Hello from Tochigi!

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Wolfsong013
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Hello from Tochigi!

Post by Wolfsong013 »

Hello everyone! I'm excited to be a part of this community. I am a hobbiest farmer in Northern Tochigi. I mainly grow chili peppers, including super hots like the Carolina Reaper! I'm interested in chatting about farming and importing new varieties of veggies to grow.

If anyone wants chili peppers in the fall, I'm happy to send some! I always have more than I know what to do with.
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Zasso Nouka
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Re: Hello from Tochigi!

Post by Zasso Nouka »

Welcome to Japan Simple Life Wolfsong013 and thank you for taking the time to sign up, we really do appreciate you making the effort.

Wow, that is an epic selection of chilli peppers you have there, I don't think I've ever seen so many varieties all on one place. You must really like chillies, do you grow them outside or in a vinyl house ? I'm kind of thinking that not too many insects would bother them if grown outside. You probably already know this place but on the off chance you've not bought from them before Natural Harvest have a fair range of Chilli Pepper seeds.
Wolfsong013 wrote:
Sun Feb 09, 2020 9:37 pm
Did you find a wood stove to put in your house? I'm thinking of doing one for the new place, but I haven't looked around where to find a stove. Did you have a professional put it in?
There are plenty of installers who will put one in for you and there is a decent range to choose from but you can also import one from abroad, along with the chimney and accessories for a substantially cheaper price sometimes. Two of our members have done that and it isn't particularly difficult, many builders should be able to do the actual installation for you if you don't fancy doing it yourself and you shouldn't be short of wood up in Tochigi :)

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Wolfsong013
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Re: Hello from Tochigi!

Post by Wolfsong013 »

Zasso Nouka wrote:
Mon Feb 10, 2020 5:58 am
Welcome to Japan Simple Life Wolfsong013 and thank you for taking the time to sign up, we really do appreciate you making the effort.

Wow, that is an epic selection of chilli peppers you have there, I don't think I've ever seen so many varieties all on one place. You must really like chillies, do you grow them outside or in a vinyl house ? I'm kind of thinking that not too many insects would bother them if grown outside. You probably already know this place but on the off chance you've not bought from them before Natural Harvest have a fair range of Chilli Pepper seeds.
Wolfsong013 wrote:
Sun Feb 09, 2020 9:37 pm
Did you find a wood stove to put in your house? I'm thinking of doing one for the new place, but I haven't looked around where to find a stove. Did you have a professional put it in?
There are plenty of installers who will put one in for you and there is a decent range to choose from but you can also import one from abroad, along with the chimney and accessories for a substantially cheaper price sometimes. Two of our members have done that and it isn't particularly difficult, many builders should be able to do the actual installation for you if you don't fancy doing it yourself and you shouldn't be short of wood up in Tochigi :)
Thanks for the response! Luckily peppers are pretty easy to grow, and they thrive in the hot summers. They can get the same bugs that like eggplants and tomato, like aphids, hornworms, and kamemushi. I was lucky last year, and had very little bug problems. I spray preventatively in the spring, and just picked or flicked things off later in the season.

Peppers have a long growing time, and the hotter the peppers, the earlier to start. I start my seeds in a heated vinyl house in January. February is pretty cold for us, getting past 10 below zero, but with heat mats and lamps, everything grows ok in the house.

I supplied a Sri Lankan and Mexican restaurant with my peppers last year, and provide peppers at no cost to amateur hot sauce makers.

For the wood stove, thanks for the information. I'm hoping I can convince my husband to spring for the stove, since the cost of kerosene keeps rising (and nothing beats the heat of a wood stove!)

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Re: Hello from Tochigi!

Post by Zasso Nouka »

I grow sweet peppers inside vinyl houses to protect them from a caterpillar that bores inside the fruit and then lives inside but haven't tried chillies yet, perhaps this year. Kamemushi are our biggest problem on sweet peppers, the usual spray of soap and oil we use on aphids doesn't touch them and diatomaceous earth didn't seem to do much either. Currently we go into the vinyl houses with a bucket of soapy water twice a week and shake them off into the bucket but looking for a less time consuming method of control. Thinking of giving Botaniguard a try this year, not sure if it would work or not, would be nice if we could buy the pheromone traps available outside of Japan.

