Chiles in Stockholm

Plan "C"

2012-02-02T05:30:00.000+01:00

Well, it looks like many of my old seeds won't germinate. I sure want some more varieties than I currently have... So I'm activating Plan "C".

Today I started some other old favorites.

Aji norteño (C. baccatum)
Maraba (C. chinense)
Cumari (Salvador)
Bod'e (C. chinense)
PI 441624 Porta da rua, Aji Yuquitania (C. chinense)
Canario (C. pubescens)

Hot regards,
Mats

7 pod brown

2012-01-28T15:28:00.003+01:00

Hi!

Both good and bad news today. The 7 pod brown showed up today. And the one Black Cayman that was up, didn't make it. So that mini pot is back on the bathroom floor. It's not usual that the small seedlings die that fast. I think it has to do with the age of the seeds.

But it sure looks like it's going to be a "hot" summer! This is the current list of chiles:

Orange cheiro
Bode roxa
Douglah
7 pot brain strain red
7 pot primo
7 pod brown
Black naga
Indian frutescens

And I have one variety from last year. The chiltepin.

Still waiting for some favorites to show up...

In the meanwhile, enjoy a picture from a gray, icy Saturday... Anyone care for a swim? :-)

Hot regards,
Mats

A question

2012-01-26T18:15:00.001+01:00

Hi!

I've been thinking about moving this blog to wordpress instead of using the Google service.

My question is if that would cause any problems for you? All comments are welcome :-)

Thanks,
Mats

Orange cheiro

2012-01-26T17:30:00.000+01:00

Hi again!

I was happy to see the orange cheiro show up today. According to my notes, I got the seeds in 2003. So they are nine years old (at least). I hope the seedlings are strong, and turn out to be nice plants that are productive. Because now I have no seeds left.

I wonder why I didn't save any seeds in 2004 when I grew it. Well, I must have been in some kind of minimalist mode at that time. My seed saving goes up and down depending on something that I have not understood yet. Anyway, there are some more pictures here:
http://petterssononline.com/habanero/peppers.php?action=variety&id=204

Exciting!

Hot regards,
Mats

7 pot primo and "Plan B"

2012-01-24T09:33:00.003+01:00

Good morning!

Just a short note. One more variety has germinated. It's the 7 pot primo that I got from Patrik the other week.

Last night I activated Plan B and put some newer dedo de moca seeds in soil. Together with more "Patricia" seeds.

One of the benefits of starting early is to have the possibility to start new varieties and still be able to enjoy an early harvest.

I expect that the remaining varieties might take some time to germinate. Or, that most of them will not be successful at all. Actually, I can't remember that I have been successful with seeds that are 10 years old. But, we'll see.

More later!
Mats

7 pot brain strain red and black naga

2012-01-23T19:02:00.000+01:00

Two more varieties have shown up today. They are new (for me), so it will be exciting to see how they turn out!

So this is the latest status... As you see, there are in total six varieties in total that have shown up now.

I'm really concerned about the dedo de moca and "Patricia's fresh". I think the seeds are too old, so I will probably start a new pot with these two. I look forward to having them both in my biggest pot on the balcony this summer :-)

Regards,
Mats

One more! Black Cayman

2012-01-23T09:02:00.002+01:00

I was very happy to see my Black Cayman showing up this morning. I grew it last year, but it was so badly attacked by aphids so it didn't make it.

So, never ever give up. I hope it works this year!

http://www.naute.com/inspiration/never.phtml

Hot regards,
Mats

Two more

2012-01-22T20:43:00.000+01:00

It's Sunday evening and I was very excited to see two more varieties coming up! It was my douglah and the Indian frutescens.

So far, three varieties have germinated. Here you can see them inside the plastic mini greenhouse. The picture is taken through the plastic, therefore the very soft appearance.

Isn't it amazing to think about that these small sprouts in just a couple of months will be big, flowering and hopefully even will be carrying fruits!

Wishing you all a nice week!
Mats

A visit to Bergianska Trädgården

2012-01-21T19:54:00.000+01:00

I think that January usually is a grey, cold and dry period. That time of year when I have an extra longing for humidity, flowers and light.

So last weekend we went to Bergianska Trädgården. It's our oasis where we recharge our batteries.

Since Carl was very small, he has investigated this pot. Somehow the pot seems smaller :-)

I love the cactus section! Very nice!

Patricia and Carl enjoying the view.

Here we have high humidity :-)

How do you like my hair cut? :-)

Wonderful smell from the almond flowers!

And some beauty...

And of course there is a very nice tabasco plant there. It is absolutely fantastic!

So if you are in Stockholm and want to recharge your batteries and experience some nice plants - it's definitely worth a visit!

Hot regards,
Mats

Bode roxa

2012-01-20T21:21:00.000+01:00

And the first chile to germinate this year is a Capsicum chinense. Bode roxa! Six days for a chinense to germinate. In my world that is quite fast.

Major excitement :-) This is for me a new one, so I'm looking forward to see what it turns out to be.

Wishing you all a great weekend!
Mats

Thoughts on how to create the mobile homepage

2012-01-18T19:25:00.000+01:00

This post is a continuation of http://chilesinstockholm.blogspot.com/2012/01/about-homepage.html.

I've done a lot of reading about mobile frameworks lately. The framework I have to choose needs to work with PHP and the configuration of my ISP.

I will choose jQuery Mobile (http://jquerymobile.com/). It meets my requirements well, and I think it will be exciting to learn something new! When I created the current homepage, I wanted to use a minimum of JavaScript in order to be as browser independent as possible. But the web browsers have matured, and I think this will work fine.

I will also start using JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) (http://www.json.org/). I hope to be able to over time base the two homepages on the same code base. And here I think that JSON will provide me with functionality that makes this transition easier.

Well, we will see where I end up. Here is a prototype of the "new" mobile homepage.

A problem that I have is to handle the extensive menu lists on the chile pepper database (http://petterssononline.com/habanero/peppers.php). Both the species list that is on top (the buttons), but also the list with all the different varieties to the left. As you can see on the image below. This will be a challenge on smaller devices, so I need to figure something out.

I will let you know as soon as I have something that runs :-)

Keep it hot!
Mats

2012 started

2012-01-14T18:19:00.001+01:00

Is it true that Christopher Columbus discovered the Capsicum genus on January 1st? I honestly don't know. But even if it is true, that is not the reason why I usually start the chile seeds on that date.

This year we were in India on January 1st. Far away from my seed box. But today, eight days after coming home, and jet lag plus after-effects of the panchakarma has faded out, it was a good day to begin the Chile Pepper Year of 2012 :-)

Here are my labels that I reuse from previous years. 21 different varieties to go into soil today!

