And Now the Days Are Getting Longer

...or so they say. I know it's true, but it doesn't feel that way yet. One of the ways I like to drive my long suffering husband crazy is to constantly remark about the length of daylight compared to night. I say things like, "I've never seen so many sunrises in my life until we moved to Oregon, and it's not because I get up early". In no time I'll be complaining that it's 10pm and the sun is still shining.

The birds are making the most of the feeders lately, and now that the bird bath is thawed they can wash it all down with rainwater. Aaahh.

I haven't done much in the garden since the big freeze, except clean up some of the casualties. We had lots of rain after the thaw and some plants have begun to rebound, like mustard greens, turnips, parsley and a few of the lettuces look like they'll pull through. I used turnips in a braised short rib stew last night.

And inside, the Pimiento de Padron pepper is hamming it up like a hothouse flower. Still blooming and producing little cocktail peppers. Don't know why I never did this before, but this plant will have a huge head start when I bring it back outside once it warms up.

Merry Christmas and a Very Happy New Year.

Rocoto Update

Just a quick note on my current holy grail, the Rocoto pepper.
The seeds arrived today.

Very exciting.

It's true, the seeds are black.

And the packet claims boldly to have a germination rate of 57.5%, not so great.

So the kind folks at Seed Savers Exchange sent twice the normal amount. Well, I love a challenge and it sounds like I found one. I will wait for my new germination heat mat before I attempt to germinate these. In the meantime I am reading up on all things peppery.

I also found a terrific website all about growing all kinds of chilies.
Fatalii.net

HOLY GRAIL posted on April 21, explains how this obsession began

And I'm getting very excited about the Master Gardeners Plant Sale coming up this weekend.

Holy Grail

What's more fun than hunting down something that has become an obsession?
For gardeners there are infinite, obscure plants to stalk. For me it started with a small article in Sunset magazine. I don't usually pay much attention to anything they say because it's all so predictable.

Easy entertaining, fast meals, and colorful pillows to brighten a room. And every issue seems to have an article titled something like Instant Patio, or Patio in a Weekend. Meh.

I just don't expect to find anything new or interesting. But this time I found a suggestion for a citrus tree and a pepper variety that should both do well in the Pacific Northwest. I take back all the unkind things I said.

The citrus is Yuzu, which I wrote about earlier this year, on March 26th. And I found the plant right away, without really trying. Hopefully it will live up to the hype.

The pepper though has become my current holy grail.

It goes by the name rocoto and is from Peru, Bolivia and Equador. It is the oldest known domesticated pepper. Thick flesh with black seeds. The fruit sounds delicious, very hot, but fragrant, like melon, but with heat. This sounds great, that is exactly what I love about habaneros, but I haven't had much luck growing them. I think our growing season is just too short and not hot enough for habaneros.

Here's the best part, this pepper is very cold tolerant. And it's a perennial, if protected from frost and pruned it can grow for many years and up to 6 feet.

Can you see now why I MUST have this plant? I can't believe it's not hugely popular here.

This pepper is a species, not a cultivar or a hybrid from Capsicum annum, like most other peppers.

Rocoto is also known as, or related to, these other peppers manzano, peron, caballo, ciruelo, jutiapa, llata, canario.

Of course I can't find it anywhere in town, but I do enjoy the blank stares I get from the besieged nursery folks I have spoken to. They are slammed this year as millions of people have decided to grow some food for the first time.

I have found some enthusiasts online and I ordered some seeds, I have begun to suspect that I may not find starts. It's a little late to start peppers for this summer. But no matter, if I start them now they will be great next year.

More to come as this story developes.