Turbo-1's HOT STUFF

Evo

My mom used to make her own borax baits when I was little.

rhody

More ghost peppers, red, red-green and chocolate for sale:



Creativity knows no limits, see below:
Rhody...

Evo

Darn, I owe you $80 Rhody. Do these people sell many at that price? Tha's crazy!

rhody

I am as amazed as you Evo. Yes, he must, people are passionate about these crazy peppers. You see it in the constant effort to cultivate even hotter varieties. They are time and labor (mild) intensive to grow, and once ripe they don't last long unless you freeze them like Turbo suggests (dry them good and triple bag them and put in the freezer). You are seeing the beginning of the acceptance and diversification of them into our food chain. My last post reflects what people are willing to try to find a niche in the market. Hey, I wish them well in their endeavors.

From what I have seen after e-mailing three or four folks who grow these, they all are passionate and creative. Pretty amazing to watch unfold before you, isn't it ?

Rhody...

dlgoff

I see a new entrepreneur in the works. You have the passion and know-how. Go for it rhody.

Well, I still have a few left and they're in good condition (stored in my refrigerator at a very cold temperature with high humidity). I just used one in a batch of chilli.

rhody

Here is a "before" and "after" picture of my three ghosts of being trimmed for the winter hiatus.
Can you tell which plant is the two year old one ? The bottom picture is the baby ghosts, about the
size of a nickel I saved before trimming the plants back.









Rhody...

rootX

I will be the first customer!

dlgoff, you can join rhody and sell big ghost eggs

Evo

AAAARGHHH!!! Will that throw them into shock?

rhody

I hope not Evo, I did the same thing to the oldest one this spring when I planted it outdoors and it came back just fine, only time will tell though.

Rhody...

turbo

I'm going to try raising ghosts in the garden this summer, right alongside the Savinas. I have had a couple of crappy years in a row, but that was not always the case. There were years when I had bumper crops of ripe habaneros from just a few plants.

BTW, this is the very basic set of ingredients for a batch of habanero relish. Ripe peppers, fresh hard-neck garlic, and chopped dill florets. The flowering heads of dill are far more flavorful than the weed (leaves).

rhody

Turbo,

If I have success with the trinidad scorpions (TS), and God knows something even hotter that hits the market, I am going to venture to guess that you will meet your limit with the TS peppers. The video's I have seen of people attempting to eat them are very scary.

Rhody...

turbo

We'll see, rhody. I like the ghosts. They are rich and sweet, along with the heat. I made my shrimp marinade/basting sauce with one of them (flesh only, because I wanted to save the seeds), and my wife said the shrimp weren't spicy enough. The next time I made them, I used 3 ghosts instead of 1. When I served them, she said they were real hot, then she and my father proceeded to make those shrimp disappear. I had to scramble to get my share. You've never seen a pound of grilled jumbo shrimp evaporate like that. 3 ghosts basted onto one pound of shrimp seems like just about the right proportions. My father used to like to eat chili peppers until he turned about 70 or so, and said that the heat was bothering him. He didn't seem phased by the heat when he was wolfing down the shrimp.

rhody

God, Turbo...

I have come to the conclusion that you and your family are HEAT FREAKS. If four out of five people who try the trinidad's puke from them and you are your brood don't and like them, then you are SUPER FREAKS.

Rhody...

turbo

Not really, rhody. My wife likes my habanero relish, but only in moderation. I'll load up my hot dogs with that relish and hot mustard and chow down, but I always save the last bite for her. She never asks, but she'd be quite disappointed if I didn't.

She made a nice soup yesterday with hamburg, black beans, corn, carrots, and a very spicy tomato sauce that we had made up (that's where the last of the ghosts ended up), and it's delicious. I wouldn't sell it at a lunch-wagon without offering customers a trial taste, because it would be a bit over-the-top for people who are intolerant of hot food. Still, it is a wonderful soup and I'm nuking some up for my lunch right now.

rhody

I have proof that my trimmed pepper plants like the heat mat, and it makes them grow at a more rapid pace. I picked one of my cut back plants and put a heat mat under it. After a week there is at least two times the growth (areas that are sprouting) and leaves that are twice as large as my other two plants. All three plants got the same amount of water and sun. I fertilize weekly as well. That leaves little doubt that the heat mats are doing their job and the plant is very sensitive to temperature, even if only at the root level. Questions, comments ?

Rhody...

turbo

That goes along with my seat-of-the-pants evaluation, rhody. The soil temperature in the garden has a lot to do with growth rate. Chilies like Sun, warm soil, and not too much nitrogen. Nitrogen promotes leafy growth and suppresses fruiting and ripening. The last 2-3 years, I have had cool, cloudy weather for much of the growing season, so I have had to make do with unripe habanero chilies for my relishes. Quite disappointing. This year, I barely got any ripe Hungarian Wax (paprika) chilies, and they are usually as dependable as can be.

rhody

Find a way to heat the earth near your plants turbo, too bad we didn't live in Iceland. We could take advantage of the geothermal vents everywhere and pump naturally hot water in radiant plastic pipes near the root systems of the plants. I am convinced it would work like a charm. Hard to imagine an economical answer without outlaying some serious cash for an outdoor spring/summer/fall application. A green house is the way to go, possibly solar powered with inverters and batteries as well.

I will switch the mat to the other two plants this week so they can start to catch up with the other one.

Rhody...