Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
This is so good it would overshadow any other item listed for June so I am giving all the limelight to this awesome new garden tool.
In college, the boys who lived next door called them Acre Flakes. They put them on everything from Top Raman to canned chili. Fast-forward 3 decades and chili flakes have gone from a pantry staple to a garden tool. For some reason my flowers and bushes have become a favorite place for those walking their dogs to stop and let their animals check and leave messages. In doing so, many of these pooches scratch their back feet and kick bark and dirt all over the sidewalk. I often look out my front room window to find a dog on a long line leash 4 feet into my flowers. It has become an almost daily chore to sweep up the walkways. And, some owners even leave their pet’s calling card behind. Do you know how gross it is to pick up a handful of leaves only to have it squish in your hand? Anyway, crushed red pepper flakes have really worked to deter the use of my flowerbeds as the local message board. A liberal sprinkle around the edges of the beds does the trick.
Back to those college boys: are you wondering why the name Acres Flakes? Do you remember the TV show Green Acres? (here ‘s a youtube video of the opening song to jog your memory) Well, they lived in one of two houses that shared a common driveway and a 2 car, detached garage. The guys lived in the house on the north side and called it Acre’s North. Unbeknownst to us, my dorm friends and I moved into Acre’s South. Yep, that’s where I met Honey.
