Fall's Arrived in NEO

[Pepperfreak]

So the squirrels and/or chipmunks are at it - trying to collect and bury as much goods for the winter as possible. Good for them, not so good for me. I'm going to have to start bringing the pots inside a bit sooner. I've gone out and found dirt everywhere around the pots, and enough out of the pots to expose the roots. Darned rodents!

I've got a great squirrel recipe if you need it. Nothing tastes as good as a revenge meal.

 

[geeme]

I've got a great squirrel recipe if you need it. Nothing tastes as good as a revenge meal.

Funny thing - I have this stuff called "Critter Rid" - it's mostly capsaicin. Sprinkled that on the dirt, and they seem to be ignoring it! Any recipes you can share would be appreciated.

 

[Pepperfreak]

Funny thing - I have this stuff called "Critter Rid" - it's mostly capsaicin. Sprinkled that on the dirt, and they seem to be ignoring it! Any recipes you can share would be appreciated.

Okay here goes. Keep in mind, when I cook I don't measure anything so use amounts to taste.

Squirrel Stroganoff

3-6 squirrels (cleaned, skinned and de-boned)
olive oil
garlic
onion
salt & pepper
Hot pepper powder (I like Tabasco Powder, Fatalii Powder or Peach Hab Powder)
2 cans of Campbell's cream of mushroom soup (condensed)
a tad of cooking sherry
Egg noodles (I like the No Yolks egg noodles)

Sauté the onion and add the squirrel when onion is translucent.
Add garlic and sprinkle in the spices.
After squirrel is mostly cooked, add the soup and 1 can of milk.
Simmer for 5 - 10 minutes then toss in egg noodles.
Yummy!

 

[geeme]

salt & pepper

Yeah, you totally lost me there, at the "& p" part..... I'm still trying to figure out why otherwise-sane people who are true chile-addicts would ruin a perfectly good dish that way.

Ever tried it with chipmunks? I'm pretty sure it's the chipmunks that are having their way with my pepper pots!

 

[geeme]

So maybe quantity is important, too. Dumped about half an inch of the critter rid stuff onto my pots after refilling them with dirt late yesterday, and left them outside for the night. Nothing was disturbed this morning. However, with the temps projected to plunge overnight, and the critter rid kind of stinking to high heaven, I'm not really sure I want to bring them into the house tonight. The things we do to ripen the pods!

 

[Pepp3rFreak]

NEO, he's in the Matrix!!

Sorry I just had too. I used to live in NEO myself, Salem. I miss living out there, lots of good fishing, hunting, golfing, and the entire atmosphere around those parts just seemed more lax. good luck with your pepper prolonging and pod maturing!

 

[geeme]

NEO, he's in the Matrix!!

Sorry I just had too. I used to live in NEO myself, Salem. I miss living out there, lots of good fishing, hunting, golfing, and the entire atmosphere around those parts just seemed more lax. good luck with your pepper prolonging and pod maturing!

I had forgotten about that!
And thanks for the well-wishes. This being my first year, I'm trying not to over-mom them, but we know the weather that's coming!

 

[Pepperfreak]

Yeah, you totally lost me there, at the "& p" part..... I'm still trying to figure out why otherwise-sane people who are true chile-addicts would ruin a perfectly good dish that way.

Well, I'm not ashamed to admit that I still use black, white and red pepper in cooking. I look at it like this, hot peppers are great and have a wide diversity of flavor, but by also using regular pepper in cooking and in spice rubs, you end up with a more rounded taste. It's kind of like seeing something in 2 dimension verses 3 dimension. But I will admit that I don't rely on pepper and usually never use more than a pinch.

 

[geeme]

Well, I'm not ashamed to admit that I still use black, white and red pepper in cooking. I look at it like this, hot peppers are great and have a wide diversity of flavor, but by also using regular pepper in cooking and in spice rubs, you end up with a more rounded taste. It's kind of like seeing something in 2 dimension verses 3 dimension. But I will admit that I don't rely on pepper and usually never use more than a pinch.

As long as the red is powdered cayenne, it's all good! I use that very generously in most of my cooking.

You clearly missed my previous post (different thread) on black pepper (and anything like it - white, green, pink, etc.) Turn your mind back to when your little one was a wee one wearing diapers... open the dirty diaper pail the day before trash pickup day, and take a big whiff. Doesn't the sharp, acrid, ammonia-like smell afflict your nostrils to the point you just slam the lid back down? For whatever reason, that's how black pepper (and its cousins) comes across to me - and it's no different in the mouth. I have a theory that maybe I'm actually allergic to the stuff, and that response is my body's way of telling me to stay away. Just a theory. So you can keep that particular "dimension" - that's a place I have noooooo desire to go!

I round out flavor with other herbs and spices - tarragon, cardamom, coriander, cumin, basil, oregano, rosemary, mace, etc., etc. I'm adventuresome with seasonings in pretty much every direction except black pepper!

 

[geeme]

Brought the plants in for the night, and started to take a look-see for new pods and potential signs of bugs. Found this on the cayenne:

What the heck is going on with that??? Poor little pod! Gonner before she even gets started......

 

[Pepperfreak]

Nice looking baby pod.

I think you can actually be allergic to black pepper. At least my wife says she is and from the times I tried sneaking in, I'd say she is allergic to it. It makes her tongue swell.

 

[geeme]

Nice looking baby pod.

