Sexy green peppers
By JOYCE COMINGORE
The worst of the weather is behind us and we can look forward to sunny days and cool nights – paradise. I hope there may be some rainy days for plant survival, but a rain barrel comes in handy now. Water restrictions begin soon. Our third planting season is starting. Take advantage of the cool nights.
What do you do when you find yourself with egg on your face? I brashly push forward, proclaiming the error of my ways, and publicly admit the fallacy of my thinking.
This is where I found myself Monday and Tuesday. I am horticulture chairman of the Fort Myers/Lee County Garden Council Flower Show, “Flowers in Art and Music, The Keys to Happiness.” My gardening friends and I were attending a meeting about how to enter our horticulture for our show.
This show is March 6 at the Sydney and Berne Davis Art Center downtown Fort Myers, during the first Friday of the month Art Walk. Entry dates are Thursday, March 5, noon until 5 p.m., and Friday, March 6, 9 a.m. to noon. The show will be open from 6-10 p.m. Mayor Randy Henderson will cut the opening ribbon at 6 p.m. Our show is on the second floor because there is an art exhibit happening on the main floor. (An elevator is available)
Of course, floral designs are art, we don’t do arrangements, but horticulture is an art form also. Well designed landscapes leave us with a visually pleasing sensation.
All gardeners are eligible to enter if you are interested in presenting your fabulous and unusual horticulture. You need to provide a clear glass vase for all cut specimens and saucers for your disease free and clean potted plants. Use only one stem per vase and you can wedge it with saran wrap or bubble wrap, with no leaves below the water line. There are free trolleys running around downtown every 15 to 20 minutes with a stop at the art center. Bring your entry Thursday afternoon or Friday morning to the Jackson Street handicap entrance, enter your specimens and re-park. You can pre-register by e-mailing me at jayebeec@hotmail.com through Wednesday afternoon and pick up your filled out entry card. It is necessary to provide the genus and species of your entry. It will be judged on Friday afternoon. Clean up and tearing down is Saturday morning, March 7.
At our meeting we were discussing how to present fruit, vegetables, nuts and berries. I talked about the fact that I read on Facebook, green peppers were male and female according to the bumps on their bottom, (also the red, yellow and orange peppers). I couldn’t remember which bumps meant male or female, so, of course, I got up in the middle of the night to research this phenomena. Sure enough, there were articles by cookbook and cooking people that stated, “3 bump bottoms were male and 4 bump bottoms were female. Three bump bottoms were sweeter and better for eating, while the 4 bump bottoms were firmer and better for cooking.” They proclaimed that female pepper (4 bumps) had more seeds, so without the weight of all those seeds, paying by the pound is less expensive with the male pepper.
My good friend and a former high school biology and botany teacher, spoke up at that meeting and said this was impossible because of the biology involved, but we joked about it and carried on with our new bit of horticulture knowledge.
There followed in the article researched, quite a lengthy list of posts debating this idea. Most like me, said – “wow, I didn’t know this,” or, “learn something new every day, who knew,” or, “fascinating factoid, great info,” even, “very informational.” Of course, there were the scoffers like my friend, proclaiming biology doesn’t work this way, but very few; some offering to sell the believers ocean front property in Michigan, or a bridge here and there, some saying “one of the more stupid things I have ever seen posted, – people are stupid – a nation of idiots.” Naturally, there were middle of the roaders saying, “Isn’t this hilarious,” or, “Are you pulling my leg?”
Normally, I differ to my daughter that is a Snopes researcher by nature, but there was no time. I tried to do the Snopes thing, but can’t seem to get into the informational answers. My answers lay in others who had researched this phenomenon.
These diligent people found that there are no male or female peppers. Bumps on the bottom are due to the variety, not sex. Their fruits have no gender, and peppers are a fruit that comes from a flower that has both sexual parts. Male and female fruit can only come from male or female flowers, like papaya or avocado. The researcher’s (Cathy Kates) closing line stated- “bottom line is, if you’re searching for a male or female in the produce section of the grocery store, you’re probably looking for a date (not the fruit kind) and not a pepper.”
One line stood out in the sea of posts – “don’t believe everything you read on Facebook.” I am now a firm believer in that statement. It seems I have to make amends to my friends for passing on false information.
However, it is very factual that surrounding yourself with trees relaxes you and creates a stress-free atmosphere. Trees also provide us oxygen and remove the bad air, CO2. Thank a tree for the quality of life they provide you.
You all come and see our Flower Show that proclaims “Flowers and Plants are Art,” during the Friday night Art Walk.
Joyce Comingore is a Master Gardener, a hibiscus enthusiast and a member of the Garden Club of Cape Coral and the Fort Myers/Lee County Garden Council.