And even better, I have the perfect helper. Carl has been helping me with sowing the chile pepper seeds since many years. Can you feel the density in the picture below. Deep concentration. Extremely focused guys!

Details from my spreadsheet, the order of the seeds is crucial. No mistakes to be done... Hopefully....

This little modest box is nowadays my seedbox... Looking for the varieties to grow.

Carl doing a great job. Focus!

I couldn't find one of the varieties that I had planned to grow. A mismatch between the database and reality... Looking for a replacement...

Finished! Happy after a good work!

Teamwork is the path to success!

Here they are. There are many seeds in some of the pots. But the seeds are 8-10 years old. Hope they will germinate!

Ready to be covered with the lid, and moved into the heated bathroom floor.

Here is the list. Some old favorites and some new ones.

Dedo de moca (C. baccatum)
Cumari Enio (C. chinense)
Cumari Salvador 2001
Cheiro de Para Recife 2001 (C. chinense)
Cheiro Recife 2001 (C. chinense)
Trinidad perfume
Orange cheiro (C. chinense)
Bod'e '06 (C. chinense)
Bode roxa (C. chinense)
Black Cayman (C. chinense)
St. Kitt's Red (C. chinense)
Patricias fresh '02 (C. baccatum)
Douglah (C. chinense)
Long chocolate habanero (C. chinense)
7 pot brain strain red (C. chinense)
7 pot primo (C. chinense)
7 pod brown (C. chinense)
Bhut jolokia chocolate (C. chinense)
Black naga (C. chinense)
Indian frutescens (C. frutescens)

Number 20 is the newest one. It's the one I got seeds for in India :-) http://chilesinstockholm.blogspot.com/2012/01/capsicum-frutescens-from-india.html

Have a great weekend!
Mats

About the homepage

2012-01-14T10:40:00.001+01:00

Good morning!

This is a technical non-chile related post, but I hope it could be useful for some of you anyway.

I've been thinking about how I can update my chile pepper homepage to newer standards. Or rather, the part of it that I call the Chile Pepper Database (http://petterssononline.com/habanero/peppers.php). I created that page 6-7 years ago, when learning to program with PHP using MySQL as a database. And I think it needs a fresher look. Also, I have been thinking about enabling it for mobile devices.

According to my Google statistics, traffic from "mobile" devices the last month are 8,78% of the total traffic. A conclusion I make from this report is that it's not (yet) very important to support mobile devices. But since the homepage needs a facelift anyway, I will have a look at it.

Current status
I have done zero maintenance on the page during the last couple of years. My ISP has upgraded both PHP and MySQL, so at least that could have caused malfunctioning, so it is somewhat surprising to see that it still works.

Although I tried to separate the PHP presentation logic from the "business" logic, I have to say that the code is tightly coupled. Making it impossible to add support for mobile devices. Or even to have a smooth transition to newer standards.

Parts of the solution is based on Object Oriented features, making quite a mess when blended with more traditional PHP programming.

So, what are my choices?
1) Extend the current code and make changes to support new devices.
2) Develop new code, and try to base it on the current database design. Add new functions to make the old homepage more attractive.
3) Develop a new site for mobile devices and stepwise migrate the old homepage to the new standard.

Choice number one will result in an even bigger mess than today. So it is out of the question.

Choice number two will result in two different solutions. Making it hard to maintain and keep in sync between mobile and the "standard" homepage.

I think that choice number three will be my way forward. I will start working on a prototype for mobile devices and at the same time keep the "old" homepage in mind. This will hopefully result in some common elements between the two, and making the separation better.

I will continue writing on this subject as soon as I have made some decisions and even maybe something to show you.

In the meanwhile. It's Saturday morning, and I will go out and buy some soil today, to get some seeds started.

Wishing you a nice weekend!
Mats

How do you keep track of all your seeds?

2012-01-12T20:13:00.000+01:00

During the lunch with Patrik, we discussed how to organize and keep track of all the seeds. Usually, there is no problem at all from the beginning. Then you start swapping seeds with other chileheads, and the collection keeps growing. And all of a sudden you pass some kind of critical point, where you no longer know what varieties you have, or from whom you got them, and so on.

At least that is what happened to me some years ago. I guess I was driven by a desire to have more than 1000 different varieties. Jukka and I was racing towards that goal, and I think we reached it more or less at the same time.

The Solution

So, with hundreds of varieties, how do you keep track of them? Being an IT Architect, I'm interested in solutions built on a flexible structure. At the same time, I didn't want a complex system, so I decided to build it on OpenOffice, a free office suite that runs on several operating systems. Today, I use LibreOffice (http://www.libreoffice.org/) but it is built on the same code base.

Basically, I have two functions.

The inventory. All the seeds I have (and also the ones that I don't have anymore).
The yearly log. All the varieties that I grow each year.

The rest of this article assumes that you have some knowledge of relational databases. It is a short walk-through of the solution. If you are not familiar with LibreOffice, it is quite easy to get started with.

Or, maybe you just want to download the database file, and try it out for yourself. You find a link to the file at the bottom of this post.

Tables
To make it as simple as possible, I created two database tables. LibreOffice contains HSQL (a datababase engine), so all the functionality is contained from the beginning.

1) The varieties table. Contains all the variety information. Name, species, an approximation how many seeds I have, date when I got the seeds, from whom, and so on.
2) The years table, which contains information about sow date, when the seedlings germinated, when I repotted, if I have taken a picture of the flower, pod etc.

Varieties
To give you an example. This is how the varieties table look. You see name, amount, genus, species, and so on. At the end you see "availableforswap", which was a way for me to flag a variety as private because of some reasons.

To add a variety, you simply add a row at the end of the dialogue above. Like an ordinary spreadsheet.

Years
The years table is more complex, since it builds on the variety table. Remember the purpose of this table is to keep track of what you are growing this year. And in order to grow something, you have to start with a seed - which is in the varieties table. So it's actually quite logical. Therefore, you have to know the " variety id" of the variety in the varieties table. Then you add the year, and the date you start the seeds. I am not using all the fields shown below. Sometimes I add fields, and sometimes I don't use them. It's all depending on the level of my current ambitions :-)

Queries
Tables are the place where the information is stored. Then you need some queries with logic to reach that information. For simplicity, I have two queries.

1) Available. Shows all the seed varieties that I have. In other words, where the amount of seeds are more than 0.
2) Chiles2012 (in this case). Extracts all the current chiles that I grow during a year.

Below you see the Queries section.

