Staring into the abyss (hot pepper style)…

Time has marched on and with it came dramatic change. Specifically, I reference our hot pepper friends who only a few days ago decided to take advantage of the spring market and put their home up for sale and move onto pastures new.

They had outgrown their existing abode and renovating just didn’t seem like a viable option. The dreaded “land-transfer tax” didn’t phase them and so moving somewhere new was always the most obvious choice. Fortunately with the recent great weather their relocation options were plentiful and their existing home was snapped up in a heartbeat by some local seedlings. Their move had a short closing; within hours they had exchanged keys and had moved on with a small group of Ontario basil, lettuce and tomato seeds moving right into their former residence; much to everyones surprise there was little to no renovation work needed to accommodate the new family.

Luckily with some good planning the hot pepper plants had lined up a new place in no time at all. Relative to their former “quite flashy” prefab home (the “Click and Grow”) the new pad is somewhat more humble, but yet quite a bit roomier, which I guess was just what they were looking for at this point in their lives.

Each of the nine plants now has it’s own unique quarters, with enormous amounts of fresh potting soil and water on demand, which must have been a the real selling point especially as their new home has signicnaely more direct sunlight with a great outdoor component to it.

So, I caught this photo (see above) of them in transition, looking out into what must have seemed like the abyss. Their initial move into pots went well, but there was real hesitation when we discussed the need for them to spend a bit of time outdoors. I guess I can understand this, with all of the stories of the racoon devastation of 2019 circling around. As an extension of this we even saw one or two plants shrivelling up after only a few hours outside, but with a little TLC they came around and seemingly are doing much better. We even have a few flowers now materializing.

Since being outside is fraught with danger at night they have taken a more cautious approach to living the high life, with the hot peppers spending most of the day out on the deck, but returning indoors before nightfall. In hindsight I likely should have better explained this to them as I think they misunderstood this arrangement and instead had thought they might be outdoors permanently which was likely what caused all their anxiety and to some degree tears being shed. Although I think the tears were mainly related to leaving the Click and Grow which was, when it’s all said and done, a fancy-ass first home…

Anyway, we are now in day four and things are looking great. The sun is shining and everyone seems happy. The icing on the cake is also that a recent drive-by their old hood indicated that the new homeowners were all settled in and much to everyones amazement were already flowering. In summary, it appears to have been a successful transition for everyone.

Check-in for more updates soon…