The Pepper Plot

The Great Trek

2011-02-06T21:24:00.000+02:00

A little notice to say that I am moving -

my new home is www.pepperplot.com

I Hope to see you there soon !

I am now a Wealthy Affiliate

and will be setting up a few websites

all over the place !!

Veggies for the New Year

2011-01-05T14:09:00.000+02:00

The yellow peppers are ready. We picked and packed on monday and tuesday morning the peppers were delivered to the fresh produce market.

We also have the following ready and more growing :

Asparagus :

cauliflower :

chayote or chuchu :

Wikipedia describes the chayote as follows :

"The chayote (Sechium edule), also known as christophene, vegetable pear, mirliton, choko,starprecianté, citrayota, citrayote (Ecuador and Colombia), chuchu (Brazil), chow chow (India) or pear squash, iskus (इस्कुस) (Nepal) is an edible plant that belongs to the gourd familyCucurbitaceae along with melons, cucumbers and squash."

Cucumber - both english and the traditional Bulgarian cucumber :

donkey pumpkin :

savoy cabbage :

Tomato :

and the yellow pear tomato - a type of cocktail tomato with amazingly sweet taste :

The brinjals are just starting to flower :

I bought some green mangoes from the market and last night we made our first batch of 2 kg atchar. We prefer to make our own atchar as the commercial product contains pieces of the shell of the pip of the mango that is really horrible and tooth-breaking when you unexpectantly bite into it. We also use much more garlic than the commercially available products contain. In the near future I will publish a post that shows the process and the recipe that we use for our achar.

Until Next Time !

'Twas the Season to be Jolly

2011-01-03T09:39:00.001+02:00

All is well at the Pepper Plot. We had a great Christmas and New Year was a bit dampened as I had to work at the hospital on 1 January 2011 .

I took quite a number of photos over the period but instead of boring you with all of them I'll start of with the storm we had on 24 December - Thunder, lightning, hail and power failure !

Luckily I purchased battery operated lights for the Christmas Tree from the Chinese Traders at Crown Plaza :

Christmas morning saw the tree with a few more gifts under it than the day before :

Amelia was very happy with her dollhouse :

The Christmas lunch table was set :

Afterwards we all relaxed :

Until Later !

Rain ! Rain ! Beautiful Rain !

2010-12-19T12:46:00.001+02:00

Yes !

We had some rain ,

I mean proper rain at last !

Not just the drizzles

we've been having but rain to replenish the underground reserves.

100mm+ on thursday(reports in the area says 130) and 31mm on saturday.

The rain on thursday brought some damage - but nothing we can't handle !

The one tree fell over but the main root is still in the ground

so it will not die and actually it looks pretty cool with the tree lying at this angle.

Bets is planning a garden around "Fallen Tree".

The dogs love it as they are now also able to climb the tree

and follow the cats into the tree :

and at a different angle you can see "Fallen Tree" :

Stompie (an asperger cat) having a rest after being chased way up into the tree by Boela :

Boela having a lie down after chasing Stompie into the tree :

The rain on saturday damming up a little bit :

Today the clouds are building up and it looks like more rain is coming.

I am afraid that there won't be many postings this week as

Henk, Tracy and Amelia is arriving tomorrow for the Christmas period !

Until Next Time !!

PS : I am still hoping to get a Kindle for Christmas !

PS 2 : Sorry about all the embedded links !

I was playing with Amazon and learned how to try to sell some of their

amazing products that they even deliver to South Africa and any other country !

Rain ! Rain !

2010-12-16T12:37:00.000+02:00

Just a quick note to let you all know that after I wrote yesterday that we haven't had enough rain yet the rains came last night. I was unable to measure the exact amount but the rain meter, which measures up to 100mm of rain, was full! and that was at 4 a.m. The whole plot looks flooded , but the only damage so far is a tree that fell over and flattened our fence around the house. ( we have one fence around the house and one fence around the plot )

Pictures will follow - if not tonight when I get home from work then tomorrow !

Cheers !

It's Been A While ...

2010-12-15T13:43:00.000+02:00

At last a quick chance to update the blog - what a hectic run-up to the festive season ! I have been too busy to get to the blog !

The puppies are now two terrors ! Sasha survived her tick bite fever X 2 that she had - both canine and human strains ! Virtually every afternoon we have a thunderstorm - mostly just thunder, lightning and power failure with very little rain. Although we've had a bit of rain it is not nearly enough. The soil is so dry that it actually cracks.

