This gardening blog will now take a time out to report on a bit of sports news.  The Boston Red Sox are 2013 Worlds Series Champions.  Worst to first.  A team of beards, character, personality, grit and perseverance. And a team that really has been such a part of my life, with its big moments echoing some of my own significant events.

I became a Red Sox fan in 1967, at the age of 11. When I think of my introduction to baseball, I am reminded of my grandfathers; it is with them that I sat in front of flickering black and white TVs, learning from their stories, as they shared impressions of their own lives of being a fan. I learned that my grandfather Walter enjoyed complaining about Yaz, and even Ted Williams, though I have no idea why (he was a rather colorful, contrary sort, but I loved him so much for the time he spent with me, playing cards, picking blueberries or walking through his garden). I remember less about my grandfather Arthur, but my first Red Sox game was watched at his beach house, and John Wyatt (a most obscure Red Sox member) was pitching that day.

There were many moments of joy and suffering between the eventual 7 game loss to the St. Louis Cardinals in 1967 and the most improbable victory in 2004, coming back from the dead, being down 3 games to none against the hated Yankees. I actually missed the first of the miracle comebacks, as my wife and I  were shivering in a cold, windy October stretch at her sister's beach house on Cape Cod. But then, as we made the rounds in family visits, I got a real treat - opportunities to watch play off and worlds series games with both of our dads. That was something I never imagined could happen.

In 2007, the Sox did it again - but it was a very difficult year, as we lost my dad to a stroke in March, just as spring training was getting underway. We then lost Susan's dad later in the season, as the Sox were asserting their dominance over the American League; in fact, it was a during a Red Sox game that I got to chat with Harry for the very last time.

One more personal connection colored this year's Worlds Series run. Last week my wife and I were in Dracut Massachusetts, Sue's mom under hospice care. Just following another Red Sox victory, I spent the next 5 hours with Ann, ensuring her comfort and watching vigil while Sue and her brother David could finally get some much needed sleep. It is a night none of us will ever forget, as Ann passed away just a few hours later. Joy and sorrow, experience within hours of each other; a microcosm of what it is to be human.

And there I was, last night, October 30, 2013, me all alone (the games last too long for my wife Susan to endure, so she was long in bed) jumping up and down in front of the TV, texting with a friend and my brother Kent, my dogs and cats eyeing me suspiciously. Why we create allegiances with sports teams, why we spend so much time concerned with their winning and losing - it is a mystery to me. But we do become involved, our hearts race, or our moods fall, we move up and down with the successes and failures. Last night was particularly special because of the way that the Red Sox carried themselves through the season. I love the team concept, and I love rooting for underdogs. Both boxes were amply checked in this season.

So now we get our evenings back; the TV can once again be used for watching our Netflix movies. The 2013 Red Sox season will take its place in my collective baseball memories, right up there with 1967, 2004 and 2007. I will always remember sitting in my living room in Raleigh, surrounded by two dogs and three cats, too excited to sleep, hungrily devouring any post-game article I could find on the internet. Such fun!

We will now return to gardening.....(until and unless the Patriots decide to win the Super Bowl!)

Susan and I are not unhappy to see October coming to an end. Starting with 2 lovely weeks at Ocracoke island for our annual escape, it ended with the rapidly declining health, and passing, of Sue's mom, and continued health challenges for my mom in Florida (likely heading for nursing home, from assisted living), providing a challenge for my brother and his wife, who are handling things so well.

Last night I had the privilege of participating in an informative, fun and delicious event at the cooking school at A Southern Season in Chapel Hill. I've been involved in classes focused on tomatoes many times in recent years, but this was something new for me....and since I love change, and new things, it was a real treat. 

The class was ably led by Caitlin Burke, and I was pleased to collaborate once again with Alex Hitt of Peregrine Farms, Alamance County. Alex (and his wonderful wife Betsy) should be very proud of their operation; he started selling Cherokee Purple tomatoes not long after they were introduced by Southern Exposure Seed Exchange (which happened a year after I sent Jeff McCormack the seeds to try), and Peregrine Farms is well known in the area for their superb produce.

