Crop Report
What would PoW be without a report from the Deck Farm? (A lot less boring -Ed.) Ed, I've told you before - shut up!
Tomatoes are starting to come off in greater numbers. But I discovered that there is a rat bastid bastid rat eating my produce. I thought it might be a squirrel but I stepped out to water yesterday and I saw that damned hairless tail following a skedaddling rodent. I now have a rat trap and I'm going to set it up this evening. A trip to the grocery for some peanut butter is called for. I wouldn't mind if it were one tomato here and there. But this little scuzzball has eaten at least five of them and has chomped into at least as many more. Its life is now forfeit.
And just damn. If it had been a squirrel, I would have been able to make a meal out of it. I ain't eatin' no got dam rat.
Moving right along.... Peppers. The jalapenos are coming on like gangbusters. I have another one sitting on my kitchen table and handed off two to my nice new next-door neighbors who moved early this year from Texas. Thank goodness I have good neighbors on one side! I'm going to let the hot peppers stay on plant for a while to see how they develop. But I'm seriously going to make the pepper jelly from them. Though I'm not going to put food coloring in it. That's just cheap.
And finally, the bell peppers. I picked the first two. I have to double check the type I ordered as the peppers are a very pale green. Almost a yellow-green. It's entirely possible that they need more on-plant maturing but the first two that developed had a dark spot in the bottom middle, where the flower was. I thought it prudent to pick them in case the bad spots were intent on taking over the whole pepper. I ate one and I have to say that it was a little under done. The other I gave to the aforementioned neighbor.
I may have selected the wrong bell pepper seeds. I prefer a nice, deep green bell pepper. But I'm willing to see what happens. After all, I have 10 of the plants. Oh and they are just all over with growing bells. Oh yeah.
UPDATE: I took the bell pepper too early. I have the Sweet Pepper Blushing Beauty Hybrid. Please follow the link to see the picture. They are indeed a yellow bell which goes red on maturing. These guys are going to get pretty. I seem to have an affection for stylish produce.