The Class of 2008

[abelman]

Planted these today as it's a bit early but temps seem good so...I could move them from the garage back and forth or just plant them. One was already flowering so in they went. I have never seen that this soon.
Anyway, 10 Thai Dragons and 4 Serrano's...

 

[tmw611]

Should produce some good peppers as long as the weather stays warm. Didn't see your locale but its getting late to have any frost. Have the hounds ever gotten a taste? They sure are beautiful dogs.

My dog bit onto a serrano one time. Now that was a sight. He never did it again.

 

[smokin out the neighbors]

looks great. I'm dying to get my veggies in the ground, but it seems to rain every day I'm off. Makes tilling really hard.

 

[abelman]

Thanks, I'm in Denver, CO. Usually the time to start is Mother's Day, ie May 15th or so. We'll get a freeze or two, maybe a snow or two, and then the hail season may or may not show. So, we watch the weather and put pots over them on the questionable nights.

As for the hounds, thanks! They're great dogs with the kids. As for getting a taste, yes and only once. They're both broken in at this point

As for what this will look like is like last year's plants if all goes well:

 

[abelman]

Well, we're into August by a week and things are coming together so I figured I'd update a bit as I promised some of these to a forum member or two. The Thais are longer matruring plants but are starting to really come alive Probably do my first dehydration next week. You can see in the second picture the peppers are coming in nicely and they're still putting on new flowers:





Also, if you look at the right side of the first picture, you may notice that I have 4 serranos over there. They are doing great. Took the first batch of serannos off today and smoked them while I was doing a couple of pork roasts. Even got some good drippings on them, excellent taste I might add:



I'll dehydrate them tomorrow. They have some Serious Heat which is a good thing

Then, we'll move on to grinding and powders for friends and family.

P.S. here are the roasts but as I'm kind of doing a project for a Family get together tomorrow. I'll wrap all that up in a another thread:

 

[flash]

Looks good, still have some Japs growing but have pulled up all my remaining tomatoes and red onions. The heat is just too great for now. Nothing else will be planted till end of September.

 

[pacnwsteve]

Abelman, your dogs and your garden are looking great! When the weather turns cold in Denver in a couple of months, it looks like you'll have a lot of heat to keep you warm.

How do you do your dehydration? Do you just hang 'em or do you use a machine? I had good success growing serranos last year and had so many I didn't know what to do with them so I gave away what I could and chucked the rest. I'd like to know if I can just hang them up or need to do more.

The roasts look great too. Nice plant view and q-view all around.

 

[abelman]

Thanks Steve, I use a dehydrator as it works best when things really get going as far as yield goes. It takes about 6-10 hours depending on the number of pans and how thick the peppers are. I put it in the garage as the fumes can be pretty strong, however, I like it but the Mrs isn't too thrilled when she goes out to get the car, LOL.

Anyway, here's an example of what I use:

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/te...rue&hasJS=true


I've had it now for about 6 years and it's still going strong. Once I do that, I grind them into powder in a coffee grinder. For thinner peppers like the Thai's, a blender works fine. Just wear a bandana or a mask as the fine powder will light you up. Also, most importantly, wash your hands VERY well before you touch your eyes or use the bathroom if you get my drift

.

Here's the basic progression:



Hope that helps from one pepperhead to another!