I grow all my heirloom tomatoes and various types of peppers in Earth Boxes. I simply do not have the garden space in sunlight to have them directly in the ground. This extends my season on BOTH ends (I plant my tomatoes on Mother's Day) and my tom plants and sweet peppers are still laden with fruits. It means I can grow Arkansas Traveller tomatoes, which are amazingly yummy - but take 80 days for maturity. I also have excellent luck with oxhearts (German Red Strawberry) and this year with a new one for me Amish Paste which I will now grow always. Took 3rd place at the State Fair with Caspian Pink too. I'm down in the Cities, but I can tell you that any container type gardening is going to extend your season on all your favorites. The trick is maintaining moisture, proper fertilization, and enough lime in the case of the tomatoes.

Just my take on it! :) I have so many of both toms and peppers I hardly know how I'll manage... but I usually do ;)

-Marie

I am in zone 4a and really don't care for the hot peppers, unless they have good taste that shows through. My favorites are pepperoncini, paprika, and ancho. Don't think your climate will be warm enough for ancho's unless you grow them in a box. Here in the ground, I get a good crop of ripe ones, but just barely. My favorite paprika cultivar is Paprika Supreme. Loads of produce and has distinctively different tastes red or green, as do pepperoncini.

Rick