Japanese Cucumber

This is a Japanese variety cucumber. I put the seedling in the dutch bucket about 6 weeks ago. As you recall I planted some outside and inside. The ones outside did grow faster than these and i was pretty impressed. however these have caught up with the ones outside and eventho the ones outside are producing Cukes they are not as big as these. Also the environment for the ones outside are extreme as in the temperature, sun, rain, insects. On the other hand these inside are better controlled. The water schedule is much more constant. My vote is going to have to lean toward Hydroponic Dutch Buckets inside the greenhouse.

I will be using this one to make some of the cucumber and tomato salad as shown below by Rachel Ray.

Cucumber Salad

This is a recipe for Cucumber Salad. I got it from The Food Network and Rachael Ray posted it. I subscribe to it and they send me recipes ever so often. I keep the ones I think I can manage and can the rest. I try to keep them simple if you know what I mean. I grow the cucumbers and tomatoes so i might as well make this every once in a while. Sometimes I make it and take it to work for the rest of the crew to munch on.

Credit- Rachael Ray

5 medium plum tomatoes, halved lengthwise, seeded, and thinly sliced
1/4 red onion, peeled, halved lengthwise, and thinly sliced
1 Kirby cucumber, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
A generous drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil, about 2 tablespoons
2 splashes red wine vinegar
Coarse salt and black pepper

Directions
Dress the tomatoes, onions, and cucumber with olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt, and pepper.
Let stand while you prepare dinner, about 20 minutes. Re-toss and serve salad with crusty bread for mopping up juices and oil.

Tomato Stalk

I took these this afternoon as I was finishing up for the day. After the picture was taken I harvested about 8 of them and put them in a salad we had with our dinner. They were very sweet. These are the last of the tomatoes this growing cycle in the Hydroponic NFT system. I plan on taking the channels out of the system this week and give them a good cleaning and prepare them for the next growing cycle. Have a good week everyone.

Scorpion Pepper

You will have to agree on this one for sure. This is about the most beautiful looking piece of fruit I have ever seen and it has a powerful punch. This is a Trinidad Scorpion Pepper. For those of you who know about the Scoville Unit it measures over 2 million. I have seen videos of people eating one of these as you see it now. It is amazing to watch them struggle as the heat builds up in their mouth and throats. Sometimes I take a small piece about the size of a pencil eraser and chew it up and swallow it. I'm here to tell you that it's very very hot and I cannot see how they do it. Bravo for them I say.

Mailbox Garden, Curb Appeal

Sorry I haven't posted in a little while. I have been so busy with my summer projects I can't find the time to get everything done, there is so much to do. Of course most of it is not a must be done project. I just put it on myself. No worries though, Sooner or later I'll get to it. I have made the time to add some to my curb appeal project by planting some flowers inside the mailbox garden project. So far so good.