The available query
LibreOffice has a built-in editor for queries, and this is how it looks. You pick the fields from the chosen tables, and decide if they should be visible or not. Here you can see the amount column, where I have a Criterion which says > 0. Yes, I want to see all the varieties that I have more than zero seeds of.

This query can then be connected to an ordinary spreadsheet, and this is how it looks.

The yearly query looks like this. Here you see that the variety table and years table are connected, and there is a line between ID and varietyid. That is what I mentioned earlier. You have to have a seed in order to grow the variety. (Well, you could of course have received the plant, and that is something this solution will not handle...)

When I run the chiles2012 query, this is what I get after I have exported it to the spreadsheet.

Here is the file -> http://petterssononline.com/chiledb/chiledb.odb
You will need OpenOffice or LibreOffice in order to play with it. And you will also need to populate the tables with your data. So the file is empty when it comes to data.

Well, that is about it. I hope that I have inspired some of you to play with LibreOffice in order to keep track of your seeds. Anyway, I'm interested in hearing how you keep track of your seeds. Please comment.

Hot regards,
Mats

Seed exchange lunch

2012-01-12T13:47:00.000+01:00

Seed exchange lunch! Doesn't that sound great?! What a nice sound of that sentence!

Well, to be honest, it was more seed receiving from my side. I definitely got more than I gave today! I met Patrik for lunch, and here you can see us. I'm probably so excited because of all the new varieties, so I missed to get myself into the picture :-)

Here are the bags with new seeds! I will definitely try if not all of them, at least most of them this year. Usually I don't grow the super hot varieties, but I have a feeling that 2012 will be a good year for growing them!

So, now I just need to decide which varieties to grow this year. More about that later!

Thanks for the seeds Patrik, and thanks for a great lunch company!
Hot regards
Mats

Bingo!

2012-01-08T08:16:00.000+01:00

While in India, we were on an ayurvedic panchakarma treatment, so the diet was very strict. But I couldn't resist buying these chips for Carl :-)

Bingo! Guess if the chips were hot... According to Carl, they were very, very spicy and good :-)

Without exaggerating, Carl is very used to eating hot chiles and sauces, so I do believe him :-) Here is a picture that is at least 4-5 years old...

More pictures of Carls adventures in the wonderful world of chile peppers here: http://petterssononline.com/habanero/carl.php

Hottest regards,
Mats

My kind of money exhange

2012-01-07T21:00:00.000+01:00

No words needed :-)

Hot regards,
Mats

Capsicum frutescens from India

2012-01-07T20:31:00.000+01:00

Happy New Year!

I'm back from three weeks vacation in India. Replacing the lightless, cold, winter stress in Sweden with some relaxing days in Kerala. Now I'm thinking about which varieties to grow in 2012.

While in India, I found a frutescens growing next to the road on the way to the beach. The plant was almost leaning over the wall...

So I couldn't resist picking a pod....

It tasted more or less the same as malagueta or tabasco, but I really enjoy frutescens, so I think I will grow it this year.

Here I am with Carl on the beach :-)

Wishing you all a great weekend!
Mats

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

2011-12-23T16:23:00.001+01:00

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Hot regards,
Mats

Aji limon update

2011-11-10T19:21:00.001+01:00

I guess that this weekend will be the last harvest for this year. It's my aji limon that finally is mature.

First I thought that they would turn red. Then I thought they were going to be yellow. But now I can say that they are somewhere between orange and red.

Great tasting pods with a nice heat! I think I will eat a few the coming weekend!

More pictures here, if you want to follow them all the way from flowers :-)
http://petterssononline.com/habanero/peppers.php?action=variety&id=1242

Wishing you all a nice Friday and weekend!

Hot regards,
Mats

Chiltepin

2011-10-28T15:30:00.000+02:00

Friday afternoon, and I think what I will have as a snack when I get home!

My chiltepin did not produce many pods, but the few pods that are on the plant are proud ones :-) Take a look at this beauty! "Soon to be in my stomach!"

More pictures here: http://petterssononline.com/habanero/peppers.php?action=variety&id=1245

Wishing you all a nice weekend!
Regards,
Mats

Aji limon - finally

2011-10-27T20:20:00.000+02:00

I thought this variety would turn red, but it turns to a very nice orange colour. The flesh is thick and the taste is great! The heat is moderate. All one can expect from a very nice Capsicum baccatum!

This one is the first one to turn orange. Still waiting for plenty of pods to mature. Exciting!

Hot regards,
Mats

Late harvest

2011-10-27T19:28:00.002+02:00

After chasing aphids for most of the year, it's nice to be able to pick some pods.

Here are some orange baccatum. Sharp heat and nice taste.

And here are some Florida Bird Peppers drying. They have a dry heat. I guess they are like chewing on gunpowder :-)

And here are some Chuquisac. Mild baccatum with a nice taste.

Well, dinner is served :-)

Hot regards,
Mats

Florida bird pepper

2011-10-27T18:45:00.000+02:00

The growing season is definitely going to an end. My Florida Bird Pepper has had a fantastic late season, so I will very soon pick all the pods.

This is how it looked a couple of days ago. Aren't the peppers fantastic?

More pictures here: http://petterssononline.com/habanero/peppers.php?action=variety&id=1239

Regards,
Mats

Trying to stop aphids ...

2011-10-27T17:30:00.000+02:00

As you may remember - a while ago I was completely desperate about getting rid of all the aphids. I don't want to use any strong stuff, since we eat all the peppers. So I found this ecologic "stopset", and thought it could be worth giving it a try.

It consists of very sticky plastic sheets that you place in/near your plants. They are supposed to be coated with a material that attracts the aphids.

I've now used it for a couple of weeks, and the result has so far not been impressive. The good thing is that it at least seems to attract flies.

This is how it looked when I just had installed it. Not pretty at all :-)

So, considering the results, I can not say that I recommend it... Well, never ever give up :-)

Regards,
Mats

Ice cream

2011-10-18T18:26:00.000+02:00

Another ice cream recipe from my friend Anders. This time it's time for "Fresh Mint and Jalapeño ice cream". Sounds good to me :-)

http://www.icecreamnation.org/2011/10/fresh-mint-jalapeno-ice-cream/

Hot regards,
Mats

Florida bird pepper

2011-10-02T10:17:00.000+02:00

The weather is still unbelievable warm for the season, so I still have three pots out on the balcony.

This Florida bird pepper is one of my favorites from this year, so I keep it inside. Finally it has started to get ripe pods.

As you may see, it is still flowering.

it's a beauty!

It's so dense, so it's hard to get a good shot of a single pod.

