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Author Topic: my very own garden
quidscribis
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So*, we're moving soon, and I plan on starting a garden. I've been discussing rhubarb fairly extensively over here. And I tossed in the idea of possibly also growing lemongrass and sugarcane. Lemongrass for cooking, sugarcane for fun.

As well, my sister brought me a bunch of seeds last October that I just haven't got around to planting yet. But, with our move to a new house, we'll have a lot more room to grow stuff. So it's time. [Big Grin]

I have seeds for:

  • catnip (for fat cat Oberon)
  • basil
  • chives
  • cilantro
  • garlic chives
  • oregano
  • parsley
  • peppermint
  • sage
  • spearmint
  • marjoram
  • wild parsley
  • curry leaf plant - need to transplant over to new house
  • aloe vera plant (potted and just gave birth to new babies!)

I have no idea the difference between wild parsley and regular parsley, but whatever. I'll grow it anyway. [Big Grin]

The point behind all this is that I'm growing herbs that I'm used to cooking with but are not readily available here. Well, I can basil and oregano in some grocery stores, dried and/or powdered, and I can sometimes get cilantro, mint, and parsley, but not with the regularity that I would like.

I'm planning on growing the herbs primarily in containers. Mint out of necessity so it doesn't take over everything. The rest... Well, I don't actually know why I'm planning on doing that. It seems simpler. But maybe I'm wrong. [Dont Know] Anyway, you expert gardeners, if you have comments, please let me know. You know, things like "well, if you grow this next to the door, it'll keep the bugs away." Well, anything useful, really. I have a green thumb when it comes to indoor plants in Canada. Here, it's a whole other ball game. [Smile]

I'm also considering other seeds to get. My sister flies back in September, and she'll gladly bring me more seeds if I ask. I'm thinking of adding thyme to the list, but can't really think of much else at the moment. So other suggestions there would also be fine.

FYI, I have sunny areas, and I have shaded areas. Temperature is usually around 26-27 Celsius at night, and up to 32 Celsius during the day. During monsoon, it can rain buckets and buckets and buckets for days or weeks on end, and at other times, it can not rain for months at a time. We have a covered car park, so if excessive rain is an issue, if they're in pots, I can move them. Or, you know, whatever.

Help!

Edit to organize to satisfy my anal retentive tendencies. And to help me remember what I've said. Yeesh!

Seeds added to my list to get:
  • thyme
  • radishes
  • rhubarb rhizome
  • lemon grass
  • sugarcane
  • hot peppers
  • dill
  • rosemary
  • lavender
  • anise
  • licorice ?
  • galangal
  • lemon balm
  • Thai basil
  • cinnamon basil
  • lemon basil
  • tarragon
  • Vietname coriander ?
  • summer savory
  • chervil
  • stevia
  • yams (no, not sweet potatoes. Yams.
  • Swiss chard
  • equipment: composter


[ May 23, 2005, 08:28 PM: Message edited by: quidscribis ]

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Raia
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Btw, I think it's really cool that you have a cat named Oberon.

Good luck with the gardening! If my thumbs were even remotely tinted with that lovely green color, I would help, but all I can do is offer you good luck, and volunteer to be the first to try your produce. [Smile]

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ketchupqueen
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Plant radishes around the outside of everything that's in the ground, and keep planting them. Not only do they mature fast, giving you quick and abundant gratification for your work, as well as making excellent pickles, salads, etc., they'll keep away many underground pests. (Marigolds do the same thing, but attract more bees than I'm comfortable with and don't have much of a use other than being pretty-- they are edible, but I don't really eat them.) Of course, I don't know if you have those pests there...
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alluvion
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I've always been curious as to how one actually grows a potato?
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quidscribis
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[ROFL] Not the first reaction I was expecting. Yeah, I love that name. People look at me funny. They have no clue. Not a single one.

And Raia, if you want to try my produce, you'll have no choice but to come out for QuidCon2005. [Big Grin]

Oh, I should mention. I'm not planning on growing the commonly available vegetables here. I'm looking at growing stuff I can't get. Which reminds me of something to add to the list:

hot peppers [Big Grin]

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ketchupqueen
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Wait... You live in Sri Lanka and can't get hot peppers? [Eek!]

The mind boggles. [Dont Know]

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quidscribis
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Radishes! Do you know how long it's been since I've had a radish? It's, um, sometime in Canada. That's a great idea!

And I hate marigolds. They're ugly and smell funny. I'd rather have radishes. Oooooh, and I'm allergic to bees. Good point!

Potatoes are grown by planting a potato in the ground, waiting several months, and then digging up the new ones. [Big Grin]

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quidscribis
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Oh no, I can get hot peppers. But only one variety. And they ain't hot. To me, or to Fahim. Even though they're hot to most other people here. I want to try other varieties, hotter varieties. [Big Grin]
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ketchupqueen
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Some potatoes grew in our compost heap once.

