Peppers

This weekend I prepped 11 8'x4' beds for veggies. To get the beds ready for planting I first covered them in red plastic to keep down the weeds. Next, I used bricks to hold down the plastic. Then, I cut holes in the plastic for planting. I put compost in each hole and mixed it in with soil from the bed. In most of them I planted six varieties of chilis. In one I put Asian eggplant, in another bush beans and basil in another. In the last bed I put beets and lettuce. Next week, I'll add some organic fertilizer to each plant to give them a boost.

We grow a wide variety of chilis at One Love Farm. Cayenne and Hot Portugual for chili powder. Red and green bell peppers for roasting and salads. Padron for frying and jalapeno for pickling. Peppers like well drained soil and hot summers. That's why they do so well in the southwest United States and Mexico. But, we do have long enough summers in Rhode Island to still get some good peppers. You just need to make sure they get water full sun and water during periods of low rainfall. With that, you'll get tons of fruit to enjoy from August until frost kills back the plants.

For chilis that you want to dry, you can pick the fruit and air dry them in a cool, dark place (like a basement). They will dry in a few weeks. Or, you can put them in the oven on a cookie sheet. The temp of the oven should be its lowest setting and the chilis will be dry in a few hours. At One Love Farm, we use a dehydrador to dry our chilis.

Sweet peppers can be preserved by freezing, but I find the texture rubbery when thawed. Generally, I will preserve and can the peppers in vinegar and store them in jars in the basement. But, truth be told, nothing beats a fresh pepper, picked in the warm summer sun.