The heat of the pods is explosive. Very hot in other words! It fools you in the beginning. Hmmm, not so hot I thought when I sampled one. Two seconds later, my mouth was on fire :-)

Have a great Sunday everyone!

Mats

A small chuquisac harvest

2011-09-28T21:30:00.001+02:00

I'm definitely not spoiled to harvesting chiles this year. But today we had two ripe Chuquisac pods.

Two nice pods. They were mild but with very nice taste.

Now I hope that the warm weather for the season continues, so the rest of the pods will turn yellow.

More chuquisac pictures here: http://petterssononline.com/habanero/peppers.php?action=variety&id=1238

Hot regards,
Mats

What Went Wrong?

2011-09-28T12:52:00.000+02:00

I'm cleaning up and removing old files on the computer, and just found this old favorite. I think it is so good so I want to share it with you. :-)

This is the story of four people: Everybody,
Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody.

There was an important job to be done, and
Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it.

Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it.

Somebody got angry, because it was
Everybody’s job. Everybody thought that
Somebody would do it.

But nobody asked Anybody.

It ended up that the job wasn’t done, and
Everybody blamed Everybody, when actually
Nobody asked Anybody.

Regards,

Mats

Rocoto paste

2011-09-27T07:30:00.000+02:00

I did not grow any pubescens this year, so I was extra happy when I found this one! Good stuff!

I think it could more or less be used on anything!

Regards,
Mats

More orange baccatum

2011-09-26T12:09:00.003+02:00

I'm home with Carl today, since he has caught the flu. So I could go out on the balcony to pick some fresh peppers.

Three of them are still out there because of all the aphids. We don't want the mess inside.

The nights are getting cooler and I think it's down to 8-9 degrees C and I would expect the aphids to go away. I think that the plants would be shocked if I bring them inside now, so I will simply leave them out there.

Usually I never keep the plants out so late in the season, but what strikes me is that the pods do not seem to mature the same way they usually do. This is my orange baccatum, and they matures over a more green colour than earlier in the season.

Pods picked today:

Pods picked over a week ago. You see that these ones have a deeper orange colour.

There is nothing wrong with the heat. I believe they are even hotter than the ones that mature earlier in the season. I wonder why. One reason I can think of is that the capsaicin is used to protect the chiles, and they think that they need better protection because of the cooler climate. Any other ideas?

Wishing you a great week!
Mats

Pickled malaguetas

2011-09-26T03:00:00.000+02:00

My malaguetas didn't make it this season. But we found this nice bottle the other day.

The malagueta taste is great, and they mix perfectly well with the vinegar.

Hot regards,
Mats

Jelly and powder

2011-09-16T07:00:00.000+02:00

I got these two delicacies from my friend whose chile plants I took care of for a week.

This is great! In case you haven't tried it, I think it's a nice jelly! Wonderful with cheese on crackers or crisps.

And this is another favorite. I use pimenton in many dishes, but especially in meatballs and mashed potato. So by now Carl knows that I'm not making typical Swedish meatballs, but he gets so surprised if they lack the heat.

Anyway, not only the content is good. Also the cans are nice. Unintentionally I'm working on a collection. You can check it out here. http://chilesinstockholm.blogspot.com/2011/04/it-was-never-my-intention.html

Wishing you all a nice weekend!
Mats

Another favorite - orange baccatum

2011-09-15T19:00:00.000+02:00

This little fellow is saving my season :-) Without it I would not have much to harvest. But this one is productive. Very nice one. With good heat and nice taste.

I think that I will pick the ones that are ripe during the weekend, so the plant can focus on the immature ones. The outdoor growing season is definitely going to an end..

More pictures here: http://petterssononline.com/habanero/peppers.php?action=variety&id=1241

Regards,
Mats

In the mix...

2011-09-15T18:11:00.000+02:00

Time flies when you're having fun. So I'm really behind with publishing some pictures. This wonderful mix ended up in our stomachs last weekend.

Thank you Patrik for saving us :-)

Hot regards,
Mats

Aji limon

2011-09-15T18:00:00.000+02:00

This seems to be a nice Capsicum baccatum!

Still only immature pods, but they look great. Thick and heavy. I think I might stuff them with feta cheese and bake in the oven when they are ready. My mouth waters when I think about it :-)

I will get back later with more pictures when they hopefully turn red. This one is also left on the balcony, so I hope it won't be too long...

More pictures here: http://petterssononline.com/habanero/peppers.php?action=variety&id=1242

Regards,
Mats

Florida bird pepper

2011-09-15T17:00:00.000+02:00

Well, this is nice. Maybe the plants get stressed by the chilly nights, but finally some pods are turning red :-)

I haven't tasted them yet, but they look good! I'm sure they will be fine either dried, fresh or in an oil.

It is really windy, so it doesn't help to use a tripod, but anyway, here are the sharpest pictures I took today.

There are plenty of flowers on the way. Too bad they won't be setting fruit. Unless I move it inside soon. But before that I need to get rid of the aphids...

Hot regards,
Mats

Autumn colours

2011-09-15T15:22:00.003+02:00

Time flies. I took this picture last Sunday. I love the autumn colours and just wanted to share this with you. Even though it's not a Capsicum...

Regards,
Mats

Moving out (again)

2011-09-10T22:10:00.000+02:00

We couldn't stand all the aphids, so I moved them out to the balcony again. And now I will keep them there. No way I'm taking these aphid-loaded plants inside again.

That's sad. I was really hoping for saving a couple of plants for the winter. But I don't see how I will be able to get rid of all the aphids. It's better to start from scratch next year (again).

Well, it was a beautiful day anyway, and I'm not complaining. Here I am enjoying a beer in the sunshine :-)

Have a nice weekend!
Mats

Dinner guests - the beginning of the chaos

2011-09-07T21:41:00.003+02:00

The nights are still pretty warm. Just above 10 C. But tonight I decided to move some of the plants inside. In general there are not many pods on the plants, but I want to do what I can so they can mature.

It's good to have the blog. I see from last year that I moved the plants indoors on the 10th of September last year. Almost the same date in other words. I had so many more plants last year.... http://chilesinstockholm.blogspot.com/2010/09/what-have-i-done.html

I will probably throw away at least two of the plants now. There are six pots left on the balcony, but I will play the role as judge tomorrow. It's hard after almost a year's struggle, and then just throw it away.

Anyway, let's talk about more fun things :-) The one to the right is absolutely fantastic. It's my Florida bird pepper. Hundreds of fruits and flowers! It has been standing in the corner of the balcony, so I hadn't noticed that.

The one next to it, is a tepin. Not so many fruits, but quite a bunch anyway. They usually take a lot of time to mature, so I hope it will like it inside.

