Okay, in reality, this is the weekend update, but I had talk with my folks a bit ago and I thought their story needed to go into the blog. So, let’s have a chat about habaneros. Those are hot peppers that are really quite hot! If you follow the Facebook page, you may have heard that we sent along a box of bell peppers and habaneros to my folks in California. Now, my mom is not a stranger to hot peppers, we used to all types to use in salsas and chilies and things, but I guess she didn’t realize just how hot those little boogers grow out here in Arizona. Today she made a shrimp and rice dish and decided to use one small green habanero to spice it up a bit. When I talked to her early this evening, my dad’s eyes were still watering and they had consumed a large quantity of milk to try to tame the flames; mind you – my dad is the guy who likes to try the hottest hot sauces he can find. Got a bit too hot, I guess. So I gave her this tip from Sue’s son, Dustin: when using these to flavor dishes, don’t dice them up; do remove all the seeds and any ribs and then leave them in large pieces that you can then remove from the dish, so you don’t ingest them!!! She said she’d try that the next time. Meanwhile, the chickens are getting the rest of the rice (mom and dad ate all the shrimp any way – can’t waste shrimp, after all!). Today’s lesson: watch out for the Habaneros! On to the update… Continue reading
Watch Out for the Habaneros!
23 Monday Oct 2017
Posted in Projects
“I love it when a plan comes together!” Immortal words from the leader of the A-Team, Hannibal Smith, but they are so very true; right up there with one of Sue’s favorites, “I love completing a project!” And she can say that this week, because the most tricky part of the cold frame is done! There was some difficulty figuring out the covering for it, but yesterday it all came together. 
Today, as it was a day off for me, we took a trip up to Tucson and visited an amazing nursery called Civano Nursery. It’s on the easternmost side of Tucson in a relatively newly developed area. It was an amazing nursery. Sue and I agreed that we like it much more than Anderson’s back home. I know~! Sacrilege! But it’s true. We were even able to get some of our Christmas shopping completed! We went to purchase some large trees or bushes with the great gift given to us last week. Sue did some research and we found this nursery on-line that has a wonderful section of native plants that are perfect for our hedge row/wind break. Read on for what info on what we purchased. 
Well, no – it’s Thursday, but I completely forgot about writing last night. Just didn’t even come to mind at all. Lots of stuff going on, I guess. So, here’s the Wednesday report a day late.
Sue’s been working on the enclosure for the new little doves. They are so small, even smaller than Maeve. Their nesting boxes only have to be 4″ x 8″ with a little bit of a lip. They don’t like to be completely enclosed like the chickens. Just seems funny to have them so small. If you remember, Sue dug down into the ground to put in the welded wire to help keep predators from digging under to get at the little birds, and added cinder block for a footing. Then the sides were set on top of those blocks and attached to the existing coop wall as well as to a couple of 4×4’s set into the ground. Some corner braces were added and a partial roof that will get fully covered with a type of plastic corrugated roofing. We use it a lot on outdoor chicken things, comes in different colors, and clear. Tomorrow Sue will put on the rest of the welded wire, build a little door for access, and put on the roofing material. We added a branch from an oak tree that fell over after a high wind this year… so they have some different type of roosting materials… we may add some more natural horizontal ones as well. It’s coming along nicely and we should be able to move the little guys into their newest space in a couple of days. 