The class began with Alex demonstrating his chili roasting technique (there is an outside deck adjacent to the classroom, where Alex had the gas flame-heated roasting screen mechanism all set up). The aroma emanating from the roasting peppers had the class of over 20 eager (and hungry) attendees swooning. We then came back indoors, and Alex and I took turns talking about peppers, alternating with Caitlin preparing the selected recipes, which were distributed to the class members by the remarkable Cooking School staff. What worked very well was the dual focus; Alex shared his experience with growing a variety of peppers commercially for sale to restaurants and shoppers at the Carrboro Farmers Market, and I discussed growing peppers from a home gardener perspective. The fact that peppers - both hot and sweet - thrive so well when grown in containers provides the potential for everyone to enjoy the colors and varieties for themselves.

Here is the menu of dishes that Caitlin prepared:

Roasted Pepper Salsa with blue corn chips
Roasted Pepper Soup
Stuffed Poblano Chilis (Relleno style) in Walnut Sauce
Mexican Chili Chocolate Brownies with Cinnamon Crema

Yes, it was as delicious as it sounds....the salsa was complex and savory, enhanced by using roasted tomatoes, sweet peppers, jalapenos and garlic and spiked with fresh lime juice. The soup was one of the best my wife Susan and I ever tasted, with a sweetness and complexity stemming from the use of carrots, apples and apple cider. The Rellenos were simply incredible, stuffed with a mixture that included pork, peaches, apples, pears and plantain, and topped with a sauce made primarily of pureed walnuts that matched perfectly with the . Finally, how can you not love a dessert that includes the texture of a chewy, rich brownie with the flavors of cinnamon and ancho chili?

Susan and I now have the memories of an exciting collaboration, the energy of an interested classroom of attendees who asked great questions and clearly loved the food, and a set of recipes that we can't wait to try for ourselves.

We are already making plans for next year's classes - both for tomatoes, and peppers. Be sure to watch for them; I will certainly let you know when they are scheduled.

Thanks, Caitlin and Alex, and the great cooking school staff!

Hello, all - I've not been tele-transported to another planet! Here's what going on...

We just returned from two weeks at our favorite place in North Carolina (if not the entire world), Ocracoke island, part of the NC Outer Banks. I typically use this break to assess the garden season, plan the following season and think about the various gardening projects that are underway. Last year I started my book; this year the weather was so spectacular early on that I didn't sit down and do my typical pondering until well into the second week. I did manage to fully assess status of the Islander hybrid pepper dehybridization project (subject of a future blog post) and get my slides ready for tomorrow night's Southern Season cooking school on Chile peppers.  More on that below...

On Sunday I was delighted, as always, to be invited to spend 30 minutes speaking with Niki Jabbour on her radio show, the Weekend Gardener. Here is a link to the podcast. We covered the 2013 season in review, my take on tomato grafting and a few seed saving pointers.  

At 6 PM tomorrow evening, I will be collaborating once again with Alex Hitt of Peregrine Farms for a Southern Season cooking school - this time on something completely new for me, a class focused on Chile peppers.  Here is the class info. This should be a really fun event - if you have the time, click on the link, register, and join us!

I actually still have all of my pepper and eggplant plants growing in my driveway, despite weeks of neglect. I have a bit of seed saving left to do, and whatever the deer left me (they love pepper plants, if not the fruit) will be harvested and frozen. Once those are gone, the 2013 season will be a wrap.  Thank goodness...it is a long season here in NC!

There is a great deal of work for me to do between now and next spring; assessing the Dwarf project, determining what to plant next year for seedling sales as well as my own garden, ensuring I've assessed that which went well and not so well and incorporating changes into my plans for next season, and - probably quite soon - addressing requests for book edits coming from Storey. All of this will keep me quite busy, and I will be blogging - perhaps not quite as often as during the growing season - about all of these.

I will also do a blog post with a few of the best pictures taken while on our Ocracoke escape.  

See you again soon.....I do have to admit that the Red Sox and, now, Patriots are keeping me busy and happily (if not nervously) entertained as well!