That darned list of things growing

Righty-o. Here's the list of things growing in our garden/inside the house this season. It includes things that were overwintered. I'm starting with the fruit first, because this year there's an abundance of fruit growing (well, attempting to grow) in the house:

4 Strawberry (if they overwintered)

1 Alpine Strawberry (Ditto)

4 Raspberry Canes

2 Gooseberry plants

1 Blackcurrant plant

1 Goji Berry plant

1 Blueberry plant

1 Grape Vine (probably dead. Will see in the spring)

*The Strawberry Guava looked strangely dead as of this morning :-( I don't know how or why, since it seemed fine during the harshest part of winter. But I guess it may have been to early to have it spend an entire winter outdoors.

Also, the Suriname Cherry is starting to pick up on its growth, as is the Myrtle.

Veg! (and yes, I am including things that by definition are actually fruit, or as Almapaprika just said 'ya wouldn't put them in a fruit salad, would ya?', well, except for the Watermelon...but they haven't germinated, so not included)

Cannellini Beans

Borlotti Beans

Black Turtle Beans

Pigeon Pea

Coquina Squash (a sweeter variety of butternut squash)

Buttercup squash

Pottimarron Squash

An unknown acorn squash from TESCO

Purple Corn

Super Sweet Sweet Corn

Scotch Bonnet

More on the list later...

:-)

A Small Bundle of Chillies

Hmm.

I should have tried to get some writing done in the last year, but as is to be expected in life, things happen.

My new degree was proving to be far more work than I anticipated, and just to add to the pile of work, Almapaprika and I moved house.

Not too far away, mind you, and away from the horrible balcony of of floral death, into a nice little house in a small village complete with a garden. No south facing garden, but at least a decent sized garden. Even got two little apple trees.

Oh, and just to add a cherry to the sundae of my life, Almapaprika and I have a little chilli all of our own!

:-)

He's fantastic, our little Cascabel.

And more of a handful than we both anticipated.

He's also the reason why I won't be doing oodles of superhots this season.

Don't want the little 'un to be mistaking Nagas for Candy. ;-)

I am keeping a Scotch Bonnet that was given to me by a friend that I've overwintered (the Scotch Bonnet, not the friend), but my chillies this season will only be Fresnos and Jalapenos.

I've also started sowing a lot of beans, squashes, corn, tomatoes and aubergines (eggplant) which I shall talk about in more depth later.

For now, I have a lot of seeds to sow, and photos to take and upload.

:-)

Nice to be back.

A 'Planned' Break

A quick break from Chillies (gasp!) to talk about another of my interests in life: architecture and urbanism (where, much like chillies, you don't really know how hot and spicy a topic is going to be until you bite down on it.).

I've been asking myself of late as to the motivation behind my love for 'the built environment' (more now thanks to the stress of my dissertation and the lack of time I have at the moment to properly give it my all).

I guess thinking of home (Aji Chombo Land) was one of my main reasons for becoming enamored with the topic.

Bit of a strange thing, since, and I write this in earnest, it can at times be an amazingly ugly city.

Traffic Jams left and right. People building what they want, where they want. One hundred buildings over 40 stories high...

...and not a single fire engine that can reach even the middle floors in the event of a fire.

:-/

But this is, in my optimistic eyes, the diamond in the rough.

All of the grime that covers urban planning in AC Land needs to be lifted so that the true beauty of the city (and indeed the country) may be fully appreciated.

And there is a lot to appreciate.

I love the challenges inherently present in cities.

Cities have order and chaos, euphony and cacophony. There is motion, change and evolution within them, and at the same time, there are elements that remain as constant and ever present as the sun.

Looking at a city and seeing ways to clear the clutter.

That is what I love.

It's not so much about establishing order as it is about solving problems.

Or better still:

identifying the potential for problems so that they do not happen in the first place (after all, problems only occur when we don't foresee them and stop them from materializing).

Bizarre and beautiful dance this is, urbanism.

Because it never depends on one person, either (can you imagine if dancing was limited to one person in a vast space?)

Much like in dancing, you will most likely have a partner. Much like in dancing, there will be other couples of varying degrees of experience on the dance floor with you, and rest assured, heels will be clipped and toes will be stepped on.

But it cam be immeasurably rewarding if 'the rhythm gets you'.

It is a convoluted thing, planning.

But one which I enjoy thoroughly.

In a convoluted way...

:-)

Aji Lemon Drop

Took this photo a second ago with the camera at work. The pod was on top of an architecture book I was reading and just looked awesome. This is the second Aji Lemon Drop that has matured so far.

