Pepper Picks
I always grow red cayenne peppers . . .
I recently planted a pot of peppers for pickling. Actually, several pots! It’s a good time to start pepper seeds indoors for planting out later this spring.
I use peppers fresh, pickled and canned in salsa. I roast, peel, and freeze sweet red peppers and long, green Anaheim chilies. Some of my peppers are dried as ristras. These fiery red strings of chilies are common in the Southwest, particularly in fall, when you see them hanging from rafters to dry in the warm desert air. Not only do they preserve an abundant harvest, ristras are also popular kitchen and outdoor decorations along with garlic braids.
All Kinds of Peppers . . .
I’m growing a lot of peppers this year, both sweet and fresh. Sweet peppers always remain mild, even when their flesh ripens to red, yellow or orange. This group includes big stuffing and salad peppers commonly known as bell peppers. The best known of these are ‘California Wonder’ and ‘Yolo Wonder’. This year, I’m also trying sweet ‘Golden Marconi’, touted as a “frying” pepper that ripens to yellow.
Hot peppers range from pea-sized types to narrow, six inch long forms. All are pungent, ranging from the mild heat of Italian ‘Peperoncini’ to the near-incandescence of the ‘Habanero’. ‘Anaheim’ is a mild but spicy pepper used for making canned green chilies. They are large enough to stuff and fry as chili rellenos. ‘Long Red Cayenne’ is used for drying; this year I’m trying ‘Pinata Mix’, a colorful mix of red, yellow, purple and orange cayenne peppers. They should make some colorful ristras! ‘Jalapeno’ peppers are great fresh or for pickling.
Speaking of Peperoncini peppers, my husband loves these little guys pickled on sandwiches. Last year, I forgot to grow peperoncini peppers, and pickled a mixture of all the other hot peppers from my garden instead. He loved them!
. . . and use them to make ristras!
Easy to Grow . . .
Peppers are easy to grow. The plants need reliably warm temperatures to thrive. They can be started from seed or transplants (see Step by Step Seed Starting, March 9th). In either case, you won’t want to plant them into your outside garden until all danger of frost has passed and the soil is thoroughly warm – in late May, or better yet, early June. Once planted in your garden, your pepper plants will need good air circulation, plenty of sun, and well-drained soil.
After blooming, you will be charmed by the green chilies attached to many of the stems of the shrub-like pepper plants. Harvest as you need them for fresh eating. Since you only need a few hot peppers at a time to perk up a recipe, you may have many peppers left at the end of the season. You can uproot the whole plant the day before a frost is predicted, and hang it upside-down in the garage or shed to allow the peppers to ripen and dry. Or pick the peppers to make a ristra!
Happy Gardening!
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