The Voldemort Chilli

I must admit I never thought the Maize Morado could grow at the staggering rate it has been. I brought two of the four plants to work today, and they are pushing six inches in height.



All this after a mere 10 days of being sown on the ground (as it were)! The office is a trade-off, mind you.



At home the temperature is nice and constant, but they get very little light. In the office they will be getting maximum light exposure, but with recent radiator problems (a building that cost an unimaginable amount of money to renovate, and they didn't pay enough attention to the heating...seriously now!), it means that it will be considerably colder than at home.



I'm hoping light wins the battle.



The Roselle seedlings are doing quite well, all first leaves are fully open and taking in the little light available.



Capsicum wise, moving the incubators to the boiler room has worked the charm, as little seedlings are sprouting left and right. So far I've got 'en route':



Mustard Habanero X 1

Jamaican Hot X 2

Fatalii X 2

Thai Dragon X 1

Royal Gold X 2

Brazilian Starfish X 2

Hot Apple X 1

Red Squash X 2



Granted, it's not much yet, but I'm happy with the output so far, specially since there are once again, two Fataliis out of the blocks.



I came across what I consider to be a hilarious thread in http://www.thehotpepper.com/ yesterday which dealt with what can only be described as a seriously touchy subject with experienced growers:



New Strains.



Or in the case of this thread, a possible mutation, or crossbreed, or genetic anomaly, or chilli with an identity issue.



No one really knows for sure, but it did cause quite a stir.



It was to do with the nigh-mythical 'Chilli that must not be named' Yellow Bhut Jolokia...



...or Lemon Bhut Jolokia.



Reading the thread you'd swear blood would be spilt.



It was, however, quite entertaining (Chilli Gods forgive me) to watch two grown men (We presume. You never know in online forums where people have crazy sounding names like...Aji Chombo..ahem!) so adamant about the veracity of the strain origin and what was perceived as an act of fraudulent intentions on the part of one of them.



It was 'Get Medieval' stuff online!



In the midst's of it all, another grower (based here in the UK, but I won't say more) took the time to remind everyone that his super secret product was indeed real and the hottest one in existence (said to kill Male Buffalo if downwind of the plants, able to knock down incoming attack missiles if a slight mist is sprayed on your roof, can cure cancer by just looking at it, and other mighty boasts I just made up), and conveniently changed the website content of his site to reflect that the Yellow/Lemon Bhut he has (which he bought from one of the growers in the fisticuffs in the forum), was a fantastic experiment he hoped everyone enjoyed...



...while charging every customer a healthy amount for the unknown seeds.

And here I thought experiment participants usually 'participated' for free or by being paid.

Silly me, I must be on a different planet.



You seriously cannot make stuff up like this!

It's better than a Mexican TV Soap (telenovela!)



:-)

Let the feast of 1,000 hams BEGIN!

I sowed 44 seedlings yesterday evening to signal the start of the 2010 growing season!

Hazzah!

The hopefuls for this season are (by seedling incubator):

Incubator One
2X Red Strawberry Guava (Supposed to be a frost hardy type of Guava)
2X Barrackpore 7Pot (a Chinense courtesy of Trinycoolieboy, one of the forum members from The Hot Pepper...from Trinidad)
2X Peppermo Pepper (an unknown Chinense from another forum member, Peppermo)
2X Antillais Hot (a Chinense courtesy of Vincent, another forum member)
2X Royal Gold (another Chinense from Vincent)
2X Aji Limo Rojo (Chinense)
2X Brazilian Starfish (Baccatum)
2X Hot Apple (Annuum...otherwise known as Almapaprika!)
2X Red Squash (Chinense)
2X Ring of Fire (Annuum...technically three, but I only used two coir pots for the three seeds)
2X Maize Morado (Purple Corn!)

