Chris' Green Thumb

My usually conservative husband tends to get extreme in the kitchen. An intimate dinner for two usually consists of five pounds of potatoes and a brisket. I often joke that he can't cook for less than 10!

So it shouldn't have come as a surprise that when he told me, "I'm going to grow some things in our garden" what he actually meant was, "I'm going to grow ghost peppers-- the world's hottest pepper plant". Because that's what we're missing in this house... ridiculously hot chili peppers.

This project has been going on for quite sometime and I get daily reports of the pepper's progress. I can't repeat what Chris says as it sounds like this to me, "Katie, the I checked on the peppers and they wah wah woh wah wah...". I can't help it-- I go into Peanuts adult mode every time!

My best attempts to lovingly ignore my darling husband's obsession were thwarted when the cold weather hit and the little plants were moved to our kitchen counter-top. But! I'm happy to report the baby plants have bloomed into teenagers and they were re-potted! In our kitchen... sigh. Time to pull out the vacuum!

You'll notice the palm tree in the background. It has also found a winter home in our kitchen. We bought a tiny palm tree when we honeymooned in Hawaii and each year we take a photo next to it with our family. As our family grows, so will the tree!

Such a cute idea, right? Until I found out that this tree is nearly impossible to grow in our climate. So for three months it lives... in our kitchen. Well, I always thought it would be fun to have a greenhouse... I just should have been more specific, "I want a greenhouse that is separate from my main house and most certainly NOT in my kitchen!"