Green Thumb-ery

Last summer, the kids and I wanted to try a little container gardening. So we bought a green pepper plant. We put it in a big pot and it began to grow. It did beautifully. Then we put it outside. That was a mistake. It was beset by a bunch of white flies. These look like big gnats to me. They apparently like plants, fruit and vegetables. You don't really notice them until they buzz up in a cloud around their chosen 'home' at the time. White flies basically suck all the moisture out of whatever vegetation they are on and, over time, kill it. They also lay eggs all over its underside which just compounds the problem.

So instead of harvesting green peppers, I spent the weeks spraying soapy water on the poor plant. But it's made a beautiful comeback this year. It started putting out little white flowers and spreading out some. I kept examining the flowers but there didn't seem to be any fruit so I have come to the conclusion that it was too damaged by the white flies to make any peppers and maybe we would get some next year.

Then yesterday, I noticed this.


Out of the blue, there it was. I never noticed it growing. It had to get this big before I even saw it.


But there it is nonetheless. Maybe I have the potential to be a gardener after all. Bring on the fajitas!