Incubator Two
2X Safi (Chinense. Really looking forward to this one)
2X Peach Habanero (Chinense)
2X Mustard Habanero (Chinense)
2X Scotch Bonnet Mixed (Chinense)
2X Jamaican Hot (Chinense)
2X Maize Morado (More Purple Corn!)
2X Fatalii (Chinense. Because last year two gorgeous looking plants only produced ONE pod!!!)
2X Cayenne (Annuum. Not Ring of Fire. Just for kicks)
2X Thai dragon (Annuum. Again, just for kicks)
2X Barrackpore 7Pot (might as well plant some more super hots)
2X Roselle (Hibiscus Sabdarifa. Flor de Jamaica for you Mexicans, Saril if you're from Aji Chombo Land)

This is, of course, not counting the Datil at home, the one Naga Morich still remaining at work, as well as the Chocolate Habanero, Orange Habanero, Rocoto Rojo, and Caribbean Red Habanero.

There is one Cuban Black that is still alive. I gave it to one of my co-workers, and it looks FANTASTIC. She's kept it alive through winter, and it looks so lush and exotic in her office.

Greener thumbs than I, definitely.

I will hopefully set up the hydroponics tonight with the Culantro (Eryngium foetidum) to see how that little kit works!

Ah, the joys of the start of the growing season...

And in good, consummate, Chilli Head Fashion, I've decided to post my growing list on The Chile Man's website. I also decided to enter their Rocoto Challenge, although I'm not hopeful of much, since I only managed to get two pods out of the Rocoto Rojo...and they only happened AFTER the growing season... But who knows. I might get a surprise or two this season (like TWO Fatalii pods).

With any luck, I might have some pods for the 'union of the pods' between myself and OUCH! sorry about that. Just got a static shock from the electric radiator, so a shock AND a burn...anywho, as I was saying before, I might have some pods ready for Almapaprika and I's big 'joining in the fields of capsicum.'

Blinkin' emergency door alarm at work just went off (the bell is right next to me), and the usual security override code isn't registering. AAAAAARGH!!!

New years Rant

The blog has been inactive for a few months, and some of my friends have been asking me why.

Truth be told, the chilli season gave way to the chilly season (pun sadly intended), and I had to finish my dissertation.

I lost a fair bit of my harvest to the stupidity of realizing that while capsicums keep well in the fridge, if a little moisture gets to them they rot really fast.

Still, I have a healthy supply in the freezer and some drying.

To my surprise, the Nagas, Chocolate Habaneros, Rocotos and Orange Habaneros were still alive until the Christmas Break, when the office was closed :-(

Heck! The Rocoto Rojo even had two pods...in DECEMBER! Took it blinking long enough...

The Naga is also still producing, which is really scary.

I have to thank the peeps from one of the offices where I keep the pods, who had looked after them while I was off being insane with 'academic stuff'.

I am looking forward to the new year, because the lone Datil I planted last year is still alive and well, so it should provide fruit for this summer.

And Almapaprika's Mum and Dad gave me a mini hydroponics system for X-mas! I shall be planting Culantro on the mini hydroponic so that I can cook Sancocho (an Aji-Chombo Land chicken soup cure for hangovers, and apparently death) for Almapaprika.

I've also been dabbling in the dark arts of jam and pickle making, having thus far made:

-Apple, Mint and White Habanero Jelly: a bit of a letdown, really. Needed more pectin. But good flavour and the heat is mild but noticeable.
-Mango, Peach and Naga Chutney: it was so good a friend of ours who shall remain nameless stole a pot of it from another's house. It was really nice and hot. I only used one Naga for this, since more than one would have been not consumable for most friends.
-Blueberry and Pomegranate Jam. So good, I could only make one and a quarter jars (I underestimated the amount of fruit needed). Lovely and full of flavour.
-Cranberry, Plum, and Cherry jam. Another good one. A bit more tart and runny than the Blueberry & Pomegranate one, but still oh, so tasty.
-Pickled Pears. Yup, you heard. The recipe from the Hairy Bikers. Still to taste them as they are 'pickling'.

