71M, jumped out of planes, now I just plant things. Seeking a friend with dirt under her nails

I jumped out of airplanes for the Army, kept order as a corrections officer, and earned a Master’s in IT. Now I start tomato seedlings at dawn and call it a quiet life.

Quick resume: 28 years homesteading, three greenhouses (a fourth would be reckless, but I’m tempted), and every farm animal I could talk into living here. I fix things. I can repair nearly anything, but I’m still working on broken hearts.

I cook in cast iron, shop at flea markets, and believe reduce, repurpose, reuse is a lifestyle, not a slogan. I read the news too much and I’ll talk about it all day if you let me, though I’d rather talk about what’s growing in your garden.

Honest disclosure, because I value it: I’m separated, and the divorce is in process. I’m not rushing anything. I’d love some good conversation first- friends, chat buddies, or pen pals- and we’ll let the rest sort itself out.

Please tell me what you’re growing, what you’re fixing, or what’s making you laugh this week. I answer every thoughtful message.

(No money requests and no moving off the platform the first few messages, please. I’ll hold myself to the same.)

Hello Michael,     Well this has been a fun adventure already.  I’d not been on the site for quite some time, and “forgot” my password… so it took a while to figure out how to log back on officially, and I lost the first response I wrote.  

This year my garden just kinda happened on its own.   Stuff came up, I watched it grow, watered when needed and now it is fall.   I loved it.   Not sure why some plants are called weeds - they are successful and just as beautiful as other plants.    I’d purchased a passion fruit plant this summer.    I’ve been unsuccessful in the past keeping one happy - this one, I never got around to planting so it is still in its one gallon pot and is very happy.  I may just keep it in a pot, a larger one next year, rather than trying to establish it in the actual yard.  It even has a flower !  ( very pleased about that! ).  

So my full disclosure is, have been divorced now 10 years and am happy on my own, tho sometimes it gets lonely, but I keep occupied.   Would love to have a penpal.  I like to write, talk about gardening, news, aliens, whatever…  I’m game.    Do my best to reuse / repurpose / recycle and try to be mindful.  

Hope you have a good day - it is my favorite kind here (pnw)…  kinda gray - hope it rains….   snow is needed in the mountains.  

Yvonne

Hello Yvonne,

What a nice surprise to get a reply from you.  I’m glad you came back.  I feel your pain about losing an original writing or reply.  It seems like every time I think I write something perfectly, I hiccup, and my writing goes *Poof*, into the abyss.  For some reason though, trying to replicate my original version always seems to turn out better.

I like finding strays, plants that have just rooted themselves and grown in an unexpected place.  Some (most) weeds bother me, but I tolerate them, until they get to big.  My favorite weeds are ones that produce a beautiful flower.

I too have not had much success with passion flowers.  I have tried both the purple and white variety.  Mine just kind of stay dormant and die when the conditions are no longer sufficient.  Truth be told, I am more into vegetables, and things I can eat.

So, you mention aliens.  I think they are possible, but I am not sure which form they might take.

My weather is normally sunny and clear, barring any tropical storm or hurricane.  I was stationed at Ft. Lewis while I was in the Army, so I understand your desire for rain and snow.

What grows best for you?  For me, it is Peppers and Cherry tomatoes.  

Hello Michael.    I’ve found that many weeds are edible,  but not always tasty.   Like the flowers too - a couple years ago, I planted a chinese chrysanthemum - I don’t have the scientific name handy - it is used mostly for medicinal purposes.  It had small daisy like flowers, ornate leaves… well this year it was everywhere.   I had the same thing happen with blood sorrel.   I just went around and pulled up the little plants, repotted them and gave them away - most times with a responsible warning about their prolific spread.  

I do try to grow mostly edible things - in theory, in a few years, I could get passion fruits.    There is one I visit that lives on a neighbors fence - just covered the fence.  It looks amazing in full bloom.   That might have been why i brought up aliens.  To me, those flowers look very alien.  

Where I live now, I don’t have the full sunlit days required for most vegetables.   Have been successful with potatoes (grown in black bags) and herbs.    This year my most successful harvest was from a sichuan pepper.  Am going to try to start some seedlings - however have read the success rate is not always high.    Would love to have a hedge made of these - the thorns are huge!      I had a good crop of snow peas this year as well in the spring.    I may plant some to see if I can get a winter crop going - no idea if this winter will bring any hard freezes - whilst those can be fun, for the garden’s sake I hope it stays mild so that the “tender” perennials survive.  

Have a good day !
Yvonne

Hello Yvonne,

I like that you repot the runaways and give them away with a responsible warning. a plant that spreads that hard is telling you where it wants to live, regardless of your garden design or intent. I’d love to know the name of your Chinese chrysanthemum once you find it.

You’re right about the passion flower. It’s one of the strangest flowers I’ve ever seen, and it looks so delicate and fragile. Upon reflection, I’ve only seen a wall of passion flowers once. It was growing along a walkway, in full shade except for about an hour of sun a day.  That didn't occur to me until now. Yours may be happier in its pot than you’d expect.

