What a week

A week ago, we had temperatures around 25C. Perfect for the pepper plants.

Then we got some winds from the north. And we had night temperatures around 6C. Daytime around 10-13C.

To spice that up a little, the winds have been strong.

Saying that. It's a mess on the balcony. But it's not too bad. It could have been worse. Some broken branches, and many leaves that have blown away.

I used chairs to support the plants in the strong winds, and I think that is what actually saved them from total destruction.

Later on today I will go and inspect the damages. I hope I will get a positive surprise :-)

It's amazing. Even the 2+ metre Capscium baccatum is still standing :-)

Phew. Life as a chile pepper balcony farmer is more dramatic than you can imagine :-)

Wishing you all a nice weekend!
   Mats

Peru yellow

An update from the balcony. Also, the peru yellow that I overwintered is getting ripe pods. That's absolutely wonderful :-)

Now, I'm waiting for the "new ones" to set fruit. My annuum from Brazil has some pods, but it will take a while before they will be ready to be picked.

More about that later...

Have a great week!
   Mats

Dedo de moça - harvest

Wow! Dedo de moça for lunch. In the end of May. That's a record for me.

I was afraid that they had ripened too early, stressed by the weather or something. But there was absolutely nothing wrong with the taste and heat.

Yesterday I removed the net that covered the plants. From now on, they are on their own :-) The wind and sun being the worst enemies. But it will be fine in the end...

Wishing you all a great week to come!
   Mats

Looking good, so far :-)

Hi,
 a short update. So far, the plants look fine out on the balcony.

This is the view from the kitchen window. Even the tall Dedo de moca is OK. (Phew!)

And my chinense on the other balcony is fine. It is not totally covered by the protective net, and it gets very windy there. But, so far it's OK.

Under the net, there is another "climate". Nice looking plants.

Here are some pictures from my walk to a conference this morning. Passing the City Hall.

Further downtown...

Under the bridge...

At my destination. Viewing the Royal Palace

What a fantastic summer day!

Wishing you a hot weekend!
   Mats

Stockholm pictures

 Hi!

No chiles this time. Only some Stockholm pictures. (Maybe I should call this blog "Chiles or Stockholm" to set a broader theme. Anyway, I enjoy taking pictures of the city. Here are some from last weekend.

Skeppsholmen and Af Chapman.

Södermalm, and Engelbrekt (Stadshuset) watching over the lake

Riddarholmen 

Stadshuset

Sunset reflections at Södermalm / Högalidskyrkan

St. George and the dragon. I especially like the shadows in this picture. It's a lot of action in the shadows.

Wishing you a great day!

   Mats

Backlight and macro

Hi!

 A picture from last weekend. Chile pepper leaves in illuminated by backligt...

Not a Capsicum, but another flower, that Patricia got for her birthday. Very red and nice.. :-)

Flowery regards :-)
   Mats

Moving out

Hi!

A week ago, weather was like in November... Today it was more like July..

I checked the weather forecast, and it looks promising. So today, I moved the peppers outside. It's earlier than previous years, but I'm tired of having a jungle indoors... :-)




Here I am with the dedo de moca. I'm almost 2m tall, so it's a tall plant. Amazing. It's from seed that I started four months ago. Cool.

  

The shorter ones are under a protective net on the smaller balcony. The sun and the wind are the two forces that can break the plants before they are hardened.

My overwintered pequin from Ischia has some pods turning red already. And the dedo de moca from last year  has one pod that soon will be ripe too. Quite a luxury to harvest nice peppers in mid May :-)

Wishes for a hot week!
   Mats