Muy Caliente

It's been "cold" here on the coast (persisten low 30's); not as cold as that hard freeze earlier this month but enough to burn off the last of the leaves except for the magnolia and winter adapted plants in my yard. I noticed on my walks that non-native species such as Henbit (Lamium amplexicaule) and Sow Thistle (Sonchus oleraceu)seem to not be affected by the cold temperatures. My South Texas species dropped their leaves soon after the hard freeze. Henbit and Sow Thistle have a competative advantage over many natives in that they can keep their cells from totally freezing. Why? Maybe production of anti-freeze chemicals or managing to keep the cells' surface only frozen, thus providing an insulating barrier for the interior cell. The spring native are also unaffected: spiderworts, blue curls, clasping leaf coneflowers and skullcaps.

My chili pequin bush (the Texas state pepper) is going dormant but not before I picked about 200 peppers and put them in used Tobassco bottles with vinagar and a little salt. This was based on a tip from Eric a few years back. What I don't know is how long I should let them soak. According to the Scoville rating the pequin is about 30,000 - 50,000 Scovilles. That's my limit.

15,000,000–16,000,000 Pure capsaicin
8,600,000–9,100,000 Various capsaicinoids
5,000,000–5,300,000 Law Enforcement Grade pepper spray
855,000–1,050,000 Naga Jolokia (a.k.a. Ghost pepper)
350,000–580,000 Red Savina Habanero
100,000–350,000 Guntur Chilli, Habanero chili, Scotch Bonnet Pepper, Datil pepper, Rocoto, African Birdseye, Madame Jeanette, Jamaican Hot Pepper
50,000–100,000 Thai Pepper/Indian Pepper,Chiltepin Pepper, Pequin Pepper
30,000–50,000 Cayenne Pepper, Ají pepper, Tabasco pepper, Chipotle peppers