Florida is just now starting to cool off. The mornings are in the mid-60s, but the days still climb into the 80s. I’m planting collards, which I appreciate more and more as I get older, along with other leafy greens that have been missing from my diet.

I had to look up Sichuan pepper, and I am going to find some and try it.  That tingling sensation it provides sounds interesting.  I’m also surprised to learn it doesn’t have capsaicin.

I learned the other side of that the hard way. One morning I was planting Chile de árbol and cayenne starts.  I got distracted by, oh, I don’t remember, but with the temp in the 90's, and sweat running down my forehead, I wiped my eye, and the consequence was immediate. There is a specific quality to the pain that arrives when capsaicin meets a human eye that resists a straightforward description. It is not sharp in the way that a cut is sharp. It is not dull in the way that an ache is dull. It is immediate and total and occupies the complete and undivided attention of every part of the brain that was previously managing other concerns, which in my case were now the furthest thing from my mind.  I felt like I couldn’t fully open my left eye until nearly noon.  While your Sichuan peppers will only make your lips tingle, I have conditioned myself to wash my hands immediately after handling any kind of pepper.

What do you cook with Sichuan pepper?

Michael

Hello Michael.     So far, I’ve only  made sichuan pepper salt - grinding up the pepper husks with some flake salt and using as a final seasoning.   I’ve been lucky enough not to touch my eyes after handling, but I can just imagine it would be quite unpleasant - fingers get covered slightly in the oil that causes the numbness.  Your description of what happened to you was epic.  I could feel your words for sure.     There is the entire Sichuan cuisine to explore which I have yet to do.  The leaves are also useable.  Many of the recipes I looked at include red peppers so you get a double whammy.     I am a lightweight when it comes to hot pepper usage.  

I looked up the chrysanthemum I have growing and am pretty sure it is the indicum variety.   I am unsure of the sub variety, tho it may be Poesie.   I had started growing it mainly to make tea, but found there was something in the flavor I didn’t like.  This variety definitely tasted medicinal, now flowery like some other teas do.  

Living in Florida, you can grow most anything all the time right?   I am totally ignorant about southern seasons - to me they just run together in my mind as “hot and muggy”.  I’ve only been there once, during a hurricane (Jeanne).    The sustained wind was a new experience.  Here, we get windstorms, but it always seems to come from different directions - in gusts.

Have a great day!
Yvonne

Hi Yvonne,

Sichuan pepper salt sounds like a great way to start. A finishing salt lets you enjoy the tingle without committing a whole dish to it. And you’re smart to be careful with your hands. Wash with soap before you go anywhere near your eyes. I learned that the hard way, as you know!  I’m with you on the heat. The numbing is the fun part for me, and you can always go light on the red peppers and let the Sichuan pepper carry the dish.  I like dishes that have just enough heat that the only way to get relief is to take another bite.

As for Florida, it’s a common belief that we can grow anything year-round, and Lord knows, I try.  But up here in the Panhandle we get frost and the occasional hard freeze. And we are not exempt from the heat.  Our seasons almost run backward from yours. Spring and fall are the prime growing times. Fall and winter are great for greens, cabbage, broccoli, and other cool-weather crops. Summer is the hard season: the heat, humidity, bugs, and afternoon storms wear them down and cause blossom drop, so many gardeners grow only heat lovers like okra, sweet potatoes, southern peas and peppers, or let the garden rest. So “hot and muggy” is about right for half the year!

Jeanne must have been quite an introduction. Hurricane winds are different from anything else, steady and relentless, and they make you respect the weather here. I’ll take your gusty windstorms any day.  
We have been lucky so far this year.  The only hurricane that has made landfall in our part of the country hit about 75 miles from here.  I hope our luck continues.

Michael

Hello Michael,

I spent the weekend dealing with leaves and trimming back trees (translated - watching my nephew trim trees whilst I sipped coffee and observed the various shades of orange and red leaves scattered about).   Have never understood why persons spend so much time and energy raking them up - don’t they give back to where they have fallen and protect what is underneath from the ravages of winter?   All in all,  it was a lovely weekend until Sunday morning came around and my alarm cat, not knowing that the time had magically “changed”, woke me up on time - which now translates to 3:30 am.    This had not happened in previous years because he was not allowed where I sleep, but that changed over the spring /summer due to the dog (another story for a different day).    I’ve always been a morning person, but time starting with a “3” is not yet morning in my opinion.

Another thing I got done over the weekend was dehydrating a couple trays of kiwi fruit I’d been gifted.   After years of canning stuff, I’ve come to realize that dehydrating is probably my favorite method of food preservation - especially for fruit (tomatoes included).   I dried up a couple watermelons last year - know that might sound weird - but was true natural candy - so sweet.     Not sure I like the kiwi’s dried however - seem really tart compared to when they were fresh.  Not sure why.    I’ve tried to grow them myself - but have not had much luck.  They do grow well  here, once established - it is the established part I am having trouble with.  

I hope you have an excellent day!
Yvonne