my thoughts on peppers

11 years ago

I don't eat hot peppers but I have found that the horn shaped peppers that are mild or just warm not hot do very well in pots. At my friend's house I planted two pots of them on his patio. The pots were smaller than I like but he visits his patio often in the summer so he could easily keep them watered. His were banana peppers and a green horn shaped one that was as productive as he needs and a green bell pepper that didn't do as well. He eats them when he is out there - not at all interested in freezing or preserving them. We gave some away.

At my house I have several kinds in big pots. I have big pots that hold a bag or more of potting mix. It isn't cheap and I buy new mix every year although I use the old soil in a stock tank. I don't throw it away but try to mix other things in and fertilize it to renew it. I had a stock tank with cucumbers until last Saturday.

Back to the peppers. Near my house I have too many trees but have sun in the front where a huge walnut was removed. This is where I have the pots. Bermuda grass is too hard to fight to have beds there. All the plants here are ornamental. I consider peppers ornamental. When I forget to pick them or am too lazy to freeze them, they turn a beautiful bright red with shiny green foliage. I have more success with them in pots than in the ground because I water the pots in front of my door. Sometimes when it won't rain this is a chore, but I like being outside and I love plants.

If I am not too lazy, I wash the peppers and chop them and put them in my emptied salsa freezer jars. These jars are straight sided half pint. They are also great for freezing taco soup which also freezes very well. One serving easy to thaw.

This morning I cooked some rice and fried sauage and onions and peppers and made a dish. I used my frozen peppers. I can get them out of the jar without thawing and use just a few.

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Comments (4)

gldno1
11 years ago
Helen, I do an even easier method of preserving peppers. I grow the cheese peppers which are pretty small. I just wash and dry them and drop them in a large freezer bag to freeze.
One is usually enough for the two of us and I just pull one out run cold water over it for a bit and then chop it. I hate standing and chopping a lot of peppers at one time.

I did do some for my daughter though and will give them to her over Thanksgiving..I have never eaten them out of the garden though. He must really like them!
helenh
Original Author
11 years ago
You are right peppers are so easy to freeze and in cooking it doesn't matter that freezing softens them and changes their texture. Cheese peppers look cute. I will try them next year. My problem with peppers is I have frozen them before and then not used them. I don't use all the things in my garden and it makes me feel guilty. The chopped onions and peppers in jars are the right amount to add to something I'm cooking. I don't think my friend would eat peppers at all if they weren't there. We are the kind of people who eat everything in sight. Recently we tried Panda Express in Joplin. Since going out to eat is our entertainment we probably won't go again to eat on paper plates with plastic utensils. The food was good though and the best thing was fiery sweet chicken. It had plenty of sweet red pepper chunks. The fiery part was not so hot and I think came from pepper flakes. It made me think why don't I take the time to cook something like that at home. I am the same about herbs. I have rosemary and basil and sage but forget to use them. Cooking for one makes you lazy. I just heard a bark which reminds me there is someone else here who I cook for he gets a taste of everything I eat but he doesn't like peppers.
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christie_sw_mo
11 years ago
I've grown sweet peppers twice but not hot peppers. I've only made my own salsa a couple times, not the cooked kind, just fresh. That's what my kids prefer.
There's a recipe for "Annie's Salsa" that comes up quite a bit on Gardenweb.

Last summer I stuck a pepper plant in a big container on my patio that has my apricot tree in it and it did surprisingly well so maybe you have something there Helen. It's nice when something does better in a container than it does in the ground.
helenh
Original Author
11 years ago
Christie I have a freezer full of Annie's salsa frozen in those jars I use. I have at least a couple of years of salsa in the freezer. One person does not use that much salsa. Last year I had to learn to throw away imperfect tomatoes. Up to this point I have been turning them into salsa. I think I found somewhere that the frozen salsa does not need as much vinegar or acid as the canned. What I made was called Annie's salsa though. My friend found last year that the banana peppers need to be watered but also want good drainage. He has very good luck with them. It is not like we are real vegetable gardeners. Potting mix is expensive, but a few plants in pots are fun to grow close to your door.