I want to ask, “Is it just me or are these the reddest Yaupon berries we’ve ever had?” but I suppose no one reading this post can answer that — not even my husband, and he lives here. But wow — don’t they just pop with vibrant color?
I think this tree must have had as much fun as I did with the Cedar Waxwings last February — it’s clearly ready for them to come again.
We interrupt this post to show you this adorable Black-Crested Titmouse, seed in beak. These cute little birds don’t like to sit still for pictures, so I’m amazed I got one. Oh my gosh, so cute.
I’ve been eagerly waiting for the little peppers of the Chile Pequins to turn red, and at long last they have.
The few green peppers combined with the red is a very holiday-festive combination.
One of these days I’m going to pop one of these little peppers in my mouth to see what happens.
Well, maybe I’ll dare my husband to do it instead…
Edit: I told my oldest son that Chile Pequin peppers are 7-8 times hotter than a Jalapeño, and he decided right away that he wants to try one. Guess I won’t have to dare my hubbie after all! I plan to have camera and lots of water on hand…
Hi Meredith! It is finally starting to look a little more winter-like around here with berries, eh? Your shots are beautiful as always.
There has been a flurry of bird activity around here lately…it makes the winter garden lively! I haven’t had much luck with capturing any photos just yet but I’ll keep trying.
I took a small bite of a pequin chile, and it wasn’t really tasty or very hot. Peppers are so unfortunate when it comes to flavor in a single ingredient. I think they work much better in a mix. I harvested a bunch of mine, and I’m drying them out to make an oil infusion. Also, milk works very well for relief after eating something spicy.
I’ve also noticed how many yaupon berries there are right now, but I don’t know if it’s real or if I just never really paid attention until recently. I can say that my oak tree had a good year – there are hundreds of acorns all over my backyard. Perhaps yaupons had a similarly good year especially compared to last?
unless you and your husband can handle extremely spicy foods, be careful with these peppers. my husband tried one after the painting crew(Hispanic in origin) at our house admired my plants and my husband told them they were welcome to have some with their lunch.When he saw them popping them like candy, he tried one and had such severe heartburn and stomach pain that he had ended up on medication.
Cat, the birds are a blast right now, aren’t they?
NotSoAngryRedhead, I think you must be right — perhaps last year’s rains led to this year’s plentiful acorns and gorgeous Yaupon berries.
And Nancy, I promise — we will probably only “taste” a pepper and not actually swallow one. I was pretty much joking on that one. I can’t even it eat a jalapeno, unless it’s cut up into tiny bits and blended into something much milder!
Good luck when you taste your peppers.