Pickin’ Peppers

Being a huge fan of hot sauces, spicy foods, taco salads, and all the recipes one can create with chili peppers, ‘Dirty Girl’ Suzanne asked if I would do a blog on my pepper gardening from these past couple of years.

Now gardening isn’t usually associated with men, or considered a hobby or activity that many men participate in.  However, if you’re talking chili peppers, for some reason those varietals seem to be interlinked to masculinity and therefore, a socially-acceptable gardening crop for the manliest of men to take on!

Not caring much for stereotypes or gender roles anyway, I frankly love all gardening, and have been doing it since I was a small boy, learning from my mom Jeni who is now a certified “Master-Gardener” via CSU Extension Education.

But I digress…

Peppers!  What a fun, exciting, easy and delicious crop to grow!  Peppers vary in heat and application and some folks grow both edible & ornamental peppers.  I will focus on only the edibles and share with you the lessons I’ve learned which now yield me a plentiful, satisfying and wide variety of awesome chili peppers.

Let’s talk container gardening.  Peppers by nature love full sun, and so container gardening is a great way to cultivate chili’s in just the right sunniest spot in your yard.

You can even grow peppers on your deck as I have or in your apartment window.  No need for a large plot of land to grow chilis.

Container Peppers

I have four pepper-favorites based largely on ease of growing and high yield.  The ever popular Jalapeno, spicier and more consistent Serrano, the hotter still Tabasco pepper and the super hot Habanero.  Don’t let the hot reputation of any of these peppers scare you, either.  Consider you can make an entire batch of homemade garden salsa with just one Habanero!  Talk about efficiency!  Suzanne and I have done this with delicious results. 

Serrano & Jalapeno peppers are my favorites for everyday use.  These are great for tacos (dice ‘em up and use as much or as little as you prefer) taco salads, burritos, even on eggs for a Sunday morning kick!  There are infinite uses for peppers in many of your favorite dishes.  Just today I diced up some Tabasco peppers and made guacamole for lunch.

Let’s get back to the gardening part.  Quality of soil & compost, choosing to go organic, and using organic fertilizers are the core principles of my successful pepper crops.  I do not use any pesticides or sprays; not even Miracle-Gro.  I use a mix of pure organic compost which we create ourselves via a large compost bin in our yard, but you may purchase compost soil from any garden supply or nursery.  I also recommend mixing that compost with ‘planters mix’ soil, or some quality gardening soil your local nursery can help provide.  You could even mix in some peat moss to lighten it up a bit if you’re container gardening.  Just make sure you’re not using backyard dirt & clay soil for these peppers…you want a quality soil mix which will have all the nutrients necessary for an abundant crop!

As far as fertilizers, I use an organic granular vegetable fertilizer once every ten days or so.  That’s enough along with regular watering to produce more peppers than you’ll know what to do with all summer long!  In fact, it’s now the week of Thanksgiving and since peppers are perennials, I still have peppers growing and producing in my garage to this day!  That’s right; you can save your plants for next years harvest, and still get some winter production so long as you have a warm place for the plants to remain.  Pepper plants do not like the cold, unless... 

…You freeze them!  Yes, peppers can be frozen and preserved for future use.  You simply snap off the stem, rinse and dry the peppers, then seal in a freezer bag and save for a winter batch of homemade chili.

Email me if you have any questions, and I hope you make time to garden in the future!

danielshane1@comcast.net