We have started!

Today is the day! The beginning of the chile year 2011 :-)

I have cut down a lot on the number of seeds that I keep at home, but it is still very very hard to choose what to grow!

The themes for this year is a mix of "greatest hits", chinense and some (for me) new exciting varieties. The first six are old Brazilian favorites. Followed by some new varieties.

1. Maraba (Capsicum chinense)
2. Malagueta large Salvador 2001 (Capsicum frutescens)
3. Malagueta liten Salvador 2001 (Capsicum frutescens)
4. Malagueta medium Salvador 2001 (Capsicum frutescens)
   
5. Cheiro de Para Recife 2001 (Capsicum chinense)
6. Caronog '01 (Capsicum chinense)
7. PI 596058 - Chuquisac (Capsicum baccatum)
8. Florida bird pepper (Capsicum annuum)
9. PI 585259 (Capsicum pubescens)
10. Girino GRM
11. Black pepper
12. Chiltepin Mexico (Capsicum annuum)
13. Pimenta da Neyde (Capsicum annuum)
14. Goat pepper
15. Orange baccatum (Capsicum baccatum)
16. Black Cayman (Capsicum chinense)
17. St. Kitt's Red (Capsicum chinense)
18. Aji Limon (Capsicum baccatum)
19. "Curly Looks" - a cactus! (Epiphyllum guatemalense)

I'm hoping for a hot summer, so the chinense will enjoy it!

Here we have my helper, planting seeds!

And here I am with a seed envelope...

The team ...

... in action.

Seeds.

More seeds...

And more....

Finished!

Anyone else who has started? Do you have any "themes" or favorites for this year?

Regards,
  Mats

The chile year 2011

A short update :-)

I have had a tradition to start my first seeds on January 1st. But this year will be different. We have been away in India for a couple of weeks, and have just arrived home.

So, I will decide on this year's theme, and let you know as soon as the new seeds are in soil!

Click on the picture if you are interested in seeing more pictures.

 

Happy New Year!

    Mats

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

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

Hot regards,
   Mats

La Latina - Salsa de rocoto

Sauces are interesting! Many years ago I had the whole fridge full with sauces. But these days, I have just a few. i call them my Greatest Hits collection.

One nice sauce that I have enjoyed lately is this rocoto sauce. I planned to take a picture of it when it was full, but I guess we finished it too fast. Anyway, I can recommend this one, though I usually try to avoid sauces with too many preservatives and E-numbers and things like that. This one was very nice.

Hot sauce regards,
   Mats

Salad

My basil and tulsi are doing fine in the Zengrow. And the experiment with peppermint also worked fine. So today I picked the peppermint to release some space for salad (Lactuca sativa).

So this is the current setup. One basil, one tulsi and four "pots" with basil seeds.

 I have just dropped some seeds on the growing material. I wonder if it works...

I hope that you all have a good December with not too much stress before Christmas!

Regards,
  Mats

Stockholm halo

Well, there is not much activity going on with my chile peppers for the moment.

I want to share this with you. This morning was pretty cold, around -6C. Looking out through our bedroom window I saw this fantastic halo.

Too bad there is a house in the way. But I think it's fantastic anyway.

 Regards,
   Mats

No chiles, but Stockholm

I need to warn you. This is a totally non chile related blog entry, so I hope that I don't bore you. But - I just have to share the beauty of our early winter with you.

It's been really cold for the season, with lots of snow. Today it's been around -10C, with high humidity.


Here is the bar/restaurant that is very crowded during the summers. Not many people there today. It's beautiful to see the reflections in the water, where the ice is forming.

I probably have 500 pictures of this bridge (Västerbron). Today I enjoyed the silence and peace that only is experienced when it's really cold.

Because of the high humidity, the trees get frosted. Have a look at this wonderful scenery at Långholmen.

One of my favorite spots that I sometimes go to when I have left Carl in school in the morning. Here is Smedsudden in a wintery landscape.

A closer look at the frosted trees.

Even the birds look cold.

Wishing you a nice coming weekend!

Hot regards from cold Stockholm,
   Mats