Impressive. Most Impressive.

This morning I woke up and instantly went to take a look at my pepper colony. I am still impressed with the quick recovery and growth of my plants after buying the lights. In fact it looks like Pousse might potentially pull a full on zombie. Her stalk has straightened and while her leaves look very wilted, she could pull a magical miracle and pull through.

Pousse, the little pepper that almost could! 

Spicy McPepperson is looking fantastically well if I do say so myself. The Master of the pepper universe has shrugged off the droop and is standing straight and tall, ready to rule his domain. 

Magnificent!

In totally unrelated news I am making the decision to start eating healthy and to be more active. I went and was sized for a bike this weekend and plan to start biking back and forth to work everyday. I want to feel healthier, get into much better shape as I plan on playing soccer all summer and explore and enjoy this wonderful city that I call home. 

I am also happy to announce that a good friend of my has started his own blog! He is also planting a garden this year and knows much more about gardening then I. Please welcome him and give him your support! http://gardenbadger.blogspot.ca/

Finally, I don't know who you are but your license plate is IMPRESSIVE. MOST IMPRESSIVE. I hope you drive around all day and feel like an all powerful Sith Lord, or, at the very least, like a boss! 

Our first catch of the day!

All's Quiet on The Pepper Front!

I woke up this morning and, I can't lie, there wasn't too much to report. There were no new sprouts and the plants stayed pretty much the same size. All is quiet on the pepper front.

Hello world! Nothing new in the greenhouse! With Love. The McPepperson Family!

I figured that today might be a slow day for growing, especially as it was raining all day and not too much sun was peeking out from around the clouds. Thus, when I got home and found the peppers pretty much in the same state as I had left them at 6:30 am, I wasn't too shocked or surprised. 

Same old, Same old!

I am still debating as to when to crack open the greenhouse and let more air in during the day. I think that I am going to wait at least a few more days and hope for more of my seeds to sprout before I crack it open during the day time. 

If anything, I am more worried about the amount of sunlight getting through to my plants throughout the day. It makes me feel I should be investing in some lights to help promote growth. Unfortunately the hydroponics store I was going to stop at in Burlington closed at 6:00 pm today. I guess I will have to wait until the weekend. 

Now, take a look at some of these closeup pepper selfies! 

OOOOOH!!!

AHHHHHHH!!!

The HEIGHT of Pepper Fashion!

What did you say to me???

Alright folks, it's happening. It's a grow off! Old School Rules!

Till tomorrow, may the peppers be with you!

Meet the McPeppersons! The biggest pepper clan in the Hamilton Area!

Naming peppers gives me great joy for some reason. It makes me feel like I am conducting my own Harry Potter sorting hat ceremony, yet with my peppers. I am highly amused and entertained by this. Now on to the naming.

LET US BEGIN THE PEPPER SORTING CEREMONY!

Yesterday we heralded Spicy McPepperson into the world as the reigning pepper overlord. Today we had to name his little brothers and sisters. Since I had a hard time deciding what to name the first born pepper, as the names were so good, I used the hopeful pepper king nominee names to name the rest of the sprouted pepper plants.

The McPepperson Dynasty!

It is with great honour I give to you, the McPepperson Pepper famliy, as of today.

Heppertitis is an Early Jalapeno. Flavourful with a robust medium burn she is wanted at all the hottest parties. No one can say no to Heppertitis!

Purdy Peppa and Groot are both spicy Long Thing Cayenne! Sweet with heat, this spicy little pepper will but some pep in your step! But always remember when you eat this pepper that IT IS GROOT!

Spencer the Sprout is the most direct descendant of Spicy McPepperson as he is an Aleppo Pepper. Fruity yet tangy, he is a delicious taste sensation!

Johnny Peppercorn is a Chinese Five Colour! Perhaps the most colourful pepper grown this year, and I do mean colourful!

Pousse is a Jimmy Nardello Sweet Pepper! A complex sweet yet apple flavour is what we have to look forward to and to be honest, I can't wait. 

Last but not least we have CTB! rounding out the family as a Matchbox Pepper! Fire and fruit all in one! The Matchbox Pepper is a match (heh) for any pepper she faces on the field of pepper battle!

In general I think that the sprouting has gone very well so far and I have had quite a few plants sprout up. While I am still hopeful for many of my seeds, I am happy with what I have as a start so far and I feel that more will come up. I can see a huge difference in the plants from the morning at 6:30 am to when I get back home around 3:00 pm.

They all look a little sleepy still\at 9:30 am!

A little more awake at 3:00 pm!

You can see how the plants have grown in just a short amount of time. I am impressed by how quickly they have been able to grow with just light and water.

A little closeup action!

Till tomorrow, when we may encounter more pepper surprises!

ALL HAIL SPICY MCPEPPERSON, MASTER OF THE PEPPER UNIVERSE!

I can't lie, I had a pretty tough time picking out the winning pepper name. There were some notable nominees such as Heppertitis, Purdy Peppa, Groot, Peppercorn Johnny and Spencer the Sprout. After much deliberation and laughter the winner of our ultimate pepper naming challenge is..........SPICY MCPEPPERSON. The winning name was submitted by Meat Ventures! Congratulations Meat Ventures for having the dubious honour of naming my first pepper plant!

LOOK AT THE BIG LITTLE GUY!

A little bit more information about the newly anointed pepper liege, Spicy McPepperson. He is an Aleppo Pepper which is predominantly used in Middle Eastern or Mediterranean cooking. He is noted to have a round sweetness with substantial spicy kick at the end! Hail Spicy McPepperson, long and healthy may he reign!

To those that came close but didn't quite make the naming cut, rest assured that Spicy McPepperson will be having numerous brothers and sisters all in need of fantastic names and your entries will not go unremembered when it comes to the naming ceremony!

Since yesterday my peppers have really put on a growing clinic. I had a few more sprouts come up this morning when I looked at 6:30 am before I left for work.

The white little dots around the large Spicy McPepperson are little pepper sprouts!

When I arrived home from work and took pictures at about 4:00 pm, my peppers looked like this!

You can see that there are quite a few more small sprouts and some sprouts have grown bigger over the course of the day!

A long angle, long exposure shot of the new Pepper Master, Spicy McPepperson!

In general I am feeling very pleased with the overall growth of my peppers. I am happy they are sprouting, especially after learning that peat might not be the best soil to germinate peppers in. They are popping their pepper heads out of the dirt and getting ready for a long, awesome summer of growing. 

On a personal note, I love to cook. I love trying new recipes and creating new dishes, although my girlfriend will tell you that I overspice my dishes. During my travels today I came across a long lost culinary masterpiece that I believed, until today, was lost to the ravages of time. I found this book at that most amazing of stores, Dollarama. 

If only he could narrate his recipes while I cooked them!

My first thought upon finding this hallowed tome was, "I wonder who his friends are??". I cracked open the pages to discover that Morgan Freeman's one and only true passion in this world is not acting but rather sailing and that he counts Ben Affleck, Kevin Bacon and Tom Hanks amongst his Caribbean Cooking friends. I guess my invitation got lost in the mail.