One final thing, which is why the title is New Years Rant:

Copenhagen: Waste of time. The solution is simple. Technology transfer. It is also the most unlikely, because no one wants to give anything for free (and please do not be fooled into thinking that the 'aid' is free. Who do you think will sell the 'green technology' to the countries in need of it? I'm betting it won't be at discount prices...). Though you couldn't tell it was Global Warming in the coldest winter the UK has seen for a decade...

Also: Apocalyptic films and their recent resurgence. You know, the end of the world through our own making or through some unforeseen circumstance which could be traced back to mankind in some way or another. We are far to obsessed with that sort of film...

Finally. Rude and obnoxious people. There are far too many here where I work. Not co-workers, mind you (well...). They all know more about my work than I do, all want to get away with murder, all want to bend the rules, if not break them and grind them into dust. Why? Why are people afraid of following rules? Yes, AFRAID! 'Rules are unfair.' well, life is F-ING UNFAIR, YOU DOLTS!, if you could do anything you wanted at any time outside of the bonds of society (let's call it nature), you'd be dead before you hit puberty, because the rest of LIFE doesn't give two rabbit sized poo pellets about 'your need for all things to be equal'. Rules can help you if you use and respect them accordingly. Today's society (specially here) are too caught up in this 'Big Brother is out to get you because it wants to control you' paranoia.

whew!

Rant over...

Stilton and Orange Juice: Not a Good Mix!

Just came out of a party for some co-workers who are leaving, and discovered something new today (what life should be about, really. Discovery!):

You don't put a large wedge of Stilton, or any other 'Blue Cheese' for that matter, and then glug some Orange Juice.

The taste and smell is akin to...well, regurgitating something after having eaten it some six hours earlier...

Absolutely vile. If it was used as torture on war criminals it would definitely be in violation of their human rights!

Eating some delightful carrot cake now to was away the horrible aftertaste of that mix...

Oh, and I was 'blessed' by a seagull yesterday afternoon...

Nearly six years in this lovely city, and I'd managed to avoid getting dive bombed. But I guess it's a rite of passage. I'll do the customary 'purchasing of lotto ticket' tonight and see what happens.

On the chilli front all I can say is I wish all days were like this!

Sunshine to the MAX! Good temperature.

The Esplendor is awash with beautiful purple flowers.

The Naga Morich has had most of its flowers open today (and I just measured some of the monster leaves at well over a foot in size!!).The other Naga Morich is now in full speed flower budding.

The Piri Piri is heavy with pods.

The Chocolate Habanero is having some of the flowers open.

Another of the Chocolate Sweet Peppers is ripe on the plant.

The Fatalii Twins are growing, growing, growing!

Oh, and Almapaprika ate the first of the ripe Chocolate Sweet Peppers!

She loved it. Said it was very sweet and had a good texture to it. She stuffed it with some cous-cous...and the stuffed in inside a green bell pepper:



This carrot cake is REALLY good...

Orange Habanero

Chocolate Habanero

Chocolate Habanero Buds

Movin' on up! (or in this case, down four floors)

Almapaprika and I will begin moving from our current abode to a new one this week, which means, obviously, that stress levels are going to be as high as the heat index of a Naga Morich (gratuitous chilli head joke. I'm allowed one once in a while). Good news is this time around there are less stairs involved. Though we will have to get our stuff down from the lofty heights of our place (sans the use of a lift).

This means I won't be able to post the really good photos of the 'office chillies' until then (unless I sneak away to do it in a quiet moment...fat chance of that happening). But rest assured, some of the photos, specially the flowers and chillies of the Ring of Fire Cayenne are really stunning.

The Orange Habanero has only been back here for 48 hours, and already instead of one flower there are four! Definitely helps them to have that lovely heat from the nearby radiators and the wall of glass. Hopefully there will be little Orange Habs growing in the next two weeks.

