Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Texas Peppers

You may remember my post earlier this year about the ceramic, chicken-shaped flower pot I bought while visiting friends who spend the winter in south Texas.  Our chickens were not amused by the new addition.   If you missed that, here is a link to it:



Our friends spend about 6 months near McAllen, Texas, just north of the Rio Grande river, in a mobile home park that caters to senior citizens.  There are two large recreation halls in the park.  They are always hopping with card games, pool tournaments, quilting classes and every other activity you can think of.  Our friends are named Pat and Jim and we have been friends with them for many years.  Here they are.


For years, Jim had a back-yard garden and has shared seeds with me.  A few years ago he gave me some seeds for "climbing okra".   It is not really okra, but is quite tasty and can be cooked in several ways.  Here's an entry I wrote in that.


This spring he gave me seeds from some tiny peppers that grow in their flower bed in Texas.  These come up volunteer every year from seeds dropped by the previous year's plants.  He says a Hispanic man who was doing some work for them said his family likes to eat them scrambled in eggs for breakfast.  They are supposed to be very hot.

Well, I planted the seeds Jim gave me and ended up with several plants.  I set several of them out in a flower bed and planted another couple in pots.  I wasn't sure they would do well this far north, but was surprised to see they grew nicely. 

I planted one of them in a Smart Pot (remember these,  Smart Pots ).  Here is a picture of that pepper plant.


If you look closely, it has tiny white flowers.  Here's a closeup of one.


The peppers are tiny as well and are black.  I believe they will turn red as they ripen.  


I have yet to work up enough nerve to taste one of them, but am planning to do so the next time I make scrambled eggs.  Of course, I'll have to make sure I don't put any of them in Tom's eggs.  He is not a fan of peppers, especially hot ones.  



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