Kevin brought in his first harvest of the year recently. And here it is:
Drat, I forgot to include the regular red pepper. Anyway, here we have red hot chili peppers and tomatoes. I bought a tomato plant from my co-worker Laura's kid for 50 cents. The enterprising young man brought in a bunch of small plants to sell one night while he was at work with his mom. They don't really know what kind of tomatoes they are bc they grew from last year's compost or something like that so Laura's calling them 'heirloom tomatoes'. Doesn't that sound fancy? They are small, though bigger than cherry tomatoes, and I think small foods seem fancier, too. Like those baby corns or those tiny bananas.
Kevin's hung the chili peppers to dry from a cupboard door handle and they look rather decorative arranged thusly. It reminds me of when we went to Santa Fe a number of years ago. Chili peppers hanging everywhere...indoors and out.
We had three tomato plants, but only this one survived. I wonder if it's bc they're in containers, i.e., maybe they're just too much plant for a container even if it is a big container.
We also have two containers of a mixed lettuce combo which was looking really yummy and tender and tasty and we were just about to pick it for a yummy salad (along with fresh tomatoes) when some varmint ate it down to the nubs. It's growing back although we should pick it before the varmint comes back for seconds. I can't really get mad at a varmint for doing that...it's just doing what varmints do. We could protect the plants better, but this little bit of gardening was kinduva last minute decision. Plus, we'll probably get the back porches redone at some point in the not too, too distant future (I hope) and we don't want to go to a lot of trouble to section off a garden area only to have to move it a year or so later. What I really mean is I wouldn't want to...Kevin might not mind...and who am I kidding? It's not like I'd be out there digging postholes. So just forget what all I just said.
Now what to do with these peppers? Let's see what allrecipes.com has for vegetarian recipes that use red hot chili peppers. Oh dear. Baked Beet Root with Yogurt Walnut Dressing. I dunno. I don't have a lot of experience with beets and as for Kevin and beets, all I know is that there was something years ago when he was a kid and his mom made something called Harvard beets for dinner one night and none of the kids would eat it and maybe made a stink about it and there was some kind of assignment involved, something about writing a letter of apology to their mom who had gone to the trouble to prepare a good, homecooked meal for them (as on every other day) and how ungrateful they all were. I.e., Kevin hasn't any good experiences around beets.
Let's look a little further. How about in seafood? Uh, no thanks. I'm not big on mussels and crab I'm trying to avoid since I read about a study that claims crabs feel pain. Same with shrimp bc (I think) they're crustaceans, too. As a newbie vegetarian, I've kept eating fish on the principle that fish don't feel pain, however, some have mentioned that they'd heard that that's not true, but I haven't found anything definitive. I expect I'll give up fish someday, too. Let's see what else they've got. Huh. Not much. That beet dish is looking pretty good right about now. Actually, it's probably lovely and I'm just being childish about beets. Maybe if I can just learn how to use red chili peppers in general I'll know how to incorporate them into recipes that don't call for it, but might get a nice zing from it. Suggestions are most welcome! Let's see what the Google gods offer us. Looking good, plenty of ideas there. Of course, I will post when I find and make a tasty recipe using the peppers.
Those tomatoes look very healthy!! But I'm sure they're healthier to eat! What's the secret to them? Fertilizer? Watering technique? Do you talk to your plants?
Posted by: Aaliyah Aldaco | Thursday, September 01, 2011 at 01:58 PM