Started with a pack of seeds and some potting soil. Then they sprouted:



They grew and grew and made a beautiful pot:


And then the peppers became a beautiful golden yellow



And I picked them:



And fermented them:



And lo, they became Ho Chi Minh Hot Sauce.  Or engine cleaner, depending on your taste buds

My hash plant just started to flower, seems like hot sauce is as much trouble as pot plants.

Emily, I was quite surprised at how easy this was. Now want to try sauerkraut and dill pickles. I sliced the peppers lengthwise (including a yellow sweet bell to tame the results a bit),peeled some garlic cloves, stuffed them in a quart Mason jar, added bring to cover made with 4 curious if water to 4 tsp picking salt, filled a jelly jar with water and covered it, used the jelly jar to hold the peppers below the too of the brine, covered with cheese cloth held on place with elastic band. Five days later, cloudy brine, lots of bubbles when I disturbed the jar. Drained the peppers, saving the brine, dumped the outlets into a blender, added a couple of the brine, some apple cider vinegar, a spoonful of honey, pureed, agreed some optional xanthine gum to keep the pets in suspension. Now it sits in fridge to mellow. Next... Sauerkraut!

So that seems pretty easy. Very similar to the horseradish that would make people turn red and purple that i used to do for passover.

But im confused about the fermenting. When we did kimchi we had to add a rot culture and different cultures produce slight differences. Maybe its because when i think of fermenting i think of wine and kimchi.

By using the specific salt to water ratio for brine, it inhibits certain bacteria and creates the right environment for lactic acid fermentation. If you really want the whole shebang on it, I will have to ask my older son - he's a food scientist. But I don't guarantee I'll remember it all or get it right!

Its all good. I think i may be going down a lost cause road. Trying to find  Dünyanın Uyanışı by Şengül Boybaş in english. And dont ask how to pronounce it because i dont speak Kurdish or turkish.

Glad the puller worked well. I usually wiggle and then just pull them by hand by squeezing them between my knees but there will be a hernia in my future if I keep that up. Sounds like engine cleaner to me. I don't do spice. Total wuss about it. I canned my tomatoes yesterday. Still have salsa left to can but didn't have time for that. Just had to get the tomatoes out of the freezer to make room for the beef we got back from the butcher. Going to have to figure out what a Pikes Peak cut is. We have one package of beef labeled Pike's Peak and I've never heard of such a cut in all my years cattle farming and butchering. Not my normal butcher. Probably won't use them again. Didn't cut things how I wanted.

Also called "Heel of round roast," the Pike's Peak is cut from low in the round, just above the hock. This roast cooks into a flavorful pot roast using the braising method. This cut originates from the Round section. I found that here https://zbarcattle.com/products/pikes-peak-roast

Hmm...seems they could have just labeled it roast like they did the others.

When i go to the butcher and ask for a roast they usually give me a bunch of options. This is making me hungry for non vegetarian food.

TwisterII wrote:

Hmm...seems they could have just labeled it roast like they did the others.

Welp. That was a bad idea.

I put my budding amaryllis on top of the kerosene heater in the unheated sunroom. The heater has the best sun exposure in the whole house, except for the kitchen table. I wanted the flower stalks to grow short, stout and straight. Normally, when I start the heater on cold nights, I move the plant to a safe place.

I was napping... Hubby lit the heater..

I can't get the tone I want to use, so I'll just write it.

"Oooppps, Papa!"

My houseplants are suffering ... the cats like to play with them. If it weren't so cold the cats would be outside!

I cant seem to get anything to sprout this year. Of 8 seeds i planted so far 1 tomato plant and one wedding crasher that sprouted then liqified. Not sure what is going wrong

Ami starting soil prep in the garden



Took him about 90 seconds. That's a big hole... What shall 8 plant



Garlic starting to poke through:

I started to prep the planting area. It did not go well. Leaf rake jandle fell off 10 minutes in and when i went to grab the other stuff like metal rake and shovels only to discover them encased in 2 feet of ice. That area is going to be a bee/butterfly/ hummingbird garden. Not that it matters right now cant put anything in the ground without a greenhouse until may and in the last few hours went from dry to several inches of snow.