Along with some really funky hybrid squash! [Angst]

My brother had not been doing his duty in regards to turning the compost.

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alluvion
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wait, wait, wait, wait...

you put a potato in the ground, and that's it? other ones spring up?

sorry, you've lost me. how do know where to dig for these new ones?

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ketchupqueen
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quid, my dad is the hot pepper home-growing expert. The next time I talk to him, I will ask him what really hot ones he recommends as easy to grow and good tasting. [Smile]

What kind can you get, and what kinds do you consider "hot"?

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ketchupqueen
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Potatoes are tubers. They grow a... plant-thingy, and then more tubers grow on the roots. Kinda.
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alluvion
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sounds a little too allegorical for a simple condiment.
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quidscribis
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kq, let me put it this way. I drink tobasco for a refreshing mild drink. [Big Grin] The green chiles that we get here would kill most Norte Americanos, and no, I don't know what variety they are. We usually use three or four in a dish and don't notice it. I can handle food hotter than most Indians, Mexicans, and South Americans. I can handle hotter food than, oh, at least 99% of the rest of the population. Does that give you a better idea? [Big Grin] I need fiendishly hellishly purgatorially triple barn burner suicidally scorchingly flamingly hot. Does that work for you?

I need to get a composter. Fahim's not thrilled with the idea, but this is my garden. My work, my responsibility.

Alluvion, put the potato in the ground, it produces lots of green foliage. When teh green foliage dies back in the fall, the potatoes are ready. That's the short version.

Oh hey, kq, it just occurred to me that I have a picture of them here. The dark green ones.

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Raia
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Hey, I know what Oberon's from! I know my Shakespeare, at least a little bit!

He's the King of the fairies in "A Midsummer Night's Dream." And, in the movie, he's played by Rupert Everett. [Razz]

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alluvion
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Why is this quidscribis person following me about?
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quidscribis
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Raia, you got it! That's where I got the name from. And it fits, somehow.

Um, alluvion, this is my thread. So who's following who?

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alluvion
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I'm not sure, but for the life of me, I'm willing to bet you're one hell of a smarty-pantz.
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quidscribis
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So, I made a couple of phone calls, and it appears as though rhubarb can't be grown in my area. In the hill country, yes and absolutely. On the other hand, I have someone trying to hunt down seed stores for me because they may have the rhizomes so I could give it a try and find out, regardless of consequences. It also means that I may have a source for seeds and potting soil and fertilizer and other good things. [Big Grin] Sometimes, calling people and asking for help can be a really really good idea. [Smile]
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ketchupqueen
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Hmm, quid, hellfire hot can be hard to grow at home. On the other hand, I'll bet you have the hot weather for it. I'll ask my dad what some good varieties for you to try might be; he's had minor success growing Thai peppers with heat lamps in CA, before the lamps were stolen. Zimbabwe peppers are supposedly the hottest in the world, but I don't think they are available as seed. Now, according to my dad, any peppers can be grown hotter; just give them a little less water and a little more sun (not enough to kill them, but enough to make them work for their existance, you know).

We both eat our Indian food "hot" and find Tabasco very mild, too. [Wink] It would help if you could find out what kind of pepper you're eating if at all possible, even a local name, but "hotter than most Indians" helps some. [Smile]

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quidscribis
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Ooooooh! Less water, more sun. Check. And that's one tip I'll be sure to try out.

Locally, that green chilli is called "green chili", one L. I spell it with two, however. [Dont Know] If you check that previous link I provided, you'll see a picture of it. I know nothing beyond that.

I could add that I didn't find habaneros hot. Didn't like the flavor much - they were too bitter, IIRC. I'm also always more than willing to experiment.

Oh, and I would love to be able to make my Sambol Oelik, made with hot red peppers, so that would be a bonus if it worked out. [Big Grin]

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aspectre
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TabascoSauce is so diluted that even Naval cadets drink the stuff during hazing.
Here's a pretty good site for descriptions of various chiles.

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Elizabeth
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The hottest pepper is the Red Savina habanero. I like hot peppers, but i do not like habaneros.

Quid, if you can find good, fresh dried peppers, you can often just plant the seed, as long as they are not roasted. You have a long enough growing season you can probably grow them right from seed.

Chile peppers are actually quite easy to grow. Don't fertilize them too much with nitrogen(manure). They like a more cid soil. One trick that I use is to take packs of matches, and sprinkle half a pack in the hole, then an inch of soil, then the plant. (or seed if you are planting straight into the soil)

Another tip is to mix a little bit of epsom salts with water, and spray the flowers as they emerge. This helps to set the bloom.

Plant the peppers close together, they like it.

Mulch with peat moss if you can get it.