The others are some frutescens and chinense.

So, compared to last year, I think it will be quite OK from a plant perspective. But still. They take lots of space, and I'm sure it will be a challenging period ahead :-)

More pictures later.

Regards,
Mats

Thanks Mia & Patrik

2011-09-04T18:33:00.000+02:00

Thanks Mia! The Gojis are now in soil :-) I have a plastic bag over the pot, so I hope they will make it!

And thanks Patrik for the chiles! If you have the time, please tell what the varieties are.

(The one on the lower row to the right is a fresh goji berry.)

Have a great week!
Mats

Thank you all my friends :-)

2011-09-04T18:07:00.000+02:00

What a nice day at Bergianska!

Clear blue sky and 20 degrees Centigrade!

Party people having coffee and cakes!

It's not Halloween yet, but Carl has found a pumpkin! Do not touch!

Tres amigos :-)

Mia and me.

Two hot guys. Patrik & Rune.

Kaili doing some great artwork.

So thank you all my friends for making this a great day!

Hot regards,
Mats

Girino

2011-09-04T09:50:00.000+02:00

These wax like pods are beautiful. It's almost like the light slips on them, making it hard to get focus.

This is a Brazilian Capsicum chinense. The name is in Portuguese, meaning tadpole. Grodyngel in Swedish. So now I have learned a new Portuguese word :-)

Five years ago, I grew this variety, and it gave a great harvest. This year, I will not get many pods, but I'm happy for the ones that are there :-) If you want to see more pictures, you can have a look here:
http://petterssononline.com/habanero/peppers.php?action=variety&id=224

From the balcony in Stockholm :-)
Mats

Chiltepin

2011-09-04T09:38:00.001+02:00

Inspired by the nice weather I went out to the balcony to get a picture of one of my favorite varieties. Chiltepin. It's a Capsicum annuum

I have grown some other similar varieties. Tepin and chilipiquin. More pictures to be found here:
http://petterssononline.com/habanero/peppers.php?action=variety&id=145
and here:
http://petterssononline.com/habanero/peppers.php?action=variety&id=1203

I'm going out to Bergianska today to meet my friends from the chile pepper association. The annual autumn party. http://www.bergianska.se/index_program.php?vidare=aktuellt_hostfest11.html

Wishing you a nice Sunday! And maybe see you there :-)
Mats

Spicy chick peas

2011-08-26T21:18:00.000+02:00

Friday evening and back on the balcony. Currently a heatwave in Stockholm, so now when I'm writing this at nine PM it's 18C. Amazing.

I made some spicy chick peas today. I put the dry chick peas in water last night, so they were completely soaked. In other words - let them soak in water for approximately 24 hours.

Then I took my favorite chile powder, mixed it with olive oil and salt. Here you have to use your own judgement what is suitable for you and your surrounding :-)

Mix the chick peas with the oil mixture and put on a baking sheet.

Heat the oven to 175C, and let the chick peas cook for about an hour. Stir occasionally.

It's perfect with a glass of vinho verde or orange juice or whatever you prefer on a Friday afternoon.

Wishing you all a nice weekend!

Hot regards,
Mats

Thinking about redesigning the chile pepper database

2011-08-23T21:00:00.034+02:00

As the evenings get darker, I'm thinking about doing some work with the Chile Pepper Database.

I need to fix some small bugs, and some other things. I know myself, and that will most probably lead me to major changes in the code behind it.

So, my question to you is - do you have any ideas about the layout, or if you think any functionality is missing? In that case, please comment here. All ideas are worth sharing :-) But it does not necessarily mean that they will be implemented.

Thanks!
Mats

A monster on the balcony?

2011-08-23T18:30:00.003+02:00

Well, I don't know what to say. This one just keeps on growing and growing. I think it's well over three metres now.

I forgot the most important info. It's my basella alba, or malabar spinach.

I think it's a plant with a purpose. Or ambition and vision. It's probably trying to get up to the neighbor above us. But what it's really trying to accomplish - I don't know yet. Have a look at it. It goes both to the left and right along the railing.

In other words. We still haven't eaten it. And the question is still if we dare :-)

Today I learned - Höstfest på Bergianska!

2011-08-23T13:15:00.000+02:00

In Swenglish... Don't miss the Höstfest (harvest fiesta) at Bergianska. Sunday 4th of September 11-16.

More information here: http://www.bergianska.se/index_program.php?vidare=aktuellt_hostfest11.html

I'm sure you will find some chile pepper friends there :-)

Hot regards,
Mats

Cumari almonds

2011-08-21T20:08:00.000+02:00

Sunday afternoon. Sunshine. Last third of August.

What could be better than some spicy almonds on the balcony with rose wine :-)

For your inspiration. Heat up a pan with some oil. Add the chile powder. In this case I used cumari from last year. Add the almonds and let them fry on medium to low heat for about 10 minutes. I like them when they get "blackened".
Let them cool down on some paper. Put them in a bowl and add some salt.
Ready!

The perfect snack! It can be as hot or mild as you like!

Have a great week!
Mats

You know you're a chilehead when .....

2011-08-11T13:10:00.000+02:00

... you go on a cruise to Tallinn, and everyone buys loads of alcohol and cigarettes, and you call out - WOW! A habanero hot sauce!!! - in the taxfree shop of the ship :-)

I just tasted it, and it had the typical habanero flavor, with a very distinct heat!

A couple of pictures from Tallinn.

I wonder if this dragon sampled some habanero sauce :-)

Have a great remaining of the week!
Mats

Habanero sauce

2011-08-10T11:00:00.001+02:00

This is a classic!

Simply fantastic taste and heat!

Mucho mas habanero!

Hot regards,
Mats

Girino

2011-08-08T21:30:00.000+02:00

This is an old "friend" of mine. I grew it a couple of years ago, and had a fantastic harvest.

It won't be the same this year. But I like this variety a lot. It's a nice Capsicum chinense.

More pictures here:
http://petterssononline.com/habanero/peppers.php?action=variety&id=224

Hot regards,
Mats

Black Pepper

2011-08-08T20:40:00.001+02:00

It's called Black Pepper, but it's not the ordinary kind of black pepper :-)

It's a beauty with the purple striped flowers.

I believe that it is a C. chinense because there are many flowers per node.

Thanks to my friend Aparecido for the seeds!

Hot regards,
Mats

Chiltepin

2011-08-08T19:35:00.000+02:00

Thanks to my friend Marco who sent me these seeds!

Chiltepins are fantastic! Look at the fantastic shape of these flowers!

True beauties!

