Nobrainer’s Think Tank

4. My traps have killed 4 mice in my shed in the last 2 days. My only regret is that I let the problem go on for too long. My 5 traps are reset and waiting silently for another night’s catch.

I’m particularly pleased the the old school wood and wire snap traps. The two I own have accounted for all the fatalities. I’m disappointed by the newer, jaw-like traps which are still waiting for their first KIAs. I’m extremely disappointed with the live trap I set which clearly caught and let go one of the varmints.

I’m even considering expanding my efforts. I may purchase some rat traps and start going after the tree rats furry little squirrels. Normally I like the little guys. But today… Today one of the smug bastards stole my first tomato of the season right off the vine. And then, just to piss me off, he merely nibbled on my little green tomato before carelessly discarding it.

My recent run ins with rodents have me rethinking my hatred toward cats. Maybe it’s okay to have some neighborhood cats with owners who “take care of them” by letting them constantly roam through and piss and shit in other people’s yards who can serve as judge, jury, and executioner of the local Varmint-Cong population. Or maybe not. I’ve definitely seen cats in my yard. Unfortunately I have mostly caught them lounging comfortably on my deck furniture. Perhaps they are on strike from rodent-hunting since I chase them away.

Anyway, this all brings me to my brief review of the 3rd installment of my recent reading series. The book? The $64 Tomato: How One Man Nearly Lost His Sanity, Spent a Fortune, and Endured an Existential Crisis in the Quest for the Perfect Garden. In short, the author, William Alexander, recounts humorous stories about and pertaining to his garden. The book is well put together, and I liked the author’s sense of reality. Alexander was able to take his gardening seriously without mindlessly preaching about urban sprawl and other crap as some single-minded gardener are wont to do. Right now I’m reminded of his writing about the deer that came after his plants. He very clearly wanted them dead. His wife, however, at first liked the cute little woodland creatures. Eventually, the reality of deer hit her and she apparently recommended that the best deer repellent was a good gun. This attitude shift actually ties in well with the rational irrationality model that was discussed in the first book in my recent reading series; being idealistic and pro-deer was fine… until reality hit and the costs associated with the pro-deer stance became clear.

Overall, The $64 Tomato is the one book of the 4 I read that I most recommend simply because I think it appeals to the widest audience and because, unlike Everything Bad is Good For You, it pretty much is what it says it is.

UPDATE 2008-07-15 07:30AM: Add 2 more to the list, both caught with traditional snap traps. All death-traps have been redeployed.
UPDATE 2008-07-15 07:30PM: Add on one more. The total is now 7.
UPDATE 2008-07-16: Two more this morning. Make it 9.
UPDATE 2008-07-17: Up to 10. Things are slowing down.
UPDATE 2008-07-22: Got two more the last couple mornings. Both with the old-school traps. I’ve now re-deployed both traps and one of the new traps to the recent “hot-spot” of activity.

Two months ago I posted something of an update on the progress of my home gardening efforts. Two months doesn’t seem like very long ago, but it seems it has been forever since I wrote that post. There has been some good news and bad news since then.

The bad news is that my new plants aren’t nearly as far along as I had hoped. The layout of my house/yard simply doesn’t allow them to get as much sun as I wish they did. Plus, many of the tiny plants were battered shortly after I had moved them outside when an extremely heavy rainstorm hit. Others were battered still while waiting to be transplanted; I had them sitting in a tray in the sunniest location I could find. Unfortunate that location was on the railing of my deck and some animal came along one day and knocked them off. One of the bad outcomes of that event is that now several of the plants aren’t labeled; I have no idea if they are cayennes, or jalapenos, or something else. On the upside though, most of the plants that I did finally transplant are still alive. The peppers are unfortunately still quite small. Some of the tomatoes are starting to really take off.

The good news is that my 4 pepper plants from last year survived the winter. They didn’t survive unscathed as I think they could have used some extra light. They were also damaged when some animal — I’m guessing it was a deer — decided to feast on their leaves in mid-April. Nonetheless, all the plants are flowering, and I’ve got some actual peppers developing nicely.

In summary, I’m disappointed that my new plants are behind my desired schedule. But it is encouraging that my old plants are coming through for me. Hopefully I will have my first (probably very small) harvest within a few weeks.

Although I don’t keep up with this blog as much as I might like, I am often pleased when I can go back and see what I wrote at some point in the past. I just ran across a post from April 1st, 2007. I think it needs an update:

• Last year I started my container garden with pre-started plants from Lowes. But we had a frost and they died. I bought more. The assorted pepper plants weren’t especially fruitful. However, I have managed to keep them alive through the winter and I’m hoping that they can be at least mildly productive this year. Sadly, the one with the least enjoyable peppers is the one that has best survived the winter.

