Pak Choy

Don’t wait so long next time. This is the lesson learned from pak choy. The beautiful pak choy plants that were harvested this weekend were still good; but they were post-mature. The greens were saved by cooking them with garlic and ginger. The stalks were still good raw. Everything would have been better were the plants harvested 2 weeks ago.

The pepper spray seems to be effective against the 4 legged pests. It does little to stop the multi-legged villains. There is some type of little critter that attaches itself to a turnip leaf and just sucks. The leaf wilts and shrivels. The garden needs a good dose of BT. Rain was threatened all weekend so the application was post phoned. The rain finally came today so as soon as it quits, BT will go on the plants.

Arugula is going to seed. We have been eating it in salad, but now the flowering plants have gone to the compost bin. The rest will be cut short with the scissors and added to the mixed greens.

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

Adding Spice to Life for Brer Rabbit

As mentioned in the last blog, Bugs Bunny and or Brer Rabbit have been munching on the corn and beans in the garden. Since putting human hair in the rows from a beauty shop, there have been no further depredations, but why take chances? Hot chili peppers and garlic should be a tasty treat; but rabbits supposedly don’t like them.

The peppers and garlic are placed in the blender with a little cheap vegetable oil. They are whirred until they are as pulverized as they will get. There will still be some chunks. This is all poured into a 2 gallon container. A couple of squirts of dish soap are added and the container is filled as full with water as the soap suds will allow. After it is settled some it is strained into a 1 gallon sprayer through a fine screen. Enough should be used to bring the container to ½ of the fill line. Finish the fill with water.

This worked well last year with habanero peppers. No habaneros were available this year so hot chili’s were used. We will see.

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