Regards,
Mats

New sauce

2011-08-07T18:56:00.000+02:00

Thanks to my friend Mikael who gave this one to me :-)

It's a really nice serrano sauce! Not very hot, but it has that great tex-mex taste!

Good on all the food you see :-)

Have a great week!
Mats

Memories from Santa Fe - New Mexico

2011-08-01T19:40:00.000+02:00

I'm suppose to work on the final lab for my summer course, but I'm doing all I can to avoid that :-) So I just had to browse through old pictures...

Something made me think of Coyote Cafe in Santa Fe. I was there for the first time in 1996. It was a beautiful spring day, and I had duck on the open patio in the sunshine. That was great.

Patricia and I went there in 2000. I think it was in March. It was cold and even snow. This time we sat inside. We were close to the fireplace and enjoyed it a lot!

Meet the band :-)

And the kitchen staff.

We liked the artwork. It would probably not be as good in our home, but I think it's absolutely great!

A "mandatory" picture of me :-)

I'm still using the Coyote Cafe cookbook now and then for inspiration. A nice book!

Well, should I maybe go back to my Ruby course now instead...

Keep it hot!
Mats

Chile chocolate ice cream

2011-07-30T20:25:00.000+02:00

I need to share this with you- check out this chile chocolate ice cream recipe!

http://www.icecreamnation.org/2011/07/chile-chocolate-ice-cream/

Wishing you a great weekend!
Mats

Orange baccatum

2011-07-28T21:42:00.000+02:00

There is not much that beats home grown chiles! Small for a C. baccatum, but these two were really good!!!

Regards,
Mats

Aji limon and Chuquisac

2011-07-28T16:39:00.003+02:00

Welcome to the wonderful world of Capsicum baccatum!

I can never get enough of these flowers!

Aji limon

PI596058 - Chuquisac

To see all the latest chile pepper pictures on my homepage, you can follow this link: http://petterssononline.com/habanero/peppers.php?action=dates

Take care,
Mats

Ripe Orange baccatum pods

2011-07-28T08:00:00.000+02:00

Finally!!! I'm getting ready to harvest a couple of orange baccatum pods.

It's a nice size for a baccatum. Usually my baccatum plants grow very big and dominate the balcony. But these ones have behaved :-)

Hot regards,
Mats

Why not cool down with some ...

2011-07-27T20:50:00.003+02:00

ice cream...

My friend Anders has a passionate interest for ice cream, and his great blog with lots of inspiration can be found here: http://www.icecreamnation.org.

I could not find a recipe for a chile pepper ice cream, but I'm sure that it will eventually be one there.

During the peperoncino festival in Diamante back in 2002, I remember that I had a peperoncino ice cream, and it was quite hot!

Keep it cool :-) No I mean hot...
Mats

Black Cayman

2011-07-27T18:30:00.008+02:00

It feels like I've been chasing aphids for months, and I'm finally seeing the end of that war.

On this flower, you can still see two of them. After the picture I took care of them, so now they don't bother my Black Cayman anymore.

This is a Capsicum chinense, so have a look at the typical chinense flowers.

Currently we have very warm and nice weather. Perfect weather for chinense :-)

Regards,
Mats

Tulsi - holy basil

2011-07-27T16:49:00.000+02:00

Yes I know. This is definitely not a chile pepper, but since I grow it, and I think that it's a beauty - I want to share these pictures with you :-)

Look at the beautiful purple colour of these flowers! I hope they produce seeds, so I can use for next season.

The leaves make excellent tea. A true yogi tea :-)

Namaste!
Mats

Malagueta

2011-07-27T16:25:00.000+02:00

End of July, and some of my varieties are just starting to set flowers. Really really late. But at least there are fewer aphids.

I collected seeds for these malaguetas when we were in Brazil 2001. So the seeds are 10 years old. I hope that these flowers turn into pods. So I can save new seeds. I'm a big fan of frutescens.

These flowers are typical for frutescens. Many flowers per node, and they have a greenish colour.

Reminds me of the film Woman on top with Penelope Cruz. The Brazilian cook who goes to San Francisco, and cooks with malaguetas. If you haven't seen it, it's a nice movie :-)

Keep it hot!
Mats

Malabar spinach...

2011-07-17T22:12:00.001+02:00

This one is really amazing. I'm almost 2 metres tall, and the spinach is taller than I am...

We talk about starting to eat it, but it's almost like we don't dare to eat it, because it has such powers :-)

What do you think? Do you have any nice recipes to share?

Regards,
Mats

PI596058 - Chuquisac

2011-07-17T20:01:00.000+02:00

Some pictures from the balcony today. Finally, I got an opportunity to take some pictures. One of my favorites! Capsicum baccatum!

More pictures here: http://petterssononline.com/habanero/peppers.php?action=variety&id=1238

Hot regards,
Mats

Florida Bird Pepper

2011-07-17T15:53:00.000+02:00

This one is one of the "survivors" from all the aphids and winds. It seems that the most resistant varieties are the ones that are closest to be wild or undomesticated.

This is a gorgeous looking plant, and the small flowers are true beauties!

More pictures here:

http://petterssononline.com/habanero/peppers.php?action=variety&id=1239

Hot regards,
Mats

Basella alba - Malabar spinach

2011-06-27T07:30:00.001+02:00

It grows and grows and grows... This one radiates power! It's my basella alba.

I have not yet tasted it, but one day we will :-)

Confusion - kalonji or shahi kala

2011-06-26T18:46:00.000+02:00

OK, I have to admit it. Maybe, just maybe I have mixed some seeds...

I put some kalonji and shahi kala (black cumin) seeds in soil this spring. Never really expected anything to show up. But it did.

This beauty showed up in the pot that I marked black cumin. But to me it looks like some kind of onion, which could indicate that it is kalonji. Another name for kalonji is black onion.

Anyway, I just wanted to share these pictures with you.

Maybe I will start all over again. Being more careful how I label my pots :-)

Regards,
Mats

Midsummer!

2011-06-26T15:01:00.000+02:00

Hi there!

It's been a while... There is very limited action in the chile pepper pots. I'm still struggling with the aphids, and most plants are tiny. So I'm not expecting much from this season.

In the meanwhile... Here are some pictures of my garlic sprouts in the kitchen. They are a lively bunch :-)

Take care,
Mats

Struggling

2011-06-18T00:12:00.000+02:00

Well folks. No picture today.

I have a few plants that are doing fine, but actually most of them are struggling. I can't remember a year when my plants have been hit so hard by the aphids.

I hope that I've seen the worst now, and that the plants grow stronger. Time will tell.

Hope that you have a good chile pepper year :-)

And - wishes for a nice weekend!
Mats

Celebrating the National Day

2011-06-06T15:39:00.000+02:00

We have been out celebrating the National Day!

