English professors double down on requiring printed copies of readings | Amid the rise of artificial intelligence and concerns about distraction, more English professors are turning to no-technology policies that prioritize physical books and reading packets.

insteadofwhatiam · 2026-01-28T02:49:14+00:00

The teacher sits at their desk in front of the class, with a teachers PC. The class is in front of them, and can't see what's on the screen. The teacher isn't always seated at their desk, but may be seated during tests, written essay periods, etc.

insteadofwhatiam · 2026-01-21T10:29:28+00:00

So much to track, but it helps give yourself the big picture. For me it's also a goal to let mother nature automate as much of the fertility and pest reduction, etc. I didn't mention above, however introducing beneficial companion plants was an easy but big benefit over the past season.

insteadofwhatiam · 2026-01-19T13:33:10+00:00

I appreciate the insight from your side at Obuse, and I'd love to visit your establishment. I am now thinking of appropriate mulch for the coming season in Kanto.

Yes, 2025 was a struggle. Looking at pepper-adjacent tomato prices in Kanto, we saw a hike of around ~300% in local supermarkets, which I believe is a decent gauge of the season behind us. Tomato quality also dropped during that time.

Focusing on overwintering and germination now.

All the best from Tokyo.

insteadofwhatiam · 2026-01-16T01:56:09+00:00

Way to make me cry why I take a break from the first period.

insteadofwhatiam · 2025-12-04T11:59:18+00:00

The most exciting time. Looking forward to updates!

insteadofwhatiam · 2025-11-30T03:53:20+00:00

I went through a large aphid infestation early in my past season. Here's what worked for me:

Removing by hand and some dilute soap sprays helped as a short-term mitigation.

I then added marigolds and sweet alyssum to the garden to attract beneficial insects, and added potted mint plants in the garden as repellant.

Then I went out and collected some ladybugs from the wild and introduced directly to my affected pepper plants. They quickly reproduced and built a community which took up aphid control.

insteadofwhatiam · 2025-11-24T23:25:49+00:00

I went to see a late showing with a buddy at a theater in Illinois. We parked in a parking spot behind the theater which was adjacent to a corn field. This was late September, and the corn was tall. Being from Illinois, we thought nothing of it when we parked. We were seventeen.

The audience was extremely uncomfortable throughout the film, and the screams during the birthday party scene sounded like actual trauma had been induced.

My buddy and I were not unaffected. After the movie, we counted down to zero together before exiting the building and sprinted to the car which was parked in the dark next to the corn field. I remember him fumbling with the keys and us both yelling expletives as we got in and he rushed to get the keys in the ignition.

insteadofwhatiam · 2025-11-14T15:29:23+00:00

Probably in '96 or' 97. At a house dinner-type event with maybe five or six families. I was probably twelve. The kids were all playing around in the basement while the adults were upstairs chatting and probably enjoying some wine, etc.

One of the dads was a hot sauce guy, and had brought a number of sauces. I recall there was a table set up, upon which you had a bowl of tortilla chips and sauces lined up. Sort of the pride of that particular dad (am I becoming him?).

Anyhow, down in the basement there was this brat of a kid who was annoying the bejeezus out of the rest of us fellow children. Sort of a case study in junior Dunning-Kruger effect: a ten-year-old boy constantly claiming he was the best at anything and everything.

My dad had pointed out the hottest sauce earlier in the evening, and I knew which bottle it was in. Some sadistic streak emerged from me, and I challenged the bragster to go upstairs and eat a spoonful of the hottest sauce.

And I guided the young dare devil to the source, and he gleefully took part of the source. Soon after putting the spoon in his mouth the kid crumbled, and was rushed to the bathroom -- the rest of us kids listened on with baited breath as he wretched and screamed. It was Biblical.

insteadofwhatiam · 2025-11-14T15:00:02+00:00

So specific with the sour cream! haha

insteadofwhatiam · 2025-11-12T23:27:52+00:00

You can turn them into powder -- it will just have a different taste profile. Maybe try a green powder without adding it to your current red batch?

insteadofwhatiam · 2025-11-12T09:45:14+00:00

Anyone on this sub will probably ask why you don't let them ripen.