:-)

Mutant Chronicles/Genocide

I am in the middle of waging unrelenting war with Aphids.

They invaded my plants a few weeks back when we had a rather 'unseasonable' June heat wave in the UK (yes, unseasonable. You look out the window today and you'd know why. It's in the teens, gloomy and rainy...and this is July), and now there are hundreds on my plants.

Things got so bad, I had no choice but to break out the SB Plant Invigorator to control the little cretins. Right up to that I had tried controlling them with some sticky tape (running it along the pods picking up the aphids), but this was now getting out of hand.

After one thorough spraying at the beginning of the week, they are now doing much better. They still have aphids, mind you, but they are much better.

I'm starting to get antsy, because there are at least three plants that should have ripe pods by now: The Lemon Drop, the Cayenne Golden, and the Ring of Fire. Come to think of it, the Stromboli and the Goats Weed aren't that far off.

Good News Everyone!

The Trinidad Scorpion x Giant White Habanero cross has two little pods!

Oooooooooh the excitement is palpable now! Really looking forward to that one.

Off to return to work I go!

Lies, damn lies (and statistics)

Hoy en la noche, AjiChombo land faces off against Mexico in the U-17 Football World Cup...(bizarre, I only just noticed after writing this that it was done so in Spanglish...my brain is definitely not working).

Cruzo mis dedos como todo fanatico y espero que le podamos ganar a Mexico y que continuemos nuestra experiencia en este Mundial de Futbol.

But I digress...

Aphids are having a field day with the plants and I am slightly annoyed. Thankfully they have not become an uncontrollable pest as of yet. Sticky tape and water sprays and SB plant invigorator have been called upon to do battle with the sugary green menace!

The Cashew Apples are living up to their reputation as problematic anywhere that is not 100% tropical. We had a relatively cool night a couple of days past where the temperature dropped to 8-10Celsius. One of the plants had severe burns on the leaves...grumble.

By the by, si usted es fanatico de la arquitectura, le recomiendo el siguiente libro:

Richard Holzer Arquitecto

The book is the work of one of the greatest Panamanian Architects of the 20th century, and a fantastic journey through over 50 years of architecture in Panama.

:-)

The Stench of Man (and Woman)

As Charlie Brown once said:

AAAAAAAAAARGH!!!

I spend (or rather, wasted) the better part of yesterday morning stuck in the various many forms of public transport in Merseyside and Sefton attempting to travel to and from home, surrounded by stinky people of advanced age.

Not all of them, mind you. Some of the ladies as usual smell of gardenias, lavender, and rose.

But it only takes one ripe one, really.

And boy was this one a ripe one...

:-/

I texted Almapaprika out of desperation of the hideous and befouling stench of 'sebum' which adorned one such couple in front of me in the bus, in what could only be the longest, most torturous 30 minute bus ride of my life. I was actually thankful when an equally foul smelling gentleman sat beside me because in contrast (and much to my relief) he only smelled chokingly of tobacco and cigarette smoke and ash, which at the very least gave my nostrils a momentary respite from the olfactory onslaught unleashed upon me.

Hot water and soap, it would seem, is a luxury some people in England have yet to discover.

As well as the good sense not to sit there hacking like a cat with a fur ball caught in the throat and producing gray balls of phlegm which are then poked and prodded between thumb and forefinger to attempt to diagnose why they are of that particular gelatinous consistency.

I felt like gagging.

It was so bad by the time I got home, four hours later (on what should have been a two hour return journey, faffing about time included), I stank of said mixture of human sweat, sebum, smoke, and who knows what else.

I am thinking of burning my clothes from the day, which still smelled of ghastliness late into the evening.

I could never be a coroner...

Public Transport.

It atrophies the senses...

On the chilli front, I managed to get some better photographs taken at week's end:

Here is one of the Cashew Apple trees. One has reddish/brownish leaves, the other green. A colleague asked why, but I could not give the answer. :-(

This is a very good photo of the Aji Lemon Drop flowers.

and one of the pods from the Lemon Drop. I am quite liking this plant. Not too tall, but with lots of pods.

And finally, the first of the goats weed pods. Looks like some eternal flame of spiciness. I think it is a fitting image for a chilli plant, don't you? ;-)

I am playing around putting the ownership of the photos now, just because I've seen at least one elsewhere on the Internet. Flattered though I am that another photo of mine might travel through the ethers, I kind of am proud that it is one of mine, and would prefer it said somewhere on it that it is so.

OK, off to do some laundry and some more coursework.