My favorite source for chile pepper seeds was Shepherd's Garden Seeds, but they are no longer. they were bought by White Flower Farm, and seem to not be selling vegetable seeds.

Peppers will be hotter the hotter the climate.
Also, there are varieties which will grow year round. These are the most wild types, with tiny peppers, but they grow beautifully, like bushes, and get to be about four or five feet high.

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Elizabeth
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Tabasco may not be the hottest sauce, but it has the greatest flavor.
I make chile sauce using red jalapenos, but my favorite pepper sauce was made from a pepper called Arledge, which was a Louisiana pepper. I canot find the seeds.

I just bought a few flats of plants, because we have too much clutter to start seeds these days. I bought green chili-making peppers: Anaheim, Ancho, and jalapenos. Yum! (I also love serrano peppers-hot, and great flavor.

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quidscribis
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Elizabeth, you are a fountain of useful information!

Dried peppers we can get, but I have no idea how fresh. I'm not in the habit of buying them dried, you see. On the other hand, they're cheap enough that it's worth a try anyway.

I have to admit that I'm just lazy enough to prefer all my plants be perennial, despite me knowing that that simply isn't so. I think I'm going to have to learn which are which, even though I suspect I already know. Is there anything about the nature of, say, cilantro, that will cause it to continue growing here longer than it would in a normal climate with winter? Wishful thinking alive and well...

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Elizabeth
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Quid,
Cilantro will keep reseeding like a weed. It will go to seed quickly the hotter the weather, though. Then you have coriander. You could keep planting it, though, to have a constant supply.

Edit: Some of the plants which are annuals here in New England grow year round elsewhere. One example is lantana, a beautiful flowering vine. My parents have a huge bush in their yard in Phoenix.

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quidscribis
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quote:
how to pick chile pepper to the methods used to protect chile pepper crops from cats and fire-ants
Um, I could have a problem, then, as I have both a cat and a fire-ant problem. Well, not me, personally, but the entire country, so I suspect it would only be a matter of time before they attack. By the way, that's from the linky that aspectre provided regarding different types of chilli peppers.

Elizabeth - most excellent news about cilantro! Thanks!

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ketchupqueen
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Ah, missed the link before. quid, if you didn't find habaneros hot, there's not much hope for you; the various varieties are rated very high on the standard Scoville scale (determined by how many times a standard amount can be diluted and still tasted; yes, my dad is a bit of a chile expert.)

If you don't like bitterness, you might want to give them the water they want (but make sure they have lots of sun), since depriving them of water can intensify bitter flavors as well as the heat (although if you use a sweeter hot pepper, that may not be a problem.) Um, how big are the peppers on that page? If they're 1-3 inches long, they're probably Thai peppers, which were my only suggestion for hotter than habanero heat; they aren't always hotter than habaneros, but some Thais can be hotter than some habaneros, you know how it goes. Luckily for you, they have a sweeter taste than most hot peppers. If that is what you have, it may be that you are getting green ones, which tend to be slightly less hot than the red ones. [Smile]

Or, it may be that no chile is going to be hot enough for you. Unfortunately, the "hottest in the world" spots all currently go to different varieties of habaneros. Sorry.

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quidscribis
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Those peppers are three or four inches long, can grow as long as six inches.

I didn't know that water deprivation meant bitterness. Does it work that way in humans, too? [ROFL] I do prefer sweeter peppers, and I've grown hot peppers in the past, and mine always turned out way hotter than anyone else's did, no idea why. Maybe it was karma or something.

Checked out the picture on your link, and sure enough, that looks like what I have. Perhaps they just grow longer here, or it's a close relative. No idea. I've also found that, while the dark green ones are most common here, when they turn red, they're way way way way hotter than when they're green. Green I can munch on as a snack. Red damn near killed me. [Big Grin]

We also get some mutant peppers here - hybrids, and usually, they're accidents, or so it seems. So it's also possible that the longer green chillies we get here are accidents.

Yep, I knew there was a distinct possibility that I'll never find a suicidally hot for me pepper, but I can hope, can't I?

And tell your dad that I love and respect him for his knowledge of chilies alone. [Smile]

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ketchupqueen
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He makes excellent salsa with lots of cilantro and many kinds of hot roasted peppers, too. [Smile]

If red Thai peppers is what you want, I will go out, buy some red Thai peppers, get some rubber gloves on, de-seed them, and send the seeds to you. [Smile] Not a problem, and much cheaper than mail-ordering seeds. [Big Grin]

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quidscribis
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Rubber gloves? Why bother?

Yeah, yeah, I know, you should always use rubber gloves when dealing with hot peppers. I never do. They don't irritate my skin. It's sad, you know, but they're not hot to me in any way. Not to taste, not going down, and I've never experienced that ring of fire that so many others talk about. [Dont Know] Anyway, yes, if you're anyone other than me, use rubber gloves when handling peppers.