In the meantime we started picking the small yellow pear-shaped tomatoes - can one describe something as extra-super sweet ? Here are some pictures of some of the produce growing currently :

Artichoke

Borage

Note that the borage flower is said to be the only blue edible flower - tasting like cucumber. In Afrikaans the name of the plant is "komkommerkruid" - translated that means cucumber weed !

Artichoke

Cherry Tomato

Savoy Cabbage

Echinacea

Flowers

Peppers - yellow

Brinjal

Tomatoes

Maize

Onions

Peppers

Till later !

Artichokes and Peppers

2010-11-19T16:25:00.000+02:00

This week we harvested the first artichokes ! What a pleasure. We love artichokes. I only learned about this delicacy after Betsie and I got married. She taught me the way they eat it in Chile.

The artichoke is soaked in saltwater for about an hour.
The artichoke is then steamed.
Then it is served while still hot on a plate with a small bowl of a vinaigrette.
The leaves are broken off one by one and dipped in the vinaigrette sauce and then the fleshy part of the leaf is scraped off against your bottom teeth.
You do this repeatedly until you reach the core or the choke.
Here care must be exercised that you do not eat or get any of the immature florets in your mouth as this is very uncomfortable - like eating the thorns of a prickly pear.
The centre arrangement of the immature florets must then be carefully removed from the base of the flower - this base is what is sold in tins as artichoke hearts. The base is called the involucral bract. The tinned variety can never ever even be compared with the fresh as far as flavour and taste and experience is concerned. This core of the artichoke is absolutely delicious. I was so overwhelmed by the taste that I forgot to take a picture for the blog and if Betsie didn't remind me I wouldn't have taken any pictures : At the start of the meal :

And this is what is left over :

The peppers are progressing nicely and hopefully we will be able to pick the first batch at around Christmas or if not then the first week in January. Here are some pics to show the progress :

And then there is Boela relaxing :

See you soon !

Depressed Dog in Dreamlands

2010-11-13T18:49:00.000+02:00

Our elderly dog is depressed ! She doesn't want to eat. She doesn't want to play . We thought she was starting with tick bite fever and thus I gave her treatment. All that resulted in is that she now also refuses to eat her favourite treats as I crushed the tablets , mixed it with butter and put it on a little dog biscuit for her. No way man ! She ate the first one. The second one was eaten with apprehension. The third one she still ate the butter and by the fourth one it was virtually impossible to get her to eat it !

This afternoon she started playing and drinking small amounts of water. Maybe she'll get better - we'll see !

This week I spent some time mowing the weeds : Here is the ..before..

and the ..after..

And a wallpaper of Dreamlands :

Until Next time - Remember to be Awesome !

Home Security and Sleeping Dogs

2010-11-09T09:38:00.000+02:00

It is time I share some home security tips with you. At this stage I would like to throw some ideas around. Please note that comments are welcome !

Home security is something we must all consider. Here are the major low-tech considerations :

For me home security starts first of all with perimeter security as you don't want to wait until the criminals are inside your house. So, look first of all at the natural barriers that surround your house. Hedges, trees, cacti followed by walls and fences. These are all passive barriers to the would-be criminal.

The second barrier includes dogs, geese and any other animal that will make a noise when someone approaches. The problem here is that these barriers are alive and because they threaten the would-be criminal he quite often resorts to killing these animals.

Your next line of defense to be employed with the noisy animals includes early warning systems that alert you to the presence of anybody in the vicinity - noise-makers attached to tripwires that are set at such a height that domestic animals can pass underneath unhindered ! These tripwires must be placed in order to cover all approaches to the house - the obvious as well as the obscure - especially the latter !! Remember that if the would-be criminal is determined these are only means to warn you - if he then reaches your house at least you must be ready and alerted of his/their presence !

The importance of dogs cannot be stressed enough. They must be vicious and alert and ready to attack at all times - unfortunately I have a problem there as my dogs are always sleeping in the most comfortable positions imaginable. Here are some examples of Luce sleeping on her back - and no, she is not deceased but merely sleeping :

Last week we harvested a large quantity of basil leaves and Betsie made pesto . Yesterday we had pesto-smothered T-bone steaks with fresh baby leaks from the garden :

Sorry no sunset photographs today as we have been getting a bit of rain lately (with power failures) !

Until next time !

Power Failures and Frustration

2010-11-08T11:12:00.000+02:00

We have been experiencing Highveld storms every afternoon before sunset. When the wind blows or if there is one small lightning strike in the vicinity of Vereeniging then we have the inevitable power failure. There are many reasons for this regular - read daily - occurrence but it is outside the scope of this blog to go into the details of the why and the how ( that is apart from the electrician on duty getting , and I quote " sparks in his eyes ".

