First Hard Freeze

This year’s 1st hard freeze came on the night between November 24 and 25. Our Normal 1st killing frost date is October 21. We got an extra month of peppers. The frost damaged peppers will be blended with cooking oil and dish soap to make a deer and rabbit repellant. A few rotten eggs would be a good addition, but I don’t have any and I’m not sure I want to let perfectly good eggs rot to make a spray.

Don’t put the dish soap in the blender. You might be sorry. Blend the peppers and the oil, then add more oil and the dish soap. You can mix with water: 6 parts water to 1 part mixture. If you are mixing it in a pump sprayer put the water in 1st to prevent foaming. The best way to use the material is to put it in a hose end mixing sprayer. Set the sprayer at 22 and shoot.

I can’t guarantee that this will work for you, because last year a deer grazed on the ghost pepper plants. It is hoped that that was an aberration because it did not happen this year.



David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://davidsegrest.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/

First Hard Freeze

This year’s 1st hard freeze came on the night between November 24 and 25. Our Normal 1st killing frost date is October 21. We got an extra month of peppers. The frost damaged peppers will be blended with cooking oil and dish soap to make a deer and rabbit repellant. A few rotten eggs would be a good addition, but I don’t have any and I’m not sure I want to let perfectly good eggs rot to make a spray.

Don’t put the dish soap in the blender. You might be sorry. Blend the peppers and the oil, then add more oil and the dish soap. You can mix with water: 6 parts water to 1 part mixture. If you are mixing it in a pump sprayer put the water in 1st to prevent foaming. The best way to use the material is to put it in a hose end mixing sprayer. Set the sprayer at 22 and shoot.

I can’t guarantee that this will work for you, because last year a deer grazed on the ghost pepper plants. It is hoped that that was an aberration because it did not happen this year.



David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://davidsegrest.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/

Fall Color

The turning leaves are great until they start to color the yard instead of the sky. Fall can be a rather drab prospect without a few colorful additions. Camilla’s bloom all winter and the leaves stay green. Pansies and mums are the ubiquitous color addition for professional landscapers. It is good to have some for the color. A lot of the summer annuals will have color until the first frost.

There is a lot of edible color available as well. Red chard is great. Also, there are many ornamental cabbages. Unless they are started as seed, they are pretty expensive. They don’t germinate well until the soil is below 70 degrees. Tulips and many other bulbs can be “forced”. Each type of bulb is different so be sure to do the research. Just put the bulbs in the freezer for the required number of days, before it is planted.

There are other plants that bloom so early that they may still add some variety to the garden. One of my favorites are the Lenten roses. They are not really a rose, but they stay green all year and bloom very early.



David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://davidsegrest.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/

Winter Feasts from the Garden

It is amazing how much food is consumed from the garden in winter time. Frozen, canned, dried or pickled foods can add a lot to the winter diet. Frozen food except for some meats seems to lose most of it’s flavor. Some home-canned foods actually improve in flavor. Pickles are often much better than the vegetables they were made from.

Lettuce grows all year except for the very middle of summer when it bolts. Garden lettuce, carrots, radish, mesclun and arugula can be combined with chopped pickles, canned whole tomatoes pickled beets to make a great salad. Add some home-made oil & vinegar dressing with basil and you have a true delight. Dried beans when served with rice or bread make a complete protein. Add some fresh green onions from the garden and a little thyme or rosemary.

The favorite of course is greens. Turnips, mustard, kale, rape, chard, collards and spinach provide vitamin C and folic acid. Flavor it with pepper vinegar. That makes a fabulous addition to the dried beans and rice. Admittedly a lot of the winter diet in our modern world is still going to come from the grocery store. For that matter, the summer table is set with store-bought stuff as well.

David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://davidsegrest.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/

Repellents that Work

The depredations of deer, rabbits and squirrels have afflicted the garden for years. Many remedies, including an 8’ fence have been tried. Finally a deer and rabbit repellant from Home Depot seems to be working. It has a smell like something dead and has to be sprayed every time it rains, but since its use was started there has only been one lost cabbage plant. Perhaps Bambi or Peter rabbit tried it and did not like it.

Something has been found to keep everything but o’possums out of the compost pile. The leaves and grass are not a problem, but the kitchen waste is just too tempting. A big dog is the main culprit. About a dozen ghost peppers were chopped and put into a jar in the fridge. Every time the compost goes to the pile a few pieces of ghost pepper goes into the mix. For the old dog, we have started putting out bones and meat scraps. He seems to be getting the idea.

The fence did help some. It was made of vinyl fence fabric, which is starting to get a little ratty. A new fence is going up, made from 2” X 4” steel fabric. Now if I can get a repellant that will keep AT&T people from starting unrequested service on my phones.



David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://davidsegrest.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/

Fall Projects

Fall should be a time to rest from summer’s labors and enjoy the easy things from the garden. Once they are planted the greens require nothing but a little water and picking. The cabbage isn’t ready for picking, but a few more plants were set out so there will be enough for sauerkraut. The sugar peas are only about 6” high. Most of the beds are full of dead stuff and need to be reworked. All the projects that should have been done in the summer are waiting to be done so they don’t clog up the calendar for next summer.

I had 25 trees taken out this spring and saved some money by cleaning up the debris myself. Bad idea. The garden was way behind getting planted, but it turned out well. The compost system was rotting down, so a new one was built surrounded with lattice to hide the ugliness. Now if the vines will only grow. 30 fig trees were started and are doing well. There is still a need to start some camellias, Blueberries and grapes. Maybe that just won’t happen.

The honey-do club wants a new porch, walkway and patio. The birds would like a waterfall and fish pond. The hawks especially would like to see fish in the pond. The garden needs a new fence and so does the yard. Fall is the time to relax and enjoy the fruits of the summer.









David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://davidsegrest.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/