Winter is the perfect time of the year to review your yard and the plantings that you do in it. In the past couple of years, the edible garden has really taken off and it is getting bigger each year. By planting your own garden, you can save a lot of money rather than buying in the grocery, and you can save a tremendous amount by cooking your own food at home rather than eating at a restaurant. But more than that, you have the peace of mind in knowing where your food comes from and also the personal satisfaction of knowing that you grew it yourself.
For a quick review, there is a couple or general rules that must be followed if you intend to plant any vegetable plants in your yard.
- Sunshine and a lot of it.
- Well drained soil. No clay soil or boggy areas. If this is all that you have, then plant in containers or raised beds.
- Stagger your plantings so that all of your veggies do not mature at the same time.
There are many types of peppers that fit any taste buds. From a sweet bell pepper to the hot varieties starting at the hot banana peppers, to the ancho type and still hotter of the Habanero. There are many different ones in between that will dazzle your mouth. You can grow peppers from seeds, but unless you want a lot of a given variety, I would not recommend this. In reality, most of us only want 15-20 total plants, and we want maybe, 3-4 of each variety. That way, you can go to a local garden center and get the different ones that you want. After all, we grow about 40 varieties of peppers from the sweetest to the hottest.
When you plant, use just a general type of fertilizer with a low nitrate. That is the first number of the rating so keep it less than 10. High nitrates during the first month of growing will give huge, fabulous growth but no peppers. Soil temperatures should not be below 60F which means to wait to at least the first of May and preferably May 15. Place the plants 12 inches apart and water them thoroughly at planting. After that they will need an inch of water a week. Keep the area free of weeds. Both the weeds and moisture retention problems can be solved with a mulch. I would recommend putting down a thick layer of newspapers, with grass clippings on top. In time, they will decay and be useful in your garden.
In caring for your pepper plants, you need to scout for bugs and diseases. But this is not a big problem. I recommend for the home gardener to try and grow as organically as you can. If you see pests such as flea beetles, leaf miners or thrips the use a rotenone-pyethrin spray. If aphids are a problem then use an insecticidal soap spray. As far as diseases many of these can be stopped with good growing practices. Do not water and get the leaves wet. Bacterial spot diseases are found in high humidity areas. So keep the plants dry. Some of the other fungal diseases can be prevented by rotating crops each year and putting it on a 3 year rotation. Remember, potatoes, tomatoes, peppers and eggplants have the same susceptiblity so plant in new areas and keep notes.
For harvesting peppers, there are a few things to keep in mind. They start out green first and then, depending of the type of pepper, it will either turn red, orange, yellow, purple, black. The flavor changes as the pepper changes color. If you pick them in the green stage, it will encourage your plants to produce more fruit. If you totally leave the fruit alone, the plant will stop producing once they turn colors.
Peppers can be cut up and frozen for longer storage. The hot peppers can also be stored if you let them dry. It is very easy to do. Just run a needle with a thread through the pepper in the green stem. Tie the thread by making a knot on the first pepper and then weave the needle through more peppers until you get a string of 15-20 peppers. Then hang the string up somewhere to dry. I have strings of these at my house and we will just put one or two of them in our receipe as needed. They will store this way for many years. A word of caution…….If you touch hot peppers, WASH your hands BEFORE touching your eyes, mouth or any other part of your body. From personal experience, it will set you on fire if you don’t.
Peppers are easy to grow in your garden, and if you have not had an edible garden, I would recommend giving them a try. They are very versatile to use in your cooking and also make for great eating.
Stephen Fister
