Nightshade

Tomatoes are part of the Nightshade Family. Who knew? I’m pretty sure I didn’t. I always thought a Nightshade was a flower, but it indeed has various vegetable varieties including the chili pepper, the tomatillo and sweet peppers. All of which are in the GrowDammit gardens. The tomato’s leaves are poisonous. I think I knew that. At least I knew part of the plant was poisonous. Their flowers are bisexual. Definitely didn’t know that..

Anyways, the garlic spray only succeeded to scatter the aphids not annihilate them. Which is the goal. Plan B is to make us up a little Tomato Leaf Cocktail. Tomorrow morning the aphids will be in for a big surprise. Shock & Awe baby, Shock & Awe.

Eggplant and potatoes are also Nightshades. Neither one of these are in our lineup. I don’t eat many potatoes. I could go for a big ol’ plate of scattered, smothered & covered right now though. That was always my 4am soak up all the alcohol you just consumed go to meal. Ahhhh, the Waffle House. *drool* Ahhhh, College…Boozefest 1987-1991.

Where was I? Oh yeah, eggplant. The only way I eat it is in the form of Eggplant Parm. And since I try to defat a recipe as much as I possibly can, I only eat Eggplant Parm at a restaurant where I’m going to splurge anyway. I also only eat Indian food out. Almost all recipes can be defatted, but there are some dishes that shouldn’t be.

I just told Ted Plan B. He looked worried, so I quickly assured him it was for aphid control. It’s not your turn.

Talk of poisoning reminded me of the chocolate incident…Rufus vs. the Godiva. When we first moved into this house, I put all the baking supplies on the bottom shelf of the pantry. Rufus can nose his way into the pantry here. One day, I came home, and Rufus was lying by the front door. He was unusually listless. I looked around and didn’t see anything amiss. I hadn’t left any unsuspecting wheels of cheese or hams around. He got worse and worse as the afternoon went on. We were going out with friends that night, so I got dressed but kept an eye on him. Then, he started getting sick. And, getting sick. And, getting sick. Upon further investigation, I found the culprit. An empty pound bag of Godiva dark chocolate chips that I had bought the day before for a recipe was under the dining table. A Friday evening emergency trip to the vet to have his stomach pumped, a weekend at the vet with IV fluids and catheterization and $1,300 later Rufus survived. That’s right folks. $1,300. Dollars. We switched vets shortly after that. It wasn’t so much the price tag of the Chocolate Incident, as it was her suggestion to do acupuncture on the Dragon to fix some ailment exactly what I’ve forgotten. That’s right folks. Acupuncture. On the dog. Yeah…..No.

Next…The spawn are cramping my style again.