Outside the Royal Palace.

From the Royal Palace.

Exchange of guards.

At the Royal Palace.

At the Royal Palace, where we met my old friend Tommy.

At the Royal Palace. Can you find the monkey? :-)

At the Royal Palace.

Fishing boat at Strömmen.

The flag!

Flowers!

Sailing boats.

Party!

At the "beach".

Lots of activities in Rålis.

Taking it easy.

Well, that's all folks! Have a nice day!
Mats

Orange baccatum pods

2011-06-05T10:52:00.000+02:00

I'm still struggling with the aphids. I thought that the aphids would give up once the plants moved out to the balcony. But they are still there...

Anyway, there are some good news. The orange baccatum are developing some nice pods!

I do have some flowers on some of the other plants, but they seem to be far away from producing pods. More about this later.

Have a nice Sunday!
Mats

A great weekend to you all

2011-06-01T20:28:00.000+02:00

The long weekend has started! The weather is great! The chiles are OK out on the balcony, though they are quite tiny. I hope that will change, if the good weather persists.

Two pictures from this evening.

Wishing you all a great weekend!
Mats

Well packaged for the night

2011-05-28T20:54:00.000+02:00

Tonight will be the first night out for the plants. It's below 13C, but I hope they will be OK under the net.

Looking good. Don't you think? :-)

Great news! Since they have spent more time outside, the aphids problems have more or less disappeared.

Regards,
Mats

Chili cookoff in Kungsträdgården

2011-05-27T22:12:00.001+02:00

In case you are in Stockholm on Sunday the 29th :-)
http://www.alltomstockholm.se/start/article2401359.aos

Wishing you all a nice weekend!
Mats

Victim from the balcony

2011-05-22T23:50:00.008+02:00

PI 596058 Chuquisac - one of the baccatum was broken on the balcony in the strong winds. I can sense a repetition from last year, when exactly the same thing happened. And from the years before.

Guarded by our Maya friend, I will see if it can develop roots. One has to try :-)

Wishing you all a nice week to come!
Mats

But.... Where will we sit?

2011-05-22T08:58:00.000+02:00

A sunny Sunday morning!

The question for today is - where will we sit???

Have a great Sunday everyone!

Mats

Trying to learn from experience

2011-05-21T15:35:00.000+02:00

At least I hope that I'm a learning being. I try. But it's not easy!

Last year at this time, I moved the plants outside. Actually like I do every year. May 19th, as you can read in this post: http://chilesinstockholm.blogspot.com/2010/05/moving-out.html. It was not very successful... Plants broke, and were tortured by the strong spring winds.

So this year I will at least try to be more patient, and take care of them better. I don't have so many plants this year, so it's actually doable.

Here are the small ones. Shelter behind a fiber net. The sun and the wind makes it tough for them.

And the bigger ones, between chairs to get some shelter from the winds.

And the biggest one had to be moved inside. The winds were not easy for the plant, so it has to rest behind windows.

I plan to take them out in the mornings and in in the evenings for at least a week. Depending on the weather of course. Then I think they can be outside for the rest of the summer.

Wishing you all a nice weekend!

Mats

Five sauces - some new

2011-05-14T12:31:00.000+02:00

My heart made a couple of extra beats when I saw the El Yucateco - Exxxtra picante - Salsa kutbil-ik de (what that now means??). But I believe it's a hot one. I think I sampled it many years ago. So it will be nice to try it again.

And being a great fan of chipotles, I was very happy to find the El Yucateco chipotle sauce!

And - the three different D'ELidas habanero sauces! How great! I will let you know later what I think about them!

Wishing you all a nice weekend!

Mats

Seeing the beauty

2011-05-09T09:09:00.000+02:00

Spring is such a fantastic time of the year. Nature is absolutely fantastic. Looking at small details in plants and trees reveals such beauty.

After leaving Carl in school, I took my favorite walk, just to watch the trees and listen to the birds. Fantastic. So with these words I wish you a great week!

Regards,
Mats

PI596058 - Chuquisac

2011-05-07T13:57:00.000+02:00

Some of my baccatum have had flowers for a while, but I've had such enormous amounts of aphids. So it has not been so inspiring to take a picture of the plants. Now I have used huge amounts of pine tree soap, and there are still aphids on them, but I think I'm getting at least some control over the situation.

So here it is. My PI596058 - Chuquisac with typical C. baccatum flowers.

I think that as soon the plants can be moved outside, it will be easier to get rid of the aphids. But until then, I have to do the hard work...

Wishing you all a great weekend!
Mats

Basil

2011-05-02T20:36:00.000+02:00

My overwintered Basil is flowering!

And - two of this year's varieties are flowering now. Both are baccatum. It's the Chuquisac and Orange baccatum. I will soon get back with a chile pepper update.

Wishing you a great week!

Mats

Endorphin rush

2011-05-01T21:13:00.001+02:00

Yes - I survived! Somewhere in Tennessee back in 1996 :-)

Keep it hot!
Mats

Matamoros

2011-04-25T18:57:00.001+02:00

Hola! This is fourteen years ago. Talk about chile heaven :-) Great sauces!

And mountains of dried chiles! People probably thought that we were crazy, having so much fun with all the chiles.

Regards,
Mats

Cherry tree blooming

2011-04-25T16:26:00.000+02:00

A week ago, there were no flowers at all. Today, it was like this. It's truly magic!

Spring regards,
Mats

Long time ago. Eating a habanero in Los Angeles

2011-04-22T16:53:00.001+02:00

I stumbled over this old picture. It's taken in October 1995 during a vacation in California. That habanero you see in my hand ruined my evening. First of all - I ate it. That was OK. But when we came to our hotel, my stomach reacted, and we couldn't go out for dinner that night. Actually, I more or less thought it was my last moment :-)

Guess if I have learned my lesson :-)

"Beginner's mind"-Mats

Holy smoke Batman!

2011-04-22T10:54:00.000+02:00

This is something to consider instead of ordinary Easter candy.

This candy that I got from my friend Mikael. Smoked red savinas!

Not only that they taste great! There are some serious health benefits: Increased metabolism and no way you can "over consume" them, there is a natural stop :-) But they are definitely really good! And something that I recommend in the morning omelette!

Happy Easter!
Mats

Welcome my friend!

2011-04-21T19:36:00.000+02:00

I was so happy to meet the first ladybug this year! Go ahead my friend! There are plenty of food on my plants for you!!!