The one on the right is fine. The one on the left whose pod stem is yellow and brown - not. And it's now gone - flipped right off when I barely touched it. You can see the plant stem appears healthy enough. Any idea what would send the pod stem this way? The rest of the setting pods' stems appear fine - it's just this one that looked so unhappy.

 

[franzb69]

i dunno maybe it's just lack of magnesium

 

[geeme]

i dunno maybe it's just lack of magnesium

Hmm. I'm thinking that if it was a lack of some nutrient, either the whole plant would be affected, or at least most all the setting pod stems would be like that, but they're not. You can see the stem on the one in the lower-right (whose pod isn't hardly visible yet) is still thick and green. Though I guess a lack of nutrient could display itself starting with just one.

 

[geeme]

With the temps down to 40F last night, I'm really having an "oh my God winter is really coming" moment. And as usual, pondering next steps. The thing I'm thinking about now is watering while overwintering. Yes, I'll severely cut back on watering once the pods come off, that's not the question. What I am thinking about is what to water with. It's easy enough during the warm months - let the rain do its thing, and supplement periodically with tap water. (Yeah, I know lots of people find that horrifying, but it's worked fine for me so far.) But very soon we won't have any more rain here - we'll have plenty of snow, though.

So it occurs to me that over the winter I can just go outside and scoop up snow, let it melt, and water the plants with that. But I also know that snow is somewhat like an environmental vacuum cleaner - it seriously traps the garbage in the air and carries it down to the ground, more so than even rain does. Still and all, plants seem to like all the "garbage" that's in rain, and the perennials which stay outside in the ground all winter don't seem to mind the "garbage" they get from snow. And plants in pots aren't necessarily identical to plants in the ground, as far as their needs and sensitivities go. So I can see this is likely a flip-a-coin thing - could be really, really good, or could be so-so. Anyone care to share their two cents on the topic?

 

[geeme]

I'm finding it interesting, my fascination with these plants. I usually just grow plants outdoors (other than houseplants), and pretty much take a "whatever will be, will be" attitude. Water them, give them food from time to time, but don't concern myself with how much is being produced or when the plant decides to go dormant, etc. God will do his thing as long as I do my tiny little part. My pepper plants? Yeah, it's not working out that way at all.

I know part of it stems from my early decision to plant them in pots, rather than the ground, and ceramic pots at that. This means I have had to water them more frequently. Plus I haven't done any veggies or fruits in years and years, so this whole attention to production thing is feeling rather new, too. (Before it was more just a curiosity, rather than something I intended to influence.) But now I find myself fascinated, even in awe, at these little buggers. I've stated elsewhere that my jalapeno has been a slow, but consistent, producer, with no more than 8 pods coming out at any one time. It has almost always had at least one pod in the works, and now is no exception. There is still a single pod that I'm hoping will ripen before I get too impatient and pick it, and now 6 more pods have started to show their tiny little heads. It's October in NEO!!! And this gal is still producing?

My intent was to wait until the last pods were gone (meaning of the one big one left now), then prune top and bottom rather severely, and repot for the winter. But now that more pods have started, I'm scratching my head. Maybe just let it go on doing what it seems to want to do, and take a wait-and-see attitude - maybe after this batch it will finally stop for the winter? There are no blooms on it right now, which might tell me it's actually just finishing things off, but I guess I won't be surprised if more blooms appear a bit down the road. Curiouser and curiouser.....

 

[geeme]

The plants are now, officially, really inside the house until Spring. Or I manage to kill them first. Whatever. The new pods on the jalapeno are growing very quickly - they seemed to have just peeked out the other day, but they're now 1" to 1-1/2" long already. I'm also still getting a handful of new pods on the TAM and cayenne. I really expected these last flowers just to drop, as several have, but since bringing them indoors they seem to have sparked back up. It still seems insane. Trying to be patient and not pick the pods that still need to ripen - there are so many of them!

 

[geeme]

First tinges of red on the late season cayennes!

 

[geeme]

So for the record, the late season cayennes are not nearly as hot as the ones from earlier in the season. Good to know. Most of its pods have now ripened, and I will finish pulling the red ones this weekend.

The first TAM has ripened, so the rest should start turning in the next week or two.

The jalapeno is still active - it's got 5 pods still developing on it, and I just found a new bloom.

Meanwhile, I found APHIDS on them the other day, and the damage to the leaves in just a couple days' time is astounding. I ordered some ladybugs a couple days ago, and they arrived this afternoon. Now the part that is making me laugh. The plants are indoors - it is way too cold now for them to be outside. Hence, I am releasing the ladybugs inside the house. Well, the little buggers are a little more active than I anticipated - couldn't get the lid back on the tub after releasing a handful, so in the end a whole lot more got released than I intended - whoops! We now have ladybugs just about everywhere inside the house. The cat is having a lot of fun chasing the ones that fly, although she's ignoring the crawling ones so far. Got a tickle in your pants leg? Yep - ladybug. Feel like something is crawling around inside your sleeve? It probably is! Watch where you step, watch where you sit, and by all means, look at your fork before you take a bite!

My son? He is making me laugh the hardest of all. He has been trying desperately to collect all the ladybugs, and put them on the plants. I've told him not to bother - they will find the water-soaked cotton balls I've left in the pots for them to drink, they'll find the aphids to eat, then they'll calm down a bit, and once the aphids are gone, they'll decide it's time to move on. In the meantime, he can try to put as many as he wants on the plants, but they're just not going to stay in one place! Bless his heart, he is so disturbed by this whole development he is now scowling, and I'm sure there will be a post about it on his Facebook page within the next 5 minutes.