So did you want that hole there?

What a PIA to have tools break. Really puts kink in things.

Did I want a hole there? Nope. But there is nothing planted there yet so I let him dig away. Not too hard to fill it in again, plenty of loose enough dirt up there. I bring the dogs up there with me to discourage any rabbits from nesting in the garden. Two years in a row, a total of 3 rabbit litters in the middle of the garden. Which was not pretty when Z'ev found them before I did. I'd rather not go through that again. And, at least a few made it to adults, a couple I was able to catch and release across the road but some escaped to the woods around the garden. Last thing I need is more critters up there. So with nothing growing yet, and way too early to plant, I encourage the dogs to muck around up there. Especially to worry at the woodchuck entrances from last year...maybe I should even have hubby come pee in them

As for planting - yep, way, way, way to early. We've had low teens pop in unexpectedly as late as end of April/early May. But - if the warmth continues, I may gamble an early planting of peas, lettuces, spinach first week in April. We shall see what the forecasts say.

Also - I'm not planting anything without electric critter fence netting in place. Last year was heartbreaking. Lots of money and labor with nothing to show except a fat woodchuck. So I am treating myself to electric fence netting specifically for rabbits/woodchucks etc. Which, I was going to order today but appears to be backordered until early/mid April. Poop.

Welp. I talked to premier1 directly. The is no guarantee the fence will be in on april 7. It comes from England and sometimes even though the order days shipped, when the truck Congress in, it's not there. So. Rather than the rest to step over 20" fence, I'll get the 30" fence and use when the ends meet as a gate. Won't be nearly as convenient but... A bird in hand etc etc. I'll go with what's available. There some question as to whether a 20" fence is tall enough for cottontail rabbits anyway. Just nowhere as convenient. Sigh. Short is not a helpful attribute.

Anybody ever used a mantis cultivator? The little one too just scratch the surface to kill sprouting weeds? Or the Ryobi 40 volt string trimmer ( not for the trimmer, for the brush whacker attachment?)

I have both. What are you wanting to know about them?

@TwisterII cooollll.

I am looking for a very small cultivator that I can manage just to avoid up the top inch of soil every week or two to help me stay ahead of the weeds. Older I get, less attractive is hand pulling and since I killed my right shoulder in that fall I took 3 weeks ago, even using my scuffle hoe is daunting.

Questions are, how heavy are both the mantis and the ryobi? And, I think you're short, too, if I remember correctly, how manageable are these tools for us shorties?

How hard is it to start the mantis (bad shoulder/pull start)

Does the ryobi battery last a decent time? Is it sturdy?

What do you like and dislike about both?

My mantis is super light weight and isn't hard to start, though it can be a bit of a bear to hold still since it is so light. I'm used to my old push mower you really gotta crank to get started so i have a tendency to hulk the mantis off the ground when I yank the cord. Handles adjust well for height. You can also fold the handles so it doesn't take up so much space when being stored. It can make a beautiful seed bed to plant in. Cons are that it's just a tiller, there's nothing else you can really do with it and once the plants are in it can be a little too much still to get between stuff that's very close together. It doesn't like rocks. Mid sized rocks will get stuck between the tines and can be a pain to get out.

I have no issues with my ryobi trimmer. Battery lasts great. I've got some batteries in the one+ series that are 5 or 6 years old now and hold a charge like new still. It is heavy to pack around for very long. I have a sling for mine since I weed eat miles of fence line. It is easy to maneuver between plants to nip off just what you want. The motor has plenty of power to work with but the string won't rough up dirt much if you have much clay content (dirt digging drains battery faster). Would want to swap head unit for a saw attachment perhaps. Length is not adjustable. Not a huge issue except it makes using a sling a bit harder to find a balance point on the longer shaft that allows you to comfortably use the trigger. Mine is a straight shaft and not a curved shaft, this makes it easier to work with for my height (5'4"). I have a curved shaft gas powered trimmer and it's harder to use.