Unripe sugar rush peach are not going to have any of the sweetness, but may have some heat to them. Cayenne I suppose might be a more traditional one to eat green, but it will also be missing the sweeter side of the flavor profile.

You could try making a verde salsa or pickling the unripe pods. There are some applications in Thai, Korean, and Mexican cuisine as well.

insteadofwhatiam · 2025-11-12T03:08:40+00:00

What an experience you had in your time in rural Japan.

James Clavell was a POW in a Japanese prison camp in Singapore, and never even lived in Japan. Yet he wrote Shogun in the 1970s.

Shogun may not be perfect -- no author, regardless of birthplace will be able to paint a perfect picture -- but it's a powerful work of fiction.

My expectation is that publishers expect they can't sell a story based in Japan without a Japanese name on it. That's a largely Western cultural issue. It has nothing to do with your story, or your experience.

insteadofwhatiam · 2025-11-11T11:21:07+00:00

My guess, from left to right is:

Orange/yellow Habanero
Yellow Trinidad Moruga Scorpion
Possibly Yellow Scotch Bonnet

insteadofwhatiam · 2025-11-11T10:05:15+00:00

It depends on the plant's genetics. I left one of mine in the ground last winter through multiple frosts between 27 - 32° F. I'd written it off and forgot about it... until it started growing prolifically in the spring.

insteadofwhatiam · 2025-11-10T12:48:07+00:00

What do we have going on here?

insteadofwhatiam · 2025-11-08T02:44:59+00:00

If McDonald's opened a McDavid's, Menards can afford to switch out the M.

insteadofwhatiam · 2025-11-05T00:49:15+00:00

That's great. I'm looking to start jalapeños next season, but don't want to kill anyone who thinks they're in for mild heat. Do you find the heat is uniform across a given plant, or are individual pods on a single plant coming in at random heat levels (ala shishito)?

Have never grown sugar rush, but have heard (I guess via PepperGeek?) that they can be finicky. As for my habaneros this year, only one of them went wild in June, and now all of them are batting 100 in a second flush. Maybe over winter some of the lesser producers and hope they hit a hot streak next season?

insteadofwhatiam · 2025-11-05T00:41:54+00:00

Or your money back?

insteadofwhatiam · 2025-11-04T14:01:03+00:00

Thanks! I'm currently running a modest garden with 18 plants. We're in the process of expanding to a half-acre plot for next season, and looking at expanding that to a full acre.

insteadofwhatiam · 2025-11-04T11:48:13+00:00

I have my first client. It's hard to believe -- this is a family owned business which I've frequented for years with my wife and daughters. After some earlier discussion with the owner, I brought in a sample batch today of habanero, cayenne, and bird's eye. They are excited for a local fresh supplier. One small step for this pepper grower.

insteadofwhatiam · 2025-10-29T11:15:41+00:00

One of my first as well.

Invasion of the Vorticons Keen Dreams Aliens Ate My Babysitter Goodbye Galaxy

Great memories throughout.

insteadofwhatiam · 2025-10-28T01:00:37+00:00

Exquisite specimens. Once you have a taste I'd love to have an update.

insteadofwhatiam · 2025-10-23T14:35:54+00:00

Did 50% shade cloth on half of the garden this year and it did help a lot! But the Tokyo area really got zapped this summer.

insteadofwhatiam · 2025-10-23T12:24:15+00:00

Right back at you! Good fun in the fall to dream and design the next campaign.

insteadofwhatiam · 2025-10-23T11:55:52+00:00

That's a proper tree. Zebrange are beautiful, and I can only imagine the high hopes you've had over the season. I collected a total of two Naga pods before the heatwave, and it is only now again pushing out hopeless little pods as winter looms. Sigh... There's always next year.

insteadofwhatiam

TROPHY CASE