Good luck with the woodstove plan, hope your husband goes for it.

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Wolfsong013
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Re: Hello from Tochigi!

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Zasso Nouka wrote:
Mon Feb 10, 2020 12:50 pm
I grow sweet peppers inside vinyl houses to protect them from a caterpillar that bores inside the fruit and then lives inside but haven't tried chillies yet, perhaps this year. Kamemushi are our biggest problem on sweet peppers, the usual spray of soap and oil we use on aphids doesn't touch them and diatomaceous earth didn't seem to do much either. Currently we go into the vinyl houses with a bucket of soapy water twice a week and shake them off into the bucket but looking for a less time consuming method of control. Thinking of giving Botaniguard a try this year, not sure if it would work or not, would be nice if we could buy the pheromone traps available outside of Japan.

Good luck with the woodstove plan, hope your husband goes for it.
Do you grow from seeds or buy plants from the home center? I found the home center always has horrible infestations. I like to buy the discount plants, but I keep them quarantined for at least two weeks while I treat them. My greenhouse is small, so I usually only start things in it, and move them outside when they are big enough to fend for themselves. I used a commercial pesticide in a sprayer in the spring. I don't like to use harsh chemicals, but after some preventative sprays, I didn't have any problem with aphids for the season. I used the same spray in the quarantine zone and it worked well. If you're interested, I can look at the name of the spray when I get home.

If you're interested in peppers, I can send you some seeds. Anything spicy needs to be planted now, since the hotter the chili, the longer the growing period is. My other pepper farming friend started his in December (although he's in shikoku and not cursed with the northern winters)

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Re: Hello from Tochigi!

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Wolfsong013 wrote:
Mon Feb 10, 2020 9:30 am
I supplied a Sri Lankan and Mexican restaurant with my peppers last year, and provide peppers at no cost to amateur hot sauce makers.
Welcome to the board!

I might be interested in some peppers for a hot sauce - had been thinking of growing them myself!

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Wolfsong013
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Re: Hello from Tochigi!

Post by Wolfsong013 »

Ibaraki llama wrote:
Mon Feb 10, 2020 10:12 pm
Wolfsong013 wrote:
Mon Feb 10, 2020 9:30 am
I supplied a Sri Lankan and Mexican restaurant with my peppers last year, and provide peppers at no cost to amateur hot sauce makers.
Welcome to the board!

I might be interested in some peppers for a hot sauce - had been thinking of growing them myself!
Thank you! I'll gladly send some your way once production starts. Last year before typhoon 19 hit, I collected over 20kg and it was a struggle to find uses for so many. I'm cutting back on production since I'm moving an hour south, but I'll still have plenty to share (right now I have 50 plants started)

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Re: Hello from Tochigi!

Post by Ibaraki llama »

Awesome, thanks very much!

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Re: Hello from Tochigi!

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Wolfsong013 wrote:
Mon Feb 10, 2020 1:08 pm
I don't like to use harsh chemicals, but after some preventative sprays, I didn't have any problem with aphids for the season. I used the same spray in the quarantine zone and it worked well. If you're interested, I can look at the name of the spray when I get home.
Thank you, that's a very generous offer but sadly all our farm produce is organic so we don't use any artificial pesticides but I appreciate the offer.
Wolfsong013 wrote:
Mon Feb 10, 2020 1:08 pm
If you're interested in peppers, I can send you some seeds. Anything spicy needs to be planted now, since the hotter the chili, the longer the growing period is. My other pepper farming friend started his in December (although he's in shikoku and not cursed with the northern winters)
Once again thank you very much, this year our planting schedule is already full but I may take you up on the offer for next year.

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Re: Hello from Tochigi!

Post by gonbechan »

I love spicy food and it seems you have a gorgeous collection of hot produce!

Senor Gonbe is not such a fan of hot spices as he says the exit plan bothers him more than the consumption of. lol
So I am always trying new hot sauces when I can get my hands on them and have often thought about making my own.

Welcome to JSL it is wonderful to have you here.

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