignidad que todavía tengo (que no debe ser mucha luego de hablar incesantemente de comida y prostitutas).

He Bangs, He Bangs

He moves, he moves.

He apparently comes out of the closet...after everyone has known for nearly a decade.

Still, well done to Ricky Martin, most famous of the members of Menudo (what ever happened to that group, anyways?).

Here are the pics I took last Friday. I've been procrastinating as usual, so posts have been few and far in between.

I should take the moment to say many thanks to Marcio, as the seeds have just arrived today in the post from Brazil.

I am most grateful (and a very happy bunny)

:-)


This is the Chocolate Habanero Pod. All three seem to have slowed down in growth. Little things, but I will still bet my non-existent house they will be hot!


Madame Jeannette (I always misspell this one. Mon Dieu!). It is doing brilliantly.


Booyakasha! The Trinidad Scorpion is looking handsome!


The Barrackpore 7-pod. Slow to grow, but steady.


Aji Umba Red, also a quick off the blocks grower.


The Black Nagas! Yahoo! Two of the three seeds germinated. I just have to make sure they grow strong.


The Purple Corn (Maize Morado) in their new pot. A bit tight a squeezy, but it should hopefully help later on when they have to pollinate to produce ears of corn.

I need to take photos of the hydro peppers...

I am the Angel of Muesli!

Don't ask why I've put that as the title...

...oh, all right!

I can't really remember the song 'Angel of Music' from Phantom of the Opera (if that is the real title of it), so I remember it as 'Angel of Muesli'.

Which I think is only fair, since there is a Catholic patron Saint for Television (actually, there are THREE), so why not have a Guardian Angel for Swiss breakfast cereals?

Speaking of Saints, it is a telling statement of the power of being able to attract top figures from other countries when the English can hire out a Turk to be their patron (George), the Irish can hire out a Welshman (Patrick), and the Scotts can hire out a Jordanian (Andrew).

Only the Welsh have a 100% Welsh Saint (David).

But given the fact that they export saints effectively (see Patrick), Welsh saints must be like Italian Football coaches...

Went to see 'I love you Phillip Morris' with Almapaprika yesterday (yes, a rom-com). I have to admit that while an entertaining film, I was taken aback by the explicit sexual content of the film.

Guess it just means I'm an old (Middle-aged) prude who needs to watch more TV on Fox...

To his credit, though, Ewan McGregor makes for an endearingly innocent and camp gay man.

Jim Carrey...well...different story.

Now, going back to the topical discussion on Chillies:

I've taken new pics today, which I plan on uploading at the weekend. All the little seedlings are going strong.

The C. Annuums are really taking off!

Both the Ring of Fire and the Thai Dragon are starting to distance themselves growth wise from the C. Chinenses.

The Trinidad Scorpion, Madame Jeannette, Royal Gold, Aji Umba Red and Barrackpote 7-pot are doing really well.

And Guess what?

Two of the Black Nagas germinated!

I had put off answering this until such a time as they germinated: Mr. Arboc, as soon as these babies start producing pods, regardless of the colour, I shall send you some seeds. Maybe a pod even, if the post allows it.

Now I've at least got two little seedlings to watch over.

:-)

Good stuff, that!

The Roselle is busting out of the little plastic-bottle greenhouse, and I've had to transplant all of the Maize Morado onto a much larger, 'Final Pot' where all three can grow. It will need extra compost, which I shall buy at the weekend (thinking about Miracle Gro). I shouldn't have any problems with pots this year, as I have a healthy supply of large pots for the plants.

But enough of my mindless babbling.

I'll get the pics up soon.

Long Weekend...

I thought I would have had more time over the weekend to do some updating on the blog, but unfortunately I ended up helping out at the Pokey-Slashy competition being held at uni.

It was loads of fun, though. And I took lots of photos (which went straight to their facebook page). I always like helping out at competitions.

But I digress.

Here's the update of photos I promised from last weekend:


The first Chocolate Habanero pods


It's two new brothers


The Roselle doing really REALLY well!


The same can be said for the Trinidad Scorpion


The Barrackpore 7 pod may be small, but it's still haging on. I hope it grows strong.


The home of all the seedlings. If the growth is as good as it has been this week, I may have to cut all of the dome tops off.