Thank goodness for petrol generators and rechargeable batteries ! I am always on the net looking for alternative sources of energy in the hope that we will be able to become self-sufficient as far as power is concerned. We are there already for vegetable supply for most of the year. I am currently looking at wind generators as we have enough wind here to power the whole continent.

Have you seen this nifty reader that is available from Amazon ? This is at the top of my Christmas wishlist ! You can read any electronic document while lying in bed or wherever for that matter. And there are millions of books available in electronic format - many to buy and many more for free such as from the Gutenberg Project . If you want to find Gutenberg just type in Gutenberg Project in the search bar !

Until next time ! Hang loose !

Dogs and More Sunsets

2010-11-03T11:12:00.001+02:00

Some dog pics -

Echinacea :

The greenhouse:

Sunsets :

and that's all folks !!

Birthdays, Chocolate Strawberry Meringue and Onions

2010-10-23T13:50:00.000+02:00

For my birthday Betsie prepared a double layered meringue covered in dark chocolate and fresh strawberries - the meringue contained crushed almonds and was delicious, crispy and crunchy :

Thanks for all the birthday wishes !

I had a great day ! Thanx Betsie !

We planted a little maize just for our own use , and also onions :

and I have to finish off with a couple of sunsets !

Until next time !

Cats and dogs and strawberries @ Pepper Plot

2010-10-20T11:30:00.001+02:00

Cats are able to find any place to sleep - if there isn't any space they will make space especially Stompie :

Three in a row :

It is strawberry season here. We have this rule at Pepper Plot that we first eat our fill of strawberries and make all the jams and preserves that we require before we start selling strawberries. We used to supply strawberries to a few local supermarkets and greengrocers but their greed was too much as they expect us to supply vast quantities at minimalistic prices and then they charge an arm and a leg for it. We have decided that this is not the route to follow and now we rather sell it at below market price to locals. So from next week I think we will start selling strawberries - we sell 1kg unwashed freshly picked for R30 and punnets of 250g at R10 each !

Strawberry and Port Jam :

Fresh strawberries and mascarpone cheese - Deeevine !

And now to our latest addition - the terrible twins Boela and Lucy : peaceful at last and a chance to take a photo that's not blurred - Geez I also know now how that feels Tracy

And here are the peppers - as can be seen they are healthy and growing nicely :

Yesterday we experienced a typical highveld storm - 3 mm rain and gale force winds that tried to remove the roof from our humble little abode :

So until next time - Keep well !

Cats, Rocket and Sunsets

2010-10-12T09:33:00.000+02:00

The cats all are very playful at night when we go to close the tunnels for the night as some of them run with us and fall down periodically for us to scratch their tummies and backs. Liefie doing the roll :

and Curly doing the roll :

Mr Survivor thought sleeping was a much better option as he is a night prowler :

We planted rocket (Eruca sativa) years ago in the one greenhouse and we've never been without fresh rocket for salads and other dishes since. The flowers are tiny but actually beautiful :

Other weeds :

Borage (Borago officinalis) or in Afrikaans komkommerkruid :

Other plants that we grow include Echinacea :

Artichokes :

Strawberries :

And now the sunset for sunday :

and for last night :

Until later !

Update

2010-10-10T12:05:00.000+02:00

Here are some photos to start off the blog - not in any specific order!

Stompie :

Carrots and peas :

Young basil in the greenhouse 1 October :

Yellow pepper - Kato Variety 2 days after transplanting 1 October:

Young basil plants for distribution in the greenhouses on 1 October - these act as a natural deterrent for whitefly :

Tomato seedlings 1 October :

Greenhouse 1 October :

One of the first green figs of the season :

Strepies - The mother and grandmother of the other 5 cats on the plot :

Stompie posing to show me how he attacked the rat :

Stompie asking "What rat ? Where ?" :

Highveld sunsets :

Pepper seedlings : at 3 weeks from sowing 6 September :

Peppers one week after transplanting 9 October :

Basil plants one week later 9 October :

Tomato seedlings one week later - 9 October :

Pepper seedlings 18 September :

18 September

18 September :

24 September :

Catnip :

Cabbage

24 September :

Today is the First Day of the Rest of My Blog-ging Life

2010-10-09T13:51:00.001+02:00

Here we will share and showcase our produce and add some happenings and doings around the plot .