But yes, that is a good idea. I'll get some from the grocery store and grow those.

I think I may want your father's recipe for salsa. Yum! *drools*

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quidscribis
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You know, I only found the hot red ones like once. I am a little concerned that it may be a fluke. And that's the reason I wasn't pushing for those. But yeah, cheap enough that even if it doesn't work out the way I want that it won't matter. So yes, I'll do that. Thanks! [Smile]
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ketchupqueen
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I have incredibly sensitive skin. I can't even wash with regular soap. I'm allergic to freaking alcohol! So I would be wearing gloves.

If you can get hot enough ones, then go for it. If you can't find the red ones, though, or they're not hot enough, then let me get some for you; they'll only cost a dollar or so, and won't add more than an oz. to your package. [Smile]

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quidscribis
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You are seriously one of the most wonderful people I know, kq.

You know, it's funny, I also have incredibly sensitive skin. I use herbal soaps, and my skin is fine with that, but I can't use regular. It worked out well because the ayurvedic products I'm fine with, and they're available everywhere here. I can't even use fluoride toothpaste because it burns my mouth out. Chlorine is nasty for me, and the list goes on.

But hot peppers? Nothing. Not a single thing. Bizarre.

I'll see if I can find some when we go grocery shopping in a couple of days. My list is getting longer... [ROFL]

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quidscribis
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Oooooh! I just changed my mind. Send me some anyway, please? Variety and all that. I like trying out different flavors, and you may have some that simply aren't available here, and that could be fun! [Kiss]
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quidscribis
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kq, thought just occurred to me. Before you mail anything to me, I need to get you our updated address. We're moving in two weeks, and...

But I have to get it from Fahim...

And I think I use the ellipses way too much... [ROFL]

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Primal Curve
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I am suddenly reminded of The Poisonwood Bible.
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ketchupqueen
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I liked that book, although the backwards talk stuff was hard to get into at first. But I'm a much bigger fan of The Bean Trees. Although the sequel is not very happy. [Cry]

quid, it will probably be a while before I find the chocolate and chiles for you, anyway. When you move, just e-mail your new address to me. [Smile]

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Elizabeth
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There is no such thing as a red pepper, really. Red peppers are just ripe green peppers. So if you like a green pepper, and you think it is pretty hot, plant the dried seeds and let the peppers get red and hotter.
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ketchupqueen
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But, Elizabeth, some peppers are dark green when ripe, some are bright green when ripe, some are yellow or orange when ripe, and some are red when ripe. [Smile]
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Elizabeth
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Not really. If you let most peppers go long enough, they will turn red, even the purple ones. Yellow ones will stay yellow, though.

And I am talking about ripe in the strict sense. Some people get tummy aches from green peppers but not red ones.

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ketchupqueen
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I've let peppers go and go and they just stayed green and then fell off. [Smile]

I am also talking about ripe in the strict sense.

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Elizabeth
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OK, you win the pepper ripeness game, Ketchupqueen!
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ketchupqueen
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Well, have a pepper, then. *hands very ripe green chile to Elizabeth* [Smile]
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quidscribis
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Um, Elizabeth, ketchupqueen, I had no idea about this part of the peppers, so thanks for the info.

I've reorganized my first post so it's easier - both for me as well as anyone else who wanders in here - to see what I've got in mind.

I think I want to get a little exotic - I've read a little about Thai basil versus Italian basil, for example, and I don't know the difference. I'd like to find out.

If any of you see anything to suggest I add, feel free.

Dill! I forgot to add dill to the list!

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ketchupqueen
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Do you like rosemary? I loooove rosemary. And if you get the kind that grows pretty much wild in CA, that does well with heat and drought. [Smile] You can not only cook with it, it's excellent for scenting linens, deterring some clothing pests, etc. in sachets. You can make a tincture of it to use as a mild antiseptic/analgesic (think shaving cuts). And did I mention it's wonderful smelling and tasting? And that I love it? [Big Grin]

Plant it in a nice big pot, and it will grow into a big bush that lasts forever without taking over a corner of your yard. Of course, I've heard that it can also keep some buggies away, so maybe you want to put it in the ground. Or just put a pot by the door or something.

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quidscribis
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Oooooh, rosemary! Thanks!
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ketchupqueen
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You're welcome. I couldn't live without rosemary! Rosemary and cumin. But I know you can get cumin there, easily.
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quidscribis
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Oh yeah, no problem. Dried and powdered and by the bucketload. The anal side of me wonders if I should try to grow it, but the practical side says I have enough going on already. The practical side wins. [Big Grin]

I wonder about anise. Is that easy to grow? I guess I better find out.

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ketchupqueen
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It's one of those plants that should be, but I have a suspicion it might be heat-sensitive.
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