  This year I’m starting my plants from seeds. I should say that I have started my plants from seeds. After about 1 month I have 20 tomato plants and 30 pepper plants started.

• I’m well overdue to produce some home brew.
• I’m very glad that I purchased Hank III’s Straight to Hell and the Spinal Tap sound track
• I only read about 5 pages of the PHP cookbook. However I have done a hefty amount of PHP work since then.
• I only got about halfway through Power System Economics
• I did finish Sowell’s A Conflict of Visions. It’s an OK book. But I suggest that if you choose to read it, you should attempt to explain the premise of the book to yourself at the end of each completed chapter. If you can do so, quit reading. The rest of the book will add no further depth to your understanding.

I’ve been spending much time doing yard work lately.

These 42 bags (plus 2 not pictured) are the result. I think I can probably fill another 30 bags with old leaves and that damnable English ivy which has/had overgrown much of the back yard.

• Whereas last year I began my container gardening of peppers and tomatoes from seeds, this year I opted to buy plants at Lowe’s. Hopefully my bell pepper and jalapeño plants enjoy their new home.
• I’m enjoying the fruits of some home brewing labors I undertook a few months ago. The first batch, as with many of forays into brewing with Mr. Beer, was flat and somewhat cidery. The 2nd batch, which is a Nut Brown Ale type beer is crisp and bubbly. Unfortunately it kinda tastes like club soda. Further brewing will commence after my move to DC. It will also include better brewing equipment and glass, instead of plastic, bottles.
• I’ve been enjoying some new music. Hank Williams III’s Straight to Hell is exceptionally good.
• The full length songs of Spinal Tap are not as enjoyable as the clips played throughout the movie.
• I’m reading several books concurrently. One is a PHP Cookbook. I’m just starting, but some hardcore coding education seems pretty exciting.
• I’m also working on Power System Economics. It’s an interesting read. Suffice it to say that I’ll know more about the subject that any of you within 6 months.
• I’m also reading Sowell’s A Conflict of Visions. It’s a good reminder that some people — wrongly in my opinion — simply view the world in different terms. However, juxtaposed upon current American politics, both parties pick and choose from the two visions in whichever way fits their interests.

That’s enough for now.

Since I have thus far managed to not kill my 3 pepper plants, I have from time-to-time become inundated with bastardly little peppers. Stuffing them seemed like an excellent idea. However it was new to me and I had no recipe. Opting for ease, I found on on the Food Network website. Titled Turkey Stuffed Peppers, I now cannot even find the recipe listed on the site.

I have a printout, so here goes:

• 4 red, green or yellow bell peppers, tops sliced off and chopped up
• 2 cups leftover rice or couscous
• 1 cup leftover chopped turkey
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 tablespoon fresh chopped parsley
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 2 scallions, chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Slice off tops of bell peppers, remove seeds and discard. Chop up the bel pepper tops and place into a large bowl. Add rice or couscous, chopped meat, dried basil, parsley, chopped pepper tops, chicken stock and scallions. Toss to combine and season with salt and pepper. Stuff each pepper with filling and place in a square baking dish. Bake 45 minutes or until tender.

Like I said, this one looked easy.

But I modified it to make it easier. Why cook rice and track down the herbs and scallions? Instead of rice, parsley, basil, and scallions, I broke out some bags of premixed rice/vermicelli/seasoning. I also used chicken instead of turkey, and for good measure added some bacon.

I swear the bags of seasoned rice mix said they made 1 cup of prepared food. I used 3 bags of the stuff and had 4 cups of the stuff leftover. Anyway I cooked it per package instructions. It can be a little soupy right after you take it off the heat, but that might be a good thing.

I added about 2 cups of the rice mix to about 1/2 cups of chopped chicken with about 5 chopped up pieces of the store-bought, pre-cooked bacon. I mixed it all up and put it into 6 smallish peppers. They cooked for about 40 minutes. Then I grated a little bit of cheddar cheese on top.

All things considered it wasn’t a bad first run.

Here’s what I’ll change the next time:

• add a little bit more of the “broth” to the mix to keep the chicken from drying out
• keep some bacon out of the mix (or have extra) that is put on top of the mixture that has been stuffed into the peppers. Since it is on top it will cook and crisp up (or at least it should).
• add the cheese with about 5 minutes of cook time left to let it melt in. It may also be good to add the cheese to the stuffing, but I fear that the hot rice will melt it too early.
• cook it about 5 minutes longer. The smaller peppers were ok because the walls were thinner, but the larger ones could have used a few more minutes

That’s pretty much it. The peppers are just little, edible cups. In the future I’ll probably also put grilled steak, sauteed onions, and provolone cheese in them.