Garden Ideas: Grow a Few Hot Peppers to Spice Things Up

I was never one of those people who could just take a big bite out of a hot pepper, chew it up, swallow it, and never shed a tear. I prefer to eat things that don't bite back. I was forced to chomp half a habanero once, however, as part of a freshman hazing incident during high school. I survived, but only after washing down the bite of hot pepper with about a gallon of cold water. Still, I do enjoy flavoring some soups with a bit of hot pepper when I'm cooking, so I can appreciate the importance of adding some different kinds of pepper plants to the backyard vegetable garden.

Besides the culinary value that these spicy little gems can offer, the plants themselves are very colorful. Most are allowed to turn to their familiar red, orange, or yellow colors before harvesting, and the bright colored hot pepper set against their green foliage is like having another flowering plant to highlight your garden.

As one might imagine, there are several main varieties from which to choose, and some are obviously hotter than others. The garden seed catalog companies usually feature different hybrids, with new selections coming out every year. A few old standards, however, tend to be perennial favorites with hot pepper growers, and show up in the back yard (and the kitchen) almost every gardening season.

1. Jalapeno Hot Peppers. This familiar hot pepper is probably the most widely-used kind, is fairly easy to grow, and is in the medium heat range. (I could describe the amount of heat in terms of Scoville Units, which identifies the amount of capsaicin contained by any particular variety of hot peppers. But for simplicity, we'll just say the jalapeno is about half-way up the "how-hot" scale.) Jalapenos are great for pickling, for building nachos, and for adding to home-made salsa recipes.

2. Anaheim Hot Peppers. For those who may prefer a slightly milder pepper, Anaheims are good additions to the garden. Quite popular as the pepper used to make a chili relleno, and as a spicy addition for some soups and stews, the Anaheim is a meaty, six-inch garden fruit that is most often grilled and skinned before it is used in cooking.

3. Cayenne Hot Peppers. Heading toward the hotter side of the scale, the garden-grown cayenne ends up as a long curly red fruit against dark green leaves. Dry these harvested peppers in your food dehydrator, and you will be set to add flavor to your chili and other recipes all year round. Even better, if you have time to string-dry these cayennes, they can hang in a corner the kitchen for several months, pulling double duty as both a spice and a decoration.

4. Thai Hot Peppers. Even warmer to the taste are the Thai hot pepper varieties. The plants are attractive, with dark green leaves and bright red fruit, and are easily grown in a container as well as in the garden bed. The peppers are great for drying, and then can be grated to make your own pepper flakes.

5. Habanero Hot Peppers. One of the hottest peppers known, the habanero is another perennial favorite. Like most hot pepper plants, they thrive in warmer weather, but need a little shade, as well. They grow well either in the garden or in containers.

There are a few other tips that the novice hot pepper gardener may want to keep in mind. First of all, when handling hot pepper plants, particularly during harvest, make sure that you wash your hands before touching your eyes or any mucous membrane surfaces. The capsaicin in the plant is easily transferred by touch, and will cause an exquisite burning sensation.

Secondly, remember that anytime hot peppers are dried for later use, the hot flavor is concentrated. Therefore, a few dried pepper flakes added to spice up a recipe will probably seem like plenty.

Finally, don't think you have to buy a lot of plants to get a reasonable harvest. Many of these varieties, when well-tended, will be heavy producers of fruit.