Out of a fear of becoming as sensationalised as those I’ve chosen to self-righteously criticise in the past, I’m going to talk about my new chilli. She gave birth. I haven’t named her yet, or her new baby. Would you name a chilli, it would be like naming your chickens before wringing their neck, it just doesn’t feel quite right. Once you give them a name, you give them a character, which in turn adds if not full-on personhood, at least some elements of it. I don’t plan on eating the plant so she, and yes as a bringer of life it’s a she, can have a name but not her baby which I plan on devouring. Apparently it’ s a sweet redskin chilli which means that while my current solitary chilli is green it should not remain so forever. It’s quite big too so I wonder how hot it’ll be when I cook with it. Incidentally I’m this excited over it because I’m sure it was only two days ago, three max, that I last watered and looked at it. Either it grows really fast or I’m far less aware of my surroundings than I previously thought.
I remember when I was in Australia many years ago, after dropping off some friends in Byron Bay I continued my journey down to Melbourne and Tasmania. On the way I stopped in a little garden centre and bought a rainbow chilli plant.
It genuinely looked like that, although much smaller, and it took pride of place on the passenger seat of my car. I nursed it through an aphid infestation and it kept me company on the drive south, like a life force companion. If a pet can replace a human, then this gave a fair shot of doing similar. I don’t think I even ate many of the chilli’s, I certain didn’t eye it up ravenously like I have been the newborn redskin. I looked after it for the last two to three months I was in Australia and then I have no idea what I did with it. I suspect I either planted it, which I doubt, or gave it to a friend. I think the friend option is most likely, and I wonder how they’re both doing.
I’m not sure why I find myself drawn to chilli plants, I don’t feel the need to eat chilli’s especially often but I have had a disproportionate amount of chilli plants. Maybe it’s because they’re so easy to look after, or they don’t take up much space and what fruit they do produce carry’s a hit the equivalent tomato plant for example can’t produce. There was a woman in the next village giving away tomato plants during the lockdown and I still regret not picking on up. I have also got an aubergine plant so I’m really curious to see how she gets on. That will be an exciting and new experience. On a sad note though, my lavender seems to be dying and I can’t work out what has gone wrong. Maybe the solution will be another piece on here.
Observations and Misunderstandings 