Mushrooms are a sign of good soil, and we were amazed to find mushrooms growing wild all over our property. Since then, we’ve found all kinds of edibles growing wild on the property, from amaranth to chile pequins, to grapes…all zero effort on our part. Part of God’s generous provision.
Ms. Dorothy (Dorothy Guerra) gave us a bunch of pinto beans, and Melissa and the kids planted them along the fence. Amazing to me that they’ve grown up so fast – from single bean to finished plant in about 4-6 weeks. They taste great fresh, and we’re planning on drying some for soups as well as planting for next year.
Got a favorite pinto bean recipe? We’d love to try it. Share it in the comments below.
The temperature has finally dropped here in South Texas. It’s not really cold, but it is just a little chilly…or, said another way, “chile pequeno.” Melissa and the kids found more of these little gems around the property today and harvested what they could.
We’re searching for creating things to do with chile pequins. If you have some ideas, leave a comment below.
This is Iain holding our first sweet potato harvest. Not what you might call bountiful, but hey, it was our first experiment. More importantly, these grew from sprouts off of older potatoes, and without much intervention from us once planted. They grew through a pretty decent drought…and survived chickens and ducks pecking away at them from time to time. Now for the tasting….
Another of our nightly walk finds…Amaranth. At least we’re pretty sure it’s an Amaranth. Not the Giant Orange kind, but some variety. This little grain is like Quinoa, and it’s growing wild all over the property. Food…growing wild…all around us. Makes me think of the verse that God knows what we have need of before we even ask…and, oh by the way, He’s already provided for that need.
Saw this on one of our walks the other night. It made Melissa think of that scene in Lord of the Rings where Aragorn tells Sam to get some Kingsfoil to help heal Frodo’s wounds. Not sure whether this would do the same, but it does look pretty. Much prettier live than in the photo, though.
The picture doesn’t do them justice, but here are some fall flowers blooming in one of the front pastures. Continuously amazed at the beauty all around us on our property.
We went foraging the other day, and came across these cute little red berries. Not realizing what they were at first, Melissa picked one and tasted it…and immediately spit it out. They’re hot little suckers, and we have them growing wild all over the property.
In doing a little research into Chili Pequins, we learned a couple of things. First, the “original” Texas hot sauce was made from Chili Pequins and vinegar. Folks would pack the peppers into a bottle and add vinegar. They’d keep refilling the vinegar until the following fall, when new peppers would be available.
Second, we learned that they’re called bird peppers because birds love them. Seems that birds don’t process capsaicin the same way humans do, and so it doesn’t affect them the way it does us. Also, the Chili Pequin seeds need scarification – usually via a bird’s digestive tract – in order to germinate.