Happy Easter!
Mats

Directive on Traditional Medicinal Plants

2011-04-21T12:18:00.000+02:00

OK, I grow chiles as a hobby, but I also enjoy ayurvedic herbs and other medical herbs. It's a hobby, an interest, a passion... That said, I don't see a connection to politics, which I try to stay out of. But sometimes I think it's necessary to protest.

This morning I got really upset when I read about this (it's in Swedish)
http://ulrikagabriel.blogspot.com/2011/04/eu-vill-forbjuda-medicinska-orter.html
and here:
http://blogg.passagen.se/sannaehdin/entry/health_ban
and here:
http://torbjornsassersson.com/2011/04/lakemedelsindustrin-vill-forbjda-alla-orter-och-kosttillskott-i-en-attack-mot-var-ratt-till-halsa/

It's an EU directive. Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products Directive (THMPD), Directive 2004/24/EC, which is set to remove access to the vast majority of herbal medicinal products beginning 30 April 2011.

So what's going on here? Last fall, we had the storm about EU's list with Capsicum varieties, and which were allowed and so on, and now EU is bothering about herbal medicines.

You can read more about it here, and also sign the petition, if you believe that the world will be better without this directive: http://www.savenaturalhealth.eu/sign.php

Now I'm going out in the sunshine to breath in some air. At least that is something that still isn't commercialized. To breathe. But who knows what will come next...

Happy Easter!
Mats

It was never my intention ...

2011-04-17T21:00:00.044+02:00

... to start a collection. It's spring, and I want to feel lighter and get rid of old things. So we went up on the attic, where I found these old memories :-)

I'm a very big fan of pimenton powder! It's not very hot and it has a wonderful smokey flavor. So I can use it in almost anything. It's wonderful in meatballs :-) Anyway, it started with one of the cans at the bottom of this pyramid (Titan), which I bought on the Canary Islands many years ago. And then it just has continued. Now it's possible to buy pimenton here in Stockholm, so that probably takes the "edge" of my collection. But anyway, enjoy this pyramid :-)

And here are some other chile powders.

They are from friends, Hungary and France. We were in Budapest visiting my friend Gabor, where we of course bought some chiles on the market :-) http://petterssononline.com/lobao/budapest/index.htm

We visited France in 2004, and went to the La fête du piment - in Espelette.

Some more pictures here: http://petterssononline.com/lobao/Frankrike/France5.html

And this last can. It has a great story. We were in Mexico, and found this 2,8 kg can with jalapeños. Of course we had to buy it. But it was a challenge to get it in the suitcase, and we were so nervous that it was going to break. But it didn't. So I think we need to keep the can for a little longer. It will survive at least another year! It's a nice can with the actual image and text printed on the can. Not on paper like the cans today...

Hot regards from your spring cleaning can collecting...
Mats

Repotting

2011-04-17T10:09:00.000+02:00

Phew! Busy days repotting chiles! Today I repotted three different malaguetas, Florida bird pepper, Girino, Black Cayman and St. Kitt's Red. That means that all of my peppers for this year are in their "final" pots.

Well, except one. The caronog from 2001. It's so small, so I'm still not sure if it will make it. Here it is, next to my turmeric:

Just for comparison. Check this picture below. All the seeds were planted on the same day, and compare the sizes of the plants. It's amazing to see how fast they grow when they are repotted into bigger pots. The three big ones are baccatum. I think especially baccatum takes immediate advantage from the bigger pots. They were repotted almost a month ago.

Wishing you all a nice Sunday!

Searching for seeds

2011-04-15T10:45:00.000+02:00

Hello everyone!

Anyone who knows where I can get Brahmi and/or Bhumiamalaki seeds? Those are herbs commonly used in ayurveda.

Here is the view from our balcony this morning. A fantastic day! "Soon" the chile plants will move out to the balcony :-) Well, not really so soon, but almost soon....

Wishing you a nice weekend!
Mats

Repotting (again) - and aphids (again)

2011-04-14T19:40:00.001+02:00

Hi!

It's been a while since I posted anything. It's not because of laziness. Rather because of the !"#¤!¤ aphids!

We have really been struggling with the aphids. I think it's about the same amount as last year. It was terrible. But I expect them to go away as soon as the plants are moved outside.

Today I repotted three more varieties. Black pepper, pimenta da Neyde and the Mexican chiltepin.

I will get back with some pictures later. Right now I don't think that they are so good looking so it's even worth taking a picture of them.

How about you? How do you experience aphids this year? Better? Worse? Or the same?

Regards,
Mats

Dynamic views

2011-04-01T12:02:00.000+02:00

A new feature in blogger that I think is quite nice. It's called dynamic views. Follow this link, and see how this blog is presented in a completely different way.

http://chilesinstockholm.blogspot.com/view/flipcard#!/

Quite cool. Or maybe it's because it's Friday :-)

Have a great weekend!
Mats

And more signs of spring!

2011-03-20T07:30:00.001+01:00

I'm going to stay focused on chile peppers here, but with this major excitement I can't help to show you these signs of spring!

The first snowdrops we saw this year!!!

Have a great Sunday!

Signs of spring

2011-03-19T23:00:00.002+01:00

Looking back on this very long winter, it's with sincere joy I watch the ice melt!

And go playing basketball in the park with Carl :-)
One!

Two!

Three! Goal!!!

Happy Carl.

Supermoon

2011-03-19T20:03:00.002+01:00

We just had to go out tonight and take some pictures of the extra large moon.

Impressive moon! I don't believe in the doomsday stuff, but on the other hand I definitely think it's logical that the moon affects us, since we consist of 55-75% water...

Final pots for three

2011-03-19T10:18:00.000+01:00

Time flies and the bright daylight makes the chiles grow fast!

So I decided to repot three varieties into their "final" pots. It's the PI 596058 Chuquisac, Orange baccatum and the aji limon. All are Capsicum baccatum. As always, I plant them deep, and cover the stems with soil. The plants will develop roots, and will be more steady, when they are moved out to the balcony.

The chaos will soon begin. Here they are well positioned in our living room. How will it look, when the remaining 10+ plants will be repotted? :-)

I think today is a good day for repotting because of the "supermoon" :-) Check this out. It's a beautiful picture!
http://www.michellemyhre.com/2011/03/supermoon-saturday.html

Wishing you all a great weekend!
Mats

My goji plants

2011-02-27T16:45:00.001+01:00

It started as an experiment. We eat dried goji berries with our breakfast yoghurt. I never really expected the seeds to germinate, but since I like to try to grow new plants, I just had to give it a try. And it worked. They seem to be pretty fast growing, and I hope they grow stronger. But so far it looks great.

Maybe we can hope for some fresh goji berries in the autumn :-)

Regards,
Mats