It’s CayenneThyme

As you can read in the piece Drat That Dirt, I have been relentlessly trying to grow things in amended black gumbo soil.

So far, no luck.

But recent developments from soil nutrient tests are pushing me into another reality (more about that shortly, in another article).

Meanwhile, my agricultural bent has been channeled by Nature; or serendipity, you might say.

I could have what is the world’s first cayennethyme combo.

And I am happy with that.

Cayenne has been part of my eating and cooking as far back as I can remember.

I grew it successfully in a pot, taking that to the extreme in late ‘70s New England winters. I nursed the plant from seed to about two feet high in a five-gallon pail. It was inside in October, and outside in May over the course of three years.

Admittedly it required mid-winter wash offs in the shower to remove chalky whiteflies; I remember laughing aloud each time I trudged up two flights of long, creaky, stairs in our old house. Ceremoniously offering that heavy black container to the showerhead was a sight to see.

The scene would have been a YouTube winner if the medium had been around at the time.

My interest in fresh thyme began back in 1982 when visiting my father’s cousin in rural France. I recall how she placed a generous sprig of it on wood in the fireplace so that wonderful fragrance would waft throughout the family’s quaint out-building larder.

But the new growth Texas thyme/cayenne addition happened all on its own.

The only credit I claim is watering and lightly fertilizing each plant in its pot. Another common factor is that they all wintered together, and are vintage 2013.

As neighbors, experiencing the same prevailing wind, one thyme seeded itself next to the cayenne.

That’s a continuing reminder of Nature’s surprises.

The lesson learned is to grow thyme in pots, too, and forget futile sweat labor trying to get it in the ground.

That’s progress.