Weather forecasters are predicting a very, VERY warm summer for these latitudes. No indication of it yet (thank goodness), but it should be great for the chillies.

Falling into a Google Analytics Ring of Fire

I decided, 'Why not?'

I've added Google Analytics to the blog so I can see who, if anyone, actually likes reading this blog.

I've also applied to join the RING OF FIRE (Fire...fire...). a fantastic webring dedicated to all things capsicum.

Mind you I know at least one person who reads it frequently (Almapaprika), so it's not entirely a lost cause. Plus I like 'immortalizing' my rants in between some serious capsicum speech.

Moved the Orange Habanero to the office today. It has one very small flower on it, so I foresee an 'explosion of chillies' if the growing conditions in the office keep up like they have so far. I will be Moving the Caribbean Red Habanero to the office tomorrow. Office chillies are doing just so much better than the home ones (and I really should stop calling them that since it's not my office, but rather a...or an...office at work that has graciously permitted me the use of their window space to grow chillies).

The Chocolate Habanero leaves look stunning! The Naga Morich is starting to catch up to and surpass the Chockie (How utterly Scouse is that?! 'Chockie'). The Ring of Fire Cayenne is full of little chillies! Even the Piri-Piri is starting to show little flowers!

Fantastic!

I'm probably going to bring my camera tomorrow to take some proper photos of the chillies and do them justice (my phone has been adequate, but really, now is the time for some seriously good photos!)

Baby Pigeons

Wow. You go away for four days, and suddenly your plants grow enormously large and start flowering!

Blimey!

Well, budding, actually. The bottom photo is that of the original plants (Chocolate Sweet Pepper, Cherry Chilli, Ring of Fire Cayenne), plus one of the Habaneros I moved over from the house. And even that one is doing quite well.

This is all WITHOUT receiving any Chilli Focus! I am impressed. The top photo is that of the plants I moved recently to work. The Habaneros are growing very well. I will have to move some of the chillies soon (taking two to Almapaprika's dad), but work is a fantastic place to grow capsicums!

:-)

On a stranger note, though a happy one, I have requested Almapaprika's top green leaf (the left one, if memory serves me) in leafy union (not onion).

And she said yes.

My gardener's delight.

:-)

Oh, yes. The title to this post. Please do not take the following comment in ill. Whilst in London this week, I saw a young Chinese couple with a small child in the tube. I suddenly looked at Almapaprika and said 'I've never seen that before.' To be honest, all the Chinese parents I know are older folk (must be because I know a lot of uni student parents.), so seeing a couple that could have been in their early twenties with a small child was both refreshing AND a surprise (kind of like spotting baby pigeons in a city centre. Everyone KNOWS they exist, but how many people have seen one?)

Crazy Pigeons!

Ghaaaaa! The chillies have developed succulent leaves!

Nah.

It's just the triffids. Thought I'd show you what they look like (top photo). They are already taller and thicker than the rest of the chillies.

The middle photo is the of one of the Orange Habaneros, and the bottom one is of the Rocoto Rojo (you can tell because of the hairy leaves). Took these two this morning. They are getting big now. Just need to hope they continue that happy growth for the rest of the season. The ones at the office are quite big now. Two more weeks before I take them over to Almapaprikas' parents (one of the chocolate sweet peppers and the Cherry Chilli at the very least are going over there).

Speaking of titles in a blog, Almapaprika and I waited at an intersection in the city centre recently along with some of the locals. That, of course, included a pigeon (no, not one of the nicknames given to locals here), which behaved like some crazy manic hobo, pacing left and right close to us, but never actually crossing the road.

Until the little green crossing man lit up.

It crossed the road with us, the crazy little bird.

Almapaprika and I (well, mostly me) kept 'speaking' on its behalf. It was mostly making the pigeon sound and act like Donkey from Shrek.

You really needed to be there.

What's eve more amazing is that the paranoid things proceeded to behave the same way on the other crossing light of the intersection, and only crossed WHEN THE LITTLE GREEN CROSSING MANE LIT UP!