It's a hard call. They both will do different jobs at different times. For making a nice planting bed and for keeping walkways cleared the mantis is far better but the trimmer will be better as the garden fills in because you are less apt to disturb your vegetable roots or unwittingly chop off a pepper. The trimmer is going to gas out your arms and back muscles to an extent even with the sling, but there is nothing to starting it. The mantis is easy on the body, but less precise. The trimmer will get your back and arms, but more precise and you can use it to weed eat anywhere else on the property.

Thanks, Jenn.

This is the brush attachment I want:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/RYOBI-Expand-It-8-in-Brush-Cutter-Trimmer-Attachment-RYBRC77/100313611

And there is a cultivator, too:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/RYOBI-Expand-It-Universal-Cultivator-String-Trimmer-Attachment-RYTIL66/100013409

Not sure if I have a use for the string trimmer head or not, but it's the cheapest way to get a power hear, charger and battery. Honestly, I've never used a trimmer of any sort. Wayne has a humongous, heavy Stihl unit and he does all the trimming. But that thing is no tool to be used in a vegetable garden. And, frankly, I don't want to ask him. The garden is my private area, if he goes up there, hell have all sorts of suggestions on how to do things differently and I'll spend my time defending the reasons I'm doing what I'm doing. Not going there!

Except. He can pee in the woodchuck holes a lot easier and neater then I can

Sounds like the mantis is better at what it does but then I'd have to buy two tools to get a brush cutter. And that is the most important implement for my current job.

I have not used either of those attachments so I cannot say how well they will be powered but I can say make sure you get extra bigger batteries because that kind of work will drag the battery down quicker. Standard grass trimming I can be out about 45 minutes on a battery but if I get into a deep patch of mares tail or cattails then I can drag a battery down in about 20.

I wish I'd seen the attachment group before I started buying the 1+ set of tools.  'course a lot of what I have aren't really 'attachment type' (sure, put a skill saw on as an attachment?)
I've about 10 different Ryobi power tools, saws, trimmers, drills and the only one with which I've had a problem brought a major disgust since Ryobi wouldn't honor the warranty since I didn't buy it from Home Depot.  I never saw that in the warranty and if I were the suing type I might argue the point.
(BTW it was their inflator - I wanted something portable for myself and tourist who got into the thorns down here - seldom are they major leeks just constant!)

I've mentioned thorns before - Sasha getting them in her feet, etc.  but I don't think you all realize what I mean when I say a thorn, so ... my tablet takes cruddy close ups but this'll give you an idea.  It's taken from about 1 foot above the branch and that's a US quarter setting about an inch below.
and yep they are a natural caltrop ...

Yep. That's a thorn! Very much like our hawthorne or buckthorns. As in. Lethal

Ok. Maybe that's an exaggeration

Just as bad though, and one I got into an argument with yesterday, is multiflora rose. A sweet smelling beauty hiding a torturer's soul. The thorns are not particularly long at all. But the are profusely close set along the cane AND they spiral around the cane. Once they clutch onto you, it's very difficult to disengage. And if they get near skin, it's shredded.

Jenn, I planning on getting the 4 Ah battery. If I can get 20-30 minutes run time, that will work for me. My body parts don't last much more than that.

@aljones my sister turned me on to this. Which I promptly
purchased and is very effective on things up to 3" diameter. Run time on that is about 45 minutes. Down side is you have to cut things individually and for the kind of thin brushy stuff I want to do, would be inefficient. I call it my baby chainsaw.

https://m.stihlusa.com/products/hand-tools/battery-hand-tools/gta26/