Now, mind you, I never got to study ornithology, but something tells me birds can do certain things people can do:

-See better than people.
-Poop green
-Lay eggs

And, oh, yes...

...FLY!

Maybe this pigeon is becoming human...

...it will start hanging out at pubs, go out with its mates and have a pint or two, and take in a game of cricket.

Silly, silly bird...

Butternut Squash?!

Finally planted the seeds from the Aji Queen last night, whilst watching THE single weirdest TV series finale ever (BSG). I sowed seeds for:

-Aji Brazilian Pumpkin
-Datil
-Habanero 'Pastel Market'
-Cumari ou Passarinho
-Habanero Paper Lantern
-Aji Limo Rojo (this last one was the free one from Peppermania).

I didn't have space in the little greenhouse because I had decided at the weekend to plant some butternut squash seeds I'd taken out of a squash Almapaprika and I had used for a curry. So I used four seeds from them, and then decided I wanted to give the Red Savina Habaneros and the Jamaican Hot Scotch Bonnets another shot, so planted two apiece.

Yup.

That's another full greenhouse.

Brought three plants over to work yesterday as well. An Orange Habanero, a Caribbean Red Habanero, and one of the Belpicens. I brought the ones that had been grown inside the glass jars (the 'mini-capsicums') to compare growth with the ones at the house.

Wouldn't you know it?

One of the butternut squash is germinating.

After four days.

That's just amazing!

Weekend/Monday pics

Really excited today. First of all I planted some of the seedlings that were in the glass jars into small pots (3cm this time), and moved almost all of the seedlings in the small greenhouse into the now empty jars (missing one Splendor).

Second of all, I passed by the office (had lecture) to see the seedlings there, and WOW! One weekend of mild sunshine (not even that much. It was cloudy all weekend) and some Chilli Focus made them shoot up quite a bit.

I GOT MY OTHER SEEDS! Hazzah! I ordered them from Peppermania (home of the Aji Queen. I wonder if that makes me her subject?). I ordered some Datil Chillies, Brazilian Starfish, Habanero Pastel Market, Paper Lanterns, Cumari au Passarinho. The Aji Queen threw in some free seeds (Aji Limo Rojo), and her business card had another little bag with a hodge-podge of chilli seeds! YAY! There are some Capsicum pubescens seeds (easy one, pubescens seeds are black), and probably another two types. I'll enjoy growing them to see what they end up being.

The White Habanero

Since the last time I posted, I have now made some changes to the plants. But I'll post those new photos later.

I have realised that, while I have been talking incessantly about life and its many intricate 'intricacies', and I have also been posting about my adventures in chilli growing, I have not properly introduced you to the wonderful little capsicums that I am attempting to grow.

So, from time to time, I will write a little bit about them, using the information I can gather from the Internet and from whatever I end up discovering along the way!


First up, for no particular reason, is the White Habanero (the spicy 'honky' Habanero amidst the 'flava' of Habaneros).

I picked up this photo above from https://www.pimentas.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=6039, from a 'forumite' called 'pypcak ' (Let it not be said I do not give props when it's due). I looked up a bit of information on this little Capsicum chinense form Azienda Agraria Sperimentale Stuard in Parma (Italy), and their helpful catalog mentioned the following 'technical' data:

-30-35cm in height
-50-60cm in width
-'late' in its precociousness (Italians...always thinking about that)
-Highly pungent (spicy) fruit, smaller than the typical Habanero.
-Plant is sensitive to drops in temperature (not frost tolerant).
-Fruit is 3-3.5cm by 1-1.5cm.

thechileman.org says this is a really spicy number.

From personal experience (very limited though this is) it is one little number to get to germinate. Took forever for the seeds to sprout, and even after they germinated, they are by far some of the smallest seedlings in the lot. Still, if mine look half as good as the one on the picture, then I am really looking forward to this one.

Apparently they are really good small plants.